At this time last year, Alison Patterson was celebrating Mother’s Day in the UK with two of her three children. Her eldest daughter Lauren was working in Qatar, and sent a gift and a card home, as she always did when she was away.
Today, things are very different for the Patterson family. Daughter Lauren was killed in October by acquaintances in Doha, and on Thursday, a criminal court here found two Qatari men responsible for the 24-year-old teacher’s murder.
One of the defendants, 22-year-old Badr Hashim Khamis Abdullah Al-Jabar, was given a death sentence.
The other, 24-year-old Muhammad Abdullah Hassan Abdul Aziz, was handed a three-year jail term for helping Al-Jabar burn Patterson’s body, which was considered damaging and erasing evidence.
At the time of the sentencing, Alison Patterson told media that “justice was served” in the case of Al-Jabar, but that she was deeply upset with Abdul Aziz’s lighter sentence.
In an interview with Doha News today, Patterson said she is worried that neither of the convicted men will pay for what they did to her daughter.
“Is it something that’s just been said – and that’s never going to happen?” she asked.
At the root of her doubts is a scene she witnessed after Thursday’s verdict inside the courthouse. Patterson had gone in search of her two younger children, and ended up passing a sitting area where the defendants were being held.
“They were just laughing and joking with each other,” she said. “It just almost makes me feels that they were laughing at what happened. They have no respect for the sentence they’ve been given.”
Another issue that troubles her is that Qatar has not executed any prisoners in more than a decade, according to Amnesty International.
Prior to her daughter’s death, Patterson said she never gave the death penalty much thought. But after being told that Al-Jabar sexually assaulted her daughter, stabbed her to death and then attempted to burn her remains at a farm outside of Doha, she said she supported the punishment.
“Lauren came home in a box the weighed 7 kilos,” Patterson said with regards to her daughter’s remains. “She weighed 50 kilos when she died.”
Other questions
Patterson has also been unable to shake an argument she read on a recent blog post about her daughter’s case on “Muslims Worldwide,” which she found while googling Lauren’s name.
The site appears to be full of hate speech about Islam and its adherents, but the post on Patterson struck a chord with Lauren’s mother because it questioned whether the quick sentencing of Al-Jabar was done so that officials could close the book on this crime, which the prosecutor called “heinous, foreign and shocking to a society as conservative as Qatar’s.”
The blog post reads:
“Sharia gives no justice to a kafir (non-Muslim/non-believer). And it never gives a death sentence to a Muslim over a crime committed against a non-Muslim…
So why would they announce the ‘death penalty’ if it is not given out? To appease the media. This case has been circulating all over the world. Arabs can’t stand negative media attention…These Arab countries make bogus claims of justice only to get the media off their back. In reality they keep them in prison and release them after 1-2 years.”
The last sticking point is that the verdicts must pass through two appellate courts here before they’re officially final, meaning closure could be some ways off for Patterson and her family.
Waiting
Speaking to Doha News, Patterson’s partner Kevin Crotty said they were grateful for all the Qatari government has done to ensure a speedy trial.
“They’ve been more than generous and more than reasonable,” he said. “Everything’s been done that should have been done. But them (the defendants) smiling – and the lighter sentence for the second one… Ultimately, we’ve always felt the political angle was there. Is there something that we should worry about?”
The Pattersons’ lawyer, Sami Abu Shaikha, has said he plans to appeal Abdul Aziz’s three-year sentence, asking for a more severe penalty.
Meanwhile, Alison Patterson, who has started smoking again after 15 years due to the stress of all that’s happened, said she knows that whatever the outcome, the pain will likely never go away.
“There will never be peace. (But) I just really don’t want to be let down,” she said.
Thoughts?
Is there really someone out there that believes that these men will serve their sentences? If so, I’d love to talk to them because I have $20 mil in an African account. All I need is their banking info to help me get it back to the US and they can keep 10% of it.
Liar.
10% of 20 million is a lot of dough. How do I know you’re legit? Are you royalty in any way?
Oops. Thanks for the reminder. I forgot to mention that I’m some kind of prince. I’m sure that’s more convincing.
He is “The Wolf of Wall Street” 😛
So you basically believe in Doha you can rape, murder and burn a women and then eventually get off because you’re Qatari and she wasn’t ??
Until the Villaggio defendants serve their sentences in full and blood money is paid, people in Doha will believe anything
So basically a case of gross negligence is the same as a case of rape, murder and then burning the body ??
The villagio trail isn’t over why would the defendants serve time now… And neither is this trial is over .. They are far from over… They’re are several appeal courts to go through not to mention tactical postponements …
Are you able to explain the thinking behind allowing Al-Thani and his wife to remain on post in Belgium? Where is the advantage, rather quietly re-assigning them until the case is done?
“The villagio trail isn’t over why would the defendants serve time now”
Well sorry to burst your bubble but the trial is OVER and they were found GUILTY! So they should be in jail….
An appeal is a separate process that should be carried out while they are serving their sentence.
Funny how some expats are kept in jail while awaiting their trial for minor or trumped up offences such as the Nepali teacher.
But the well connected defendants who were found Guilty in one of Qatar’s most notorious disasters are free to carry on as though nothing has happened!
I think that facts are louder than words…………
The fact that he was found guilty and given the maximum sentence possible? Yes that does say a lot.
Sadly, facst are of little help when dealing with delusional people who use anecdotal evidence to prove how prosecuted they are.
I think that actions are louder than words…….
I think that it is a sign of the gap and mistrust that exists between the local and expat community. We would all be well served to work at bridging this gap. The state has a lot of influence in this regard and could do more to treat people fairly regardless of race and creed. The language barrier also feeds the problem as the news is not reported the same way in English and Arabic. Gov. must do more to disseminate the news in English as it does in Arabic. Before anybody says that it is an Arabic country I would counter that the defacto language is English and we are trying to bridge the gap.
I feel safe in saying that most expats don’t really spend much time thinking about this. They have better ways to spend their time. Same applies for Qataris.
Sorry, but some people don’t know how to be happy, they just want something to whine about; I say let them wallow in their misery.
Perhaps both sides should spend more time thinking of one another. We may get along much better. We both have interests in the country. Hiding from one another only encourages the divide to grow.
It’s a waste of time to try to reason with some people; they have nothing better to do but complain, complain, and complain more to no end. They talk as if the same things they complain about don’t exist back home, which is not often the case, and in fact things sometimes are much worse back home.
Apologies if my comment was too flippant. To answer your question: I really don’t know what I believe. In my time in Qatar I have observed a couple things about this country: Qatar fiercly defends its own (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing), and saving face is of monumental importance. In my mind, combining those two is very dangerous when it comes to trying to carry out a just and unbiased criminal trial and fairly administering the punishments. I sincerely hope that I never am a part of any legal proceedings while living here.
if the sentence does get reduced (hope it doesnt) anything less than life in prison would be a mockery of justice and a mark of shame on my country
RESPECT! We need more like you Mr. Mohammed Albanai and Mr. Q from iLoveQatar.net.
NO hate for your country or religion. 🙂
From my experience of the Qatari Justice system the locals treat it as a play thing. Having been falsely accused of raping a student and being found innocent, it has taken over 2 years in the civil courts to even attempt to see any form of justice. I have been told by my lawyer that the verdict for my civil case is tomorrow. I feel sorry for anyone who is dragged through this system through no fault of their own. Especially through such horrific circumstances Alison Patterson has had to endure.
After talking to the lawyer today he says that today was cancelled and that the verdict will be in 2 more weeks. I can see this getting blown into another year.
It seems that I could be imprisoned immediately on an unfounded accusation and an ambassador can remain free, representing the country, despite being found guilty of gross negligence.
Still waiting for justice!
How can anyone be FALSELY accused of Raping a student in the first place..only wondering..
A 9 year old child develops a facial rash in the first three weeks of school. Over the 3 weeks the parents ask what caused the rash in which the girl can give no reason. (stated in police reports). By the end of the 3 weeks she has a 4 hour talk with her aunty and the accusation is created (stated in police reports). Within that 4 hour talk I’m sure there would have been leading questions from the aunty. The accusation was created and the finger was pointed at her only male teacher.
They claimed each week, over a three week period, that she had left my PE lessons forgetting her hat, then her drink bottle, then her sunglasses ( I forget which order these items occurred). It was claimed that on each occasion she VOLUNTARILY returned for her belongings each week and claimed that I sexually abused her on each occasion (stated in police reports).
Sorry to know hohum..quite a sad story of false accusation indeed..wonder what’s the parents take on this story..If truly innocent, I hope u find justice. Have said a prayer 🙂
Unfortunately I have to go through this “if truly innocent” when voicing my injustices to strangers. I don’t know if the parents truly believe their own story but they are not willing to lose face.
I will keep sharing my story.
Din want to wait for my comment to b approved.
Thanks for the offer but I don’t think I need a “secret” group to get my point across. I have done everything by the book, jumped through every hoop the judicial system threw at me (jail, courts, postponements, missing witness, travel bans, deportation, strained finances).
It is correct that parents don’t like the world knowing. The same can be said for teachers that they don’t like having the stigma of being falsely accused of such abuse in their professional life. I don’t want the world to know who this family is, I just want justice. The criminal courts found me innocent, I AM INNOCENT, I don’t see why I lost the most from their mistake and the failings of the prejudicial system.
Still waiting for Justice!
Fair enough! The group is a secret so that only present members invite new members..and is not a poxy group..anyways may u get the justice u so deserve then.
Maybe both men should’ve been handed to the UK to be tried there!
FAIR enough 😛
Laughing and joking…were they santa banta or the judge passed out a joke or they came to a circus…..nice fun or lets say misuse of sharia…killing a human is like killing the whole man kind…in this case an eye for an eye..then and there chapter close
It’s not that unusual; this is how some people respond to such shocking situations when they have no control over them.
After being sentenced with death. I’d say, they know something we don’t.
@saeedahmadkhan:[email protected]:disqus @Rapha31:disqus … I’d simply say it’s a cultural difference… People from different cultures react differently ( our men never cry in public, and never show that they are desperate… )
If you see somebody joking and laughing it doesn’t mean “they know something”…
Its not about culture but he does not have guilt feeling…or like some one said something is missing or not known
Feel free to go and read about the case of the gang rape and murder of 14 year Abeer Al Janabi by 5 U.S. soldiers in Iraq in 2006. One of 5, James P. Barker, wept during his closing statement, yet he showed no reaction when the sentence was read. Afterward, he smoked a cigarette outside as a bailiff watched over him. He grinned but said nothing as reporters passed by!
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-11-16-barker_x.htm
“Sharia gives no justice to a kafir (non-Muslim/non-believer). And it never gives a death sentence to a Muslim over a crime committed against a non-Muslim” In fact, things would be much simpler if traditional Islamic law was followed here; the trial would have been even faster, and once it was determined that this was murder and not accident, there’d be not much waiting time before the sentence is carried out. For those who don’t know, the religion of the victim has no impact on the sentencing in Islam.
Either I’m not clicking the post button or my posts are being dropped… Anyways what’s a lovely piece of sensational journalism .. Keep these gems coming… Whatever keeps online traffic and clicks coming through..
Best part someone wrote on a blog… And that’s now becoming a source to quote from …
Slow news day? Recycling yesterday’s article…
I can’t imagine how scared she must have been. He should be killed and feel the same way she did when he ended her life. Disgusting excuse for human beings, both of them.
Mrs pattinson,
I feel extremely sorry for your lose. As a muslim, i feel ashamed of the injustice done to your daughter. I am happy of the fact that the man responsible will receive a death sentence. And as a muslim i can assure you that nothing less than a death sentence will please me or any true muslim for that matter. Sharia Law clearly states the punishments irrespective of yours or the defendants religion. We muslim world are with you….
I thought they agreed on “PAYING” for what they did..