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On Wednesday, Saad Jidre of Oslo, 54, was sentenced to death in Hargeisa, the capital of the self-proclaimed republic of Somaliland.
His family at their home in Oslo has been informed that the Somaliland authorities plan to implement the execution tomorrow Saturday.
– It’s absolutely awful. Dad is very tired, when I spoke to him on the phone a few hours ago, he tried to calm me down. He said everything will work out, his son Mustafa Hayd (26) tells Dagbladet.
– But I heard in my dad’s voice that he is desperate and fears what might happen, says Mustafa Hayd.
Waiting to appeal
Humanitarian lawyers John Christian Elden and Farid Bouras have contacted the Somaliland authorities and have received assurances that Saad Jidre will not be executed now.
– The Somaliland Foreign Minister has promised us that Saad Jidre will be allowed to appeal the verdict and that another court will hear the case. Now we wait for it to happen, says development assistance attorney Farid Bouras.
Bouras has been trying all day to contact Muse Bihi Abdi, the president of Somaliland, for his personal assurance that Saad Jidre will not be executed.
– Known to the president
Yesterday, two of the seven children of Saad Jidre, Mustafa Hayd and Rachid Yusef, the aid lawyer Farid Bouras met and were informed of the fact, after their father was sentenced to death in Hargeisa.
WAITING FOR HELP: Saad Jidre’s sons Mustafa Hayd (left) and Rachid Yusef (right), here with development assistance lawyer Farid Bouras, hope that the Norwegian authorities will get involved to prevent their father from being executed in Somaliland. Photo: Private
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– We have been informed that the man who died, and whose father has been convicted of murder, and his family are close acquaintances of the President of Somaliland, says his son Mustafa Hayd.
– Our hope now is that Prime Minister Erna Solberg and Foreign Minister Ine Eriksen Søreide will use their influence to help Dad, so he can return to Norway, Mustafa Hayd tells Dagbladet.
The son also wants to thank everyone who now supports the family.
– Press
– The Norwegian authorities must immediately press for an end to the death penalty. A Norwegian citizen awaits execution in Somaliland, says Petter Eide, SV justice policy spokesman at the Storting.
– When two Norwegian men were charged with murder in the Congo, the Norwegian authorities deployed senior diplomats and the Foreign Minister did everything possible to get the two Norwegians back to Norway, says Petter Eide.
Condemn the death penalty
Foreign Minister Ine Eriksen Søreide (H) did not have time to answer Dagbladet’s questions about the murder sentence against Saad Jidre today.
But in an email to Dagbladet from press spokesperson Ragnhild Simenstad at the Foreign Ministry, it is stated that Dagbladet may quote Foreign Minister Ine Eriksen Søreide on the following:
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs takes this case very seriously, in which a Norwegian has been sentenced to death. We distance ourselves from any use of the death penalty. I fully understand that this situation is difficult for both the Norwegian and his family “.
“The Foreign Ministry has been working consularly on this case since the Norwegian was arrested in April, and we have intensified our work after the verdict was rendered on Wednesday. We work through all relevant diplomatic channels, both here at Oslo and our embassy in Nairobi. We continue to raise the issue with local authorities and are cooperating with the EU and the International Committee of the Red Cross on the ground. “
In the email, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs repeats, what Dagbladet was told yesterday, that the Norwegian authorities have summoned the representative of Somaliland in Norway to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In addition, it is indicated in the email:
“We gave a clear message at the meeting that the death penalty is unacceptable and should not be carried out, and that the Norwegian should have access to ordinary legal procedures.”
Waiting for action
– We hope that the Norwegian authorities will get involved and do what they can to prevent Saad Jidre from being executed, says development assistance lawyer Farid Bouras from the Elden law firm.
– Our expectation is that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will help Saad Jidre in the same way that the Norwegian authorities did, when they got up to help the two Norwegian men who were imprisoned in the Congo, he says.
THE PIRATE’S PRISON: Saad Jidre, a Norwegian citizen since 1995, is incarcerated in the pirate prison of Hargeisa, funded in part by Norway. Tony Karuma / AFP
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Dagbladet has been unable to establish direct contact with convicted killer Saad Jidre in recent days. He is now in a prison cell with 16 other men, in the pirate Hargeisa prison, funded in part by Norway.
Deny the blame
This summer, Dagbladet contacted Saad Jidre in prison by phone. He then said he only defended himself when he was attacked on the street in the capital, Hargeisa.
– On the afternoon of April 4, at 9 pm, while on vacation in Somaliland, I was attacked without warning, Jidre told Dagbladet.
Jidre has always denied knowledge of the murder. In court, Dagbladet has already told him that he is innocent. Jidre has admitted that he was in a fight with the deceased.
– I defended myself and got to safety, he told Dagbladet, 54 years old.
