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Eritreans
jailed for 5 years but will appeal
ECMS
- 01 Sep 2004
On
Wednesday the 1st September 2004, 15 Eritreans who are accused of
hijacking a Libyan plane, were sentenced to 5 years in prison by a court
in North Khartoum. The presiding judge was Mawlana Mohamed Munir Mohamed
Hassan.
At
the end of this presentation, the prosecutor Mawlana Mohamed Farid Hassan
described what happened as a clear message to the Eritrean Government. The
fact that Eritrean citizens do not want to go back to their country,
should get the attention of human rights and other concerned organisations.
He added that "such incidents, (Eritreans not wanting to go back to
their country) is on the increase, but this doesn't mean the hijackers are
innocent".
On
the defence side, there were a long list of pro-bono (volunteers) lawyers
represented in the court by Ustaz Mohmoud Shazely, Ustaz Satie Mohammed
Al-haj and Ustaz Adil Abas.
Ustaz
Mahmoud Shazely said that they would appeal within the time limit. He also
believed that, the accused are innocent and that there were evidences that
were not presented to court. He added that they took on the case on the
31/08/04 and there was no enough time to go through the details of the
case. Considering the danger they were going to face upon arrival in
Eritrea, he said, the defence is confident the accused will be
acquitted.
The
trial attracted many Sudanese journalists and members of the Eritrean
opposition groups.
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