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| EPILOGUE TO A KIDNAPPING(14.06.2007) |
| (2007-06-14) |
| Last updated: 2007-06-15 14:44 EET |
The kidnapping in Iraq of three Romanian journalists two years ago, who were released after 55 days, remains shrouded in mystery. This is despite the fact that the court has closed the case and even sentenced the Syrian born Romanian business man Omar Haysam, who allegedly masterminded the whole episode. Haysam has been found guilty of deprivation of freedom and acts of terrorism and is sentenced to 20 years in prison. Also, he must pay each of the three journalists 2 million Euros in damages.
This is all only theoretical, because in practice it is very unlikely that anybody will ever find him. Allegedly hiding in an Arabic country, either Lebanon as he says, or Syria, according to judiciary sources, Hayssam has fully rejected the accusations. He has even been shown live on TV, claiming that ‘the guilty parties are still at large’, and claiming the secret services know who they are. Hayssam claims that the authorities do not want the truth to surface.
He has stated that he knew from the very first day he was detained that he would receive such a sentence, and hopes to file an appeal. Documents in his possession, he claims, prove his innocence. Hayssam was released from prison on medical grounds, and in April 2006 the Bucharest Court of Appeal ruled that the defendant should be tried while free.
Two months later, the Syrian illegally left the country, in circumstances that have not yet been clarified. Though searched for by INTERPOL, Hayssam says it was extremely easy for him to leave, despite the fact that the Romanian secret services were also monitoring him. Because of Haysam’s escape, the heads of the secret services were forced to resign.
The general perception of this case is that Hayssam is bluffing, just as he did in 2005, when he said he wanted to go to Iraq to help negotiate the release of the journalists. According to investigators, the goal was to take important sums of money out of the country. Back then, Hayssam was not allowed to leave Romania, because he was being prosecuted in two corruption cases.
One of the journalists kidnapped in 2005, Ovidiu Ohanesian, shares the belief that Omar Hayssam is actually the scapegoat in this whole episode, suggesting that the real perpetrators are still at large. Unlike the other two journalists, who believe that the court’s decision is correct, he is certain that truth is being hidden, and Omar Hayssam’s sentencing is a partial delivery of justice. “You will learn the truth some 50 years from now”, said Romania’s president Traian Basescu after the release of the journalists. Two years have already passed.
(Corina Cristea)
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