August 28
SOUTH AFRICA/EQUATORIAL GUINEA:
'Thatcher in no danger of death sentence'
South Africa's liberal constitution will ensure that Sir Mark Thatcher has
no fears of facing the death penalty in Equatorial Guinea.
Thatcher was arrested at his luxurious Constantia home on Wednesday in
connection with an alleged coup attempt involving 70 suspected mercenaries
arrested in Zimbabwe and 14 arrested in Equatorial Guinea.
Equatorial Guinea has reportedly started extradition proceedings, but a
Cape Town legal expert, who asked not to be named, said Thatcher would not
be sent to Equatorial Guinea where he could face the death penalty for his
alleged role in financing a coup attempt to bring down President Teodoro
Obiang Nguema.
The expert said the SA Constitutional Court had ruled that people may not
be surrendered to countries where they could face the death penalty.
Thatcher reportedly has dual British and SA citizenship, but the legal
expert said that did not matter because protection under the
Constitutional Court ruling applied to South African and foreign citizens
alike.
Thatcher could still face extradition if Equatorial Guinea waived the
death penalty, but the expert said South Africa did not have an
extradition agreement with the country. herefore it would need the
president's consent to go ahead." If he escapes extradition, Thatcher
could still be tried under South Africa's anti-mercenary laws - the
Foreign Military Assistance Act.
Hout Bay resident Richard Rouget was the first person prosecuted under the
Act, in August last year. Rouget, a French-born South African citizen, was
arrested for recruiting mercenaries to fight in the Ivory Coast.
He pleaded guilty and was fined R100 000 with an additional 5-year
sentence suspended.
Thatcher is under house arrest. He has until September 6 to post
R2-million bail and must appear in the Wynberg Regional Court on November
25. Scorpions spokesperson Makhosini Nkosi said he did not expect Thatcher
to be extradited.
"SA is opposed to the death penalty and we wouldn't extradite someone to a
country where he would face that danger."
(source: IOL News)
YEMEN:
15 Yemenis convicted for terrorism----1 man sentenced to death; 7 get 10
years
In Sanaa, a court has convicted 15 Yemeni militants on terror charges
including the 2002 bombing of a French oil tanker and plotting to kill the
U.S. ambassador.
1 man was sentenced to death Saturday for killing a Yemeni police officer
and seven were sentenced to 10 years in prison.
6 of the defendants plus one man tried in absentia, who received the
longest prison terms -- 10 years -- were found guilty of participating in
the October 2002 bombing of the Limburg oil tanker, which killed a
Bulgarian crew member and spilled 90,000 barrels of oil into the Gulf of
Aden.
The conviction of one of those men, Fawaz al-Rabeiee, also included the
attack on a helicopter carrying Hunt Oil Co. employees a month later and
the detonation of explosions at a civil aviation authority building.
Al-Rabeiee also was fined $100,000 to compensate for the building damage.
The death sentence was handed down to Hazam Majali, convicted of killing a
Yemeni police officer at a checkpoint in 2002.
6 militants were sentenced to 5 years in prison. They were found guilty of
detonating explosives at embassies, plotting to assassinate U.S.
Ambassador Edmund Hull as well as security officials and for roles in the
attack on the helicopter carrying employees of Texas-based Hunt Oil.
One defendant was sentenced to three years in prison for falsifying
documents relating to the various attacks.
The defendants, including some with suspected ties to Osama bin Laden's al
Qaeda terror network, have rejected the court's legitimacy and said they
would appeal its verdict.
(source: Associated Press)
************************
Death sentence in Yemen terror case----A court has found 15 men guilty of
various acts of terrorism
A Sanaa court has sentenced 1 Yemeni to death and imprisoned 14 others for
a range of terrorism-related charges, including the bombing of a French
oil tanker and a plot to kill the US ambassador.
The death sentence was handed down on Saturday to Hazam Majali, convicted
of killing a Yemeni police officer at a checkpoint in 2002.
Five others face ten years in prison for participating in the October 2002
bombing of the Limburg oil tanker, which killed one Bulgarian crew member
and spilled 90,000 barrels of oil into the Gulf of Aden.
They are Umar Said Jar Allah, Fawzi al-Ahhabi, Muhammad al-Amari, Fawzi
al-Wajih and Yasir Salim (tried in absentia), Aljazeera's correspondent
reported.
Oil firm target
The court has also sentenced 2 others, Fawaz and Abu Bakr al-Rubai, to 10
years on charges related to an attack on a helicopter carrying Hunt Oil
Company employees a month later and for detonating explosives at a civil
aviation authority building.
Al-Rubaai also was fined 18 million Yemeni riyals ($100,000) to compensate
for the building damage.
Five other Yemenis were sentenced to five years on charges of planning to
bomb embassies and plotting to kill US Ambassador Edmund Hull, as well as
security officials.
They are Ibrahim Huwaidi, Arif Majalli, Muhammad Ali al-Dailami, Abd
Al-Ghani Tayfan and Qasim al-Raili.
2 others, Salim al-Dulaimi and Khalid al-Jalub, were both sentenced to 3
years over charges of falsifying documents related to various attacks, the
correspondent said.
'Politically motivated'
Defendants, whose attorneys boycotted a process they maintained was not
fair and were not present for the verdict and sentencing, frequently
interrupted Ahmad al-Jarmuzi's remarks.
Defence lawyers insist the legal process has been unfair
"Fear God!" they shouted, and "Lies!" as they complained that the process
was illegal.
The defendants, some who have suspected ties to Usama bin Ladin's al-Qaida
network, have rejected the court's legitimacy, but have said they will
appeal its verdict.
The father of one of the defendants said he considered the convictions and
sentences politically motivated.
"These are illegal sentences because the lawyers were not given the chance
to defend them," he said.
(source: Al-Jazeera)
INDIA:
5 get death penalty in Faridabad murder case
A court on Saturday sentenced 5 people, including a Sub-Inspector of Uttar
Pradesh Police, to death and 10 to life imprisonment in a 5-year-old case
of murder of 4 persons.
Additional District and Sessions Judge RS Virk awarded the death penalty
to Brahmjit, Jaiprakash, Vijaypal, Raju and Shivnath, all hailing from
Budena village, holding them guilty of murdering 4 fellow villagers and
burning their bodies before disposing it off in 1999.
Their associates Dinesh, Shyam Singh, Ishwar Singh, Laxmi Narayan,
Prabhati, Kanwal Singh, Shyam Singh, Kanwar Singh, Bramprakash and
Harinder were sentenced to life imprisonment.
Shivnath is a Sub-Inspector of UP Police.
In 1999, a Budena villager Risal Singh had filed a complaint accusing
fellow villager Brahmjit and others of murdering his 2 sons Satyapal and
Harpal, grandson Devesh and a relative Raju.
In his complaint filed in Old Faridabad Police Station, Risal Singh had
said his family had an old enmity with that of Brahmjit.
With an intention of solving this, Satyapal, Harpal, Devesh and his
relative Raju one day went to meet Brahmjit in a car but none of them
returned.
Risal got an information that the car in which they had gone had been
found by police as unclaimed.
During questioning, Brahmjit admitted that he, along with his associates,
had killed the 4 and burnt their bodies with the help of tyres. The bodies
were then thrown in a canal and have not been recovered, so far.
(source: Press Trust of India)
