OFFICIALDOM ABUSES ANOTHER FAMILY

A litle matter of imprisonment without trial included

The ordeal is finally over, but for the past year, a North Carolina family has been torn apart after state officials claimed family photos of a father kissing his baby's belly button were some kind of child abuse. It began when Teresa Hamaty took impromptu party snapshots of her husband, Charbel, playfully embracing their naked, newborn son, Kristoff.

After dropping the film off at an Eckerd store in North Raleigh, authorities were notified. "You see the back of the baby, and like if someone is kissing the baby's belly button," Teresa told WRAL-TV. But police saw the worst and arrested Teresa for taking sexually explicit photos, charged her husband with felony sexual assault, and put Kristoff and his half-sister in protective custody. "It was a nightmare," Charbel said, after spending half a year in jail.

Teresa took months fighting to gain back custody of her children. "I think this was one of those times that they got the wrong people," Teresa said. "They were too quick to judge when they took one look at my husband." Dozens of Hamaty supporters showed up for court appearances, claiming police overreacted. They raised some $140,000 in legal and living expenses for the Hamatys. "[It] makes me feel, that's it - that's why I have to be strong for - to show everybody what the truth is," Charbel told the station.

The charges eventually were dropped when a report submitted by an expert said there was no criminal intent in the pictures. "I hate cameras," Charbel now says. "I don't like taking pictures."

Report here





INDIA: The man time forgot

A villager in India's north-eastern state of Assam has been released from prison after 54 years behind bars without a trial. Machang Lalung, 77, was arrested in his village of Silsangi in 1951. Police said that Mr Lalung, from the Lalung tribe, was charged with "causing grievous hurt". A conviction usually results in 10 years' imprisonment. But police said there was no evidence, so within a year of his arrest he was transferred to a psychiatric institution.

"It seems the police just forgot about him thereafter," said an Assamese human rights activist, Sanjay Borbora. Mr Lalung cannot remember life before prison.

In 1967 authorities at the institution certified Mr Lalung fully fit and decided to release him. But police then sent him to another jail. "Even at this point, the police did not send him to court to face trial; they just kept him in prison," Mr Borbora said. Strangely, even Mr Lalung's relatives forgot about him.

Last year, human rights activists in Assam brought his case to the attention of the National Human Rights Commission, which took up the case immediately and sought his release. He was finally freed last week after paying a token personal bond of one rupee (two cents).

Report here



(And don't forget your ration of Wicked Thoughts for today)