Jordan mutilation case: 16 suspects charged with boy’s attempted murder
..
They chopped off his hands and gouged out his eyes in case that has shocked country
Published: October 17, 2020 16:11
Tawfiq Nasrallah, Staff Writer, Gulf News
Dubai: Jordan’s Public Prosecutor at the Grand Criminal Court has charged 16 individuals involved in the Zarqa Crime with attempted premeditated murder, kidnapping and causing permanent disability among other crimes, Jordan’s Petra news agency reported.
The prosecutor of the Criminal Court ordered all defendants to be held for 15 days pending further investigation into the crime which sparked a wide public outcry and calls for ensuring the perpetrators receive the maximum punishment enshrined in the law.
The victim, Saleh, had both his hands amputated and his eyes gauged out on October 13.
The case was referred to the Grand Criminal Court by the Public Prosecutor in Zarqa and investigations are underway. Judicial authorities have warned social media users against sharing a video of the assault.
King Abdullah II ordered the boy's transfer to Amman's King Hussein Medical Centre, where he has reportedly undergone eye surgery and treatment to fit prosthetics, and called for the strongest legal measures against those responsible.
Queen Rania termed the attack "an unspeakable atrocity in every respect".
"How can we undo this heinous crime? How can we mend your parents' shattered hearts? How can we keep our children safe from the brutality of criminals who lack the most basic morals?" she wrote on Facebook.
Prime Minister Bisher Khasawneh has visited the boy in hospital and said the case would be dealt with "firmly and according to the rule of law".
Which law? Sharia Law? Was Sharia Law the motivation for this atrocity to begin with?
Afghan-born ‘Swede of the year’ loses education & integration adviser jobs
over newly discovered anti-Semitic, homophobic posts
18 Oct 2020 01:34
FILE PHOTO: Hamid Zafar. © Keystone Press Agency / Maxim Thore
An Afghan refugee-turned-famous Swedish expert on education and integration, Hamid Zafar, has had his perfect public image ruined after a local newspaper discovered hateful comments he had been posting online under a pseudonym.
Zafar arrived in Sweden as a refugee child and rose to prominence as a symbol of successful integration. Brought up in what is being described as a “socially vulnerable” district of Gothenburg, the man took charge of a troubled local school and became known throughout Sweden simply as ‘Rector Hamid’.
His career has been on the rise ever since: between working at the Swedish Schools Inspectorate and giving lectures at Karlstad University, the man frequently appeared on Swedish media as a pundit. He was also an independent expert with the integration commission of the center-right Moderate Party.
Eventually, he received a prestigious ‘Swede of the Year’ award by the Swedish Focus magazine in 2018, and became the head of the Children and Education Department in the southern municipality of Mullsjo.
This week, however, journalists from the Dagens Nyheter (DN) suddenly uncovered the well-respected education expert’s ‘dark side,’ reporting that between 2011 and 2016 Zafar had anonymously been posting hateful comments online.
Zafar denounced his opponents as “Zionist dogs” in social media arguments, and criticized the distribution of a book about Holocaust in Swedish schools, arguing it would create “mass psychosis” and stuff students’ heads with an idea of “how terrible Holocaust was.”
In other comments and posts that have since been deleted, Zafar scolded the Swedish Lutheran Church for allowing homosexual marriages, and mocked Hazaras – an Afghan ethnic minority considered one of the most oppressed groups in Afghanistan.
The scandal prompted the Mullsjo authorities to immediately fire Zafar from his position as the Children and Education Department head. The municipality rushed to “distance itself from Hamid Zafar’s … views and statements” while calling the whole situation a “crisis of confidence.”
We have come to a conclusion that our confidence in Hamid Zafar has been so much damaged that it is now impossible for him to continue his work.
Zafar himself did not dispute DN’s findings and admitted he indeed wrote all those posts. He called them youthful indiscretions, even though he was between 28 and 33 years old at the time, and said the statements were made during a “destructive” period of his life.
Zafar claimed that he had “distanced himself from such opinions since then and left them behind.” He did not apologize, though, saying instead that those, who are without sin “are welcome to throw the first stone.”
Meanwhile, various organizations he cooperated with continue to cut ties with disgraced expert and terminate his contracts. His scheduled TV appearances have been cancelled and he lost his position as a columnist in the Swedish Goeteborgs Posten newspaper. The Moderate Party also advised him to “resign” from its integration commission.
Sweden's extraordinary efforts to integrate and welcome Muslims into their society is extremely naive and opens them up to ridicule, well-deserved ridicule. Swedish society has already deteriorated significantly and will continue to do so as the influence of Islam becomes more pronounced.
France to ‘strengthen’ control on funding of Islamist groups,
finance minister says after teacher killed in terrorist attack
18 Oct, 2020 13:24
People bring flowers to the Bois d’Aulne college after the attack in the Paris suburb of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, France, October 17, 2020. © Charles Platiau / Reuters
French Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire promised to “do better” in the oversight of Islamist entities, as the nation is left reeling after the shocking beheading of a school teacher by a terrorist.
Speaking on France 3 TV channel, Le Maire said that he will prepare “proposals to strengthen the control over financial flows” of Islamist groups. “There is a problem of financing a number of Islamist associations on which I think we can and must do better,” he said.
Le Maire’s statement came as the latest response to the brutal murder of middle school teacher Samuel Paty in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, outside Paris. On Friday, he was beheaded by an 18-year-old man of Chechen origin for allegedly showing his class a cartoon depicting Islam's prophet Mohammed as part of a lesson on freedom of expression. The suspect was shot dead during a standoff with police.
President Emmanuel Macron called Paty’s murder an “Islamist terrorist attack,” in which the perpetrator wanted to undermine the “values” of France.
On Saturday, Prime Minister Jean Castex promised that the government will develop measures for an “even stronger, faster and more effective response strategy when a teacher is subjected to threats.”
The solution, in my humble opinion, is to lock up all radicalized Muslims, if it can be proven they are radicalized, whether they have yet committed a crime or not. It is very often just a matter of time before something causes them to go berserk and start killing people. Radicalized Muslims are not sane, and society needs to be protected from the violently insane.
See Dr. Wafa Sultan's comment on 'Great Quotes', on the sidebar of my other blog.
France conducts more police ops after teacher’s murder, plans to dissolve
Muslim NGOs branded ‘enemies of republic’ – minister
19 Oct 2020 10:18
Floral tributes to Samuel Paty, the French teacher who was beheaded on the streets of a Paris suburb,
are seen at the Place de la Republique, in Lille, France, October 18, 2020. © Reuters / Pascal Rossignol
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin has vowed to crack down on “enemy” Muslim groups and extremism online in response to the gruesome murder of a middle school teacher, Samuel Paty.
“Arrests have been made since Sunday. Police operations have been underway since this morning, and will continue. There are very numerous and concern dozens of individuals,” Darmanin told Europe 1 radio on Monday. The authorities have launched more than 80 probes into the spread of hate online, he said.
Never has the government mobilized so many resources to fight Islamism
on social media
Darmanin said that around 50 Muslim groups will be inspected by the authorities this week. “Several of them, as per my proposal according to the president’s request, will be dissolved by the Council of Ministers.”
One of the groups in the crosshairs is the Collective Against Islamophobia in France (CCIF), a human rights NGO chronicling attacks on Muslims, according to its website. Darmanin linked the group to the parent who had “launched a ‘fatwa’ against the teacher.”
A certain number of elements allow us to believe that [this group]
is an enemy of the Republic
The minister said he will also ask for another Muslim NGO, BarakaCity, to be dissolved. Its founder, Idriss Sihamedi, was detained last week following an online harassment complaint by a media columnist.
A history and geography teacher, Paty was beheaded on October 16 for showing his class a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed as part of a lesson on freedom of expression. The suspect, an 18-year-old Chechen refugee, was shot dead in a standoff with police. The gruesome case sparked widespread outrage and massive demonstrations, with people carrying signs reading “I am Samuel” and “I am a teacher.”
Before Paty’s murder, a man claiming to be the parent of one of his students posted a video on social media in which he called the teacher a “thug” and said that he had filed a complaint against him. The man was later arrested along with several others, including the suspect’s relatives.
Journalist Zineb El Rhazoui accused the CCIF of participating in a “harassment campaign” against the slain teacher, and similar allegations were made by lawmaker Aurore Berge. The CCIF rejected these allegations as “false,” denying any ties to the case.
BarakaCity head Sihamedi, meanwhile, said that the dissolution of the group cannot happen “in the snap of a finger,” and would be “illegal,” because Darmanin is “not a king in an absolute monarchy.”
Domestic workers in Qatar continue to face abuse
Amnesty: System allows employers to treat workers not as human beings but as possessions
Is it the 'system', or the culture?
Published: October 20, 2020 12:40
Ramadan Al Sherbini, Correspondent, Gulf News
Long working hours with no proper rest emerged as one of the most common forms of abuse experienced by domestic workers in Qatar.
Cairo: Migrant domestic workers in Qatar suffer from extreme overwork, lack of rest, and abusive treatment, a rights group said Tuesday.
Amnesty International revealed the abuses in a report based on interviews with 105 women who had been employed as live-in domestic workers in Qatar.
The watchdog found that their rights were still being abused and violated despite alleged government labour reforms. Some women said they had been victims of serious crimes such as sexual assault with impunity for the abusers.
Long working hours with no proper rest emerged as one of the most common forms of abuse experienced by domestic workers.
According to their contracts, domestic workers should work no more than 10 hours a day, six days a week. This is already higher than standards set out by the International Labour Organisation, but most women Amnesty spoke to were working far more than this.
Ninety of the 105 interviewed women said they regularly worked more than 14 hours per day; 89 regularly worked seven days a week; and 87 had their passport confiscated by their employers. Half of the women worked more than 18 hours per day, and most had never had a single day off at all. Some also reported not being paid properly, while 40 women described being insulted, slapped or spat at, Amnesty said. One woman said she was treated “like a dog”.
At least 23 women to whom the watchdog spoke said they were not given enough food and felt hungry during their employment in Qatar. Some women also described sleeping in cramped rooms, in some cases on the floor or without air conditioning.
Accounts of poor living conditions highlight the Qatari authorities’ failure to conduct workplace inspections, Amnesty said in a statement.
A 45-year-old Filipino woman described how she had a car accident because she had only had two hours sleep: “I went to sleep at 1am, and at 3am the 17-year-old daughter woke me up asking me to go and buy her a Red Bull. Then at 5.30am I started my usual working day, washing the car and preparing to drive the kids to school … at 10pm I crashed the car into the wall,” the woman was quoted as saying.
“The overall picture is of a system which continues to allow employers to treat domestic workers not as human beings but as possessions,” Steve Cockburn, the head of Economic and Social Justice at Amnesty, said.
“None of the women Amnesty spoke to has seen their abuser held to account for their actions. If Qatar wants to protect domestic workers from exploitation, it needs to send a strong message to employers that labour abuses are not tolerated, “he added.
There are around 173,000 foreign domestic workers in Qatar.
#ReturnSawera: Social media campaign to help woman
abused by husband in Pakistan
The victim, Sawera, was presented in court on a stretcher according to police
Published: October 20, 2020 18:48
Falah Gulzar, Social Media Reporter, Gulf News
‘Justice for Sawera’ and ‘#ReturnSawera’ trended on Twitter in Pakistan as netizens asked for help for a woman in Lahore who was severely abused by her husband and in-laws.
According to local media reports, the victim, Sawera, started being abused by her husband Shahbaz right after their marriage that took place an year ago.
Her mother told local media that just a few days after their marriage, Shahbaz pushed Sawera down from the roof and called the incident an accident. The mother allegedly did not know about the incident and found Sawera in a local hospital after 27 days.
Did her husband demand that she prostitute herself? It wouldn't be the first time.
The mother went to the police to complain, however her complaint was not filed, as per local media reports.
Now, her mother is appealing to the authorities to allow her to keep her daughter since Sawera’s husband is stopping her.
Pictures of Sawera in a frail condition have been circulating on social media along with her husband’s home address as people demand justice for her.
Punjab Police posts update
As the news came to light, a complaint was reportedly filed against her husband.
Replying to a post about the victim, Punjab Police Official Twitter account wrote: “In the writ of habeas corpus in the court, the police recovered the woman from her husband’s house and presented her in the court on a stretcher. The court had ordered that the girl be sent to her husband’s house. The police complied with the order of the court.”
In a consecutive tweet the police wrote: “Her father was with his daughter when the police went to her house to retrieve her. Further, the concerned police [department] have contacted the applicant again. And action will be taken within the law.”
However, social media users are not satisfied with the authorities’ response. Many questioned why she was returned to her husband.
@AneesRehma wrote: “No woman on this planet deserves being mistreated or disrespected! Our Judicial system has some real flaws and the ones chairing these proceedings are inhuman and corrupt!”
Arab media slams ‘Palestinian corruption,’
Erekat for corona treatment in Israel
October 20, 2020
Arab media slams ‘Palestinian corruption,’ Erekat for corona treatment in IsraelBritish-based Arab researcher Amjad Taha. (screenshot)
“The corruption in the Palestinian Authority that led to damage to the health system is what forced the Palestinians to hospitalize Erekat in an Israeli hospital,” tweeted one Mideast expert.
By Baruch Yedid, TPS
Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem announced Monday a further deterioration in the condition of Saeb Erekat, a senior PLO and Palestinian Authority official, who was hospitalized in the Israeli hospital on Sunday following a deterioration in his health caused by his Coronavirus (COVID-19) infection.
Alongside Palestinian silence, journalists in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are settling scores with the Palestinian Authority (PA) leadership, after the latter attacked the Gulf States in recent weeks following their normalization of relations with Israel, which they branded a “betrayal.”
UAE writers emphasized the “Palestinian hypocrisy and double standards” in receiving treatment in an Israeli hospital despite severing ties with it.
Amjad Taha, an Arab researcher close to Saudi Arabia who lives in Britain and who recently suffered severe insults from the Palestinian Authority, tweeted that “the corruption in the Palestinian Authority that led to damage to the health system is what forced the Palestinians to hospitalize Erekat in an Israeli hospital.”
Other journalists called on the PA to condemn Erekat’s hospitalization in an Israeli hospital as it is considered a normalization of relations.
One of the Gulf journalists called on Sheikh Akrama Tsabari, head of the Supreme Muslim Council in Jerusalem, to condemn Erekat as he condemned the Emirates delegation which visited Jerusalem last weekend.
Others stated that “Erekat is not the only one in severe condition but the entire Palestinian problem is in intensive care.”
As it should be since it is based on lies, bigotry, and hypocrisy.
It should be noted that Erekat’s hospitalization is not the first evidence of the PA leadership’s coordination with Israel to satisfy their personal medical needs. Recently, Jabril Rajoub went on a number of political trips in Turkey, Qatar, Egypt, Lebanon and Syria with a Fatah delegation. Crossing through the Allenby Bridge into Jordan involves coordination with Israel.
“Has Saeb Erekat’s health become more important than the Palestinian issue?” asked an activist from the Emirates.
“Thanks to Allah that seeking treatment in Israeli hospitals is not considered a betrayal of the Palestinian issue,” he added cynically.
“It seems that Erekat does not trust the Palestinian doctors, who are his people, nor the hospitals in the PA,” another tweeted.
There is a great embarrassment in the PA following Erekat’s hospitalization because it is a step that requires civilian and security coordination with Israel and exposes the discrimination of senior PA officials over its residents, who are banned from seeking medical treatment in Israel.
In recent months, since PA head Mahmoud Abbas severed ties with Israel, patients in the Gaza Strip and the PA have found it difficult to receive medical treatment.
PA spokesmen did not comment on Erekat’s case. However, Fatah claimed that Erekat needed urgent treatment due to a medical complication related to his lung transplant from three years ago, and not due to his Corona condition.
Another Fatah spokesman alleged that Israel is forcing Arab hospitals in eastern Jerusalem to admit Jewish patients, which has caused distress and strain on the hospitals, thus trying to justify Erekat’s hospitalization at Hadassah Ein Kerem. The claims are utterly false.
Others claimed that Erekat was admitted to Ein Kerem because of the short drive from his home in Jericho.
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