Just a few of the poor victims who were injured (some more serious than others) by a senseless shooting spree by 2 Omanis. (Photo from Times of Oman from story back in November, 2013)
Sunday, the 2 accused Omanis who were caught red-handed (and confessed) stood trial. Read the full article here from today’s Times of Oman.
The “men”, when asked by the judge why they shot 19 people (mostly migrant workers…) said their motive was “for the sake of adventure“. ?!?!? I hope they discover the “adventure” of what life is like behind bars for many years. They were asked why they “opened fire” but that is not giving the truth sense of their crimes. This was not a one time event (which would be a proper use of “opening fire”) but was rather a month-long joy ride for these two as they sought to seek physical pain on other human beings. Not once, not twice…but at least 19 times (that we know about and were reported) over a one month period!!! These were not young kids but adults of 21 and 22 years of age who should know better.
Reading that article seemed to me more like a defense rather than an objective piece.
- “a weapon normally used for shooting birds” (Really?!)
- explaining that thousands of rials had been paid to the victims (So what?! They still need to pay the consequences for their crimes!)
- Pleas from the parents not to penalise their sons (AT ALL?!?!?!?! Are you kidding me?!)
- Because they are both government workers, they should be punished even more harshly! One of the “men” was recently married?!? Therefore, mercy should be shown to him?! And what about THE VICTIMS?! Sounds like the makings of a “wonderful father” there. Scary stuff!
It’s not surprising that the writer of this article, has written other less than stellar articles. The Oman Forum had a comment thread on one of his appalling articles on how the “rise in population of expat labour class worries citizens“. An article that doesn’t seem to be present any longer on the Times of Oman website. I wouldn’t be surprised if the xenophobic article suddenly went missing from the Oman Forum as well. Hmm, so let me see…this reporter writes about the dangers of expat labour class workers which could be labelled as fear mongering and then 2 Omanis shoot predominantly migrant workers around the capital. The same writer then writes (what seems to me) a mostly one sided article which mostly contains pleas from the shooters parents. Interesting.
Where are the quotes and stories of lost income and pain suffered by the victims and their families? Why did the court reserve its judgment and why are they waiting till next month? Are these 2 men in custody or free to walk around? It will be interesting to see what (if any) punishment is dished out to these 2 individuals. Or will the public be informed at all? I wonder how the story would go if 2 migrant workers were found to be targeting Omanis…would the decision be postponed one month or would there be swifter justice? There still has been nothing in any of the papers about the punishment (if any) of the 5 boys from Sohar who assaulted, kidnapped and raped an Asian lady back in March of last year! Don’t we have a right to know the outcome and court decisions of such heinous crimes which have already been made aware to the public?!
Andy in Oman 
That’s a sad reality in today’s world. I do hope they’ll rot in jail, but as the system seems to have double standards… who knows?
Thanks for the comment, Pedro. It’s now almost mid March and the article mentioned that the court would postpone the verdict by a month even though that was at the end of January!!!! So does the fact that nothing has been reported mean that these “men” have been let off scott free?!?! As I mentioned before, there are often no follow-ups with such reporting here in the sultanate.
Andy, here’s some links to that appalling article:
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Rise+in+the+population+of+expat+labour+class+worries+citizens.-a0224757084
Thanks!
people make mistakes and if they repent their action they must be forgiven
forgiveness is in our religion , they are also some ones son , brother , father
resentment of Expats is only natural when the Sons of the Soil dont get jobs it happens in all countries
look in most of the companies Towell , Suhail Bahwan , Saud Bahwan , Al Hashr , Zubair ,MHD you will see majority expats mostly Indians and it is a fact that Bias takes place Omanis are not given jobs for being presumed to be lazy this is the attitude of the expats
will any of these Expats tolerate if outside nationals work in their countries while they themselves don’t have jobs ?
ask these questions on what is the root cause of problems here .
So let me get this straight: “We can’t really blame them as expats are taking Omani jobs”?!?!? And “Because our religion stresses forgiveness therefore we should let people do any crime and then forgive them”?!? WOW! Where does one even begin to answer such a comment. Do not mix up forgiveness (which is a personal matter between you and God) and justice which the government must enforce to keep the evil-doers at bay. The sons of the soil becomes sons of belial when they start shooting others. The root cause of the problem here is the wickedness of their hearts, plain and simple. Who in their right mind goes and shoots other human beings “for the sake of adventure”?! Do you really want to be defending and aligning yourself with such people?
The article “rise in population of expat labour class worries citizens“ is not appalling. It is just not politically correct which some people equate with ‘appalling’ even if there is substantial evidence to support the not so pleasant truth. However, if ROP crime statistics were released, it would show that the majority of crimes under the class of burglary, assault, sale of alcohol actually are perpetrated by expats in Oman as a statistical fact.
So, it would follow as those populations increased so would the crime rate even if this is unpopular or an unpleasant reality. So point the politically correct finger but that is not a balanced view point either as not all expats are saints while staying in Oman, and there have been numerous harmful acts caused by expats in Oman harming the security and wellbeing of the citizens.
It is also well know in legal cases about the wide spread participation of expats in knowingly selling expired candy just to gain a few bezas while poisoning Omani kids who became very ill, selling fake auto parts for more than a decade ripping off local clients and the Omani government at well known company, the stealing of banking information leading to millions of dollars stolen from a local bank, the selling of fake currency to Omanis who then became locked up in India for unknowingly using fake currency while travelling, and so on.
There are also labour issues especially in the private sector between expats and Omanis. It may not affect the blog owner at his job but it does affect many Omanis in jobs in the private sector who have been negatively influenced by this to the point thousands migrate from the private sector each year. This again is backed up by statistics; more than thirty thousand Omanis left the private sector last year and out of a population of 2M which makes it statistically relevant.
My previous comments in reference to the article pointed out as ‘appalling’. And before others get on a righteous high horse, please ask them if they have they ever avoided certain areas/neighborhoods in their home countries, avoided walking by construction workers or ethnic areas, avoided certain looking characters such as people in hoodies or groups of lingering men (or women), been instructed not to talk to strangers because it is assumed to be unsafe or potentially dangerous (even if in reality it wasn’t), not trusting a labourer to work in your house alone with out securing your valuables, because if so then you are participating in the same ‘appalling’ behavior of avoiding groups you may think or understand as dangerous for your own self preservation whether or not it is true such the Omanis are doing in the article.
Even if most of the people are fine, the risk that some aren’t is the rational in demonstrating protective even paranoid behaviors. The main point being things in life are not black and white and labeling the article appalling because it could be offensive to some when there rings some truth to it is equally offensive to truth as the politically correct followers found the article to be offensive to them; there are areas of grey.
As to the shootings, there is no excuse for those and for the safety and security of all people in Oman; it should not be allowed and those guilty receive an appropriate punishment. Even if forgiveness is called for, it doesn’t mean the punishment under the law should be suspended in the necessity of keeping law and order. The victims can spiritually forgive the perpetrators. If the perpetrators show a true change and good behavior, maybe there sentences can be shortened later on if they are even convicted.
While I don’t agree with everything you’ve written here, I can agree wholeheartedly with the words, logic and spirit of your entire last paragraph. Thanks for taking time to share your thoughts.