Two men in need of help

**frostyboy** · #1 24th-February-2008

Quote:

I've come across two news stories this weekend, in which men have been jailed for offenses which warrant much more lenient punishment.

The first is Stephen Armstrong. This father of eight has been jailed for three years and eight months, after running over a thug who brandished a knife and baton at him and his children.

Even the judge, Lady Smith, conceded the yob had brandished a knife and a window on his van was smashed.

But she told Armstrong: "You were entitled to be angry but not to respond by wielding your vehicle as a weapon."
So what should Mr. Armstrong have done? Should he have just sat back and waited for the yob to inevitably stab him to death in front of his children?
There is an online petition calling for his release, which has so far amassed over 13,000 signatures. I would encourage everyone to sign it.

The second man is Fouad Mourtada. He has been jailed for three years in Morocco for the trivial offense of "setting up a Facebook profile in the name of a member of the royal family".

If that wasn't bad enough:

He told family members who visited him in jail that he had been blindfolded and beaten unconscious at the time of his arrest.

A website entitled Help Free Fouad has been set-up, and there is a petition calling for his release. Again, I urge everyone to sign.

**KellyMac** · #2 25th-February-2008

Regarding Mr. Armstrong, it doesn't sound as if he purposely targeted the thug. I wonder what would have happened if it had been Mrs. Armstrong driving the van that day? Would she be lauded as a hero, for saving her children, using the van because she was too small to take on the thug physically? Is Mr. Armstrong assumed to have armor-plated skin because he is a man? The last time I checked, a knife that size will kill a man just as quickly as it will kill a woman. And even if this petition is successful, and Mr. Armstrong is freed, with all due public apologies, is he going to get his job back? Raising 8 children takes quite an income.

Regarding Mr. Mourtada, the article said that people commonly create fake facebook profiles of famous people. It wasn't clear if that is the case in Morocco specifically, but I didn't get the impression that he was trying to cash in on the prince's identity in any case. If he were using it to run some scam, then yes, that is a crime that should be punished. However, it doesn't appear that he was running a scam, but rather was just doing it for fun. Maybe not the best choice, but does it warrant being blindfolded and beaten unconscious, and then sentenced to prison? Again, I don't know Moroccan customs, but it seems to me that this must surely be a human rights violation. Didn't we supposedly go after Iraq because Saddam Hussein's regime treated people like this? Ok, I know that isn't the real reason, but it was certainly used as justification. Why aren't we spanking Morocco?

**RobYork** · #3 25th-February-2008

Mr. Stephen Armstrong should of been given a very large medal.

Robert.

bobx23456 · #4 26th-February-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by frostyboy

Two men in need of help

Even the judge, Lady Smith, conceded the yob had brandished a knife and a window on his van was smashed.

But she told Armstrong: "You were entitled to be angry but not to respond by wielding your vehicle as a weapon."

Might have guessed it was a stupid cunt in black robes. No female should ever judge a man.

Blessings

Bob