One woman tries to tell her story to journalists trapped at the Hotel Rixos
The scene at the Hotel Rixos
THE NEW YORK TIMES
LIBYAN WOMAN STRUGGLES TO TELL MEDIA OF HER RAPE
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
Published: March 26, 2011
TRIPOLI, Libya — A Libyan woman burst into the hotel housing the foreign press in Tripoli on Saturday morning in an attempt to tell journalists that she had been raped and beaten by members of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s militia.
After struggling for nearly an hour to resist removal by Colonel Qaddafi’s security forces, she was dragged away from the hotel screaming.
“They say that we are all Libyans and we are one people,” said the woman, who gave her name as Eman al-Obeidy, barging in during breakfast at the hotel dining room. “But look at what the Qaddafi men did to me.” She displayed a broad bruise on her face, a large scar on her upper thigh, several narrow and deep scratch marks lower on her leg, and marks that seemed to come from binding around her hands and feet.
She said she had been raped by 15 men. “I was tied up, and they defecated and urinated on me,” she said. “They violated my honor.”
She pleaded for friends she said were still in custody. “They are still there, they are still there,” she said. “As soon as I leave here, they are going to take me to jail.”
For the members of the foreign news media here at the invitation of the government of Colonel Qaddafi — and largely confined to the Rixos Hotel except for official outings — the episode was a reminder of the brutality of the Libyan government and the presence of its security forces even among the hotel staff. People in hotel uniforms, who just hours before had been serving coffee and clearing plates, grabbed table knives and rushed to physically restrain the woman and to hold back the journalists.
Ms. Obeidy said she was a native of the rebel stronghold of Benghazi who had been stopped by Qaddafi militia on the outskirts of Tripoli. After being held for about two days, she said, she had managed to escape. Wearing a black robe, a veil and slippers, she ran into the Rixos Hotel here, asking specifically to speak to the news service Reuters and The New York Times. “There is no media coverage outside,” she yelled at one point.
“They swore at me and they filmed me. I was alone. There was whiskey. I was tied up,” she told Michael Georgy of Reuters, the only journalist who was able to speak with her briefly. “I am not scared of anything. I will be locked up immediately after this.” She added: “Look at my face. Look at my back.” Her other comments were captured by television cameras.
A wild scuffle began as journalists tried to interview, photograph and protect her. Several journalists were punched, kicked and knocked on the floor by the security forces , working in tandem with people who until then had appeared to be members of the hotel staff. A television camera belonging to CNN was destroyed in the struggle, and security forces seized a device that a Financial Times reporter had used to record her testimony. A plainclothes security officer pulled out a revolver.
Two members of the hotel staff grabbed table knives to threaten both Ms. Obeidy and the journalists.
“Turn them around, turn them around,” a waiter shouted, trying to block the foreign news media from having access to Ms. Obeidy. A woman on the staff shouted: “Why are you doing this? You are a traitor!” and briefly put a coat over Ms. Obeidy’s head.
There was a prolonged standoff behind the hotel as the security officials apparently restrained themselves because of the presence of so many journalists, but Ms. Obeidy was ultimately forced into a white car and taken away.
“Leave me alone,” she shouted as one man tried to cover her mouth with his hand.
“They are taking me to jail,” she yelled, trying to resist the security guards, according to Reuters. “They are taking me to jail.”
Questioned about her treatment, Khalid Kaim, the deputy foreign minister, promised that she would be treated in accordance with the law. Musa Ibrahim, a government spokesman, said she appeared to be drunk and mentally ill. “Her safety of course is guaranteed,” he said, adding that the authorities were investigating the case, including the possibility that her reports of abuse were “fantasies.”
Charles Clover of The Financial Times, who had put himself in the way of the security forces trying to apprehend her, was put into a van and driven to the border shortly afterward. He said that the night before he had been told to leave because of what Libyan government officials said were inaccuracies in his reports.
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Here is the link to the story:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/27/world/middleeast/27tripoli.html?_r=4&smid=tw-nytimes&seid=auto
We have to take it with a pinch of salt. Some woman tend to be very hysterical. Confuciou says. It is more difficult for a man to run with his pants down than a woman with her skirt up.
Isthi Silvio, jekk taf. You must have heard the comment by the regime spokesman who said that the woman must have been drunk or mentally ill. And they were going to investigate. Mhux hekk tghid. And with regards to the pinch of salt, stuff it.
You’re missing the story here: it’s not the way the woman behaved, but the way Gaddafi’s henchmen behaved. If that’s what they do when cameras are around, can you get your head around what happens when there are none?
Silvio, are you for real? If you did not say what you said in jest (long stretch of imagination needed here), you belong to the Middle Ages.
Let’s hope you don’t expect the UN to increase their bombings,because this woman alleges she was raped,come on ,this is war,what do you expect.
Yeah, because if nothing had actually happened to her, she’d have had such little regard for her safety. Use your common sense. You sound like a bit of a misogynist, if I may add.
Horrible scenes from Misrata:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSnSLtjKgYY&feature=player_embedded
U mhux hekk hux? A charade for the media with extras drafted in to act the part of Gaddafi brutes manhandling that woman!
Hallina minnek!
Mr Loporto, if this is really you, then I trust you won’t be telling your daughter-in-law anything similar (or at least, you won’t if you know what’s good for you), though I imagine ex magistrate Montebello might well find it hilarious:
Mr PHILIP LOPORTO and Dr RACHEL MONTEBELLO, BA, LL.D.
The Capuchins’ church of the Holy Cross, Floriana, was the venue for the exchange of vows, on Saturday, July 20, between PHILIP, son of Mr and Mrs Silvio Loporto of Sliema, and RACHEL, daughter of Magistrate Dr Dennis Montebello and Mrs Susan Montebello of St Julian’s. Nuptial Mass was celebrated by Fr Stefan Attard. Miss Carol Montebello and Mr Sacha Muscat Inglott witnessed the ceremony, while Mr Julian Cassar Torreggiani carried out the duties of best man. Ms Sarah Mifsud, Dr Kathleen Zarb Adami and Ms Livia Tabone were bridesmaids. Mr Roberto Loporto, Mr Sandro Loporto, Mr Michael Mifsud and Dr Michael Grech acted as ushers. A reception was later held at Villa Marija, limits of Zurrieq, and was catered for by Island Caterers Ltd
Silvio, you are disgusting. I pity anyone who knows you for their bad luck.
Typically Maltese/Mediterranean mentality at its best. Disgusting.
You have no shame, Silvio Loporto.
Silvio/Silvio Loporto: Are you the same person by any chance ?
Are you condoning what this woman has suffered at the hands of Gaddafi’s forces ? Have you no shame in saying that “this woman alleges she was raped,come on ,this is war,what do you expect.” ?
Or are you just pissed off because the rebels have started moving westwards again and the airstrikes are decimating Gaddfi’s armour?
Was John Dalli or any of his associates present at the Rixos Hotel during this lady’s ordeal? What’s going to happen to this courageous lady, does he think?
So now we have to drag J.Dalli’s name in, every time a woman is raped all the way from Tripoli to Benghazi. Grow up.
His fault for saying that news coming out of Libya against the regime is staged.
Silvio Loporto, dictators like Gaddafi cannot stay in power without the support provided by opportunists and hangers-on. Whether they choose to admit to it themselves or not, all individuals and organisations operating in Gaddafi’s Libya are an intrinsic part of the foul pyramid upon which Gaddafi and his regime rest.
John Dalli was prominently active in Libya for many years. He has direct and significant business interest there.
He regularly acted as go-between between foreign businesses and Gaddafi front organisations in setting up businesses in Libya. Although John Dalli has passed on direct control of his interests in Libya to his daughter for the duration of his tenure as EU Commissioner, he has not sold off those interests but kept them in the family.
John Dalli is not being ‘dragged’ into talk of what is happening in Libya. By his active cooperation with the Gaddafi set-up at the expense of the Libyan people, John Dalli was up to his neck in it – and by virtue of his recent statements, he still is.
Furthermore, there is escalating evidence that this is only the tip of the iceberg. The consistent attempts by various parties at undermining clear evidence of the ongoing abuses by Gaddafi and his forces point to a very much wider involvement by Maltese people in Gaddafi’s corrupt empire.
I hope, for the sake of your sanity, that you didn’t mean what you wrote.
Every once in a while, one of you left wing, idiotic dingbats crawls out of the Labour muck to entertain us on Daphne’s blog. Hope you last longer than the rest. But doubt it.
Why are you all even arguing with this guy Silvio?
Why should John Dalli be at the Rixos Tripoli? He’s got his own home in Tripoli.
Yes, and his daughter is going to be in clover with that glass manufacturing business she’s got there in Tripoli when things quieten down. Just imagine the demand for windowpanes to replace those which have been shattered by blasts or shot out. Ikun jista jirtira mil-habs ta’ Brassil.
Karmenu ta Gaddafi, good you mentioned “il-Habs ta Brassil”. Ma nafx kif Dalli qatt ma qal xejn dwar il-habs li jismu “Libya taht Gaddafi.” Milli jidher, minn habs ghall-iehor dan.
Would John Dalli care to comment on whether or not he thinks this was staged?
I think John Dalli has been gagged, and not before time.
I wonder how John Dalli is feeling now…..
Sad for Gaddafi and for the passing of his own version of the Golden Years.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nI-8EMCAK4&
Predicted comment tomorrow from one of the demented when timesofmalta.com publishes this story. ‘Mela, all Western propaganda!!! Lybia, our close, special relationship partner, would not perform such action’.
Or this one: “In-nisa ghandhom joqghodu id-dar.”
Tragic that we have KMB and his ilk actually defending these criminals. I am ashamed to admit that he was once my prime minister. He really should consult someone to address his denial.
I’m not personally ashamed that KMB was prime minister because, in my own small way, I never stopped opposing him. I’m proud that, together with thousands of others, I’ve always gone out of my way to stop both him and Mintoff from doing even more mischief than they managed to do.
So did a lot of us Antoine, but still, he WAS indeed Malta’s prime minister and that says a lot about half the population.
KMB was, yes, our PM, but he was there against the will of the absolute majority. We had not elected neither him nor Mintoff.
Exactly as Mr. Demartino said, KMB was never voted into government but was imposed by his predecessor, Mintoff, who said about him later: “he was his biggest mistake”. So much so that KMB was nicknamed: ‘iz-ZERO’.
Hey, Dalli, is this staged?
Video link to Sky News:
http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Sky-News-Sees-A-Woman-Bundled-Away-By-Minders-From-Tripoli-Hotel-After-Allegedly-Being-Raped/Article/201103415960663?lpos=World_News_Carousel_Region_2&lid=ARTICLE_15960663_Sky_News_Sees_A_Woman_Bundled_Away_By_Minders_From_Tripoli_Hotel_After_Allegedly_Being_Raped
A very courageous woman. Who knows what will be her end? I have seen the video clip which just shows what a secret service mechanism Gaddafi has set up even amongst the journalists. The sooner Gaddafi is out of the way the fewer lives shall be lost.
Here is some interesting reading: Andrew Roberts on the 10 best quotes from the Green Book:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2011-03-02/gaddafis-green-book-the-top-10-quotes/#
I think rather than brave and courageous, she was desperate. Her behaviour had that air of finality about it, where you just don’t care anymore what happens to you as long as you can make people see what happened.
Yes, that’s what I thought when I saw the video. How sad for the woman, and how shocking the whole situation is!
Unlike Lou Bondi, who seems to have dispelled all Voltairian tenets of free speech by implying last Monday that we should not be made to suffer pro-Gaddafi protestors in Malta, I know this blog welcomes the other side with open arms and an open mind.
So here is a different perspective of current events – one that is not anchored to the Western dogma of which apparatchiks like Bondi form a part: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqKdDNM7jpQ
[Daphne – Must you always quote Sharon’s friends? http://nigelfaragemep.co.uk/ ]
He’s my friend too. I can quote others, but for your ease he’s the closest to the mainstream.
This is what I mean by ‘others’:
“The CIA’s Libya Rebels: The Same Terrorists who Killed US, NATO Troops in Iraq” – By Webster G. Tarpley, Ph.D. – http://tinyurl.com/5s2hdrx
Your friend too? Dear God, it must really be boring in the Brussels suburbs if you talk to Nigel Farage for fun.
This is what I mean by ‘so what?’:
“How Gaddafi screwed Europe for 42 years: Why he should be killed forthwith.”
By H.P. Baxxter, Ph.D.
Kev, ghax ma tridx lil min jikkritika dak li tikteb, spiccajt tirrispondi lilek innifsek.
Kev, if you want a really eccentric opinion you could quote your other friend, KMB, our home-grown crackpot.
Or how about George Galloway? We haven’t heard from him for some time now but I’m sure he agrees with you and KMB.
Calling a person ‘mad’ is quite the fascist way of opposing an argument, John (Another).
You did not have to descend to such levels, H.P. Baxxter, Ph.D. That was a cut-&-paste job and has no meaning.
Antoine Vella – Galloway is what happens when the 70s seep into the noughties. It also happens after sunset.
Antoine, saw Galloway being interviewed on Al Jazeera last week. Same old shit. Kevvy would have loved it. (Where have you been hiding Kevvy? Too many dishes to wash?)
Kevin, birds of a feather flock together and with your friend Nigel Farage you make a right trio.
Now that’s an illuminating interview.
There is an apt Maltese saying: ‘l-imgienen barra qeghdin’.
Kev, we should not go from one extreme to the other; we watch and judge.
This woman’s story is genuine. If she escaped then it shows that prisons are ill-manned and Gaddafi has fewer soldiers than he did. I find it hard to believe that this woman escaped and found her way to this hotel where journalists are staying.
My theory is that she was allowed to escape and she is being used as “bait” for the insurgents or she is the wife or daughter of someone important (she was quite well dressed) from Benghazi who is with the anti-Gaddafi rebels.”Look we have your relative!” or “This is what will happen to you if you fight against the great leader”.
The perspective you are showing us would have left Benghazi razed to the ground by today.
Daphne, as is often the case, your criticism is personal -“Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, small minds discuss people.”
That’s right, Daphne. You should have condemned “all rape, on all sides”. Don’t get personal, now.
And people called ‘David’ sit on their high horse and can’t see what’s really happening on the ground.
My God, Kev. The idiot is from the UK’s equivalent of CNI. Speaking to a nobody from Russia. Is this your ‘different perspective’ of events? Of course we want a regime change. How else can civilians in Libya be protected. Isn’t that what the UN’s resolution is all about?
Kevin seems to think that ‘different’ means ‘accurate and admirable’.
Norman Lowell famously has a ‘different perspective on events’. So what?
Kev explain your understanding of the other side fully, keep it simple, do not be cryptic, be blunt. This is a people’s popular uprising supported by the west against a diabolical regime. Nobody wanted this war. The UK is downsizing its military forces. What do you propose as an alternative?
Good luck if you expect a solution from Kev. I am still waiting for a reply – best I got out of him is that Daphne does not want a brawl on her blog.
You can’t really expect much from someone who quotes Pravda and boasts of Nigel Farage as his friend.
@ Another John – Calling a person ‘mad’ is quite the fascist way of opposing an argument. (From wrong box upstairs)
@ John Schembri – I’m not one to applaud state repression, but if this is the criterium, the UN should intervene in many, many other countries, not least in the West itself, particularly the USA, which holds 25% of the global prison population with just 5% of the global population. I come across various atrocities of this calibre and worse in the US – even if, admittedly, not as disgusting.
What I would like is of course for all this to pass as quickly as possible, for the rebels to oust Gaddafi and establish a democracy; for other Arab/Muslim countries to peacefully follow suit.
But that’s not what’s going to happen. And if you think war has done any good, that’s because you’re lost chasing twigs and branches, hardly aware of the trees, let alone the forest.
Gaddafi is just a twig. This poor woman counts for even less in the grand scheme of things.
The revolt failed. Successful revolts occur in a matter of hours and days. After that, they either become protracted civil wars, or they fizzle off into a multitude of scenarios – repression, insurgence, assasinations, talks, change, you name it. Instead, what we got is a ‘no-fly zone’ that happened to be a ‘shock and awe’ assault by Western forces without any of Gaddafi’s planes having taken off.
What we got is guaranteed regional meyhem. War will only breed war. The fundamentalists on both sides love what’s going on.
@Not Tonight
“Speaking to a nobody from Russia,” eh? I wouldn’t know what cave you’ve emerged from, but let me tell you that Farage has a huge following worlwide.
By the way, how’s Bonaparte doing in bed?
@ Corinne Vella – No, only the Western dogma is precise. Keep it up!
@ Yor – I cannot explain such things in simple terms without losing you. I’ve passed through this when I used to argue with Soviet citizens in their own Motherland back when they thought their world was perfect and their dogma was the only one that counted. It’s like explaining quantum mechanics with basic arithmetic.
It’s harder still with Western dogma due to its sophistication and complexity.
Bottom line is: you blindly accept the paradigm they’ve constructed for you without any critical thought whatsoever. You think they don’t lie to you? You think their lies are not big enough? You think their big lies are not layered on older lies? Do you really believe Obama ‘is reluctant’? First, Obama does what his ‘advisers’ tell him to do, and his ‘advisers’ where not chosen by him. The game is being played out in utter deceit and you gullible sheeple believe every word they’re telling you – from that Mossadi sayan acting his role as French PM, to that fake piece of idiocy in the UK.
But let’s forget the false paradigm and the illusion. I’ll speak your discourse now – Where does our country stand?
When we voted Yes for EU membership in 2003 we also voted to do away with our neutrality. Back then, whoever tried to explain this fact was called a ‘kook’. The EU is an economic club, they maintained – even if it already wasn’t.
The EU is a political union. There is no room for neutrality and the Declaration on neutrality is what we would call ‘bzar fl-ghajnejn’. (There’s also some cryptic text on security & defence in the Lisbon treaty concerning “member states’ constitutional requirements” without a mention of the word ‘neutrality’ – again, a sham.)
To cut it short: the way forward should be about the role Malta should play, not about its fake neutrality. We should trade this fake neutrality with a guarantee that Malta’s territory should be used for peaceful purposes and never military. But of course this is not easy given the crusading Western dogma permeating our collective perception. And above all, we lack leadership.
Be useful, Kev. What’s your solution?
La Redoute – My solution does not include military crusades. I have no solution to the mayhem your idols are set to release. What’s done cannot be undone. I can only warn you it will be hell and the less of this missionary quest the better.
Yours sounds like a missionary quest to me. How do you know yours isn’t a false paradigm too?
If Gaddafi is not defeated other dictators will take his example and treat their people even worse. If on the other hand he is dethroned, all the other dictatorships may try to find a different way to handle the revolts.
I think there is no fundamentalism in this revolt. They seem to be the downtrodden oil-rich East (Benghazi) against the Tripoli rulers of the West. If Sirte is won by this ragtag army supported with sophisticated weaponry from the Alliance, Tripoli will fall in no time.
One thing’s for sure, Gaddafi is hated by his Arab brothers, so the odds stand against him.
After the revolts, I have the impression that Egypt is finding its “democratic” feet but Tunisia is not.
Kev, your attitude is paranoid. You beg for change but cannot accept that a multitude of actions by a multitude of people can move forward with an end result that all had a share in. Each and every person involved in this little episode (in the grand scheme of things, because it’s a large universe out there) has his or her own demons to deal with, and that’s about it.
Come tomorrow there will be more decisions to make and on it goes. Yes there are hidden agendas and also not-so-hidden ones, but find a place without them and you have hit the jackpot.
I’m sure that’s what you believe, yor, and I understand you fully; truly.
Poor woman. I do not want to even try to imagine what she will go through; what is destined for her. She will surely not emerge alive again.
Interesting that you reached for the New York Times for two successive posts. With all the crap that passes for news on the Web, it’s good to have such a great source.
BTW, starting on Monday, the New York Times on the Web will be by subscription. At $20 a month it’s a bargain. Hope you’ll subscribe.
[Daphne – I certainly will. It’s by far the best source of background information in the on-going crisis.]
Told you a long time ago, Daphne, you should be writing for it. You’re right up there with Dowd, Kristoff and the rest.
Just read Maureen Dowd’s opinion today in the New York Times. Different topic(Mormons) but it could have been you writing (Catholics?)–same tongue in cheek, same no holds barred, same humour. Take a look.
Hey, you are giving the guys at the depot some ideas for next time they have to strip search laptop thieves: they are drunk and mentally ill, we stripped them for their own safety.
Gaddafi talking about himself, in his Green Book:
“While it is democratically not permissible for an individual to own any information or publishing medium, all individuals have a natural right to self-expression by any means, even if such means were insane and meant to prove a person’s insanity.”
Gaddafi talking about Mintoff, also in his Green Book:
“Mandatory education is a coercive education that suppresses freedom. To impose specific teaching materials is a dictatorial act.”
The only place where the police’s job should be easy is in a police state.
What does one expect from the ‘arci-demokratiku’ Gaddafi and his henchmen?
I wonder why KMB has not gone to Libya to sort things out for his arch and aching friend? While he cannot fly in, he can always sail or swim.
Given the special relationship, why are there no Maltese reporters in Libya?
An even better question: why are there no Libyan reporters in Libya?
This is shameful, disgusting and unforgivable. Shame on all those who had anything to do with the cruel and deadly Gaddafi regime.
At least we can say that the foreign journalists at the Rixos did their little bit of real fighting against the regime. Gaddafi can now claim that the coalition has put “boots on the ground” and that this was in breach of the UN resolution.
Daphne,
Following today’s events reported by the international press, particularly the news item where a woman was shown being shoved into a car by Ghaddafi’s security forces as you also report above, I would like us to take a common stand as a community and demand that Col. Ghaddafi be stripped of the honours which he carries in the name of Malta, that is, in our name.
To this end, I have written a short petition text which you can read and sign here – http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/remove-ghaddafi-honours/
I am aware that two similar attempts were made before by Dr. Frank Portelli and Maria Grech Ganado. So far, no tangible action was forthcoming.
But I don’t think we should give up.
I believe it’s our duty to keep reminding everyone that the very spirit of our Constitution is at stake as long as we keep honouring this person.
Kind Regards
Matthew Mizzi
296787M
This is the very tip of the iceberg. The one who got away.
The other hundreds of thousands we will never know about.
Dalli is not interested because there is no money to be made out of gang rape.
KMB will deny there was anything like gang rape in archdemocratic Libya because he has no clue what it is all about.
Human suffering on a gigantic scale ignored for forty years by Catholic neighbours and blood brothers. All for the sake of a few bloodied dinars.
As long as we frequent the Holy Sacraments, we and our consciences should be all right.
Never mind gang rape by the State’s security forces.
And Tonio Borg will sit on the fence and tell Sky News that Malta is ‘gang rape neutral’.
And if Sky News gets back with “Are you saying that gang rape is good” he will reply “I wouldn’t say so.”
When I see such events taking place in Libya, and surmising that this is just the tip of the iceberg, I keep asking myself why the allied international forces do not deploy immediately ground troops to that country. They would over-run Gaddafi’s cowardly soldiers in days and would haul Gaddafi and his corrupt family to the International Court of Justice.
It would be much better for everyone if the Libyans had to finish him off themselves tipo Hussein or Caeucescu.
You wouldn’t know anything’s going on in Libya if you were to rely on the Labour Party’s news site:
http://www.maltastar.com/mstar.html
Exactly my thoughts. It was the same yesterday. Nothing on l-orizzont’s front page either.
http://www.l-orizzont.com/
Images of feeding and caution not to bite hands.
A drunken woman in Libya? Where alcohol is prohibited, if I am not mistaken. And only Allah knows what the punishment is for violating that rule. Anyway, who believes them? Only the fools and lackeys.
Din mhux demokrazija – din Arci-demokrazija – imma jahasra ma tifhmux – ghandkom mohhkom maghluq wisq.
Judging from certain comments regarding the Libyan crisis it seems that there are many Maltese who are Gaddafi apologists and anti West. Maybe I should not be so surprised after all. Remember “the Europe of Cain and the Europe of Abel” and “sun rises in the East” indoctrination by Mintoff.
Silvio, you are a sorry excuse for a human being. Imagine this. There you are, stuck in a civil war, minding your own business, happily reading your book of Confuciu(s) quotes, proudly quoting them to your wife, daughter, daughter-in-law, sister and so on.
Suddenly, the door bursts open and militia men burst in and begin molesting the women.
Your response when they shout for help? That this is war and what do they expect. Oh, and that it is easier for women to run with their skirts up than for men to run with their pants down.
Stick this on your fridge:
First they came for the communists
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a Jew.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left to speak out for me.
(Martin Niemoller)
That brave woman has forced the world to look at Gaddafi’s brutality in the face. Unfortunately, our politicians prefer to look the other way because they are more interested in their petty power struggles.
Shouldn’t someone be organising street demonstrations in Malta asking for al-Obeidy to be freed?
I think this cartoon sumsit all up :
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110327/cartoons-of-the-day/nalizpelra
Our politicians are at the moment attending Mass, and surely praying for this woman.
Do not bet on it – they are neutral so they don’t need to.
At least the men manhandling the woman have been named and will face judgement, hopefully sooner rather than later, and it is unlikely that it will be in a courtroom.
Support Eman Al-Obeidi http://www.change.org/petitions/protect-eman-al-obaidi-from-gaddafi-regime#?opt_new=t&opt_fb=t
Don’t worry, our politicians have asked the Madonna to protect them.
Silvio, I bet you wouldn’t have been prattling like that had she been your sister.
I wonder what he’d have said had he been that woman.
Shame on Khalid Kaim and Moussa Ibrahim who claim that Ms Obaidi was drunk or mentally ill and shame also goes to someone like Silvio who think that she was hysterical. If this woman was trying to create a sensation or invent a story, did she inflict the bruises and scratches on herself?
Her body was covered with deep scratches which show that she was bound. To those in favour of her release, please take a minute and sign the online petition of Amnesty International or on Facebook. I hope that she will be released from jail soon.
http://www.channel4.com/news/libya-a-womans-cry-for-help-in-tripoli-hotel
According to Wikipedia, this story continued as follows:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eman_al-Obaidi
Eman Al-Obaidi is a lawyer and was not inventing any story. Ibrahim later declared that she was found to be sane. They offered Ms Al-Obaidi money and a house only if she would ‘change her story’. On the contrary, she commented that she prefers to die rather then change her version of the truth. All this confirms that Ms Obaidi spoke the truth if the Gaddafi regime is trying to shut her up.
I fervently hope that one day justice prevails and those who are raping and torturing people will get what they deserve.
Moussa Ibrahim is running the show for journalists.
When the deputy foreign minister speaks, Moussa Ibrahim steps in to correct him.
And one more question, where is the foreign minister, Mussa Kusa?
And the journalists are made of the same stuff as our beloved Daphne. They stood back while the Libyan woman was shouted down and carried away in a white Maria. The journalists did not raise a finger in her defence. They just wanted to have a story. That’s all.
That’s incorrect and there’s footage and acres of news stories to prove it.
The FT’s Charles Clover, for instance, was shoved aside and set upon. Only hours later, he was driven across the border.
There’s lots of material here:
http://crowdvoice.org/justice-for-eman-al-obaidi
Check the videos, sicko. You’re so warped.
http://feb17.info/general/emans-mother-speaks-out/
By Liz Sly, Sunday, March 27, 4:22 PM
TRIPOLI, LIBYA – The mother of the woman who burst into a Tripoli hotel and claimed she had been raped by militiamen loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi hailed her daughter as a hero Sunday and said she had been offered money and a house by the government if she changed her story.
(…)
Obaidi’s father, Atiq Saleh al-Obaidi, said no such request had been relayed.
“The only communication we’ve had was when they called us at 3 in the morning” offering money if she recanted, he said.
He also contradicted the government’s claim that his daughter was a divorced mother, saying she was single and has no children.
Kev says: “We should trade this fake neutrality with a guarantee that Malta’s territory should be used for peaceful purposes and never military. ”
“We” should, Kev? Because you and your beatnik buddies say so? Have a five-minute chat with my generation and you’ll find that they are far more cynical – or realistic – about peacemongering, and that they crave action above all else.