3 Mangaloreans in Jeddah jail for past 7 years

3 Mangaloreans in Jeddah jail for past 7 years

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, Sep 7, 2011 : Firoz Abdul Rahiman Ullal and two others from Mangalore have been in Biraman Jail, around 30kms from Jeddah, for over 7 years.

Fairoz called up a Daijiworld reporter from jail to explain the situation a couple of days back. He said that he, along with Rafiq Bajpe and Mohammed Nasir of Bunder, have been in prison for the past seven and a half years without any access to the outer world.

According to his statement, the trio was in their shared flat in Jeddah when the police arrived and arrested them on grounds of managing an illegal network of telephone lines. When they were produced in court, the court ruled against them and slapped heavy fines of Rs. 3 crore payable to the Saudi Telecom Department (STC), which is the plaintiff in this case. The trio was unable to hire good defense lawyers because they could not afford to; moreover, they could not communicate with the court because they did not know Arabic.

 

Stating that they are innocent, he said that their only hope now is the Indian media, which might bring their case to the notice of social organizations and philanthropists, who might come to their rescue. He said that initially the trio hoped that the real culprits in this case, who are believed to be of Burmese origin, might be caught and that they might be set free. But they lost this hope when the police subjected them to a month-long interrogation, after which they were made to sign on certain documents in Arabic.

The three are from poor families, and their families back home have been waiting for their release for years. They have appealed to the PM, Foreign Affairs Minister S. M. Krishna, and other politicians, but in vain.

The imprisoned have, therefore, requested social organizations, kind-hearted individuals, the Indian Embassy/Consul General Office in Jeddah to come to their rescue and secure their release.