Prøv at forestille dig, at en dansker i Afghanistan bliver kidnappet af al-Qaeda. 5 år må han henslæbe i skumle og ubehagelige fangelejre, indtil han en skønne dag ser en chance: Han griber én af fangevogternes gevær og forsøger at skyde sig fri.
Ingen kommer noget til, men den afghanske regering griber nu ind og beslutter at statuere et eksempel: Danskeren stilles for retten, anklaget for mordforsøg. Dom. 86 års fængsel. Han anfører forgæves, at han i fem år har været kidnappet i strid med enhver international lovgivning og blot forsøgte at forsvare sig selv.
Ville en sådan dom være en sejr for det afghanske demokrati, et bevis for, at vi endelig har opnået det demokrati, vore soldater har kæmper for? Sådan vil alle nok ikke opfatte det.
Sådan er det heller ikke alle, der opfatter det, nu hvor en kvindelig pakistansk neurolog er dømt for det samme – godt nok ikke i det nye, demokratiske Afghanistan, men i det nye, demokratiske USA:
Siddiqui, 38, was convicted of attempted murder this year after shooting at US soldiers and FBI agents in Afghanistan in 2008 as she tried to escape from custody. Siddiqui claimed she had been abducted by US agents and held incommunicado in Afghanistan for five years. The case has drawn appeals from the Pakistani government for her release, and divided legal opinion.
Protesters took to the streets across Pakistan after the sentence, lighting fires and chanting anti-American slogans. The Jamaat-e-Islami religious party announced a national strike after weekly prayers. Opposition leader Nawaz Sharif said he was “saddened”‚ by the sentence; his brother Shahbaz, the chief minister of Punjab province, called the sentence a “crime against humanity”.
Siddiqui’s family in Karachi accused the US justice system of bias against Muslims. “This is the beginning of the greatest travesty of justice,” said her sister Fowzia, who has campaigned for the past two years. “My sister is going to come back. This is not her downfall. This is her victory.”
Although the FBI accused Siddiqui of supporting al-Qaida, she was not charged with terrorism. But prosecutors alleged that when she was arrested in Afghanistan two years ago she was found with instructions on how to assemble bombs and a list of New York city landmarks.
86 års fængsel. For at skyde op i luften efter at have været indespærret uden lv og dom (det, vi andre kalder “kidnappet”) i fem år. Velbekomme d’herrer, som stadig tror på “krigen mod terror”.
Link: Pakistan neurocientist given 86 years for shooting at US agents