Shame on Saudi: Contrast poor Somali's to the British accused bombers

[General Duke]

The Somali’s for what ever reason got their head chopped of, the long arm of the law indeed reaches those who commit crimes under “Shariah†or Saudi law in the land of the two Mosques criminals get punished right?

 

Here is another side to the law of the just Saudi Arabians...

 

Time line of the British Story

[General Duke]

 

one of the men being shown in Saudi TV confessing to his crime...

 

It centred on a bombing campaign in which several Westerners died and which the Saudi authorities alleged was the result of a feud between rival gangs dealing in illicit alcohol.

 

But the families and even some of the victims, said that the facts did not add up and that Saudi Arabia had been using the men as scapegoats to explain away terror attacks on foreign nationals.

 

 

 

Sandy Mitchel was sentanced to death [ was his head choped of?]

 

On 4 February 2001

three men appeared on Saudi television confessing to their part in the bombing campaign.

 

Alexander 'Sandy' Mitchell, an anaesthetic technician from Kirkintilloch, near Glasgow, William Sampson, a marketing consultant from Canada but who has British citizenship, and Belgian doctor Ralf Schyvens did not explain the motive for the attacks and looked nervous.

 

On 17 May 2001 Saudi Arabia's Deputy Interior Minister Prince Ahmed al-Saud told the Al-Okaz newspaper the government knew who was behind the bombings.

 

He said the attacks were linked to "individuals involved in illegal activities" but he refused to name them.

 

 

On 13 August 2001 three more British men appeared on Saudi television confessing to a role in the attacks.

[General Duke]

The British accused and charged win appeal to win compensation from the Saudi's

 

Appeal win for Saudi jail Britons

 

the man sentenced to death smiling outside the crown court- justice?

 

Mr Jones said he was delighted by the ruling

Four Britons who say they were tortured in Saudi jails have won their appeal against a High Court ruling that they could not claim damages in the UK.

A Saudi request for Ron Jones's damages claim to be struck out on the grounds of state immunity was granted in 2003.

 

Three other men accused over a bombing campaign were also told English courts had no jurisdiction over Saudi Arabia.

 

The Court of Appeal ruling could mean they can sue individuals but not the government, which denies the claims.

 

Mr Jones, from Crawley in West Sussex, said he was delighted with the ruling which he described as "monumental" and added that he would decide on his next move next week.

 

"It's taken me three years to get here. This is another step, another hurdle and we will fight on," said Mr Jones, who is orginally from Hamilton, in Lanarkshire.

 

Mr Mitchell and Mr Sampson had faced the threat of public beheading

 

A Briton and an American were killed in the bombing campaign in 2000, which the Saudi government blames on a "turf war" connected to expat alcohol dealers.

 

Others believed it was the work of Islamic militants.

 

Sandy Mitchell, from Glasgow, and British-Canadian Bill Sampson, from Penrith, faced the threat of public beheading and Mr Jones said he was drugged and beaten during his 67-day detention in 2001.

 

Along with Les Walker, from Merseyside, they have been trying to clear their names since arriving back in the UK after being granted "royal clemency".

 

Mr Jones said his injuries meant he was unable to work and last year sought £2.1m compensation at the High Court.

No jurisdiction

 

But High Court official Master Whitaker "struck out" the claim on the grounds of state immunity and later made the same ruling against the other three men.

 

While expressing his "greatest sympathy" for Mr Jones, Master Whitaker said the current state of law on immunity deprived him and the English courts of jurisdiction over the Saudi government in the case.

 

But on Thursday, three Court of Appeal judges ruled that the four men's cases be sent back to Master Whitaker for further argument.

 

It's a step in the right direction that they can't hide behind international law. The law applies to everyone

 

 

Sandy Mitchell

Lord Justice Mance said the courts should consider the evidence and "all relevant factors" at the same time as considering jurisdictional issues.

 

He said a foreign state cannot have any "absolute right to claim immunity in respect of civil claims against its officials for systematic torture, even committed outside the country" where the claim was filed.

 

But he said he did not think the ruling would mean England would become a "forum of choice" for torture claims across the world.

 

Solicitor Geoffrey Bindman said his clients had been subjected to torture while accused of a murder they did not commit.

 

He said: "So far, the Saudi government has not accepted responsibility for the actions of their officials. It must now do so."

 

Mr Mitchell added:"It's a step in the right direction that they can't hide behind international law. The law applies to everyone."

[Haddad]

You're too late to jump on the wagon. Your thread will not generate enough replies, not because others have already started similar ones before you, but because you have chosen an indirect approach.

[General Duke]

Torture case Britons free to sue Saudis

 

Ruling ends immunity in civil courts for all overseas abusers

 

David Pallister

Friday October 29, 2004

The Guardian

 

Torturers in foreign countries can be sued for damages in the English courts, the court of appeal said yesterday in a judgment hailed by civil rights lawyers as a historic victory.

Four Britons who claim they were tortured in Saudi Arabia were given the right to pursue their cases against named Saudi officials. But the court ruled that the state of Saudi Arabia had immunity from civil proceedings.

 

Geoffrey Bindman, the lawyer for three of the men, called it "a tremendous judgment". It was "the civil equivalent to the Pinochet case", he said, referring to the former Chilean dictator whom the courts ruled could be prosecuted for torture.

 

He added: "Torturers can now be brought before civil and the criminal courts. The impact will be felt worldwide."

 

The case, before the Master of the Rolls, Lord Phillips, sitting with Lord Justice Mance and Lord Justice Neuberger, involved two separate appeals.

 

Ron Jones, an accountant, was kept in a Saudi detention centre for 67 days in 2001. He claims he was seized from his bed in hospital, where he was recovering from a bomb blast, and tortured into saying he planted the device. He said Lieutenant Colonel Abdul Aziz was the torturer.

 

The others, Sandy Mitchell, Les Walker, and Bill Sampson, a British-Canadian, were arrested over bomb attacks at the end of 2000, which, the Saudis claimed, were part of a turf war of western alcohol dealers.

 

The men say they were tortured into making confessions which were then broadcast on Saudi television. Mr Mitchell and Mr Sampson were sentenced to death but released last year. Besides trying to sue the policemen Major Ibrahim al-Dali and Lieutenant Khalid al-Saleh, they also named Colonel Mohamed al-Said, a jail governor and Prince Naif, the Saudi interior minister.

 

After the hearing Mr Jones said: "I am delighted with the ruling. I think that their lordships have made a monumental judgment. It's a magnificent step forward for [dealing with] human rights abusers."

 

Mr Mitchell said: "Obviously I'm pleased, not so much for the sake of ourselves but any other torture victims which Saudi Arabia might produce. It's a step in the right direction that they can't hide behind international law."

 

At a press conference Mr Sampson said: "This is a day I have dreamt about. For nearly four years, from the day they first began to abuse me, I have fought for this." He said he condemned the British government for its lack of support in pursuing their claims.

 

At the heart of the case was the compatibility of English law and the European convention on human rights, article six of which gives everyone legal redress before the courts.

 

Last July, Mr Jones's £2m claim against the Saudi government was struck out under the State Immunity Act 1978. The same ruling was applied to the other three men who wanted to proceed only against named individuals.

 

But the court of appeal judges ruled that it could "no longer be appropriate to give blanket effect to a foreign state's claim to state immunity ... in respect of a state official alleged to have committed acts of systematic torture".

 

The three judges dismissed Mr Jones's claim against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia but allowed the appeals of all four against the refusal to proceed against the individuals.

 

The case is now likely to go to the Lords.

[OG_Girl]

Seems uncle gave you a holiday or you taking break from defending him and his goverment

 

Salam

[bilan]

you can not compare somalis to europeans (british),they are white, christian, from powerful country. no government will dare to convict european or american citizens, i would not have any problem if saudi gov will apply their punishment to all people regardless of color,or country of orgin.

[NASSIR]

The case of six Britons released after more than two years in jail in Saudi Arabia, remains a murky one.

It centred on a bombing campaign in which several Westerners died and which the Saudi authorities alleged was the result of a feud between rival gangs dealing in illicit alcohol.

 

But the families and even some of the victims, said that the facts did not add up and that Saudi Arabia had been using the men as scapegoats to explain away terror attacks on foreign nationals.

 

The saga began at 1320 (0920 GMT) on 17 November 2000 when an explosion killed a Briton who was driving his four-wheel drive car through the Saudi capital Riyadh.

 

 

 

This case is typical to the charges made against the six Somalis, but as you all can see, their barbaric law wasn't even applied in fairness. As Billan said that you can't compare the two people and nations, she is circumstantially right in her conviction of the cruel punishment against Somalis.

 

Do we have to blame ourselves? Perhaps, the misery and plight of Somalis circulate in every Newspaper daily, therefore, the proportionality of these men's alleged crime with what has been happening in our country renders us vulnerable to their tyrants---Saudi Arabia

[LANDER]

Duke you should go post all these articles on that thread where people are defending the Saudi justice system like somebody had insulted their grand-mother.

[-Serenity-]

Duke. Keep it up. Maybe, just maybe, people will understand where you're coming from. I have no desire to start another battle with soomaali inyar oo dhiig ah laheyn.

 

Just dont loose hope if no1 replies - they just cant refute ur argument.

 

its another day...

[NGONGE]

Originally posted by LANDER:

Duke you should go post all these articles on that thread where people are defending the Saudi justice system like somebody had insulted their grand-mother.

They have insulted their grandmothers, saaxib. Do you read what’s written or do you just follow the crowd?

 

This issue is irrelevant and should not have created as much venom and anger as it did. In any case, we really have to be careful how we insult the Saudis. Our livelihood depends on them and we don’t want to go on upsetting them too much lest they ban our sheep again.

[wind.talker]

Originally posted by NGONGE:

quote:Originally posted by LANDER:

Duke you should go post all these articles on that thread where people are defending the Saudi justice system like somebody had insulted their grand-mother.

They have insulted their grandmothers, saaxib.

Who cares if their grandmothers get insulted? If folks wanna preach about Arabs I suggest they refer their ideas to the terrorist TV network of Qatar. I'm surprised the Americans haven't shut down that piece of journalistic garbage yet. What this hypocritical, un-Islamic, White boy-loving Saudi regime did to those 6 Somalis was plain wrong - and some people won't admit that because they have 'blood ties' to the Arab victims of America's diplomatic doggystyle!

[Garyaqaan2]

Duke. Keep it up. Maybe, just maybe, people will understand where you're coming from. I have no desire to start another battle with soomaali inyar oo dhiig ah laheyn.

 

Just dont loose hope if no1 replies - they just cant refute ur argument.

 

its another day..

we are here to replay Mr Duke

 

 

I though My sis OG_girl only gabar carabiya ah I was wrong we have haddad