ISO 9001:2008 CERTIFIED NEWSPAPER Home | 4 Business | 17 Sport | 26 The sixth Qatar QIA and Dufry are Gymnasts International teaming up to bid arrive in Doha Food Festival for Italian travel for three-day opens today. retailer WDF. tournament. TUESDAY 24 MARCH 2015 • 4 Jumada II 1436 • Volume 20 Number 6379 www.thepeninsulaqatar.com [email protected] | [email protected] Editorial: 4455 7741 | Advertising: 4455 7837 / 4455 7780 Emir in Pakistan Ministry forces Arab network firm to repeat raffle draw for freedom of DOHA: The Ministry of Economy and Commerce has forced a commercial outlet to repeat a raffle draw after it awarded the prize — a motor- speech urged cycle — to one of its employees, which was against the rules set by the ministry. The ministry cancelled the No jail terms for journalists: NHRC results of the first draw and forced the outlet to offer the prize again DOHA: An international con- the new media law was not being to the public in a repeat draw, said ference on basic rights in the enforced despite it being in the a statement yesterday. Arab world that concluded here pipeline now for several years. The ministry said it had acted yesterday has proposed that a The conference, meanwhile, against the outlet as it violated pan-Arab network is needed to proposed that a pan-Arab net- Article 7 of the ministerial deci- ensure freedom of speech in the work was the need of the hour sion no 19 of 2014 concerning bloc. to make sure that freedom of lucky draws. The two-day event titled speech was guaranteed in the Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani was received by Pakistan Prime Minister Mohammad Nawaz Sharif As per the rule, people associ- ‘Freedom of Speech and Arab world. at the PAD Base Nur Khan. Pakistan’s Minister of Petroleum Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Minister of Information ated with the outlet that con- Expression in the Arab world’ “Arab countries must imple- Pervez Rasheed, Qatar’s Ambassador Saqr Mubarak Al Mansouri and Pakistan’s Ambassador to Qatar Shahzad duct the draw are not allowed was attended by several renowned ment international human rights Ahmed were present. The Emir is on a two-day visit to the country. See also page 3 to participate. They include the global and Arab human rights conventions,” said Sheikha Ghalia owners and partners, manag- and media freedom activists and bint Abdulrahman Al Thani, head ers of the bodies conducting the experts. of the Arab Network for Human draw, employees of the outlet It was organised by Qatar’s Rights Institutions. and their close relatives, said National Human Rights Addressing the conference, she the ministry. Committee (NHRC). said that Arab countries must Court upholds death penalty for citizen Meanwhile, the minis- The NHRC claimed at the con- upgrade their laws to ensure free- try closed down an outlet in ference that the provision of jail dom of speech and expression. DOHA: A higher criminal court Criminal Court of Appeals the helping burn Patterson’s body and Industrial Are for two weeks for sentence for errant journalists Legal provisions that criminal- yesterday upheld a death sen- Public Prosecution must do that destroy the evidence. selling electric heaters that do in a new media law Qatar is to ise the criticism of the govern- tence against a citizen convicted within the above timeframe. Patterson, from Kent in not meet Qatari standards and enforce possibly soon, has been ment and writing and reporting of the murder of a 24-year-old “This is because the sentence England, was murdered in specifications. removed at its behest. on sensitive social and political British school teacher. involves death. It is not an ordi- October 2013 after leaving a bar During raids conducted by “The draft of the new media issues should be removed from The Criminal Court of Appeals nary sentence, so the highest in a star hotel here with a female ministry inspectors, 71 heaters law was submitted to us by the all Arab countries, she said. confirmed the sentence as Lauren court must review the ruling,” friend and the two convicts after were seized. The violation was Ministry of Culture, Arts and “Arab countries must closely Patterson’s mother Alison, who said Al Zaman. midnight. confirmed after samples were Heritage for our review and we cooperate with one another to flew here from England to attend So, for the next 60 days the She was friendly with the sent to the standards and speci- proposed a number of changes,” make sure that they have free- the court proceedings, watched on. verdict of the Criminal Court of convicts and it seems they were fications authority at the Ministry said Jaber Al Hwail, head of legal dom of speech and expression,” The court, however, ruled Appeals will remain suspended, together in the bar. Patterson’s of Environment. affairs at the NHRC. the Sheikha said. that it was not within its juris- the lawyer added. female friend insisted that she The closure comes as part of Removing the jail sentence for Some Arab countries have diction to consider Alison’s plea When told that the last death stay with her overnight since she a nationwide clampdown on low errant scribes and imposing just emergency laws that curb freedom for a monetary compensation of sentence was carried out in Qatar was heavily drunk. But the main quality electrical products due to fines on them was proposed by the of speech. Such legislations should QR20m ($5.5m), reports Al Sharq. 12 years ago, in March 2003, Al convict dropped Patterson’s female the danger they pose to people’s NHRC, Al Hwail said. be condemned and replaced with “That jurisdiction lies with the Zaman said he wasn’t sure. friend at her home and promised lives and their property. He said the NHRC had earlier media-friendly laws, said Sheikha civil court.” Arun Abraham, an Indian, had her that he will be dropping her In another related incident, the posted a request to the govern- Ghalia. A prominent lawyer, Yusuf Al killed a woman family friend Lija (Patterson) also home safely. ministry raided a women beauty ment on its website that the cur- A regional mechanism was Zaman, told The Peninsula that the Abraham, also an Indian, late in But police investigations, salon that was found using some rent print media law that was needed to deplore hate speeches main convict can challenge the ver- April of 2001 and was sentenced according to Al Sharq, revealed expired beauty products. The enforced some 36 years ago, in and urge action against those who dict of the higher criminal court in to death two years later. that the main convict took her to ministry said it had detected 1979 (Law No 8 of that year), be indulge in such speeches to fuel Qatar’s Supreme Court (the Court Meanwhile, the Criminal Court a rented house of his accomplice, six violations at the facility but changed to ensure more rights to sectarian or religious divide or of Cassation) within 60 days. of Appeals sentenced an accom- the second convict. didn’t explain what action was print journalists. hatred. He said that if the convict fails plice of the convict, also a young Continued on page 5 taken. He, however, didn’t say why THE PENINSULA to challenge the ruling of the Qatari, to three years in jail for THE PENINSULA THE PENINSULA INSIDE Snow art Page 9 Sultan Qaboos back in Oman The dictatorship of after ‘successful’ treatment the media MUSCAT: H M Sultan Qaboos bin Said of Oman flew home yester- by Dr Faisal Al day after spending more than eight months in Germany for medical Kassim treatment that was completely successful, state television reported. Sultan Qaboos returned after “having completed medical treatment Will Arab countries in Germany whose results were crowned as a total success,” the televi- become stable? sion announced. Footage showed the visibly frail 74-year-old walking By Dr Shamlan unaided from a royal aircraft and then along a red carpet before being driven away. Yousef Al Issa Scores of people took to social media networks to celebrate the return of Qaboos, who is the longest serving leader in the Middle East and the only one many Omanis have ever had. “For eight months, Omanis Art of creating hatred have been praying that their leader would recover,” said one post on By Dr Ibrahim Al Twitter using the Arabic hashtag “Good news: Qaboos has returned”. Sheikh “This leader deserves all this love. He has devoted himself, his time and efforts to Oman,” said another. Kuwait breaks Yemen calls for Gulf military help to thwart Houthi fighters up protest A view of a creation of British artist Simon Beck in the snow on Riederalp Valais, Switzerland, yesterday. Beck DUBAI: Yemeni Foreign Minister Riyadh Yaseen called yesterday KUWAIT CITY: Kuwaiti riot is fascinated by the interplay between the forces of nature and his work. for Gulf military intervention to halt advances by Houthi fighters, a police dispersed hundreds of move that could draw neighbouring states into the country’s deep- opposition protesters who ral- ening power struggle. lied yesterday to demand the The Gulf governments back President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, release of political prisoners and whose forces have recently suffered reverses at the hands of Iranian- press for democratic reforms. Unstable weather likely from tomorrow backed Houthis approaching his base in the southern port of Aden More than 500 activists gathered from the north. “We are requesting an intervention by the Gulf Shield outside parliament for the third forces to stop this Iranian-backed Houthi expansion,” Yaseen told the week in a row after authorities DOHA: Another spell of unsta- “There may be thundery clouds the weather can change suddenly, newspaper Al Sharq Al Awsat, referring to a military force of the Gulf jailed opposition leader and former ble weather is expected from at times on Thursday and Friday said the bureau.