Convictions of ex-Afghan agents upheld by court

Wednesday, July 09, 2008 THE HAGUE: The Dutch Supreme Court upheld on Tuesday the convictions and prison sentences of two former Afghan intelligence officials for war crimes committed in the 1980s during their country's civil war. Habibullah Jalalzoy and Hesamuddin Hesam were sentenced to nine- and 12-year jail terms in the Netherlands in 2005 for torturing prisoners of Afghanistan's former communist regime. Both protested their innocence. The pair arrived in The Netherlands in the 1990s seeking political asylum. The request was denied on suspicion that the men had committed war crimes, and they were eventually prosecuted. An appeals court had first upheld the convictions and sentences in January 2007. The men had approached the supreme court on the grounds that Dutch judges had no jurisdiction over their case. But the court... [read full story]