Norwegian citizen sentenced to death in Somaliland –

– So far we have stopped the execution. But we have not moved forward yet, we are working on the case. To get a solution, says Farid Bouras at the Elden Law Firm.

On Thursday, Dagbladet spoke directly with Oslo citizen Saad Jidre. On a bad phone line, after a cell phone was smuggled into the pirate prison.

– Six of my friends were shot today. If it hadn’t been for my Norwegian lawyers, they would have shot me dead now, the 54-year-old Norwegian citizen said on Thursday.

problems

Saad Jidre describes the conditions in the prison as difficult. While Dagbladet is talking to him, the conversation is interrupted several times due to noise in the small cell.

– I sit with 15 other people in a cell, which is four by four meters. There are many different people here. Much noise and there are many who have mental problems.

Saad Jidre is insecure and scared, and he fears what may happen.

– I do not know what is happening. Maybe there will be a new test in a month. Maybe in a week. I don’t know, everything is very uncertain. They can do whatever they want and they can do anything, Jidre says on a mobile phone from the prison cell.

“Difficult, very difficult”

– Conditions in the prison are far from optimal, says Farid Bouras, one of Jidre’s Norwegian development assistance lawyers.

– He’s struggling and sick.

– Jidre also has a number of underlying illnesses and is not receiving the medication he needs. Conditions are not good at all, says Bouras.

When Dagbladet asks the Norwegian citizen sentenced to death about the conditions in the prison, the connection is broken first. The sounds and screams indicate that some of the cellmates ended up in a fight.

When we get back in touch, Jidre says briefly:

– Conditions are not good. It is hard, very hard.

“Attack me”

– From what I hear from my client, abuse is common. It is important that the Norwegian media write about the case, it is Saad Jidre’s best security, so that he is not abused. If there is silence around the case, it can be dangerous for him. Remember that we are talking about countries that practice human rights differently than we do here in Norway, says Bouras.

– What happened when you ended up in a fight with Ismail Ahmed Ismail on Saturday April 4 this year?

– I met him a little before. He had borrowed some money from me. When I asked for my money back. He scolded me and attacked me in the street.

– He hit me on the head, so I fell over and hit myself. I defended myself with the spray can (a defense spray, editor’s note) that I had bought at Clas Ohlson in Norway. In the end, I got away, says Jidre.

Executed cellmates

Escape from war

A few hours later, the police arrived at his home and arrested Saad Jidre.

– The judge told me then that they should kill me.

– Last week they woke me up and took me out of my cell. The police took me before the judge, said that I was sentenced to death.

– You were granted asylum in Norway in 1995, so why are you returning to Somaliland on vacation?

– When I escaped and they granted me asylum, there was war here. I thought conditions were better now. But that is not good. It is not a war, but it is not good here, says Saad Jidre.

– There was peace here, but now it’s not safe. It is very poorly maintained. I want to go back to Norway, says Jidre.

Sentenced under sharia law

Still hopeful

Aid lawyer Farid Bouras believes there is hope that the Somaliland authorities will overturn the death sentence.

– There is hope, but we must use all channels. He does not claim that our foreign minister received a phone call with the president. If we want to prevent it from being executed, in Norway we have to work almost twenty-four hours a day to get the process where we want. To stop the execution, says Farid Bouras.

– Does the case complicate that the verdict is a combination of an ordinary court and an Islamic sharia court?

– Yes, since the verdict is also a sharia verdict, it means that the verdict is already final. This means that clans can take the law into their own hands, says Bouras.

– Saad Jidre is very happy not to be one of those who have now been executed. He has told me that the prison guards have told him that they should also shoot him now, says Farid Bouras.

“Huge tension”

– I heard from my client that it is common for prisoners to be abused in prison, says Bouras.

According to Farid Bouras, in recent days, 12 prisoners from the Hargeisa pirate prison have been taken from death cells to be executed.

– Six of those sentenced to death were transferred from the cell to Saad Jidre.

– It was a great stress for him.

– Several of those who were taken, Saad Jidre had a good relationship, says aid lawyer Bouras.

– It is very difficult for him. Saad Jidre has described him as mentally heavy and very sad when they took the six out of the cell. That was the last time he saw them, says Farid Bouras.

Dagbladet does not know how Saad Jidre obtained access to a mobile phone in prison. So you can communicate with people outside the prison.

Jidre’s family in Norway is familiar with this case, but does not want to participate.