Muscat - A conference on Fair Trial Safeguards opened under the patronage of H E Sayyid Mohammed bin Sultan bin Hamoud al Busaidi, Minister of State and Governor of Dhofar at Hilton Salalah Hotel on Wednesday.
The two-day conference is being organised by the Omani Lawyers Association (OLA) in cooperation with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).
Dr Mohammed bin Ibrahim al Zedjali, chairman of OLA said that the conference aims to highlight what a tolerant Sharia'a guarantees to an accused as per the laws in force, apart from the Basic Law of the State and the international conventions and treaties.
Speaking about rights of the accused and a fair trial, Dr Obaid bin Said al Shaqsy, secretary general of NHRC said that a fair trial is important than the rights of the accused to be treated as an innocent and not as a defendant. Several judges, members of the Public Prosecution, lawyers and jurists are taking part in the conference.
The conference aims to create awareness on the concept of a fair trial and its application in the community.
It also aims to develop mechanisms to ensure that rights of an accused are not violated during arrest, detention and interrogation and to highlight the role of the judiciary in providing fair trials.
© Muscat Daily 2014
