A Qatari appeals court upheld the death sentence imposed...
A Qatari appeals court upheld the death sentence imposed on a Jordanian journalist convicted of spying
A Qatari appeals court upheld the death sentence imposed on a Jordanian journalist convicted of spying.
The sentence will be forwarded to Qatari Emir Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, who has the power to approve it or issue a pardon.
The court, chaired by Abdullah al-Saadi, upheld the death sentence on Firas al-Majali for allegedly spying and passing military and other information about Qatar to Jordan.
"We put our faith in God and we have great hope in Him and in the emir of Qatar," Nasouh Majali, Firas's father, told The Associated Press by telephone after attending the court session.
Majali, 30, is a reporter for the state-owned Qatar Television. He was arrested in January 2002 and was sentenced to death in October 2002.
Qatari officials said he sent information to Jordan on the status of US troops in Qatar, along with economic and social data.
"Its a sensitive issue. We don't think the prosecution took into consideration all the evidence we presented. We were hopeful that he would be acquitted," the senior Majali said.
Majali's lawyer, Issa al-Manaei, did not return telephone calls.
"I hope that the Emir of Qatar will not endorse the verdict against Firas and (will) pardon him," Majali's wife, Roula Abul-Rouss, told The Associated Press in the Jordanian capital, Amman.
"I am sure the emir will be gracious and release my husband after a year of suffering," she said. "I, his daughter and family are waiting for him."
She said that cold relations between Jordan and Qatar had affected her husband's trial, but that "the Qatari ambassador in Jordan told us that it's a summer cloud which will soon vanish."
In August 2002, Jordan recalled its ambassador to Qatar in a diplomatic row over a program Al-Jazeera television, based in Qatar, aired that the government found insulting to the royal family. However, the ambassador, Omar Al-Amad, returned in November 2002, and the leaders of the two countries met in Paris in January 2003.
That recent warming of relations was taken by some as a sign Majali could be pardoned by the emir.
"It's a good sign. The emir has a past full of generosity, so we are hopeful," said Majali's father.
The sentence will be forwarded to Qatari Emir Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, who has the power to approve it or issue a pardon.
The court, chaired by Abdullah al-Saadi, upheld the death sentence on Firas al-Majali for allegedly spying and passing military and other information about Qatar to Jordan.
"We put our faith in God and we have great hope in Him and in the emir of Qatar," Nasouh Majali, Firas's father, told The Associated Press by telephone after attending the court session.
Majali, 30, is a reporter for the state-owned Qatar Television. He was arrested in January 2002 and was sentenced to death in October 2002.
Qatari officials said he sent information to Jordan on the status of US troops in Qatar, along with economic and social data.
"Its a sensitive issue. We don't think the prosecution took into consideration all the evidence we presented. We were hopeful that he would be acquitted," the senior Majali said.
Majali's lawyer, Issa al-Manaei, did not return telephone calls.
"I hope that the Emir of Qatar will not endorse the verdict against Firas and (will) pardon him," Majali's wife, Roula Abul-Rouss, told The Associated Press in the Jordanian capital, Amman.
"I am sure the emir will be gracious and release my husband after a year of suffering," she said. "I, his daughter and family are waiting for him."
She said that cold relations between Jordan and Qatar had affected her husband's trial, but that "the Qatari ambassador in Jordan told us that it's a summer cloud which will soon vanish."
In August 2002, Jordan recalled its ambassador to Qatar in a diplomatic row over a program Al-Jazeera television, based in Qatar, aired that the government found insulting to the royal family. However, the ambassador, Omar Al-Amad, returned in November 2002, and the leaders of the two countries met in Paris in January 2003.
That recent warming of relations was taken by some as a sign Majali could be pardoned by the emir.
"It's a good sign. The emir has a past full of generosity, so we are hopeful," said Majali's father.
— SOURCES
- (Sources: AP, 24/02/2003)