Trial Of Syrian Justice Evader Ends, Court Expected To Reach Verdict

The trial of Syrian businessman Omar Hayssam, previously sentenced by the Bucharest Court of Appeals to 20 years in jail for the kidnapping of three Romanian journalists in Iraq in 2005, ended Monday and the Supreme Court is expected to reach its verdict after the defense and prosecution pleadings had been heard.

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Hayssam’s lawyers requested that the ruling of the Bucharest Court be annulled and the file be tried again.

The lawyers urged the court to least change charges from terrorism to forcible confinement if their request involving the re-trial of the file is rejected.

"We are not asking the court to acquit Hayssam, as we only want the truth to come out," one of Hayssam’s lawyers pointed out.

Defense lawyers once again criticized Sofica Dumitrascu, judge with the Bucharest Court of Appeals and the one handling the case, saying she lacks the necessary experience to deal with such a case and that she simply “jumped” from the position of lawyer to that of judge.

On the other hand, Hayssam’s lawyers added that their client never set up any criminal group to commit terrorism acts.

Ovidiu Ohanesian and Sorin Miscoci, two of the journalists kidnapped back in 2005, requested that the verdict of the Bucharest Court be maintained.

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