March 15
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES:
UAE court overturns death sentences of Briton and Syrian for drug dealing
Tears of joy flowed in court today when two young men’s death sentences for
drug dealing were commuted to four years in prison.
Relatives of MB, 19, from Syria, and NL, 21, from the UK, wept and cheered as
the verdict was announced – and there were tears among even the most
experienced defence lawyers, and policewomen. The Syrian teenager’s mother
fainted briefly, before coming to and hugging the other young man’s mother.
Hugging the teenager’s mother, his lawyer Fayza Moussa said: “I told you we
will look back at these days and laugh.” His sister said: “See, I wore red
today to celebrate.” Ms Moussa, the boy’s other lawyer Ahmad Al Othali and
their teams all burst into tears.
“I never saw her cry about a case until today,” said one of Ms Moussa’s
assistants. “I’ve worked 12 years in the office and there are only two cases I
will never forget. One of them is this.”
The Briton’s mother was similarly overjoyed, hugging members of the crowd.
The Criminal Court had sentenced the two to death after finding them guilty of
selling Dh1,500 worth of cannabis to an undercover policeman in a park.
Today the Appeals Court cleared them of drug dealing, but found them guilty of
using the drug and sentenced them to four years in prison then deportation.
The verdict was welcomed by the Briton’s lawyer Mohammed Al Azazi.
“This verdict was expected,” Mr Al Azazi said. “This proves the justice system
in the UAE is fair and just.”
He said the defence was considering an appeal against the four-year jail term
but was waiting to see the draft verdict.
Neither of the two young men was in court to hear the verdict. After it was
read out, the Syrian’s mother called her son and told him: “Good news, good
news, congratulations.”
Mother and son both broke out in tears as a court official took the phone from
her and told the teenager: “It’s OK, habibi, your mother is nervous now.
Congratulations.”
Outside the court, the Syrian’s mother said: “I’m happy, that’s all. He is my
son. I don’t know how I will celebrate.
“I didn’t hear what the judge said at first. I didn’t hear the ‘acquitted and
cancelling death sentence’ part, I only heard ‘death sentence’ so I almost
fainted and started telling everyone to leave me alone.
“Then I saw everyone happy.”
She described her son as “very ethical and well mannered” and said he had never
been in trouble with the law before.
When asked if she believed her son had used cannabis, she said: “If I find out
he did, I will kill him.”
As she was speaking, her son called back. “Welcome, welcome, I’m standing
outside, everyone is coming to me and saying congratulations,” she told him.
After the phone call, the mother said she had been speaking to the doctor who
had delivered her son at the Corniche Hospital.
“She asked me, ‘What is worse, death or this court case?’ I told her, this
case. If he had died I would have got over it eventually but this case I will
never forget.”
Now, however, she has changed her mind because she can “see my child with my
own eyes”.
She recalled the day the death sentence was issued by the Criminal Court. She
said she remained strong and told her son to be tough.
“I told him, ‘Don’t be scared. No one chops off the head except he who created
it’,” she said.
“I got to know the true hearts of people from this experience… many members of
the legal system stood by my side.
“Everyone knew about this case and kept asking me how it was going – the baker,
butcher, watchman … everyone.”
*******************
Nepalese family's five-month wait for son to be freed from UAE jail
A family is waiting for their son to be released and deported from a Sharjah
jail five months after they paid Dh42,300 in blood money.
Durga Sunar, 30, was sentenced to death for murdering compatriot Ganesh Basnet,
25, in 2009. Both were working in Sharjah illegally.
Sunar's family are now waiting anxiously for his return.
"We raised the money with great difficulty," said his uncle, Krishna Bahadur,
from Kathmandu.
He said Sunar's mother, Man Kumari Sunar, who had appealed to her government to
save her son from the death penalty, was counting the days until she saw him.
"She is very old. She is now just waiting to see Durga," said Mr Bahadur. "She
works as a helper in people's houses to make a living and is anxious to see him
after so long."
Because both families are so poor, the victim's relatives asked for
significantly less than the Dh200,000 in blood money usually awarded by the
courts.
They initially wanted Dh84,500 but when this smaller amount still proved too
great, the Basnet family agreed to accept just a million rupees, or Dh42,300.
Mrs Sunar petitioned Nepal's foreign ministry last August to help raise the
funds. Since both men were from Nepal, their country's government stepped in to
help, opening a bank account and donating Dh4,225.
The Sunar family also appealed to the overseas Nepalese community for further
funds.
"We raised the money through the internet from the Nepalese community in
Australia, Singapore, UK and Hong Kong," said Mr Bahadur.
After Sunar's family paid the money last year, Mr Basnet's relatives gave a
pardon letter.
"They agreed to the pardon because they felt they had already lost their son
and at least ours should live," Mr Bahadur said.
The Nepalese Embassy in Abu Dhabi said it had submitted the letter to the
Government.
"We have delivered the required documents to the UAE Foreign Ministry," said
Lok BP Chhetri, first secretary at the mission. "We are following up with the
concerned authorities.
"Murder is a serious offence and his release will take some time. It is a
domestic judicial matter and depends on the UAE's procedures. By end of next
week we will be able to know if the case has been taken up and where it is at.
We are in touch with Durga Sunar."
The embassy did not know how Mr Basnet was killed or when the death sentence
was handed down.
It was notified by UAE authorities in March 2010 but it took time for the
Nepalese government to track the two families down.
"The case was complicated because both men were not legally working in the
UAE," said Mr Chhetri. "We are actively involved in the case and hope to get a
confirmation from Kathmandu in a couple of weeks."
The embassy said it would pay for the repatriation of Sunar.
"We will arrange for him to return home," a spokesman said. "But the important
thing is for him to be freed."
Mr Basnet's family yesterday said they hoped Sunar would be released quickly.
"I hope he can be freed soon by the UAE Government so he can return to his
family," said Bhakta Khanda, the victim's cousin. "We agreed to the one million
rupees since Durga's family wasn't capable of paying more.
"We convinced his parents to accept whatever they could get. Now the family is
able to make ends meet with the blood money since Ganesh was the only earning
member."
(source for both: The National)
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