A Muslim man was granted a judge-only trial because a judge believed a jury may have been too biased against him.
The NSW District Court revealed the decision after the man pleaded guilty to detaining and assaulting his sister-in-law after she took his wife to the beach.
According to News Limited, Ismail Belghar believed that it was ‘abhorrent’ that his wife, Hanife Kokden, had been to the beach where she displayed her body.
The court heard that Belghar noticed her shoulders were slightly sunburned and found out she had been to the beach.
He rang his sister-in-law Canan Kokden and said: "You slut, how dare you take my wife to the beach."
Not long later, the pair came face-to-face while out shopping at Broadway Shopping Centre.
Mr Belghar slapped her on the face and held her over the railing of the carpark.
Ismail Belghar was granted a jury-less trial in March by Judge Ronald Solomon. The decision was made because Mr Belghar felt that he had absolute authority over his wife and a jury would not necessarily give him a fair trial.
Judge Solomon said: "The attitude of (Belghar) ... is based on a religious or cultural basis. In light of the fact there has been adverse publicity regarding people who hold extreme Muslim faith beliefs in the community, I am of the view that the apprehension by (Belghar) that he may not receive a fair trial is a reasonable apprehension."
The Court of Criminal Appeals last week overturned the jury-less trial ruling and ordered Mr Belghar to be tried by jury.
The trial was due to start yesterday but instead, Mr Belghar pleaded guilty to detaining his sister-in-law for advantage to intimidate and assault.
His original charge of attempted murder has since been dropped.
No comments:
Post a Comment