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tv   Our World  BBC News  November 17, 2018 9:30pm-10:01pm GMT

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one demonstrator was killed. the us state department has intervened to counter reports that the cia believes the saudi crown prince, mohammed bin salman, ordered the murder of jamal khashoggi. a spokesperson said the us government has not reached a final conclusion. the argentine government say they may never ever be able to raise the wreckage of a submarine that has just been found on the sea floor. forty four crew members were on board the sanjuan. at ten o'clock, clive myrie will be here with a full round up of the day's news. but first, qandeel baloch was murdered in her bed, the victim of a so—called honour killing that rocked pakistan and the world. she was a social media sensation, a young woman from a poor village who became famous for her sexually provocative online appearances. we find out more about her story in our world — justice for qandeel. this is a story about
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justice and honour. qandeel baloch was a girl who rose from nowhere and became pakistan's social media superstar. her highly provocative videos shocked many in pakistan, but brought her fame. two years ago, qandeel was murdered. her own brother said he had done it because she brought shame on the family. at the time of the murder, qandeel‘s parents wanted justice for their daughter. amid an international outcry, the pakistani government quickly passed a law against honour killings. my name is hani taha, i have reported on this story
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from it's very beginning. two years on from her murder, are we any closer to justice for qandeel? in the city of multan, in the punjab region of pakistan, the trial of qandeel baloch's murder is entering its third year. qandeel‘s elderly father and his lawyer have been coming to the court since the trial began in 2016. it is a complicated case, with seven people charged with taking part in her murder.
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today there is a bail hearing for one of the defendants. haq nawaz, qandeel‘s cousin, is accused of strangling her, along with her brother waseem. qandeel‘s father and his lawyer are bitterly opposed to the bail. you can clearly see in two years he has aged so much and he has practically lost his eyesight, he is pretty much blind now and i really wonder if he has gone blind with grief. he still cries the same way that he did when i first met him two years ago. they have travelled several hours to come here, which is very difficult, they don't have that kind of money or resources to do this. he has been doing it for two yea rs consistently.
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to understand why this case is so important, you need to see where it all began. in 2016, just after her murder, i travelled to the village in rural punjab where qandeel was born. in this part of the world, women stay at home and are rarely seen. this is the house where she grew up. mohammed azeem, her father was a farmer and her mother, a housewife. qandeel had six brothers and two sisters. qandeel spent her childhood in this room. it wasn't long after this photo
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was taken that in keeping with local tradition, qandeel was married. but her marriage only lasted a year. after her divorce in 2007, qandeel settled in multan, a city a couple of hours drive from her village. it was also around this time that qandeel started making videos for social media. for pakistan, her videos were provocative and daring. but her dream was to make it into the mainstream. like so many other girls trying to break into the scene, the reality was anything but glamorous. to earn money, qandeel was probably working as an escort. as qandeel‘s ambition grew,
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she left multan for karachi, entering the heart of pakistan's entertainment industry. qandeel‘s appearance on pakistan's idol thrust her into the limelight. even though she didn't win, she was an instant hit. she became a regular on national tv, promoting her brand. it was on one chat show that she met mufti qawi, a well—known celebrity cleric, who was also from multan. the two flirted on camera. mufti qawi suggested they meet next
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time he was in karachi. a few weeks later, during the holy month of ramadan, qandeel met mufti qawi in a hotel in karachi. it was during this meeting that she took a number of selfies. in one, she was wearing the mufti's hat. this picture in particular caused a media storm. the selfies spread like wildfire. soon, she and the mufti were everywhere. the day after the selfies with the mufti qawi were released, qandeel appeared on one of the most popular talk—shows. qandeel and mufti qawi continued
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to argue and for the presenter, it was tv gold. he extended the show to 90 minutes. this broadcast further inflamed the situation. in the fallout, mufti qawi was suspended from his job with pakistan's religious council. during the selfie video with mufti qawi, qandeel mentioned for the first time that she was from multan. armed with this information, the local multani press swung into action. a few days later, details of qandeel‘s personal life started appearing everywhere. her real name was fouzia azeem, her passport, her families details the fact that she had
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a child from a previous marriage, was made public. as these details surfaced, she became increasingly worried about her safety. two weeks before she died, she asked the authorities for protection, but her request was ignored. the allegation is, that two weeks later, qandeel‘s brother, wasseem, drove with two accomplices to the house qandeel was renting from her parents. after the meal, he mixed sleeping pills in with milk, which the whole family drank.
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he waited for the pills to kick in and when his parents went off to bed, was seen fetching his accoomplices and together they entered qandeel‘s room and killed her. waseem was arrested later that night and immediately confessed to killing his sister. he said that qandeel‘s involvement with the mufti was the final straw. at the time of the murder, multan police's investigating officer was a woman, attiya jafri. although no longer in charge of the case, she maintains a keen interest in it. gradually, a fuller
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picture began to emerge. waseem claimed he had been told to murder qandeel by his oldest brother, who lived in saudi arabia. but it was the role played by the mufti which most concerned the police when they questioned him. two years ago, i had gone to talk to the mufti myself. he had been keen to declare his innocence, but made
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a chilling threat. but justice caught up with the mufti. because he had been uncooperative with the police investigations, he was denied an extension to his bail. he fled from multan, but was quickly rearrested. we tried to speak to him for this programme, but his associates demanded $10,000 for an interview with him. today, he remains on trial, accused of involvement in qandeel‘s murder. since we interviewed the mufti in 2016, he has conceded
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that he does know the man alleged to have given qandeel‘s relatives to and from the murder scene. it's his cousin, abdul. qandeel‘s story has been brought into almost every home in pakistan. there's a 28 part tv series based on her life. but her legacy may be greater than this. in response to her murder, the government passed a new law against honour killings — even if the family forgives the killers, the state will still try them for murder. but the slow pace of the trial is worrying for those who want qandeel‘s law, as it's known, to be applied and to set a legal precedent. nighat dad worked for a human rights organisation based in lahore.
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they've been supporting qandeel‘s parents and are keen to ensure that this landmark case is swiftly concluded. today, they are trying to persuade the parents to press for a higher court to speed things up. we wanted to basically set some precedent. if a father wanted to get his son punished, because of what he did, so why not support him? in the beginning, they were very passionate and energetic, and they knew thatjustice will get done very quickly. but nothing like that happened and slowly and gradually, their energies and passion basically turned into frustration. and the same is the case with us, we are very frustrated why the case is delayed so much. like why two years? this is notjust one qandeel story, just imagine what happens with the ordinary cases, everyday. thousands and thousands of cases are pending, people take adjournments, and there is nojustice, you know. for years and years, people are just going to the courts
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and nothing happens. they are concerned by reports that qandeel‘s parents are changing their mind about the case. they are worried that if the parents withdraw their testimony, the case could be dismissed entirely. two years ago, the parents wanted their son to be executed. but now, once nighat has left, they make a rather shocking statement to me. as well as saying that waseem is innocent, they now no longer agree with the new federal law against honour crimes. it seems that in rural pakistan, despite the new law,
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the centuries old tradition of honour killing is still seen as legitimate. safdar shah is the lawyer representing the family. he comes from the same area as qandeel‘s parents, and he claims to be representing them, not for money, but out of local loyalty. he is making the case that waseem, a jobless 23—year—old drug addict, was coerced by his cousin, haq nawaz, to carry out the murder. so despite what was said to years ago, the family now say that waseem so despite what was said two years ago, the family now say that waseem was an innocent party in the murder of his sister. i wanted to ask police woman attiya whether she thought it was possible that waseem was innocent. and whether this crime really was an honour killing. the trial for qandeel‘s alleged murderers drags on here in multan. waseem is injail
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proclaiming his innocence. haq nawaz is applying to the high court for bail. but the mufti, his cousin and three other members of qandeel‘s family accused of aiding and abetting the crime remain free for now. it seems that qandeel is as controversial in death as she was in life. it's easy to understand a mother's love,
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and the pull of local custom. but for many in pakistan, it is more important that qandeel‘s lawyers are plied, and that there is finally justice for qandeel. there is bit of sunshine to come up with a weekend isn't done, but the week ahead is looking cloudier and colder, much colderfor a time. here is some sunshine from saturday in scotland, but parts of eastern scotla nd scotland, but parts of eastern scotland stayed quite cloudy. northern ireland, too. for many of us, there was cloud on saturday, sunday will be sunnier. high—pressure to the north—east, if you ofair high—pressure to the north—east, if you of airfrom high—pressure to the north—east, if you of air from the south—east. right now, it is dry air, so not much moisture. into sunday, a sunny day in northern ireland, a bit of client for eastern scotland and noticing them. still a saudi is to be breeze, still the same temperatures from sunday. —— still a south breeze. though mild, but into
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double figures. it will change, because as we go into monday, will because as we go into monday, will bea because as we go into monday, will be a change to the wind direction. we start to drag in the blue colours from the east, that of the cold air. two things are going on on monday, one, it is colder, two, there is more cloud. it will feel very different than the weekend. there could be light rain or drizzle, but there will still be some brighter spells. the western isles will see some sunshine on monday. the temperatures will dip down into single figures, that process continues going into tuesday. this is the atlantic weather systems being kept at bay by the easterly flow. but it is stronger on tuesday, we will be more likely to see some wet weather on tuesday, particularly in parts of england and wales, southern scotland and northern ireland. some showers coming in could be wintry on the high hills, just across the board, we are down into single figures, mid—single figures. when we factor in the
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strong easterly wind, the further east you are, it will make it feel like it is below freezing on tuesday. so again, very different than what we have at the moment. into wednesday, the low pressure is gathering to the south, that will feed in, not bringing just cloud, but some wet weather on wednesday. that is a messy picture, so we will keep you updated on this, but there will be areas of rain with perhaps sleet and snow in high ground. migrating north and west with the day goes on. it will feel particularly chilly when you add something else to the mix, that is something else to the mix, that is some wet weather. by thursday, it looks like it will clear away. still some cloud across eastern and southern areas, but we will see prior and brighter weather on thursday. it will not do a great deal with the temperatures. different weather on the way for the week ahead. the most noticeable thing is that it will feel colder. it will be colder. the cold will be
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enhanced by the strong easterly winds, the wind—chill becomes a factor in eastern part of the uk. as we notice, for a time, there will be somewhat weather, rain, sleet and snow, particularly to high ground. as we go to the end of the week and into the following weekend, at the moment, one idea is that high pressure will stay to the south and south—west —— low—pressure, this could bring some wet weather, bringing easterly wind and bring something less chilly in from the south. that moves right across the uk, and it will be not as cold, but this remains to be seen. temperatures may recover into the following weekend. we will keep you updated with the weather for the week ahead.
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