Qatar’s Emir, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, has pardoned a number of prisoners this month in honor of Ramadan, QNA reports.
Such pardons are commonly issued by the Emir during the fasting month and on National Day, but no official information is usually released about those who are released from jail.
However, many of the pardoned prisoners in the past have been men from labor-sending countries like Nepal, India and the Philippines.
Their embassies typically send lists to the Emir of suggested prisoners to release.
Embassy reports
Speaking to Doha News, the Vice Consul of the Philippines embassy in Doha said today that the mission is still waiting to hear if any of its nationals have been freed. Melvin Almonguera continued:
“While we do know that there are a lot of Filipinos on the list that we sent (to the Emir), we have no idea which ones have been granted clemency or if they have had their sentences commuted.”
He added that in the past, details of those pardoned were only made available after Ramadan and the Eid holidays ended.
Meanwhile, an official at the Indian embassy confirmed that some of its nationals had been pardoned, but could not divulge further information for now.
And a representative at the Nepali embassy in Doha said that they don’t have details yet, but are hoping that half of their nationals in jail will be released. Last year, about 30 percent had their sentences commuted, he added.
Previous pardons
In issuing prisoner pardons during Ramadan and National Day, the new Emir is continuing in the tradition of his father, Qatar’s previous leader.
In 2012, the Peninsula reported that Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani had pardoned 60 prisoners on National Day in December. Those who were released included people convicted of bribery, adultery, fraud, bounced checks and accidental deaths, among other crimes.
Last year, Sheikh Tamim pardoned 36 prisoners during Ramadan. The list included 18 Filipinos, 17 Indians, 14 Nepalis and five Pakistanis. Crimes included immorality, theft, possession of methamphetamine, fraud and unpaid loans.
Additionally, at least two locals were also pardoned, though Ibn Al Dheeb, a Qatari poet who was jailed in 2012 for “inciting to overthrow the regime” and “insulting the Emir” was not pardoned.
Nine Filipinas were also pardoned as part of Qatar’s National Day celebrations last year, according to the Gulf Times.
Thoughts?
Welease Wodger
Rumours that the Villagio Six were the first to be pardoned have been denied. A spokesman said, ‘they have to be in jail for the Emir to give an Official pardon and have them released, one of them is doing a great job as Qatari Ambassador to Belgium and his wife makes a lovely hummus’
Okay I’m officially fed up DN!! I read the headline and saw next to it that there were 4 comments. I load the comments and there is 1 there. If comments keep being deleted or withheld because they have content that “flags” in some system, then users will get fed up and won’t comment at all, I know I am. I’ve even stopped reading DN as often as usual because I’ve just lost interest knowing it is so scrubbed.
DN- Can you at least inform people what words get their posts tagged? Maybe then we could avoid using them.
Can someone please explain to me what on earth is going on here? There are apparently “0 comments” although I know for a fact there have been more. W T F ?!!
I think they remove some comments they think are sensitive….. Self censorship.
Each time I hear of these pardons I feel sick that the people guilty of causing the deaths of our children may be pardoned without serving a single day of their sentences… Hopefully none of these people are on this list.
Must be a very controversial subject, Doha News is deleting most of the commnets
When you get arrested for opposing censorship, I hope you are included in next year’s pardon list
Thanks. Please bring me humus in jail, I do like it
Word on the street is that if you can make an awesome hummus you can potentially avoid jail time for yourself or your ambassador husband. So I will IMMEDIATELY learn how to make the most AMAZING hummus in the world, for the safety of myself and my husband (although he is not an ambassador, I’m sure my tactic will still work based on precedence). And I will be more than happy to bring you some in jail MIMH!
If you do a decent mutabel then you can get away with murder…..
http://llivingfreeinqatarmimh.blogspot.ca
I’m disappointed in all the comments taken down….
I’m starting to feel like a broken record. If we delete comments, then it’ll say the comment has been deleted. If your post is flagged by another user, or by Disqus for being too long, unverified, containing swear words, etc, then they’ll just disappear until we manually look at them.
I understand what you are saying, but can the “sensitivity” of this flagging system be dialed back a little bit? It seems like way too many comments are being flagged, most which are not containing swear words or anything offensive. As a reader it makes it very frustrating. Especially when I see a comment from someone else, I’m replying to their comment, and then by the time I hit Post, I can’t post because it isn’t there anymore!
Also, is this flagging system new? This only seems to be an issue just recently. But it really discourages conversations on your site.
Also, if a user has the ability to flag a comment, surely you realize that any user can just flag something purely because they don’t agree with it. So shall I just flag any post that I don’t like and then their comment goes away? That’s not really the type of open forum I’d like to participate in.
I love DN, please consider adjusting the flagging system!!
It’s not Doha News. It’s the Disqus subsystem that they are using for comments. They can’t change it unless they move onto another system for comments.
Not correct… https://help.disqus.com/customer/portal/articles/532448-disqus-house-rules
Not moderation or censor. It’s just buggy. I’ve had it happen on many other sites that use DIsqus as well.
I think you need to change your safety settings. I enjoy the comments even those that are offensive or just plain crazy. If I wanted to read the official line I’d read the the sycophantic letters section in the gulf times or Peninsula.
Agree, agree, AGREE!! DN please hear us! Can I sign some sort of waiver which states that I release DN from any liability should a crazy, offensive, or otherwise unpleasant comment be posted? I swear I won’t be bothered. Most of us LOVE the diversity of comments that come in, even the insane or insulting ones. We are all big boys and girls and we can handle it!