Committed to PEOPLE'S RIGHT TO KNOW Vol. 5 Num 811 Wed. September 06, 2006       Letters to Editor High Court verdict Laila Ali, Uppsala, Sweden The recent Bangladesh High Court order stripping off the judicial powers of a lower court judge regarding a wrongful death sentence to an innocent man should be an eye opener verdict not only for Bangladesh but also for the entire world (The Daily Star, 30 August 2006). The court also ordered stern action against the police officer in charge of investigation. It is not just in Bangladesh but also in many parts of the world often people are awarded extreme harsh sentences for crimes, which they do not commit. In 1994 Sheikh Zulfiqar (alias Joy) Rahman, a Bangladeshi citizen living in Sweden, was given a life imprisonment for the alleged murder of an elderly lady. Death penalty does not exist in Sweden. During the trial Joy Rahman pleaded innocence, but in vain. No hard evidence was produced against him. The Swedish authority needed a guilty person and the brown coloured Joy Rahman who was assisting the lady in her household chores became a natural choice primarily because of racism highly prevalent in Sweden. During the trial the Swedish prosecutor hurled plenty of racist abuses towards the Bangladeshi culture. After languishing eight long years in the jail, the Supreme Court of Sweden finally found him not guilty. On several occasions in recent times, Joy Rahman has requested an apology from the Swedish government for causing him and his family members immense pain. But the Swedish government has turned a deaf ear to his request. Joy Rahman received a token financial compensation from the Swedish authority. But nothing can substitute the agony, sufferings and humiliation, which he had undergone as a prisoner. Unlike the Bangladeshi Court, the Swedish Supreme Court did not issue any strong orders for the judges at the lower court for awarding a life sentence to an innocent. Therefore it is expected that this verdict should not only resonate in Bangladesh but also in the entire world where probably many innocent persons like Shah Alam Babu and Joy Rahman are languishing in jails.