Aid workers in Afghan court
Judge promises fair trial according to Islamic justice
ASSOCIATED PRESS (on MSNBC)
From http://msnbc.com/news/635962.asp?0si=-&cp1=1
KABUL, Afghanistan, Sept. 30 — A Supreme Court chief justice told eight foreign aid workers Sunday that they would be treated fairly and that the threat of a U.S. military assault would not play a part in their trial on charges of preaching Christianity.
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Atif Ali Khan, the aid workers' lawyer, briefs journalists Sunday |
THE TRIAL resumed Sunday after a three-week suspension following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States and fears of U.S. retaliatory strikes. Afghanistan has protected the main suspect in the attacks, Saudi millionaire Osama bin Laden.
Eight employees of the German-based Christian group Shelter Now International appeared before Supreme Court Chief Justice Noor Mohammed Saqib, who told them they would be treated according to Islamic justice.
One of the defendants, Silke Duerrkopf of Germany, at first didn’t show up at Sunday’s proceedings because she said she felt ill. But the court sent for her at a Kabul detention center, saying her presence was necessary. She later arrived, looking pale.
The chief investigator, Mohammed Umer Hanif, read the charges aloud and recited a list of items that had been seized from the aid workers’ offices, including what he said were cassettes and reading material related to Christianity.
THE TRIAL resumed Sunday after a three-week suspension following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States and fears of U.S. retaliatory strikes. Afghanistan has protected the main suspect in the attacks, Saudi millionaire Osama bin Laden.
One of the defendants, Silke Duerrkopf of Germany, at first didn’t show up at Sunday’s proceedings because she said she felt ill. But the court sent for her at a Kabul detention center, saying her presence was necessary. She later arrived, looking pale.
The chief investigator, Mohammed Umer Hanif, read the charges aloud and recited a list of items that had been seized from the aid workers’ offices, including what he said were cassettes and reading material related to Christianity.
In Islamabad, Heather Mercer’s father, John Mercer, said he believed that if the United States attacked, the Taliban "would do their utmost to keep them safe."
But Heather’s mother, Deborah Oddy, said she had received a letter from her daughter written Tuesday asking her to plead with President Bush "to not take any retaliatory action until we’ve been freed."
"She said, ‘All eight of us want to live,’ and you can certainly understand that," Oddy said.
Thomas’ sister also appealed Sunday to the United States to delay any military strikes until all the workers were freed.
"We’re worried about her trial, and now they’re going to attack in that area, you know. It’s too much to bear at the moment," Samantha Thomas told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.
The Taliban have refused to say what the punishment would be if the eight were convicted, but Taliban law allows for sentences ranging from expulsion to jail terms to death.
The Afghan workers of Shelter Now International are to be tried separately, although the Taliban have refused to say when.
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