Post by CCADP on Aug 30, 2005 21:38:26 GMT -5
Aug,30,2005-Somali prosecutor seeks death sentence in trial
HARGEISA, Somalia (Reuters) - Prosecutors in the self-declared republic of Somaliland on Tuesday asked a regional court to sentence to death 10 people suspected of killing aid workers between 2002-2004.
The 10 suspects were accused of killing award-winning Italian aid worker Annalena Tonelli in October 2003, a British teaching couple Richard Eyeington and his wife Enid in the same month, and a visiting Kenyan aid worker in March 2004.
At the close of hearings, Somaliland's prosecutor-general Hussein Dhere said the penal code provided for the death penalty for the accused who he called terrorists.
But defence lawyers urged the court to dismiss the prosecutor's stand, arguing it was against Islamic Sharia law to pass a death sentence on the defendants.
"As the defendants have admitted to committing two of the crimes they are accused of, the court should be lenient in its judgment," said Mohamed Jama Abdi, one of the defence lawyers.
The court has held over 20 hearings in which it received testimony from 33 witnesses from the prosecution and four from the defence. Judge Abdirahman Hayanhe said he would give his verdict on September 25.
The suspects are also accused of robbing a Somaliland businessman near the Ethiopian-Somaliland border and the attempted ambush of a World Food Programme vehicle in Hargeisa in 2002.
Security was tight around the court with police manning all roads leading to the court. Only journalists and relatives of the defendants were allowed inside the court.
Somaliland declared its independence from Somalia in 1991 and is a relatively stable enclave which held its first multi-party election in 2003.
On Tuesday, the opposition Justice and Welfare Party kicked off campaigns for a parliamentary election scheduled for late September promising free primary education and health services.
HARGEISA, Somalia (Reuters) - Prosecutors in the self-declared republic of Somaliland on Tuesday asked a regional court to sentence to death 10 people suspected of killing aid workers between 2002-2004.
The 10 suspects were accused of killing award-winning Italian aid worker Annalena Tonelli in October 2003, a British teaching couple Richard Eyeington and his wife Enid in the same month, and a visiting Kenyan aid worker in March 2004.
At the close of hearings, Somaliland's prosecutor-general Hussein Dhere said the penal code provided for the death penalty for the accused who he called terrorists.
But defence lawyers urged the court to dismiss the prosecutor's stand, arguing it was against Islamic Sharia law to pass a death sentence on the defendants.
"As the defendants have admitted to committing two of the crimes they are accused of, the court should be lenient in its judgment," said Mohamed Jama Abdi, one of the defence lawyers.
The court has held over 20 hearings in which it received testimony from 33 witnesses from the prosecution and four from the defence. Judge Abdirahman Hayanhe said he would give his verdict on September 25.
The suspects are also accused of robbing a Somaliland businessman near the Ethiopian-Somaliland border and the attempted ambush of a World Food Programme vehicle in Hargeisa in 2002.
Security was tight around the court with police manning all roads leading to the court. Only journalists and relatives of the defendants were allowed inside the court.
Somaliland declared its independence from Somalia in 1991 and is a relatively stable enclave which held its first multi-party election in 2003.
On Tuesday, the opposition Justice and Welfare Party kicked off campaigns for a parliamentary election scheduled for late September promising free primary education and health services.