October 11, 2009 (KHARTOUM) (AP)— The mother of a US Agency for International Development (USAID) employee killed in early 2008 insisted that the death penalty be carried out against the four men convicted of killing him.
John Granville and his Sudanese driver Abdel-Rahman Abbas Rahma were shot dead on 2008 New Years Eve by men believed to be belonging to an Islamic militant group Ansar al-Tawhid which claimed responsibility for the killing.
In the letter read out in Arabic by a prosecutor on Sunday and carried out by Agence France Presse (AFP), Granville wrote: “I say, with a torn heart, there is no option before me: a death sentence is the only sentence that safeguards the lives of others from those who killed my beloved son”.
In a change of heart, the family of Rahma has pardoned the killers last August in line with the Islamic Shari’a law which affords other alternatives to capital punishment which includes them that option or they can request blood money as compensation.
In a related development the convicted men dismissed their defense team and alleged that confessions were extorted out of them.
“This case is a political trial and we release our defense team," Abdel-Baset al-Hajj Hassan said, speaking on behalf of all four, Reuters reported.
Another, Mohaned Osman, called Granville a "kafir," or disbeliever, and said: “The Americans killed Muslims in Iraq, Afghanistan and even in Darfur”.
The court has been adjourned to hear petitions from Rahma’s wife on whether she will waive the death penalty.
Even if Rahma’s wife pardoned the accused, the death penalty for Granville’s murder would most likely still stand, said one of the defense team, Adil Abdel-Ghani told Reuters.
Both victims were killed one day after US President George W. Bush signed a law encouraging divestment from companies which do business in Sudan in an effort to up economic pressure on Khartoum over Darfur.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Mother of slain US diplomat in Sudan demands death penalty
October 11, 2009 (KHARTOUM) (AP)— The mother of a US Agency for International Development (USAID) employee killed in early 2008 insisted that the death penalty be carried out against the four men convicted of killing him.
John Granville and his Sudanese driver Abdel-Rahman Abbas Rahma were shot dead on 2008 New Years Eve by men believed to be belonging to an Islamic militant group Ansar al-Tawhid which claimed responsibility for the killing.
In the letter read out in Arabic by a prosecutor on Sunday and carried out by Agence France Presse (AFP), Granville wrote: “I say, with a torn heart, there is no option before me: a death sentence is the only sentence that safeguards the lives of others from those who killed my beloved son”.
In a change of heart, the family of Rahma has pardoned the killers last August in line with the Islamic Shari’a law which affords other alternatives to capital punishment which includes them that option or they can request blood money as compensation.
In a related development the convicted men dismissed their defense team and alleged that confessions were extorted out of them.
“This case is a political trial and we release our defense team," Abdel-Baset al-Hajj Hassan said, speaking on behalf of all four, Reuters reported.
Another, Mohaned Osman, called Granville a "kafir," or disbeliever, and said: “The Americans killed Muslims in Iraq, Afghanistan and even in Darfur”.
The court has been adjourned to hear petitions from Rahma’s wife on whether she will waive the death penalty.
Even if Rahma’s wife pardoned the accused, the death penalty for Granville’s murder would most likely still stand, said one of the defense team, Adil Abdel-Ghani told Reuters.
Both victims were killed one day after US President George W. Bush signed a law encouraging divestment from companies which do business in Sudan in an effort to up economic pressure on Khartoum over Darfur.
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