Hemani's appeal may still proceed despite heavy accusation by lawyer in Insiya kidnapping case
The lawyer of Shehzad Hemani, convicted of kidnapping his daughter Insiya, argues that the prosecution deliberately sent his summons on appeal to an incorrect address. The court does not share this opinion. As a result, the appeal can still proceed.
At Monday's pre-trial hearing, the court ruled that the subpoena had been properly delivered. Gerard Spong, lawyer of Shehzad Hemani, made the serious accusation against the public prosecutor. Spong spoke of "misleading" his client and believes that the public prosecutor should be declared inadmissible.
The court denied that request. The subpoena had been properly sent, the court said. Four witnesses will therefore be heard shortly. If a trial takes longer, it often results in a reduction in sentence, especially if it is due to mistakes made by the prosecution.
Hemani was sentenced to nine years in prison in 2020 for kidnapping his daughter Insiya in 2016. He was after the court's ruling himself appealed. That was supposed to be served in July 2022, but then did not go forward after it was revealed that Hemani's summons had not been properly served. The summons had been delivered to the wrong address.
The summons was supposed to be delivered to his home address. However, the summoning was done through the Indian authorities at Hemani's office, which is not according to the rules. The court then annulled the subpoena.
Spong claimed Monday that the prosecution delivered the subpoena "knowingly incorrectly. "Hemani's defense rights were thus deliberately violated," he said.
Staple
Spong argued again Monday that the summons for the appeal is void, and said the same is true of the summons for the hearing at the court in 2020. To that, he attached the consequence that that hearing at the district court must be reheard by the court.
The prosecution argued at the hearing that the subpoenas for the 2020 trial and appeal were properly delivered. "The summons was offered to the Indian authorities on time. I received no notice from them that they did not forward it to Hemani. Moreover, a client can be expected to be in touch about the handling of his case. He cannot claim that he was not informed. He filed his own appeal."
Sand in the wheels
Spong actually notified Hemani of the hearing at the court, he announced. Hemani did not appear at the appeal hearing. Nadia Rashid, Insiya's mother, and her brother did attend the pre-trial hearing.
Peter Plasman, Rashid's lawyer: "Hemani is doing everything he can to throw as much sand in the wheels as possible and thus avoid responsibility. For Nadia it has been a long time of agony and this agony continues, solely because of Hemani's disgraceful actions. Nadia still has no contact with her daughter."
Insiya was abducted from her grandmother's house in Watergraafsmeer by a team of people at Hemani's behest. The now nine-year-old girl has been staying with her father in India since she was two years old.
