Bahrain jails 9 for 20 years for policeman kidnap

May 19, 2011

DUBAI — A special security court in Bahrain has sentenced nine people to 20 years in prison each after it convicted them of abducting a policeman, state news agency BNA reported Thursday.

"The Lower National Safety Court sentenced nine defendants accused of kidnapping one policeman to 20 years in prison," according to an English-language statement on BNA that did not give further details.

Among those sentenced was Sheikh Mohammed Habib al-Safaf, a Shiite cleric who had previously been arrested along with 22 other activists and charged with terrorism.

The group was freed under a royal pardon in February after the outbreak of protests calling for democratic reforms in Bahrain.

The court was set up under the state of national safety, a lower level of emergency law declared by King Hamad in mid-March, a day before an all-out crackdown on a month-long, Shiite-dominated protest movement demanding political reforms.

Defendants have the right to appeal the court's rulings within 15 days.

Last month, authorities said that 405 detainees have been referred to national safety courts, of whom 312 had been released.

The National Safety Appeals Court last month sentenced four Shiites to death and three others to jail for life for killing two policemen by running them over with cars during the protests.

Their case has drawn condemnation from Amnesty International, which urged Bahrain to halt the executions.

In a statement released on Thursday, Amnesty also condemned the conviction of a number of other activists it said were sentenced to between one and four years in jail earlier this week.

"These trials and convictions represent yet further evidence of the extent to which the rights to freedom of speech and assembly are now being denied in Bahrain," Malcolm Smart, Amnesty's Middle East and north Africa director, said in the statement.

It also said that leading Bahraini activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja had said in court that he was threatened with rape by police after refusing to record a taped apology to the king.

"The Bahraini authorities must immediately launch an independent investigation into Abdulhadi al-Khawaja's torture allegations and bring to justice any officials responsible for torture or other ill-treatment," Smart said.

Nine policemen were hurt on Tuesday when a car hit them as they were dispersing a protest in a Bahraini Shiite village, BNA state news agency said.

Four of the policemen sustained critical injuries in the attack that took place in Nuwaidrat, south of Manama, said BNA quoting a police official.

Bahraini authorities have said 24 people were killed during the month-long unrest, most of them demonstrators.

Copyright © 2011 AFP. All rights reserved.

Somaliland president pardons 751 prisoners

Abdi Hajji Hussein
Hargeisa, Somaliland, Somalia
May 19, 2011

“I would like inmates in the detention center of the country to share with us this festival and resume their normal life,” the president said.

As part of a celebration of its declaration of secession from Somalia two decades ago, the Somaliland president Wednesday night announced he had pardoned 751 prisoners.

Ahmed Mohamoud Silanyo, the leader of the self-declared republic, made the announcement a ceremony marking the 20th anniversary of independence from Somalia at the capital, Hargeisa.

“I would like inmates in the detention center of the country to share with us this festival and resume their normal life,” the president said.

He urged all prisoners, who will be freed soon, not commit again the crimes that caused them to be jailed.

General Mohamed Hussein Hirane, in charge of Somaliland jails, said that inmates charged with terrorism, piracy, armed robbery, rape and those serving life terms are not part in the president’s pardon.

Hirane added that the pardoned prisoners will be unchained in the days to come, according the president’s decree.

Recent reports said that individuals held on terrorism-related charges had been pardoned by the Somaliland leader.

However, Mohamed Mohamoud Abdillahi, a Somaliland officer, told the BBC Somali Service that the president has ordered the release of two clerics who were convicted for terrorism charges and sentenced to several years of jail after pressure from local elders.

Sheikh Mohamed Sheikh and Isma’il Muse Ali were arrested in 2003 by security forces after they were accused of planting mines near the state house, according to Abdillahi.

All these developments come as Somaliland seeks recognition from world countries and the United Nations.

Source: All Headline News (AHN).
Link: http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/90048958?Somaliland%20president%20pardons%20751%20prisoners.

Flotilla group calls for UN escort, a 'stunt' says Israel

Thursday, May 19, 2011
FADIL ALİRIZA
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

As a new aid convoy to Gaza readies to sail at the end of June, organizers say they are willing to have their cargo inspected and their ships escorted by international observers. Israel dismisses the move as a 'publicity stunt,' while supporters of the flotilla in the EU have questioned the legal necessity of such an escort.

Organizers of the Turkish branch of the aid flotilla set to leave for Gaza at the end of June have said they are willing to have their cargo inspected and their ships escorted by international observers.

Israel, however, has dismissed the move as a “publicity stunt,” while supporters of the flotilla in the European Union have questioned the legal necessity of such an escort.

“We are ready to talk with everybody. Already we have started these kinds of visits for the European Parliament, for the United Nations to make some solution,” Hüseyin Oruç, an administrative board member of the Humanitarian Relief Foundation, or İHH, told the Hürriyet Daily News in an interview Tuesday.

“All these boats can be checked by the U.N., or the European Parliament’s commissions. We are ready to show all the details of our preparation,” he said. “They can check [the boats] in the ports, they can check on international waters, they can guide us, they can guide the distribution of all items in Gaza. It’s open to all international mediators.”

An Israeli official dismissed the proposal as a “publicity stunt,” saying that Israel is always willing to accept, process and transmit Gaza-bound aid.

“That obviously won’t happen,” an Israeli official speaking on condition of anonymity told the Daily News. “All the international players, [U.N. chief] Ban Ki-moon, [EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs] Catherine Ashton have all called the move provocative.”

The İHH is organizing the Mavi Marmara and an additional cargo ship as the Turkish part of what will be a 15-boat aid flotilla. On its voyage to Gaza last year, the Mavi Marmara was attacked by Israeli forces who boarded the ship and killed eight Turks and one Turkish-American onboard.

Last week, a group of American congressional representatives sent a letter to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan asking him to discourage the flotilla from “provoking a confrontation” with Israel in a bid to “save lives.” The Turkish government’s response so far has been that the letter was incorrectly directed to them, as the flotilla is being organized by civilian, nongovernmental organizations that the government does not control.

The İHH, responding to the letter, echoed the Turkish government response, saying that the group had no contact with the Turkish government, but added that Israel was in fact the party that the U.S. Congress needed to address to avoid another crisis.

“Also we are asking all these congresspeople, if you are looking for the solution, don’t ask the prime minister of Turkey. Why are you not asking the Prime Minister of Israel? They need to talk with [Benjamin] Netanyahu,” Oruç said.

Regarding the possibility of an EU parliamentary commission escorting the flotilla, a spokesman for the Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats, the party with the second largest representation in the EU Parliament, said the party has been supportive of the flotilla, but had not seen any proposal regarding a European escort.

“I question the necessity” of an international escort for the ship, said Tony Robinson, head of press and communications for the alliance.

International participation

This year the Mavi Marmara will have 500 people onboard, 400 of whom will be of nationalities other than Turkish, Oruç said. The remaining 100 will be Turks, of whom 50 will be journalists.

“On the first [Mavi Marmara aid trip] there were 38 nationalities; on the second flotilla it will be more coverage. About 100 nationalities will be on the boat. Only a very limited number of Turkish people will be on the Mavi Marmara,” Oruç told the Daily News.

Those on the ship will be mostly from the media and “representatives of societies” and local communities, he said.

The İHH has also sent two aid flotillas to Libya in recent weeks, one to Misrata, besieged by Col. Moammar Gadhafi’s forces, and one to rebel-held Benghazi.

According to Oruç, “all international forces” involved in NATO operations in Libya supported the İHH flotilla to these besieged cities – something he said indicated a double standard imposed on the İHH in its attempt to distribute aid.

“Gaza people have the same right as Misrata people,” Oruç said.

The İHH was scheduled to address members of the media at a press conference Friday morning.

Source: Hürriyet.
Link: http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=gaza-flotilla-seeks-un-escort-as-israel-dismisses-move-as-8216stunt8217-2011-05-19.