Secure Saudi court's order in Mangaluru man's conviction, HC tells Union govt, flags slow response
Bengaluru, Aug 8: The High Court of Karnataka on Tuesday directed the Union government to secure a copy of the judgment by a Saudi Arabian court convicting Indian national Shailesh Kumar.
Justice Krishna S Dixit, who is hearing a petition by Kumar's wife alleging that the local police's delay in investigation led to her husband's conviction in a foreign court, said that securing the judgment copy will be helpful in submitting a clemency petition.
Upset with the slow response to its earlier directions, the HC said, "When a citizen of this country is suffering abroad, the authorities have to show due seriousness and secure justice for him."
Shahilesh, who hails from Mangaluru, has been convicted and imprisoned in Saudi Arabia, where he was working, for alleged derogatory posts against the King of Saudi Arabia and Islam.
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His wife Kavitha has petitioned the high court, claiming that the posts dated February 12 and 13, 2020 were made from a fake profile on Facebook and the local police had failed to provide the proof to Saudi Arabian authorities.
The local police had blamed Facebook for not cooperating with the investigation.
On Tuesday, Justice Krishna S Dixit ordered the Union government "to secure a copy of the conviction, and order confirming the conviction order at the earliest and place the same on record before this proceeding."
The court also directed that the details of procedure followed to file a clemency petition before the King of Saudi Arabia be placed before the court.
Shailesh had put up a post in support of the Indian Government's Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizenship (NRC). He allegedly received a threat call and deleted his account.
Subsequently, a derogatory post against the Saudi king and Islam was uploaded. He was arrested in Saudi Arabia, tried and sentenced to 15 years in jail.
His wife filed a police complaint in India alleging that her husband had informed her that a fake Facebook account was used to upload the post in his name. He was arrested and jailed on February 23, 2020 and has been in prison ever since.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
