On
this date, November 1, 2019, Tarek Houshi, an Uber driver, was sentenced to
death for the rape and murder of British embassy worker Rebecca Dykes in
Lebanon. I welcome the death sentence and hope that he will be put to death for
the crime.
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CONDEMNED TO DIE Rebecca
Dykes – Uber driver sentenced to death for murdering Brit embassy worker days
before Christmas in Lebanon
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Uber driver is sentenced to death for the rape and murder
of British embassy worker Rebecca Dykes in Lebanon
·
Tarek
Houshi raped the 30-year-old Briton and strangled her to death in 2017
·
He
confessed to his crimes and was sentenced to death by a court in Lebanon
·
Ms
Dykes worked in Beirut with the Department for International Development
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An Uber driver has been sentenced to death for the
rape and murder of British embassy worker Rebecca Dykes nearly two years
ago.
Tarek Houshi raped the 30-year-old Briton and
strangled her to death with a rope in December 2017 before dumping her body at
a roadside.
Ms Dykes, who worked in Beirut with the Department
for International Development, had got into his hire car after leaving a bar in
the Lebanese capital.
The suspect was arrested two days later after being
tracked down on security camera footage and confessed to his crimes.
The Criminal
Court of Mount Lebanon delivered its verdict on Friday, according to the
country's National News Agency.
The
British embassy said it hoped the court's decision would 'provide a degree of
closure' for those close to Dykes.
'Becky
was much loved and is deeply missed,' the embassy said in a
statement.
A
Lebanese judge who was tasked with investigating the crime requested the death
sentence in February last year.
Judge
Hanna Braidi accused Houshi of raping and killing the British embassy worker in
a 'premeditated and deliberate act'.
According
to the judge's investigation, Ms Dykes got into Houshi's vehicle shortly after
midnight before the car stopped by a roadside.
Ms
Dykes's body was found dumped on that roadside on December 16, strangled and
showing signs of sexual assault.
Ms Dykes
had last been seen alive at a party in Gemmayzeh, a Beirut neighbourhood
popular with foreign residents, on a Friday night.
Lebanese
judges routinely call for death sentences in cases of murder, but Houshi's sentence
can be appealed.
Moreover,
Lebanon has not carried out an execution since 2004, according to Human Rights
Watch.
'While we
welcome the guilty verdict, the UK government continues to oppose the death
penalty in all circumstances,' the embassy statement said.
The
Briton's family said at the time that they would 'never fully recover' from
their loss.
'For
Becky to have her life cruelly taken away in these circumstances is devastating
to our family,' they said in December 2017.
Friends
said she had been planning to fly back to the UK for Christmas just hours
later.
Her
family said she had 'improved the lives of countless refugees and vulnerable
host communities' through her work in Lebanon.
She had
previously spent four years in Hong Kong, teaching English to teenagers. She
also worked as a human rights monitor, translating documents from Chinese to
English.
Relatives
have since set up a charitable foundation in Ms Dykes's name to help
refugees.
Then-International
Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt said Ms Dykes had 'changed thousands of
lives for the better'.
Judicial
sources revealed that Houshi had been previously been arrested twice for
alleged harassment and theft.
However,
there was suspicion that he might have faked his criminal record documents in
order to work as a driver in the city.
A
Lebanese minister urged his countrymen to avoid Uber in the wake of the
killing, calling the ride-hailing firm unsafe.
Uber said
at the time that it was 'horrified by this senseless act of
violence'.
INTERNET
SOURCE: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7639927/Uber-driver-sentenced-death-rape-murder-Briton-Rebecca-Dykes-Lebanon.html
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A portrait of Rebecca
Dykes is displayed at a candlelit vigil in Beirut in December 2017, shortly
after the British embassy worker was killed
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CONDEMNED TO DIE Rebecca Dykes – Uber driver sentenced to
death for murdering Brit embassy worker days before Christmas in Lebanon Breaking
Debbie White
1 Nov 2019, 14:21Updated: 1 Nov
2019, 15:12
AN UBER driver who confessed to killing Brit
embassy worker Rebecca Dykes in Lebanon is to be executed.
A criminal court has sentenced Tarek Houchiye to
death after the 30-year-old was raped and murdered in Beirut two years ago.
The Brit was sexually assaulted and strangled to
death with a rope after getting in a taxi following a 'girl's night out' at a
popular tourist bar in Beirut.
The Sun previously revealed Houchiye had confessed
to cops that he raped and killed Rebecca.
Her body was found near a road on December 16,
2017, with choke marks around her neck.
A source told how her fate was sealed when she got
into the taxi and the driver saw her wearing a short skirt.
The source said: "He
said he found her pretty, wearing a short skirt…and so he decided to rape her
as it would be easy as she was a foreigner."
POSSIBLE APPEAL
The National News Agency in Lebanon said Houchiye,
a local Uber driver, was sentenced to death on Friday.
His execution can be appealed, however, reports the
Associated Press.
Rebecca was working at the UK Embassy as a
programme and policy manager with the Department for International Development
at the time of her brutal attack.
She was a University of Manchester graduate, and
also had a masters in International Security and Global Governance.
Rebecca, a keen runner who spoke four languages,
had been due to fly home to be with her family for Christmas.
She was last seen leaving a bar in the Gemayzeh
district of Beirut.
FAKE PAPERS
Her killer, who authorities said at the time had a
criminal record, was arrested two days after her disappearance.
His driving licence and other documents revealed he
had faked his criminal record papers so he could work as a cabbie in Beirut.
Houchiye, a Lebanese national also known as Hesso,
was also said to have hidden his convictions for drug offences and assault.
A security source said in 2017: “It is well known
that he had a criminal past and convictions."
Although Lebanese judges routinely call for death
sentences in cases of murder, the country has an unofficial moratorium and has
not carried out an execution since 2004, according to monitoring group, Human
Rights Watch.
After her death, the Rebecca Dykes Foundation was
set up in her honour in tribute to "a compassionate and dedicated
humanitarian whose life was cut tragically short".
Through the organisation, launched by her friends
and family, funds are raised to support projects close to Rebecca's heart,
including help for victims of sexual and gender-based violence.
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