Nov. 4
BULGARIA/LIBYA:
Sofia Skeptical on Qaddafi's No-Death-Penalty Appeal
For about 6 months Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi has made 3 statements
urging for the abolishment of death penalty in Libya, but it has so far
been only words, Bulgarian Justice Minister Anton Stankov said.
I will take his word for what it is, only after I see it applied to acting
legislation, he replied to journalists asked to comment Qaddafi's desire
to scrap the death penalty in his country reportedly declared several days
ago.
Meanwhile, according to Paul Haviland, Muammar Qaddafi's appeal had lack
sincerity and was in no case showing mercy for the Bulgarian nurses.
Haviland, who heads a charity fund for the Bulgarian medics sentenced to
death in Libya, suggested that the statement of Libyan leader, so widely
reported and commented, was simply "a smart manipulation of media and
public opinion in Libya".
(source: Sofia News Agency)
INDIA:
6 persons awarded death sentence
A fast track court here has given death sentence to 6 persons in a murder
case.
Ramji Saw, Butar Saw, Kailash Saw, Dasharath Saw, Lalan Saw and Suresh Saw
were accused of killing 6 persons, 2 of them children, at Madhna village
in Palamau district in 1997.
The prosecution said on September 19, 1997 8 villagers attacked the house
of one Bepuri Devi and killed her along with 5 others on September 19,
1997.
(source: UNI)
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Death sentence for Pakistani in 97 blast case
A city court sentenced a Pakistani national, Mohammed Hussain, to death on
Wednesday for causing a bomb blast in the city in 1997. The blast had
occurred in a Blueline bus and had left four persons dead and 24 injured.
Additional sessions judge O P Saini found Hussain alias Zulfiqar alias
Abdul Hassan guilty and termed the incident as "rarest of rare." He also
imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on the convict. Hussain is a native of
Jindrakhar village at Okara in Pakistan.
On December 30, 1997, a bomb had exploded at Rampura near Punjabi Bagh in
west Delhi in a Blueline bus plying between Ajmeri Gate and Nangloi. The
blast left 28 people injured of which 4 succumbed to their injuries later
in a hospital, the police said.
Hussain was arrested by the police on March 21, 1998. A city court,
however, discharged the other accused in the case - Abdul Rehman, Azhar
Ahmed and Maqsood Ahmed - for want of evidence. Another accused in the
case, Abdul Karim alias Tunda is absconding.
In 1997, the city was rocked by 22 serial blasts. The explosions had
occurred at Punjabi Bagh, Saraswat Vihar, Jahangirpuri, ITO, Kingsway
Camp, Daryaganj, Civil Lines, Paschim Vihar, Lahore Gate, Samaypur Badli,
Kashmiri Gate, Roop Nagar and Chandni Chowk. 2 explosions had occurred
each at Subzi Mandi, Karol Bagh, Sadar Bazar and 3 took place at Kotwali,
the police added. The man accused of causing the 2 blasts at Karol Bagh,
Mohammed Amir Khan was earlier sentenced to 10 years rigorous imprisonment
for one blast case and life imprisonment for the other by another city
court.
(source: The Times of India)
INDONESIA:
Indonesia's Bashir Mocks Terror Charges in Court
Indonesian Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir told a court on Thursday his
terrorism trial was a joke and mocked prosecutors by challenging them to
file more bombing charges against him so the "thrill" was complete.
Delivering a scathing defense statement, Bashir accused the world's most
populous Muslim nation of bending to President Bush. He earlier said he
hoped God would punish the United States for Bush's re-election.
Prosecutors have accused Bashir of leading an al Qaeda-linked militant
network and inciting others to carry out attacks such as a suicide bombing
at the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Jakarta in August last year that killed 12
people.
"I'm being charged with the Marriott bombing despite the fact I had been
in jail for a year. I did not even know there was a hotel called the
Marriott," said Bashir, 66, wearing his trademark white skull cap and a
checked scarf.
"These charges are jokes. To make the charges more colorful I suggest the
bombing at the KPU, the bombing in Kuningan and the bombing at the
Indonesian embassy in Paris be included so that the thrill is complete."
He later shed tears when reciting an Islamic prayer.
Indonesia has been hit by numerous bomb attacks in the past several years.
The most recent was a suicide bombing outside the Australian embassy in
the Jakarta suburb of Kuningan in September which killed 10 people.
A small blast hit the election commission, or KPU, in July, and there was
a similar small explosion outside the Indonesian embassy in Paris last
month.
LEGAL FICTION
Bashir's lawyers called for the court to drop the trial due to what they
see as shortcomings in legal technicalities, and described the charges as
"manipulative legal fiction."
"The content of the charges was not based on real fact," said Mohammad
Assegaf, one of Bashir's lawyers, reading the 100-page defense statement.
"Therefore, overall this legal fiction made up by the prosecutors was a
series of imaginative stories linked to Abu Bakar Bashir."
Many see the trial that began last week as an early test of promises by
new President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to fight Islamic militancy.
Speaking to reporters before his trial resumed, Bashir said God would
respond to Bush's victory.
"... Maybe there will be a disaster in America because President Bush
keeps committing crimes. Unless he changes, God willing, there will be a
disaster," he said.
The trial was adjourned until Nov. 11.
Bashir was arrested shortly after bombs ripped through two nightclubs in
Bali in 2002, killing 202 people, but courts ruled charges brought under
the criminal code over his leadership of the Jemaah Islamiah network, seen
as the regional arm of al Qaeda, and links to earlier violence were
unproven.
He instead served 18 months for immigration violations but was re-arrested
once that sentence had been served.
Prosecutors have charged Bashir with leading Jemaah Islamiah in relation
to the Marriott and Bali attacks. Authorities have blamed Jemaah Islamiah
for both.
He could face the death penalty if found guilty.
Terrorism laws apply to the Marriott attack, while the criminal code
covers Bali. The terrorism laws were enacted after the Bali blasts and
cannot be applied retroactively.
Prosecutors have also said Bashir ordered members of Jemaah Islamiah to
disseminate statements from al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden calling for war
against Americans.
President Yudhoyono has pledged to protect Indonesia from terrorism, but
some Indonesians believe the United States is behind Bashir's second
trial. Two Islamist parties that support Yudhoyono in parliament have also
expressed sympathy for Bashir.
However, there is also growing revulsion at terror attacks, giving
Yudhoyono more room to get tougher, some analysts say.
(source: Reuters)
