|
Cousin Of Qatari Emir, 18 Others, Condemned To Death
DOHA, May 21 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Qatar's appeal court on Monday condemned a cousin of the emir, along with 18 other people, to death for their role in a failed 1996 coup after overruling life sentences handed down by a lower court, news agencies reported.
The official Qatari News Agency (QNA) reported that the court also imposed life imprisonment on 20 defendants for arranging to overthrow Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, and acquitted another 29 after revising figures it gave earlier.
According to the court, the sentences would be carried out by hanging or firing squad. The decision is final, although death terms in Qatar have to be approved by the emir.
On February 29, 2000, a criminal court condemned Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Hamad al-Thani, a cousin of the emir and former economy and finance minister, and 32 co-defendants to life in prison, and acquitted 85 other defendants.
However, both the prosecution and defense appealed against the court decision, with the former calling for the death sentence for all 33 hit with life terms.
The accused were charged with trying to reinstall Qatar's former leader Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad al-Thani, who was deposed by his son Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa in June 1995.
Father and son have since reconciled after settling a multi-billion-dollar financial dispute, AFP said.
The trial, the biggest in Qatar's history, opened in November 1997, but appeal hearings were not launched until last September. More than 110 people, most of whom are ex-military and police officials, were charged in connection with the coup, the BBC reported.
It also added that witnesses, including Qatar's prime minister and foreign minister, accused the suspects of having foreign backing for the coup attempt, but all defendants denied the charges.
The high criminal court cleared neighboring Bahrain, with whom Qatar was at odds until the World Court ruled in March on a territorial dispute between the two, of involvement by quashing some charges.
Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem, also a former police chief, was accused of being the coup's main leader, while the ousted emir is alleged to have launched the bid from abroad.
The original charges in the trial also included taking up arms against Qatar, intelligence with foreign powers to commit hostile acts, and revealing military secrets, all of which carry the death penalty. The presiding judge, however, dropped the most serious accusations.
Witnesses, who included Qatar's prime minister and foreign minister, alleged in court that the suspects had foreign backing for the February 6, 1996, bid, pointing the finger at Bahrain and saying Saudi Arabia was aware of the plot.
Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem, a close associate of the exiled former emir, was arrested in Doha in July 2000 after four years in exile.
Members of Qatar's ruling family said bin Jassem, who complained of being mistreated in custody, only agreed to return on the basis of a promise from Qatari authorities that he would not be charged.
|
