Saman Abbas
We have been covering the story of Saman Abbas, the 18-year-old Pakistani girl who was the victim of an "honor killing" by her family in Italy in 2021. The last person to be arrested was the mother, Nazia Shaheen, who was extradited back to Italy from Pakistan. She had already been convicted and sentenced to life in prison in absentia.
Now an appeals process is underway in Bologna. Nazia Shaheen has made her first appearance in court as part of this proceeding. The below article from Gazzetta di Parma is translated by Fousesquawk.
Bologna
Murder of Saman, appeal proceedings: The mother, Nazia Shaheen in court for the first time after extradition
She crosses the courtyard of the appeals court of Bologna, her head bowed, escorted by penitentiary police, and besieged by TV cameras and photographers. Nazia Shaheen, the mother of Saman Abbas, arrives for the first time in a courtroom after extradition from Pakistan last August and remains seated for a long time with her head down, with her hands over her face, even when she can see the husband, Shabbar Abbas, after a long time, enter the Bachelet courtroom and take his place in the cage opposite hers. The mother of Saman is dressed in a traditional dark dress, a veil covering her head and part of her face (with), a medical face mask. The father has a green jacket, (and) he also, before entering the courtroom, has a cap on his head.
For the first hearing of the appeals process for the murder of the 18-year-old from Novellara, all of the 5 accused relatives are present. Besides the two parents, sentenced to life imprisonment, also the uncle of Saman, Danish Hasnain, the other prisoner, who arrives with the guards, has a sentence of 14 years, appealed by his attorney and also by the public prosecutor, who was asking for a higher sentence. Also in the courtroom since early in the morning are the two cousins, free after acquittal by the criminal court in Reggio Emila in December 2023: Nomanhulaq Nomanhulaq and Ikram Ijaz, for whom the prosecutor's office has also filed an appeal.
The "crazy variable" of the trial in the second instance for the murder of Saman Abbas "are the statements of the accused: Shabbar Abbas has already spoken, (and) the real novelty is the presence in the courtroom of Nazia, who, not having participated in the (trial) in the first instance, would be a disruptive and new element of the trial." This was said by attorney Liborio Cataliotti, the defense attorney for Danish Hasnain, the uncle of the 18-year-old murdered, speaking with journalists before entering the courtroom of the appellate court and highlighting the role of the mother of the 18-year-old girl, in the courtroom for the first time after extradition.
His client, sentenced to 14 years in the first instance (trial), "is the only defendant to find himself in an ambivalent position. He has filed an appeal asking for acquittal and is also subject to the appeal of the prosecutor, who is asking for reapplication of the aggravating (circumstances), removed in the first instance (trial) at my request. If this was a soccer match, it would be zero to zero, the ball at midfield because anything can happen, from acquittal to life in prison. For the others, the game is different, (and) there are two sides opposite each other. Shabbar and Nazia have filed an appeal, and conversely, the prosecutor's office has appealed the acquittal of the other two defendants," he explained. In Cataliotti's opinion, "the evidence gathered in the first instance is quite sufficient, (and) I don't believe it is necessary to renew the investigation, I maintain the sentence is unassailable, which raises only one doubt: If Danish arrived before the execution of the brutal homicide or immediately after, and it is a doubt admittedly unresolved by the sentence, and in my opinion can make the difference."
In the next hearing on March 6, Saman Abbas' brother, a minor at the time of the events, will be heard again as a witness. This was decided by the Criminal Court of Appeals in Bologna, after consideration of the request for investigation by the Public Prosecutor's office. In the first instance, the young man had accused his relatives, but the court of Reggio Emilia substantially assessed many of his statements as unreliable. The hearing on March 6 will also show a video taken by the investigators that puts in order a series of sequences captured by the surveillance cameras on the days of the crime.
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