On Sunday morning, Saad Jirde Hayd’s Norwegian aid lawyers John Christian Elden and Farid Bouras received a message from Somaliland, that the death sentence against the Norwegian citizen has been confirmed by the Court of Appeal in Hargeisa.
The last time Dagbladet spoke to Saad Jirde Hayd (54), who came to Norway as a refugee in 1995, he was very insecure, but hoped for acquittal.
At 05:00 this morning, Saad Jirde Hayd was dragged out of his cell in the prison and taken to the courtroom in the center of Hargeisa. There – without defenders present – he was sentenced to death. The defenders had been informed of the wrong time for sentencing by the Court of Appeal, says development assistance lawyer Farid Bouras.
“The ruling is legally binding under Islamic Sharia law and Somaliland law,” Bouras said.
Was attacked
It was Saturday, April 4 last year, that Saad Jirde Hayd, according to himself, was attacked by a man he had previously lent money to. After a street fight in the breakaway republic of Somalia’s capital, Hargeisa, Hayd sprayed the attacker with a defense spray.
– When I got to safety, the man who attacked me walked away. He was not seriously injured, Saad Jirde Hayd told Dagbladet by phone from the prison in Somaliland a few weeks ago.
A few hours after the basketball match – the night before Sunday 5 April 2020 – the police in Hargeisa came to Hayd’s door. He was arrested and told that he had been charged with murder.
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After several months in custody, Saad Jirde Hayd was sentenced to death by shooting in November last year.
Protested
After active efforts by the lawyers Elden and Bouras in Norway, Saad Jirde Hayd, after much deliberation, appealed the verdict to a higher court – corresponding to the Norwegian Court of Appeal.
– We have already announced that we want the case tried in the country’s Supreme Court. But it is uncertain whether they will handle the case. The prosecution believes the death sentence is final.
– Now the Norwegian authorities must act. Norwegian politicians and diplomats must react. Saad Jirde Hayd is exposed to a dirty game, says aid lawyer Farid Bouras in the law firm Elden to Dagbladet.
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Also Norway’s Foreign Minister Ine Søreide Eriksen has become involved in the case, following the death sentence in the district court in Hargeisa. Eriksen spoke with President Muse Bihi Abdi in Somaliland, and made it clear that Norway reacted strongly to the death sentence.
Changed lawyer
Dagbladet is also aware that lawyers Elden and Bouras have repeatedly been in contact with both the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Somaliland, and protested against the death sentence.
– We also got to replace the local lawyer, and one of the most renowned lawyers in Somaliland took over as defender for Saad Jirde Hayd, says aid lawyer Farid Bouras to Dagbladet.
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It is uncertain whether according to the law and case law of Somaliland it is possible for Saad Jirde Hayd to appeal the case to the country’s highest court.
Saad Jirde Hayd is in despair. The verdict is completely incomprehensible, says Farid Bouras to Dagbladet.
Family oriented
This morning, Farid Bouras briefed and informed the family of Saad Jirde Hayd about the death sentence.
– The family in Oslo is completely broken and despairing, says Bouras.
Saad Jirde Hayd has several children who live in the Oslo area.
It has previously been known by the family of the man Saad Jirde Hayd is convicted of killing, is influential in Somaliland. Several close family members will have close contact with members of the government in the breakaway republic.
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– We have documented to both government members, the judicial authorities and the courts in Somaliland that the defense spray Saad Jirde Hayd used to get to safety cannot be the murder weapon. He defended himself with a defense spray that he had bought at a Clas Ohlson store in Oslo, before he went on holiday to Somaliland last winter.
Terrorists and pirates
Saad Jirde Hayd has been in custody in the so-called Pirate prison in Hargeisa, since he was arrested in April last year.
The prison was partly financed by the Norwegian authorities. After the international community intervened and stopped the pirates who terrorized and hijacked ships in the Gulf of Aden.
Along with Saad Jirde Hayd in prison are pirates sentenced to long sentences, and terrorists from the Islamic terrorist organization Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen (the movement for young fighters).
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“We are now doing everything we can to stop the execution of Saad Jirde Hayd,” Farid Bouras told Dagbladet.
Bouras and Elden now expect the Norwegian authorities to contact the president of Somaliland again, and do what they can to stop the planned execution.
Dagbladet comes with more.