Families unhappy at govt efforts

Families of the eight Bangladeshis beheaded in Saudi Arabia early this month have dismissed the government claim that it has done everything to save their lives.
They allege the authorities concerned neither appointed a defence lawyer nor took adequate measures for clemency.
Execution is a serious matter in the kingdom, but the Bangladesh government did only some routine work, which demonstrates its lack of care for the citizen, relatives add.
Saudi Arabia on October 7 executed eight Bangladeshi workers for their involvement in a robbery and the subsequent murder of an Egyptian security guard in 2007 in Riyadh.
As per Saudi Sharia law, anyone sentenced to death can only be pardoned by the victim's family.
However, families of the Bangladeshi workers gave a different account of how the Egyptian guard was killed. They argue that since there was a different version of the incident, it was very important that they had got legal protection through lawyers.
The execution in public drew widespread criticism from national and international rights groups. Bangladesh's High Court asked the authorities concerned to submit a report on the steps they took to save lives of the eight.
Those beheaded are Suman Mia from Kishoreganj, Md Suman, Mamun Abdul Mannan, Masud Shamsul Haque and Shafiqul Islam from Tangail, Faruk Jamal from Comilla and Abul Hossain and Matiar Rahman from Faridpur.
The Daily Star correspondents visited six families in Tangail and Faridpur last week when their relatives gave different versions of the 2007 incident that led to the killing of the Egyptian man.
DIFFERENT VERSIONS
Abu Bakar Siddiqui, uncle of Md Suman of Deldwar in Tangail, who recently returned from Saudi Arabia, said the Egyptian guard Saeed Mohammed Abdulkhaleq together with the eight Bangladeshis stole some cables from the warehouse where they all worked. Saeed used the Bangladeshi workers in the theft but refused to pay their share, which led to a clash between the two parties. Saeed died in a hospital, Abu Bakar added.
Saudi Arabian newspaper Arab News reported on February 17, 2008 that the Bangladeshis intercepted an Egyptian man and others who were allegedly stealing electric wires from a company where the Bangladeshis worked. A clash ensued that resulted in the death of the Egyptian.
Md Harun, brother of Mamun in Tangail Sadar, gave a similar story.
“As there were more than one account of the incident, appointing a defence lawyer for the Bangladeshis was of utmost importance,” said Shahjahan Firoz, cousin of executed Shafiqul Islam.
Saudi law provides for appointing defence lawyers. However, trials can still go ahead without legal assistance to the defendant even when he faces possible death sentence, says a study of the Amnesty International.
Din Islam, brother of executed Matiar Rahman, said Matiar had sent several of his photos showing injury marks on his body, saying those were marks of police beating with electric cane during remand. "Police also poured hot water and cold water on their bodies," Din Islam alleged.
According to noted rights activists Sultana Kamal, “A fair trial is a far cry without appointing an independent lawyer to defend an accused.”
But Haroon-or-Rashid, labour counsellor of Bangladeshi embassy in Saudi Arabia, said appointing a defence lawyer was not necessary, as the court itself appointed one.
Still, the Bangladesh mission hired a law firm to provide legal assistance to the eight Bangladeshis for free, he added.
Saudi appeal court maintained the lower court verdict, while the Saudi king's advisory council did not consider the appeals of the president and of the convicted workers for clemency, as the accused admitted to the killing.
According to Shahjahan Firoz, cousin of Shafiqul Islam, of the eight convicted, Md Suman and Matiar Rahman refused to accept the lower court verdict. The case was then referred to the higher court, but no hearing took place there, he added.
BLOOD MONEY AND CLEMENCY
Citing a statement of a Bangladeshi embassy official, Shahjahan said the family of the Egyptian guard could be managed to grant clemency in exchange for Tk 1 crore.
Sattyajit Mukherjee, personal assistant secretary of the expatriates' welfare minister, however, said the demand for blood money was equivalent to Tk 8.64 crore. The families of the Bangladeshi workers agreed to pay Tk 80 lakh. Then, at the request of the minister, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina approved the payment of the blood money.
But the family of the Egyptian guard finally refused to reach any agreement, he added.
Giving an example of non-cooperation of the Bangladesh mission official in Saudi Arabia, Yusuf Hossain, who has recently returned from Saudi Arabia, said he managed to meet the officials twice in the last four years.
Yusuf, also a brother-in-law of Abul Hossain who was among the executed, alleged he was not allowed to enter the mission when he went to talk to the officials about Abul Hossain.
“Involving the Bangladesh embassy in Egypt to approach the Egyptian worker's family was imperative. Our foreign minister, along with some victims' family members, should have gone to Egypt to persuade the family to pardon the Bangladeshis,” a Bangladeshi expatriate in Riyadh told The Daily Star preferring anonymity.
“If a citizen of a western country had faced a similar problem anywhere in the world, representatives from his government would have rushed there to save him. But our foreign minister cannot do so even if our people die,” he said.