Gee, it’s as if the local authorities didn’t want us to know what was happening…
The trial was held in secret. We all know full well that it would have been an open court if it had been a Christian religion teacher accused of raping his student. And presently, the Islamic community still in denial. Shame on the court system for operating in the shados, that’s not how a free and democratic state is supposed to function.
Man convicted of young girl’s rape was respected member of Islamic community, – lawyers wonder about secret handling
Oulu Muslims were surprised by the District Court’s criminal conviction on Wednesday.
It is difficult for men who came to pray to a mosque in the center of Oulu to understand that a respected member of the community was convicted on Wednesday of aggravated rape and sexual abuse of a child. The victim of the crime is a girl under 10 years old with an immigrant background.
– He’s a fine man, he couldn’t have done that in the mosque. There is camera surveillance here and there is always someone there. Nothing has happened, the man has been convicted without evidence, the men in the lobby of the mosque try to convince.
IS visited the mosque of the Islamic community of Northern Finland in search of Imam Abdul Mannania who did not respond to a callback request or email. The photographer and editor were welcomed to the prayer room to wait for Imam’s arrival. 10 minutes later the situation changed.
– Everything has already been mentioned in the media. The situation was difficult in the past and now it has become even worse;
Imam said in an interview with IS in January that the immigrant men suspected of having sex offenses are not members of our Islamic community.
– I don’t know if they’re Muslims or not. At least they are not members of our community. They have not visited us, prayed with us. Community members do not do such things. Show one who has done it! There are no such, Mannania says in an interview with IS.
According to the information received by IS, Asoev Muso, who has been imprisoned for 3 years and 8 months, has been a respected member of the Islamic community. He has been considered a teacher and a high-ranking person. This is also confirmed by Muso’s lawyer Meeri Luolavirta.
– I don’t know if he has any official status in the community, but he was responsible for the teaching of religion. He has been a highly respected person within the community, says Luolavirta.
Attorney at law in the district court, ie for the victim and her family, considers it special that the District Court decided to conceal all the documents and judgment related to the case.
– No such extensive secrecy was required. The court was asked to deal with the absence of the public and to conceal the identity of the person concerned.
According to Mäkinen, the issue was socially so important that it should have been an open court.
– Crimes committed in religious communities are important social issues and it must be possible to tell the facts, however, to protect the identity of the victim, says Mäkinen.
Luolavirta also wonders about the extensive secrecy decision of the District Court.
– It may not be in the interest of anyone to encrypt everything. It feeds all kinds of speculation. Some things in this story would have been justifiable to open, he says.
Because the judicial documents are secret, the place of crime is also secret. According to the information received by Kaleva, the brutal rape and aggravated sexual abuse of the child have taken place in a mosque in the center of Oulu, where a convicted man taught his victim religion.
The case is still pending before the Court of Appeals, because at least the convicted will appeal to the District Court.
