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Firstly,
Congratulations to Oman for beating China in the London 2012 Olympic football qualifier preliminary round 2 in Shanghai last night. Hussain Al Hadhri slotted a goal in the first 3 minutes and then Oman held out for the full length of the game, shutting out the Chinese 1-0. There's nothing quite like winning against the odds away! China will be playing Oman here in the second leg game on the 23rd June. The game will be played at theSultan Qaboos sports complex in Bousher As Seeb sports stadium, and I do not know anything about ticketing, it'll probably be free. If you do know anything about ticketing, please let us all know!
A nod to the boys up in the UAE as well, who also flicked some dirt in the eye of North Korea and beat them 1-0 as well. And the Saudi's beat Vietnam in a 2-0 victory too. Qatar dominated India in a 3-1 victory. No such luck for Kuwait, Yemen or Bahrain though, who lost their games. You can see all the schedules and results for the 2012 Asian team qualifiers by clicking here.
Next.
In today's edition of Muscat Daily, there was actually some local news! Top marks! The particular story I wanted to write about today is on page 3 at the top and you can read it online here. A man (not identified as to where he's from) was sentenced to 1 year in jail recently it is reported. But here's the reason I'm blogging about it: This man, who had 236mg of alcohol in his blood - the equivalent of about 8 pints of beer lost control of his car, hit another car, and then ran over a pedestrian, killing him.
So, in summary. He was shitfaced, crashed his car and took someones life. And all he got is 1 year in jail? What the hell? That is hardly a strong deterrent nor the right kind of message I'd of thought the authorities want to be sending out. The sentence seems unbelievably light for murder! I think that's outrageous, what do you think?
And finally, as reported on the blog on Monday last week, it has been confirmed that Borders has closed down in MCC. However, the Qurum branch is apparently set to stay open with no plans to close it as confirmed by Manoj Kanjari, the operations manager of Borders Oman.
le fin.
Congratulations to Oman for beating China in the London 2012 Olympic football qualifier preliminary round 2 in Shanghai last night. Hussain Al Hadhri slotted a goal in the first 3 minutes and then Oman held out for the full length of the game, shutting out the Chinese 1-0. There's nothing quite like winning against the odds away! China will be playing Oman here in the second leg game on the 23rd June. The game will be played at the
A nod to the boys up in the UAE as well, who also flicked some dirt in the eye of North Korea and beat them 1-0 as well. And the Saudi's beat Vietnam in a 2-0 victory too. Qatar dominated India in a 3-1 victory. No such luck for Kuwait, Yemen or Bahrain though, who lost their games. You can see all the schedules and results for the 2012 Asian team qualifiers by clicking here.
Next.
In today's edition of Muscat Daily, there was actually some local news! Top marks! The particular story I wanted to write about today is on page 3 at the top and you can read it online here. A man (not identified as to where he's from) was sentenced to 1 year in jail recently it is reported. But here's the reason I'm blogging about it: This man, who had 236mg of alcohol in his blood - the equivalent of about 8 pints of beer lost control of his car, hit another car, and then ran over a pedestrian, killing him.
So, in summary. He was shitfaced, crashed his car and took someones life. And all he got is 1 year in jail? What the hell? That is hardly a strong deterrent nor the right kind of message I'd of thought the authorities want to be sending out. The sentence seems unbelievably light for murder! I think that's outrageous, what do you think?
And finally, as reported on the blog on Monday last week, it has been confirmed that Borders has closed down in MCC. However, the Qurum branch is apparently set to stay open with no plans to close it as confirmed by Manoj Kanjari, the operations manager of Borders Oman.
le fin.
Well done Oman, and how it's "not too bad" to drunk drive & kill people.
![Well done Oman, and how it's "not too bad" to drunk drive & kill people.]()
Reviewed by Sythe
on
Monday, June 20, 2011
Rating:
Why surprised? Has the government ever taken any real and serious action against this problem?
ReplyDeleteFirstly (and lastly!) I suspect the nationality of the drunken idiot .. sorry, 'man' is Omani - otherwise they'd have said where he was from. This is also why the sentence was just 1 year.
ReplyDeleteEnough said really.
:-/
There was a piece in the Gulf News last week about a couple of guys who set fire to a car and they got seven years in jail!
ReplyDeleteHere is the article, scroll down past the hookers!: http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/oman/three-expatriates-jailed-for-prostitution-in-oman-1.821387
Life is cheap out here- I suspect the person he ran over was probably a labourer who had no-one to fight his corner for him.
*crying* *crying* *crying* on borders... ohhhhh... stlll *crying*.. why the close it? do u have any idea? is it because of Nandos??? plssssssssssssss tell me if u have any info abt the closing
ReplyDeleteI must admit I am not surprised, the guy killed was probably some Indian trying to earn a crust and the driver an Omani. The driving laws here are flouted continually, I suspect that a lot of the drivers don't even have a licence. If you have money you can buy anything here including getting away with taking a person's life. However Oman is not alone in this respect unfortunately, far from it.
ReplyDeleteI have always wondered about the sentencing policy of the criminal courts in Oman and the GCC.A guy may get 7 years in jail for setting fire to a vehicle but a guy who takes the life of another( or seriously injuring) by driving his vehicle in a rash and negligent manner and that too under the influence of drugs or alcohol much above the legally permissible limit ( is there a permissible limit here? I don't think so)gets off lightly with 1 or 2 years in jail with some fine.
ReplyDeleteThis I think is due to a wrong understanding of the concept of what constitutes a crime.A crime requires two elements 1. An act 2.The act should be committed or at least initiated /executed with intention or knowledge on part of the doer.( And of course the absence of a valid justification)
Even when the above two conditions are fulfilled an act which result in injury ,death or other consequenses/results need not be a crime provided the accused has the protection of the penal statute by way of exceptions ( for eg. The right of Private defense )
Here there is evidence that the guy was driving under the influence and that he hit a pedestrian who died.Even though the guy may not have had an intention to endager life he should not get the benifit of the exceptions in penal law because he consumed alcohol voluntarly ( at least no evidece that it was administered to him against his will)The lack of "knowledge" or intention to bring about the death of the pedestrian should not save the guy because the intention/knowledge part will be attributed to him because of the fact that he was drunk voluntarly) .Hence he is not eligible for specific exceptions in the penal statutes which "excuses" crimes.
To illustrate, Section 304 of the Indian Penal code is quoted below.There are two parts( two limbs)to the section.The first part speaks about "intention" and the second limb speaks about "knowledge".You may note that the guy who caused the accident will be punished under the second part/limb of section 304 IPC if found guilty.You may also note that the punishment provided in the section is also considerable.In UK similar situations will come under "Manslaughter" and in India it is known as 'Culpable Homocide not amounting to Murder"
By the way the IPC was drafted in 1860 and came into force in 1862!
Section 304. Punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder
Whoever commits culpable homicide not amounting to murder shall be punished with [imprisonment for life], or imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine, if the act by which the death is caused is done with the intention of causing death, or of causing such bodily injury as is likely to cause death,
or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, or with fine, or with both, if the act is done with the knowledge that it is likely to cause death, but without any intention to cause death, or to cause such bodily injury as is likely to cause death.
Dear Mr.Sythe,
By the way your blog is really interesting.Please continue the good work.
I think the football match will be played at the Al Seeb Stadium and not the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex..
ReplyDeleteIn fact BigManinOman - the pimp story and the article below it are both worth a read
ReplyDelete- 3 pimps got 3 years and 5,000 fine each for living off the prostitution of a housemaid
- 11 guys got three years in jail for taking Manpower Ministry employees hostage and preventing them from carrying out their duties (which were ?)
- 2 men got seven-year jail and fined 4,859 Omani riyals each for setting their company's vehicle on fire .
- 1 male driver was drunk in control of a lethal object, killed a pedestrian and and got 1 year
Links
http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/oman/three-expatriates-jailed-for-prostitution-in-oman-1.821387
http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/oman/oman-court-sentences-21-to-jail-for-ibri-riot-1.823957
- http://www.muscatdaily.com/Archive/Oman/Man-gets-a-year-in-jail-for-run-over
Murder requires malice, i.e. intent to kill. Ergo this here is not murder. Probably involuntary or maybe criminally negligent/gross manslaughter.
ReplyDeleteAn afterthought,
ReplyDeleteThe indian courts are conferred with wide discretion in sentencing for an office comming under the 2nd limb of Section 304.This is to enable the courts to consider the facts and evidence in each case and apply an appropriate sentence.This is sometimes prone to misuse.
I suspect folks are bored stiff by my ramblings.I sincerely appologise.
Thanks everyone for your comments.
ReplyDeleteTo those speculating at the nationality and subsequent light punishment... no comment!
The Owl - thanks for the correction on the venue, I've updated it.
Joseph - thanks for your comments, It'd be interesting to hear someone versed well in the appropriate section of Omani law to compare the two.
Bahman, nice to see you comment :)
And to the Anonymous commenter upset about Borders closing... Borders USA filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection in the States a few months ago, and there was some 75 closures globally. The MCC branch was shut down due to an instruction from the Dubai head office for Borders. Looking at it commercially, the size of the store was huge, and due to the high prices of the products in the store, the volume of sales was probably too low, making it not a profitable location. Borders Express does seem to do a better trade. The best selling product, I'm sure, of Borders was the stationary products, I'll miss them the most.
Another story on the Muscat Daily Facebook page (I am sure its in the paper too), right above the drunk driving incident you reported here, and this is what it reads:
ReplyDelete"The court sentenced Haitham al Abri, Abdullah Sulaiman al Hinai, Ahmed Musallam al Gharibi, Waleed Dhahi, Mohammed Huwaishel, Rashid Hamdan, Sultan Salim al Belushi, Salim Mohammed al Abri, Huthaifa Said, Moosa Khamis al Jassasi and Qasim Said al Mamari to three years in jail for blockading offices belonging to the ministries of Social Development and Manpower and preventing government employees from carrying out their duties.
Qasim and Haitham received an additional one year term for vandalising public property. Haitham will also serve an extra one month term for insulting government employees."
So seriously, drunk driving with a lethal outcome only got a year...but to vandalize government property- you've got to be playing with fire sir. It's not like we can BUILD ANOTHER BUILDING!!! It enrages me to indescribable lengths.
Seems to me that intentions count for a lot in deciding culpability, and that ill-intent was considered more of an offence to society than stupidity.
ReplyDeleteAmazing isnt it?
ReplyDeleteNo value for human life or human rights.
Ah but who cares, they've got beaches to take over and build on.
RIP to the poor soul who was killed for no fault of his/ Thoughts with his family.
The driver was Omani.
ReplyDelete