Saturday, February 13, 2010

February 13, 2010 - The Daily Star - Lebanon Joseph Sader Kidnapping

Lawyer slams state for bungling Sader probe

By The Daily Star

BEIRUT: Marking the one-year anniversary of Joseph Sader’s kidnapping, his family’s lawyer on Friday pleaded that more be done to find him.
Sader, 57, an IT manager at Middle East Airlines and father of three, was abducted on February 12, 2009, as he walked to work at Rafik Hariri International Airport. A witness to the abduction saw him being forced into a sport utility vehicle by three assailants. Police tried to follow the vehicle but reportedly lost sight of it amid heavy traffic. No news of his whereabouts has emerged since and no ransom has been demanded.
Speaking at a press conference attended by Sader’s wife and family, lawyer Issam Karam asked why the government was keeping quiet.
Karam said he would be filing a lawsuit against an unknown defendant and said he found it strange that the government had not launched a better investigation into his case, especially as there was a witness to the kidnapping. “The government did not do a proper job handling the case of an innocent and well-reputed employee,” Karam said.
He dismissed rumors that Sader was collaborating with Israel as unfounded. “There is no proof to these rumors and whoever started them should realize that you cannot toy with people’s dignity and attributing any kind of action to anyone has no value if there is no proof.”
He added that it had been an uphill struggle trying to gather any information about Sader’s disappearance. “In any case, what use is this information if we don’t know why Joseph Sader was kidnapped, and this is what the government cannot answer.”
Karam called on the Lebanese government, politicians, religious figures, and civil society to do more to uncover Sader’s fate. – The Daily Star

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