Latest news with #deathpenalty
The National
15 hours ago
- Politics
- The National
Lebanon sentences man to death in absentia for killing Irish UN peacekeeper Sean Rooney
Lebanon has sentenced a man to death in absentia over the killing of a UN Irish peacekeeper in December 2022, a judicial official told AFP on Tuesday. The Irish government said it had been informed of the conviction by Lebanese authorities on Monday. Private Sean Rooney, 23, was shot dead and a number of other peacekeepers were injured while they were serving for Unifil in south Lebanon. Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin welcomed the conviction of Mohamad Ayyad but said it is 'unsatisfactory that he is still at large'. 'Many will feel the sentences passed down on the other defendants are far too lenient,' he added. 'The justice system in Lebanon, and the delay in progressing in this case, was deeply regrettable." The Lebanese justice system is notorious for delays, with most inmates in its prisons still awaiting trial. Lebanon has maintained an unofficial moratorium on the death penalty since 2004 and has carried out no executions since. Mr Ayyad was released from custody in late 2023 on health grounds but has not shown up to the court since. He was convicted by military tribunal on Monday. The case had been due to be heard in September but was brought forward. Irish Foreign Minister Simon Harris said he raised the case during his visit to Beirut in March at meetings with the Lebanese ministers for foreign affairs and defence. 'I raised, in the strongest terms, my deep frustration at the slow pace of proceedings before the Lebanese military tribunal concerning those charged with Pte Rooney's killing,' he said. 'I appreciate, therefore, the efforts of the court to bring forward the hearing date from September to today. During my visit to Beirut, I left the Lebanese ministers in no doubt as to the absolute determination of the Irish government to ensure that those responsible for Pte Rooney's death are brought to justice.' Pte Rooney was killed when his vehicle came under fire in Al Aqbiya on its way to Beirut on a route not normally taken by Unifil. The soldiers were part of 121st Infantry Battalion, comprising 333 Irish troops, which was deployed in November to south Lebanon. The area is know for its Hezbollah presence, although the group has denied any role in the killing. It did, however, ensure Mr Ayyad was handed over to Lebanese authorities after the killing. There are about 10,000 Unifil peacekeepers from nearly 50 countries, acting as a buffer between Lebanon and Israel and operating near the border.
The National
15 hours ago
- Politics
- The National
Brother of Yemeni murder victim demands new execution date for Indian nurse
The family of Yemeni citizen Talal Mahdi have urged authorities to expedite the execution of an Indian nurse convicted of his murder by setting a new date. Nimisha Priya, a nurse from Kerala state, was granted a reprieve by Yemeni authorities when her execution date scheduled for July 16 at the Central Prison Square in Sanaa was postponed. Abdel Fattah Mahdi, Talal's brother, has also denied reports in the Indian media that an Indian spiritual leader won the family's forgiveness to revoke the death penalty. 'The execution has become mandatory by law and binding on all parties without any delay,' said a letter to Yemen's Public Prosecution signed by Abdel Mahdi on behalf of Mr Mahdi's close relatives. The plea called for the public prosecution to 'expedite the implementation of the death penalty against the convicted Indian national Nimisha Priya'. In the letter, the elder Mr Mahdi states that all approvals were obtained as per the final judgments in 2023, including ratification by Yemen's President and the Attorney General's order in 2024. 'The crime committed was beyond all bounds of humanity,' the family said in the petition posted by Mr Mahdi on Facebook. 'We urgently request your excellency to set a new date for the execution of the death sentence, which we firmly demand as our legitimate right, especially since we, the victim's family, have lost our loved one to an atrocious crime.' The family said all efforts at reconciliation had been exhausted. 'All attempts to negotiate and mediate have reached a dead end and we, the family of the victim, are unable to reach any compromise with the other party,' the plea said. Family demands retribution The family denied a claim publicised in the Indian media made by Kanthapuram AP Aboobacker Musliyar, a prominent Sunni leader also known as the Grand Mufti of India. The Grand Mufti's office said that, after 'high-level meetings' in Sanaa, the death sentence was officially cancelled. But the elder Mr Mahdi rejected this as 'categorically untrue'. He denied that close family members had met or spoken to the cleric, accepted reconciliation and that the death sentence was cancelled. 'We have not spoken to or negotiated with anyone, near or far, about reconciliation in the case of the Indian murderer. None whatsoever,' he said. 'And we will not allow anyone to impose any discussion or compromise at the expense of our blood and our indisputable right to have qisas (retribution) implemented.' Asking for justice and retribution for the murder of his younger sibling, Mr Mahdi said: 'Religion cannot serve as a pretext for pardon or a cover for the crime's ugliness.' He also pointed out that, as per Islamic Sharia and the Yemeni constitution, 'honouring the victim's family, recognising their pain, and upholding their right to see God's law enforced are obligations'. 'Guaranteeing these rights is among the highest principles of justice,' he added. Mr Mahdi spoke out against emotional propaganda and against the spiritual leader's claims of mercy 'at the expense of a pure body unjustly slaughtered, dismembered, and thrown into a water tank as if it were nothing'. 'Talal's blood will not become a bargaining chip in the marketplace of negotiations, nor a bridge for those trading in religion or personal interests,' he said. 'And let it be crystal clear: If any decision is to be made, it is ours to make. No one will override our right in the name of religion or mercy.' Critical phase Earlier, Yemen's prosecution authority had said the execution of Ms Priya would be 'postponed until a new date is announced'. This came after a petition from her mother Prema Kumari, who is in Sanaa to support the negotiations, and a request from the Indian government to stay the execution. The Indian family had offered $1 million in diya or blood money as compensation for Mr Mahdi's death. The funds were raised by Indians across the world, including expats in the UAE. Mr Mahdi has urged the public to remember how his family has suffered after the Indian nurse drugged his brother, cut his body into pieces, and hid it in plastic bags inside an underground tank. Ms Priya's supporters have asked for forgiveness and pardon, saying she had injected Mr Mahdi with sedatives to retrieve her passport that he had seized and that he had died of an accidental overdose. 'Our work continues to save Nimisha's life and we must also be sensitive to Talal's family,' Ms Deepa Joseph, a lawyer in India and vice-chairwoman of the Save Nimisha Priya International Action Council, told The National. 'What we know of the current situation is that Talal's family has said they have not spoken to the grand mufti and the family has moved the prosecutors to speed up the process to execute Nimisha. 'We ask that all parties are restrained as this is a critical phase.'
Arab News
17 hours ago
- Politics
- Arab News
Lebanon sentences man to death in absentia over peacekeeper's killing
BEIRUT: A Lebanese court sentenced a man to death in absentia for killing an Irish United Nations peacekeeper, a judicial official said Tuesday, after Hezbollah members were accused of involvement in the 2022 incident. Private Sean Rooney, 23, was killed and three others were wounded after a UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) convoy came under fire on December 14, 2022 in south Lebanon, long a stronghold of the Iran-backed militant group. The judicial official, requesting anonymity as they were not authorized to brief the media, said Lebanon's military court issued its ruling in the case at around midnight on Monday. The court 'imposed the death sentence... on the main defendant, Mohammad Ayyad,' the official said, adding that the ruling was issued in absentia. A security source told AFP in December 2022 that Hezbollah had handed Ayyad over to the army that month. But he was released from custody in November 2023 'for health reasons' and had not appeared at any trial session since, the official said Tuesday. The military court also handed a combination of fines and lighter custodial sentences to four other people 'who handed themselves in to the court hours before the session' and acquitted a fifth, the official said. Skirmishes occur occasionally between UNIFIL patrols and Hezbollah supporters, but they rarely escalate and are generally quickly contained by Lebanese authorities. In June 2023 a judicial official told AFP that five Hezbollah members were accused of killing Rooney. A Hezbollah official had denied members of the group were involved. UNIFIL, which counts around 10,000 peacekeepers from nearly 50 countries, acts as a buffer between Lebanon and Israel and operates in the south near the border.
The Independent
18 hours ago
- Politics
- The Independent
India reportedly denies nurse Nimisha Priya's death sentence cancelled in Yemen
New Delhi reportedly denied that the execution of an Indian nurse for murdering her Yemeni business partner had been cancelled, contradicting a leading Muslim cleric involved in negotiations to spare her life. Nimisha Priya, 38, from the southern Indian state of Kerala, was sentenced to death in 2020 for murdering Talal Abdo Mehdi, the Yemeni co-owner of her clinic in Sanaa. Her execution on 16 July was suspended to allow for negotiations led by Indian Muslim cleric Kanthapuram AP Aboobakr Musliyar. The cleric's office claimed on Monday Priya's execution had been revoked after a team of Yemeni scholars and diplomats mediated with the Houthi administration. 'The death sentence of Nimisha Priya, which was previously suspended, has been overturned," the office announced in a statement. 'A high-level meeting held in Sanaa decided to completely cancel the death sentence.' But foreign ministry sources told ANI news agency that "information being shared by certain individuals on the Nimisha Priya case is inaccurate". The Indian government told the Supreme Court earlier this month there was 'nothing much' it could do to prevent Priya's execution given the lack of formal diplomatic ties with Yemen. Priya has been held in a Sanaa prison since her arrest in 2017. The nurse was convicted of injecting Mehdi with sedatives in an attempt to retrieve her passport, which he had allegedly confiscated. The dose proved fatal. Her sentence was upheld by the Supreme Judicial Council in 2023. Yemeni law punishes murder by death, as it does drug trafficking, apostasy, adultery, and same-sex relations. The country, however, allows a murder convict to be pardoned by the victim's kin in exchange for diyat, or 'blood money'. Priya moved to Yemen in 2008 and eventually launched a clinic in partnership with Mehdi, in keeping with Yemeni law requiring foreign entrepreneurs to collaborate with citizens. Her family previously alleged that Priya faced mental, physical and financial abuse at his hands. She had even filed a police complaint against him in 2016, leading to his brief arrest. He allegedly resumed threatening her after getting out. The nurse's mother, Prema Kumari, a domestic worker in Kochi city, has been in Yemen for the past year trying to save her daughter. In December, she moved the Delhi High Court for exemption from an Indian travel advisory barring its citizens visiting the conflict-ridden Yemen. She has visited her daughter several times in prison. In an emotional appeal earlier this year, Ms Kumari said she was 'deeply grateful to the Indian and Kerala governments, as well as the committee formed to save her, for all the support provided so far'. 'But this is my final plea,' she added, 'please help us save her life. Time is running out.'
BBC News
18 hours ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Seán Rooney: Man sentenced to death over killing of Irish soldier
A man has been sentenced to death in Lebanon over the killing of an Irish soldier on a UN peacekeeping mission, BBC News NI understands. Pte Seán Rooney was in an armoured UN vehicle which came under fire while travelling to Beirut on 14 December 24-year-old was the first Irish soldier to die while on UN peacekeeping duty in Lebanon in more than 20 years. Three others were injured in the main defendant in the case is Mohammad Ayyad. It is understood he did not appear in court on Monday. A number of other men were convicted in relation to the shooting. The death sentence was announced at a military tribunal in Beirut, according to Irish broadcaster RTÉ.Taoiseach (Irish prime minister) Micheál Martin said that while he welcomes the conviction of the main defendant, "it is unsatisfactory that he is still at large". "Many will feel the sentences passed down on the other defendants are far too lenient," Martin said. "Peacekeeping is the most noble cause of all, and the role of the peacekeeper must at all times be honoured and respected," he said. The taoiseach noted that "this is a very difficult day" for Pte Rooney's family, in particular his mother Natasha. "Sean was a soldier of great courage, who put the safety of others before his own safety in the line of duty," Martin said."He was brave and diligent. My thoughts and prayers are with Natasha, his family, friends and colleagues at this difficult time." Tánaiste (deputy Irish prime minister) Simon Harris said he welcomed the conviction of the main defendant and a number of other defendant, "who had not previously been in court". "While noting the sentence handed down to the main defendant, I am disappointed and share the disappointment of Private Rooney's family at the lighter sentences imposed on a number of those convicted today," Harris said. The tánaiste said Pte Rooney "made the ultimate sacrifice in the noble pursuit of peace". "I appreciate that this is an incredibly difficult day for the family of Private Rooney. None of us can fathom their unimaginable pain and grief and all my thoughts remain with them at this time," the tánaiste said. Harris visited Beirut last March and met with the Lebanese Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Defence. He said raised his "deep frustration at the slow pace of proceedings" before the Lebanese Military Tribunal regarding those charged with Pte Rooney's death. He said the court hearing date was brought forward from September to taoiseach said "that justice system in Lebanon, and the delay in progressing in this case, was deeply regrettable".
