 An "horrific" public execution and crucifixion of a man in Saudi Arabia has been condemned by Amnesty International. Ahmed bin 'Adhaib bin 'Askar al-shamlani al-'Anzi was beheaded and his body crucified in a public place in Riyadh on Friday.
He had been sentenced for the alleged abduction and murder of a father and son. He was also punished for previous offences of Luwat (homosexual intercourse), possession of sexually explicit materials and for raising a gun against security forces seeking to arrest him.
"It is horrific that beheading and crucifixions still happen," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Deputy Programme Director of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa programme. "King Abdullah should show true leadership and commute all death sentences if Saudi Arabia is to have any role to play as a global leader or member of the G20."
Trial proceedings in Saudi Arabia fall way short of international fair trial standards. They usually take place behind closed doors without adequate legal representation. Convictions are often made on the basis of "confessions" obtained under duress, including torture or other ill-treatment during incommunicado detention.
Those who are sentenced to death are often not informed of the progress of legal proceedings against them or of the date of execution until the morning they are taken out and beheaded.
Saudi Arabia continues to defy the UN General Assembly resolution adopted in 2007 and 2008 calling for a moratorium on executions.
Amnesty International recorded a total of 102 executions in Saudi Arabia in 2008. Due to the strict secrecy of the criminal justice system in Saudi Arabia, it is not possible to know how many have been sentenced to death, but Amnesty International is aware of at least 136 individuals currently believed to be awaiting execution. Source: www.amnesty.org
 City officials in Tehran have agreed to investigate claims that bodies of protesters killed in the unrest that followed Iran's disputed presidential election were secretly buried in the nation's largest cemetery, Iranian media reported Sunday. The city council has formed a committee to look into the allegations reported last week by a reformist news site, said council spokesman Khosrow Daneshjou, according to the Iranian Labor News Agency. The charges against Iran's government are the latest by reformists who claim protesters arrested in the aftermath of the June 12 election were raped and tortured. The government rejected such reports, but still pledged to investigate them if there was evidence. Last week, Norooz News reported that at least 28 people who died in the violence that followed the June 12 election were buried anonymously in Tehran's Behesht-e Zahra cemetery. The Web site said the secret after-hours burials were done in July at section 302 of the cemetery. A parliamentary committee also was formed to investigate the reports, lawmaker Hamid-Reza Katouzian said in response to the allegations of the secret burials. Daneshjou, of the Tehran city council, denied any wrongdoing at the cemetery, saying: "Every day there are deaths of individuals in Tehran, whose bodies are unidentified ... " However, the accusations specifically focus on the bodies of those involved in the protests, who may have died in the streets or in prison. The government has put the post-election death toll at about 30, though reformists say it is more than twice that figure. On Sunday, both Norooz News and Parleman News -- a newsgathering arm for the Path of the Imam (Khomeini) faction in parliament -- reported the identity of one woman, Saeida Agahpour, whose family said she was secretly buried in section 302 after authorities took her from her home. Both sites reported that services were held for Agahpour at the cemetery Saturday, with opposition leader Mir Hossein Moussavi present. Moussavi was the chief political rival to hardline incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was declared the overwhelming winner of the election. Source: CNN 
 By Douglas Farah The Global Muslim Brotherhood Daily Report brings the otherwise unreported here news of a major criminal investigation into several Muslim Brotherhood leaders and groups in Germany and Belgium. The raids were publicly announced in Germany, but have not been widely reported. The site also provides links to other reports, particularly by the NEFA Foundations on some of those under investigation. What is striking is the stature of the institutions that were raided on suspicion of money laundering, criminal activities, acquisition of property under false pretenses, and aiding "Islamists" and violent Islamic jihadists. One thing this shows is that, despite the constant protests to the contrary, at least the German prosecutors and those of several other nations, believe there is, in fact, a transnational Ikhwan organization. There is, but the Brotherhood usually denies its existence. It also shows the wealth and power the group has acquired over time. It set up in Germany in the early 1960s, and has rolled on, virtually unchallenged and unexamined, since. This is not unlike the MB groups in the United States, as outlined by prosecutors in the Holy Land Foundation case, who have spread influence as a "mainstream" Islamic organization. Read more ...Source: Counterterrorism Blog
Continued from OBAMA CONNECTED TO SUNRISE EQUITIES, PART ONE
 RECAP: Sunrise Equities failed, leaving at least 150 investors in Chicago devastated. About $80 million of their money is missing. The Illinois Secretary of State is investigating, as is the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Sunrise’s CEO, Salman Ibrahim, was reportedly seen recently on the streets of Lahore, Pakistan. Ibrahim is said to be a Taliban sympathizer. Barack Obama has long ties to Ibrahim and Sunrise Equities, which gave him free office space in his 2004 campaign for US Senate.
CHICAGO - 24 October 2008 - (The Bench) - Just hours before this was to be posted, The Bench received an urgent - and disturbing - email. It alerted us to the premature death of one of the peripheral players in this drama, the larger drama of the implosion of Sunrise Equities.
Reported dead is radio talk show host Rehan Sheikh, a friend of The Bench. In his early 40s, he is believed to have died suddenly from unknown causes sometime between Thursday night, October 16 and Wednesday noon, October 22. There is a lot of mystery surrounding his death; the time, even the day, of his death is unknown.
Sources tell The Bench that Rehan suffered “two heart attacks” shortly after eating at a Pakistani restaurant on Devon Avenue in Chicago’s West Ridge neighborhood, where he was a well-known and controversial figure.
The cause of death is unknown, but some in the community strongly suspect murder by means of deliberate food poisoning.
Rehan, a Pakistani immigrant to the US, drove a Yellow taxicab, but was better known as the host of radio talk show “Dil Se,” which aired every Sunday from 11:00 p.m. to midnight on WBCI 1240 AM in Chicago. Dil Se was an Urdu language talk show that covered current events of interest to Chicago’s Indian and Pakistani community.
The show’s topic on the night of Sunday, September 21, 2008 was Sunrise Equities, the missing $80 million and missing Sunrise CEO Salman Ibrahim. The Bench had the pleasure of sitting in the studio during that night’s live broadcast. Fluent in English, Rehan had no problem fielding the occasional caller who spoke English. All of the callers were very emotional about the Sunrise topic. You do not have to understand Urdu to get the emotion that poured from the callers that night.
Before and after that broadcast, Rehan spoke off-air about the Sunrise crisis. Among the things he related then, and at other times (some of which The Bench gets from reliable sources), was that Mohammed Tariq Siddiqui told him in April of this year that Salman Ibrahim was “going to vanish.” Siddiqui’s words were proved prophecy; about four months later, Ibrahim went missing along with $80 million and fellow Sunrise personnel. For the rest of this story, please see Obama's Connections to Sunrise Equities, Part Two .
It's about time. Chicago investment firm, Sunrise Equities, shut their doors back in mid-August, leaving investors confused,  worried and angry. Salman Ibrahim, CEO, and other officers vanished. They left Chicago - and probably the US - with about $80 million of investors' money. Most investors have been totally destroyed by the scandal, and now, finally, two months later, the "Illinois Secretary of State's office filed a temporary order of prohibition against the missing CEO and president of a shariah-compliant investment firm."
That's according to a report, out moments ago on the Chicago Journal web site (10 pm, Chicago, Oct. 22). It continues:
"A spokesman for Jesse White's office said state investigators have gathered sufficient evidence to believe there was a violation of securities law."
"Sufficient evidence," they say, casually. How about this for sufficient evidence: CEO and top officers vanish; doors locked; phone calls not being returned; investors not getting scheduled check. What the hell was the State of Illinois waiting for?
Let me veer onto a side street for a moment. Perhaps the Illinois Secretary of State was afraid of being called a religious bigot for going after a Muslim company. I'm being sarcastic, of course, but believe it or not, there really are lunatics out there who accuse me and other writers who are covering this of targeting Sunrise Equities. The Bench, and others writing about it, have noted that the investors - most of whom are Muslim - have been violated. We believe and hope that they get relief and justice. This is a case of Muslims being screwed by fellow Muslims. How, then, is it bigoted to simply report that?
Chicago Journal continues:
"Investors noticed something awry when they stopped receiving monthly disbursement checks from the investment firm in August. The firm's corporate officers and employees also stopped returning investors' calls, which investors said was highly unusual."
Sure, but not "unusual" enough, apparently, for the State of Illinois to jump on right away.
"The temporary order names Sunrise Equities Inc. and Sunrise Management II. The firm also did business as the Sunrise Development Group and Sunrise Development Inc., with addresses at 6355 N. Claremont, 1000 W. Monroe and 1023 W. Madison.
"In addition to Ibrahim, the order lists company founders Amjed Mahmood, of Des Plaines, and physician Mohammed Akbar Zahid, of Chicago. Both appear on the company's Web site as the senior vice presidents of construction and community relations, respectively.
Saquib Anwar, also named as a "respondent," is listed as an employee and sales agent of Sunrise.
"The temporary order alleges that Ibrahim and others failed to register securities and committed fraud in the sale of securities."
The Chicago Journal also noted that, "No one has seen or heard from Salman Ibrahim, the president and CEO of Sunrise Equities since August. Salman, whose last known address is the 5600 block of W. Eddy, has been accused of allegedly bilking hundreds of investors from West Ridge's Indian-Pakistani community and from around the world. Investors' losses are estimated between $50 million and $80 million."
RELATED:
OBAMA CONNECTED TO SUNRISE EQUITIES SCANDAL, PART ONE
MORE ABOUT SUNRISE EQUITIES (on The Bench)
OTHER LINKS:
More results from Rogers Park in 1000 words
Obama’s Muslim “outreach” problems. Coincidental? Get real!
Obama and the Sunrise Equities Failure: Sharia Firm Scandal
So necessary to read, I am posting this article again-OBAMA linked ...
Obama and the Sunrise Equities Failure: Sharia Firm Scandal
$15.5 Million Foreclosure Lawsuit on an Uptown Development Site
Cole Taylor files foreclosure suit over Uptown development
The Irish Suing to Recover Deposits
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