Oct. 6
LIBYA/BULGARIA:
PACE Calls on Libya to Release Bulgarians on Death Row
A draft resolution, expected to be adopted Thursday by the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe, will call on the Libyan authorities to
release the death-sentenced Bulgarian medics and a Palestinian doctor and
secure a fair trial.
The resolution recommends European countries to assign top priority to
their bilateral relations with Libya.
The document was prepared after Tony Lloyd, Rapporteur of the Committee on
Legal Affairs and Human Rights, presented a report on human rights
violations in Libya and the inhuman treatment of Bulgarian medical staff.
The 5 Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor were sentenced to death a
year ago on charges of intentionally causing an AIDS outbreak at a
Benghazi children's hospital, sparkling cries of foul from Bulgaria and
its allies the United States and the European Union. The court ignored
world-renowned AIDS experts testimony that the outbreak started before the
medics began working at the clinic.
(source: Sofia News Agency)
PAKISTAN:
Tribesman faces execution for 'marrying' boy
A Pashtun tribesman who fell in love with and "married" a 16-year-old boy
faces summary execution in Pakistan after his "unholy union" provoked
outrage among Islamic leaders.
The "marriage" between Liaquat Ali, 42, and teenager Markeen Afridi was
conducted with all the ceremony of a conventional tribal wedding,
including a troupe of singers and a feast.
But guests who arrived at Nangrosa village in the Kyber Agency, 50 miles
north of Peshawar, said yesterday that they were scandalised to discover
that the "bride" was a boy.
Fazal Amin, 30, a local shopkeeper, said 200 people attended the wedding
last Monday, watching the "bride" arrive in costume on a white horse, as
tradition demands.
"I didn't know that Liaquat was going to marry a boy. When we discovered,
everyone was taken by surprise and many guests went back without eating
the traditional walima [feast]," he said
Local reports said the boy's family, who are extremely poor, had agreed to
the union after Liaquat, an Afghan refugee, paid a dowry of 40,000
Pakistani rupees (380) - a huge sum.
However, as news of the scandal leaked out, Afridi tribal elders convened
an emergency jirga (tribal council) yesterday to decide how to respond to
the "immoral and shameful act".
A tribal elder, Haji Namdar, recently returned from a year-long pilgrimage
to Saudi Arabia to impose a Taliban-style morality law on the area, some
of the wildest and least accessible territory in Pakistan.
Millat Khan Afridi, 56, an elder of the Afridi tribe, said he would be
advocating the death penalty for the pair because they had held up the
reputation of Islam and the tribe to ridicule and contempt.
It is also common practice in such honour disputes for tribal delegations
to march on the homes of the offending persons and set them ablaze as a
warning to others.
"The jirga will reach its conclusion soon," Millat Khan said.
"There are 2 possible punishments for them: either they will be killed or
will be expelled from the area with a heavy financial fine against them. I
say they deserve death."
(source: The (UK) Independent)
INDONESIA:
Balinese to protest execution delay
Balinese protesters are demanding the immediate execution of the
ringleaders of the 1st Bali bombings in 2002 as anger rises on the island
following last weekend's suicide attacks.
A big protest is being planned for Wednesday next week - the third
anniversary of the blasts at the Sari Club and Paddy's Bar in Kuta, which
killed 202 people, including 88 Australians.
A mobile phone text message is being widely distributed around the
traditionally Hindu island urging Balinese people to demonstrate outside
Kerobokan Prison.
The prison is home to death row bombers Amrozi bin Nurhasyim, Mukhlas and
operation commander Imam Samudra - all Muslims militants from neighbouring
Java and members of the Jemaah Islamiah terror group.
They were tried in 2003 and condemned to death by firing squad. But no
date has been set for their execution.
"If you love peace in Bali and are staying in Bali, please join a demo to
ask for Amrozi and his friends to be executed immediately," the text says
in Indonesian.
"The government is not serious about handling terrorism. Only this way can
we open its eyes."
The demonstration is slated for 4pm on October 12, the message said,
urging each recipient to pass it on to at least 10 friends.
"Indonesia declares war against terrorists," the message said.
Many Balinese fear repeated terror attacks - carried out by outsiders -
have endangered the island's tourism industry as well as the jobs it
provides.
Saturday's three blasts killed 22 people, including four Australians and
the 3 suicide bombers.
The majority of the dead and wounded were Indonesians, including many
Balinese.
The three 2002 bombers are regarded as a potentially rich source of
information about Muslim extremism and have already been quizzed about
Saturday's attacks.
Bali police chief General Made Mangku Pastika had refused to say whether
their executions would be delayed indefinitely so that they could be
questioned again if more bombings hit Indonesia.
"We don't know that. We cannot decide now," Pastika said.
The younger brother of Amrozi - so-called repentant bomber Ali Imron who
is serving a life sentence - is also helping the police investigation in
Jakarta, along with former JI brigade commander Nasir Abbas.
5 men being hunted by police after the latest triple suicide bombings are
said to have been involved with Samudra's armed gang before the 2002
attacks.
(source: AAP)
