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UK: Banaz Mahmod's cousins get life jail
for "honour killing"
11.11.2010 |
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November 11, 2010
LONDON, — Two cousins who became the first
suspects ever extradited to Britain from Iraqi
Kurdistan region were jailed for life today for the
"honour killing" of a 20-year-old woman.
Mohammed Ali and Omar Hussain were found guilty of
murdering Banaz Mahmod,
20, in January 2006 after she fell in love with a
man disapproved of by her family.
Banaz, of Mitcham, Surrey, was subjected to an
horrific assault, strangled, and stuffed in a
suitcase found buried under a Birmingham patio three
months later.
Ali was told he must serve at least 22 years behind
bars and Hussain was given a minimum term of 21
years.
In a letter handed to police weeks before she died,
Banaz had named Hussain and Ali as men "ready and
willing to do the job of killing me".
Judge Brian Barker, the Common Serjeant of London,
told them: "This was a barbaric and callous crime."
The men carried out the murder with a third man,
Mohammad Hama, on behalf of Banaz's father, Mahmod
Mahmod, and uncle, Ari Mahmod.
Hama and the Mahmod brothers, members of the Kurdish
community, were jailed at the Old Bailey in 2007.
Ali and Hussain seemed to have escaped justice,
having fled to their homeland in northern Iraq, a
country with a ban on extraditing its citizens.
But a police team led by Detective Chief Inspector
Caroline Goode was determined to bring them to
account and today Ali, 30, and Hussain, 32, were
convicted by a jury following a second Old Bailey
trial.
Ms Goode said the case was a warning to those who
tried to escape justice: "We are not going to give
up."
She added: "The extradition is legal history."
The judge said Banaz had been a "young woman with
personality and determination" who "made the
mistake" of falling in love with a man disapproved
of by her family and community.
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Banaz's two cousins have been jailed for life for
the 'honour killing' of a 20-year-old woman. Photo:
The independent UK
Banaz Mahmod Babakir Agha, Found dead, brutally
killed by her family in UK. Banaz had left her husband and
fall in love with an Iranian Kurd. BBC Photo.
Banaz's uncle Ari Mahmod (L) and Banaz's father,
Mahmod Mahmod were jailed for life in July 2007.
Reuters Photo. |
"To restore the
so-called family honour, it was decided by her
father and uncle that she should die and her memory
be erased."
The judge told Ali and Hussain: "You were willing
and active participants in what was an agonising
death and a deliberately disrespectful disposal.
"You are hard and callous men who were quite
prepared to assist others in killing in the
so-called name of honour and who placed respect from
the community above life, tolerance and
understanding."
Ari Mahmod and his brother had passed a "death
sentence" on Banaz, he added.
The judge told Ali and Hussain: "You two, along with
Hama, were more than willing to fall in with his
plan and to carry out that execution.
"You proceeded to cram her body into a suitcase,
take it up to Birmingham, and hide it in that back
garden, confidently expecting that evidence to
disappear forever."
The judge paid tribute to Banaz's boyfriend Rahmat
Sulemani, who is now under witness protection and
had "put himself at considerable risk" to return to
give evidence in the case for a second time.
Bobbie Cheema, prosecuting, said there had been
threats to his family "emanating from Iraq".
He told Ali and Hussain that the time each of them
had spent in custody in their home countries would
not be deducted from their sentences as each had
made "a determined attempt to flee the
jurisdiction".
Ali's whereabouts came to attention when he was
arrested in Sulaimaniyah after killing a 16-year-old
boy in a hit-and-run motorcycle accident.
Local women's groups were aware he was wanted in
Britain and alerted Iraqi authorities. Police in
London were informed in October 2007, via the FBI,
that he was now in custody.
Legal advice given to the Metropolitan Police
suggested the ban on extradition was not
"insuperable" and in November the Crown Prosecution
Service decided to ask for Ali to be brought back.
UK officials had to tread a careful path through a
chaotic legal minefield, putting the request to the
authorities but being careful not to be seen to
encourage the abandonment of the Iraqis' due process
of law.
Ali was eventually brought to Britain in June 2009.
Hussain, a notorious smuggler believed to be
responsible for a number of murders in his home
country and described by police as an "absolute
menace",www.ekurd.netwas
holed up in a remote and lawless area.
He was being sheltered by his two brothers - one a
member of the Assayish, the Kurdish security force,
and another a Peshmerga fighter.
But he fell out with them over his gambling and
womanising and turned up in hospital in December
2009 after being shot in the leg with an AK-47 by
one of the brothers. Hussain was believed to be
having an affair with one of their wives.
When he appeared before a judge for an extradition
hearing he claimed it was a case of mistaken
identity, that he had not been in the UK at the time
of Banaz's murder, and that tribal elders would back
his alibi.
Ms Goode had to fly to Iraq to appear at the court -
which she described as "a cross between Midnight
Express and a cattle market" - to contradict his
claims.
The judge was persuaded when she produced benefits
records and a photograph from his arrest over a
traffic offence in 2005.
Hussain was extradited to Britain in March 2010,
where he complained about the NHS treatment for his
wounded leg and tried to jump the queue for an
operation.
He is currently on trial in his absence in Iraq for
shooting the mayor of Qalidza, a village near
Sulaimaniyah. The victim survived the attack.
Both Hussain and Ali had previously been asylum
seekers, with Hussain living in Birmingham and Ali
in Brixton, south London.
They murdered Banaz after coming under the influence
of Ari Mahmod, an influential figure within the
Kurdish community.
Ari and Mahmod Mahmod were jailed for life in July
2007, with minimum terms of 23 and 20 years, for
arranging the killing. Mohammad Hama was also given
a life sentence, with a minimum 17-year tariff.
An Independent Police Complaints Commission report
in April 2008 found Banaz had been let down after
reporting that she feared for her life in the weeks
leading up to her murder.
Police said similar cases would be handled
differently now following intensive training and
awareness-raising among officers.
Ms Goode said: "Banaz's murder has been a catalyst
for change."
Jurors took just three hours to convict Hussain and
Ali of murder today.
Ali and Hussain were also found guilty of making
threats to kill the victim's boyfriend Rahmat
Sulemani and perverting justice by burying her body.
But they were cleared of conspiracy to kidnap Mr
Sulemani.
Sardar Mahmood, 27, of Messenger Road, Smethwick,
Birmingham, was found not guilty of the kidnap,
threats and perverting justice allegations, and
discharged.
Ali and Hussain were cousins, and Ali had been a
cousin of Banaz - who was born in Iraq before moving
to Britain with her family as a child.
Det Chief Insp Goode said of today's verdicts by the
jury: "It sends a message to potential perpetrators
of honour-based violence: don't think you are going
to go abroad and forget about it, we are going to
find you and bring you back.
"To potential victims: we are going to take this
seriously. We are not going to give up."
Amnesty International UK director Kate Allen said:
"This has been a truly shocking case and it's been
extremely important that justice has been seen to be
done over the appalling murder of Banaz Mahmod.
"Today's conviction sends out the key message that
so-called 'honour' killings will not be tolerated
either in Britain or in countries like Iraq.
"Our research in the Kurdistan region of Iraq shows
that despite the recent efforts of the authorities
to clamp down on 'honour' killings, women and girls
are still being murdered by relatives in their
dozens, sometimes with the tacit approval of the
wider community.
"Nothing can bring Banaz back to life but at least
her tormentors have been properly punished and the
message sent out that 'honour' crimes will never,
ever be tolerated."
Ms Goode said: "We have been absolutely determined
to bring these men before the courts to stand trial
for the murder of Banaz.
"Following the conviction of her father and uncle
back in 2007, these men no doubt thought they had
escaped justice and that they would not be held to
account for the terrible crime that they committed.
"I am extremely pleased to see justice served for
Banaz today and would like to thank everyone
involved in the inquiry who has made this possible.
"Banaz was a loving, caring, young woman whose life
was brutally cut short by the very people who should
have loved and protected her - in any terms the
ultimate betrayal.
"This has been a complex inquiry. The MPS has used
every resource at its disposal to ensure that the
perpetrators are brought to justice.
"It is important that people realise that if they
commit murder in this country, they cannot hope to
evade justice by fleeing the country. We will pursue
every lawful means to trace them and bring them to
justice."
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author or news agency, independent.co.uk
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