The trial against a Norwegian sentenced to death in Somaliland postponed again – VG

Saad Jider Hayd has twice been sentenced to death in Somaliland for the murder of a man in April 2020.

According to the plan, a new hearing in the country’s Supreme Court, where the death sentences will be reconsidered, was to have started on Saturday, but was postponed until Sunday.

On Saturday night, however, Jirde’s Norwegian development assistance lawyer Farid Bouras in the law firm Elden states that the trial has been postponed.

“Unfortunately, we have been informed that one of the judges is ill, and that the court proceedings in the Supreme Court in Somaliland have been postponed indefinitely,” aid lawyer Farid Bouras told TV 2 and to Dagbladet.

Hayd has lived in Norway for the past 25 years and has an address in Oslo. In November 2020, he was sentenced to death for premeditated murder in Somaliland. He himself claims that he defended himself when he was attacked on the street without warning.

Both the defender and Hayd’s son believe that the Norwegian authorities could have done much more to help.

– The effort is minimal, I feel. Almost completely absent, said Yusef on Friday.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has replied to TV 2 that the case is a high priority for them and that they do everything they can “to resolve the situation in the best possible way for the accused”.

According to NTB, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is following the case and has provided consular assistance since the arrest last spring.

– The Foreign Service continues the consular follow-up of the case in consultation with the Norwegian citizen and his lawyers. We will also continue to raise the matter with the authorities in Somaliland to emphasize Norway’s principled view of the death penalty, and to request that the death sentence, if it stands, will not be enforced, said communications adviser Ane Haavardsdatter Lunde at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to NTB before the weekend.

–