Sept. 29
INDIA:
Vegetable vendor gets 14 year RI for killing wife
A Delhi court has sentenced a vegetable vendor to rigorous imprisonment of
14 years for forcing his wife to commit suicide by torturing her for dowry
over 4 years ago.
Additional Sessions Judge Asha Menon also imposed a fine of Rs 2,000 on
Ram Gopal, hailing from Etah in Uttar Pradesh, who forced 21-year-old
Mamta to burn herself to death within 2 years of marriage in their
Raghubir Nagar house.
Police had recovered the charred body of Mamta, who was married to Ram
Gopal in December 1998, from the house on May 25, 2000, a day after her
death.
Refusing leniency, Ms Menon observed yesterday that the accused harassed
the deceased to such an extent that she felt that the painful way to death
by burning herself was preferable to the pain inflicted by her husband.
Mamta's father Mahesh, the complainant in the case, told the court that
the family had been demanding gold ornaments, TV, ceiling fan and a
scooter.
The court, however, acquitted the accused's father Chiranjilal for want of
evidence.
(source: WebIndia)
KAZAKHSTAN:
Representatives from nongovernmental sector of Kazakhstan, international
organizations, diplomatic missions, and scientists and lawyers conducted
today a press conference, devoted to the World day against capital
punishment, in Almaty. The world community will celebrate it October 10
for the first time according to the decision of the World Coalition for
abolition of capital punishment.
The participants examined a wide range of issues, concerning the abolition
of the capital sentence.
76 countries abolished death penalty for any crimes; however 84 states
still preserve the extreme penalty. Kazakhstan imposed a moratorium for
execution of death-penalty in 2003.
(source: Kazinform)
YEMEN:
Yemen Sentences 2 to Death for USS Cole Blast
In Sanaa, a Yemeni court sentenced 2 al Qaeda militants to death on
Wednesday for the 2000 bombing of the U.S. destroyer Cole which killed 17
sailors.
4 other militants received jail terms of 5 to 10 years for the attack in
Aden harbor.
The Cole was refueling when 2 men on a small craft laden with up to 500 lb
of high explosives rammed their boat into the guided missile destroyer.
The 2 masterminds of the attack sentenced to death were Jamal al-Badawi
and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, who is currently held in the United States
and was tried in absentia.
Yemen, the ancestral homeland of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden's family,
has been trying to shed its image in the West as a haven for Islamic
militants.
The defendants, all Yemenis, broke into cries of "Allahu Akbar" (God is
Great) upon hearing the sentence.
"This is an injust verdict, this is an American verdict," screamed Badawi
after he was handed the death penalty.
Badawi's brother, Ahmed, told Reuters: "We ask President Ali Abdullah
Saleh to intervene and lessen the sentence."
All 6 defendants were found guilty of carrying out the Cole bombing in
October 2000 and belonging to al Qaeda.
Lawyers for the men said they planned to appeal.
Yemen, an impoverished country at the tip of the Arabian Peninsula, has
arrested hundreds of al Qaeda suspects following the Sept. 11, 2001
attacks on U.S. cities and several attacks on Western targets at home.
Last month, Yemen jailed 5 al Qaeda supporters for 10 years for the 2002
bombing of the French supertanker Limburg and sentenced to death another
militant who plotted with them to kill the U.S. ambassador to Yemen.
Another 9 Yemenis received terms of 3 to 10 years for the assassination
conspiracy and for plotting with the other 6 to attack the embassies of
the United States, Germany, France, Britain and Cuba.
Nashiri was arrested by the United Arab Emirates and handed over to
Washington in late 2002.
(source: Reuters)
**********************
2 Sentenced to Death for Bombing of U.S.S. Cole
A Yemeni judge sentenced two men to death and 4 others to prison terms
ranging from 5 to 10 years Wednesday for orchestrating the 2000 suicide
bombing of the USS Cole, an attack blamed on Osama bin Laden's terror
network.
Saudi-born Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, who is in U.S. custody at an
undisclosed location, and Jamal al-Badawi, a 35-year-old Yemeni, were both
sentenced to death for plotting, preparing and involvement in the bombing,
which killed 17 U.S. sailors as their destroyer refueled in the southern
Yemeni port of Aden.
Al-Nashiri, believed to be the mastermind of the Oct. 12, 2000 bombing,
was the only 1 of the 6 defendants not in the heavily guarded court to
hear the sentences. The other 5 defendants are all Yemenis.
"This verdict is an American one and unjust," al-Badawi yelled from behind
the bars of a courtroom cell after judge Najib al-Qaderi sentenced him to
death. "There are no human rights in the world, except for the Americans.
All the Muslims in the world are being used to serve American interests."
The United States announced al-Nashiri's arrest in 2002. He was detained
in the United Arab Emirates and transferred to American custody. U.S.
officials believe he is a close associate of Saudi-born bin Laden, who is
believed to have masterminded the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
In addition to the Cole attack, al-Nashiri is suspected of helping direct
the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
The six men were all charged with belonging to al-Qaida and playing
various roles in the attack on the Cole, which was carried out by suicide
bombers Ibrahim al-Thawr and Abdullah al-Misawa, both Yemenis, who rammed
an explosives-laden boat into the destroyer.
"The evidence obtained by the court affirms the collaboration of the
defendants in the case ... which harmed the country, its reputation and
threatened its social stability and security," judge al-Qaderi told the
court before issuing his sentences.
Al-Qaderi sentenced Fahd al-Qasa to 10 years in jail for filming the
bombing, which left a gaping hole in the side of the destroyer, which was
later repaired and returned to service.
The court has heard that al-Qasa had traveled to Afghanistan in 1997 to
train at an al-Qaida terrorist camp, but it was unclear how long he spent
there before returning to Yemen, a tribal-dominated country located at the
southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula.
Maamoun Msouh received an 8-year prison term for delivering money used in
preparing and executing the attack and playing a close role in assisting
al-Badawi.
Ali Mohamed Saleh and Murad al-Sirouri were both sentenced to 5 years in
prison for forging identification documents for al-Misawa, one of the
suicide bombers.
All the men sentenced on Wednesday are expected to appeal their sentences
within 15 days, according to al-Badawi's brother.
Yemen, the ancestral home of bin Laden, cracked down on militant groups
aligned itself with the U.S.-led war on terror following the Sept. 11,
2001 attacks carried out by 19 Arab plane hijackers on New York and
Washington.
The United States has since provided equipment to Yemen's military to beef
up port and border controls and trained Yemeni security forces to battle
militants in this country, which has long been known for tolerating
Islamic extremists.
(source: Associated Press)
