Norwegian citizen sentenced to death

After several months of uncertainty and despair, Saad Jidre, 54, of Oslo, was sentenced to death today at the Hargeisa District Court in the self-proclaimed Republic of Somaliland in the Horn of Africa.

Just after 06:00 today, Saad Jidre was released from the Norwegian-funded pirate prison in Hargeisa.

– About 25 armed men took Saad Jidre to the judge’s office, says his Norwegian assistant lawyer Farid Bouras at the Elden law firm.

Human rights

– It is difficult to see greater violations of human rights than what our client has been exposed to here. They take him out of the prison cell and lead him with a military escort to a judge. Without warning and without the presence of a lawyer, he will be sentenced to death, says lawyer John Christian Elden, who along with Bouras assists the 54-year-old.

“We have been in contact with Jidre’s lawyer in Somaliland, Abdirahman Mohamed Mohamoud, and now we will try to appeal the verdict to a higher court,” says Farid Bouras.

“Shot, anytime”

At the same time, Bouras stresses that an appeal in Somaliland is not the same as appealing a ruling from a Norwegian district court to the Court of Appeal.

– The reality is that Saad Jidre runs the risk of being shot at any moment. If we are lucky, the case is accepted to be tried in a higher court. But the signals we have received from Somaliland indicate that it is a game of chance. We fear for his life, says Bouras.

Lawyers Elden and Bouras have also contacted Somaliland Justice Minister Mustafa Mahamud Ali and tried to explain that Saad Jidre is the victim of a conspiracy.

– a scandal

– It is completely unheard of and a total scandal, that a court sentenced our client to death for premeditated murder. Saad Jidre was attacked for no reason and defended himself before he could reach safety, says aid lawyer Bouras.

– How did Saad Jidre receive the death penalty?

– He’s completely devastated and terribly sorry. He is terrified of being shot, says Bouras.

The 54-year-old Norwegian citizen had previously told Dagbladet that he knew who the man who attacked him was, but that they were not related.

Rich family

The man Saad Jidre is now convicted of killing died several hours after he allegedly attacked Jidre. No evidence has been presented to document that the lost case between Jidre and the deceased had anything to do with the death, says development assistance attorney Bouras.

– The problem is that the deceased comes from a wealthy and influential family in Hargeisa. Our experience is that his family has put pressure on his contacts and used them to get Saad Jidre convicted, the lawyer tells Dagbladet.

Deliberate murder

Together with the local lawyer in Somaliland, Saad Jidre’s Norwegian lawyers have worked closely with the Norwegian embassy in Kenya, which is accredited in Somaliland.

– Norwegian foreign authorities have been excellent but not successful either, says development assistance lawyer Farid Bouras.

After the arrest, the charge and then the premeditated murder charge, the trial against Saad Jidre began on the second day of Pentecost in the Hargeisa District Court. Legal proceedings have been interrupted and postponed several times.

The Somaliland prosecution believed that the Norwegian citizen had deliberately killed a younger man.

– Self defense

Jidre, who has been a Norwegian citizen for the past 25 years and has an address in Oslo, has a completely different explanation than the one assumed by the Somaliland prosecution.

– On the afternoon of April 4, at 9 pm, while on vacation in Somaliland, I was attacked without warning, Jidre told Dagbladet in a telephone interview from Hargeisa prison in June this year.

– Suddenly, without warning, I was attacked in the street. He kicked and hit, while I tried to protect myself. In the end, I managed to get a spray can, which I had bought at Clas Ohlson in Oslo. I thought it was pepper spray, but the little can is called a defense spray and it costs 159 kroner at the store. In the end, I escaped and made myself safe, the 54-year-old told Dagbladet.

A few hours later, at 05:00 pm on Sunday, April 5, the police arrived at the door of the family’s home in Hargeisa.

– They accused me of murder and put me in jail. “I’ve been here ever since,” Saad Jidre told Dagbladet by phone in June this year.

Norwegian prison

To this day, he has been incarcerated in Hargeisa Prison in the capital of Somaliland. A prison financed by the Norwegian and Danish authorities, and where pirates who had been captured boarding ships were placed.

Dagbladet has searched in vain for Judge Abdi-Qawdhan Abdi, who is the head of the Hargeisa District Court. Abdi has not responded to Dagbladet’s questions.

– We are now considering sending assistance lawyer Farid Bouras to Somaliland to help local lawyer, Abdirahman Mohamed Mohamoud, so that Saad Jidre receives the best possible help, says lawyer John Christian Elden.

Saad Jidre has children who live in Norway. Assistance lawyer Farid Boras confirms that the family has been informed of the death sentence.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs requests

– The Foreign Service is aware that a Norwegian citizen has been sentenced to death in Hargeisa. The embassy in Nairobi has provided consular assistance in the case, says press spokesman Ragnhild Simenstad at the Foreign Ministry.

– In general, it can be stated that in cases where Norwegian citizens are sentenced to death, the Norwegian authorities will request that the sentence not be served. This will be in line with the global involvement of the Norwegian authorities in work against the death penalty, says Simenstad.