Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Shafia son to appeal honour killing conviction

Young Hamed Shafia, unlike his father and mother, didn't take the stand in his own defence on charges of killing his three sisters and his father's first wife. It appeared to Agent 3 that Hamed was being set up to take the fall. If so, it didn't work, as all three were convicted for four counts -- each -- of first-degree murder.

Now his lawyer says Hamed has filed an "inmate's notice" to the Ontario Court of Appeal, the first step in appealing his conviction.

His trial lawyer says the main grounds of the appeal relate to admissibility of what he calls “hearsay evidence” from the victims and of the expert evidence on “honour killing.” He says it will likely be at least a year before the appeal is heard.

The father and mother are also expected to be appealing... but not very. [I bet Walt has waited years to use that line. Ed.]

Many column inches of print and minutes of airtime have been devoted to this story, not just by the Canadian media but by newspapers and broadcast media around the world. the usual liberal voices have been harrumphing that only racists and bigots could say this has anything to do with immigrants or Muslims. One of the rare voices of common sense at the oh-so-PC Globe and Mail is Margaret Wente, whom Walt reads regularly. Here's a snippet from her column.

It’s impossible to understand this crime without the culture. And it’s important to understand honour crimes for exactly what they are. They are not ordinary acts of domestic violence carried out in a fit of rage. Instead, they are carefully premeditated acts that are designed to remove the stain of a wife or daughter’s sexual misconduct (real or imagined) from the family name.

They are often approved or tolerated by the community. Wives often condone these crimes against their daughters, or even help commit them. And the perpetrators are invariably convinced of the rightness of their deeds.

Click here to read the rest of the piece.

Comment from Ed.: Walt and I have discussed the possibility that some of you may be getting tired of the honour crimes issue. We anticipate having something else to talk about when the results of the Florida primary are known.

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