من قتل الناشط الحقوقي عبد السلام حسن عبد السلام ؟

Scotland Yard are trying to discover a motive for the attack

Tuesday March 16,2010
By John Twomey

A LEADING human rights lawyer has been stabbed to death on the doorstep of his home.

Abdel Salam Hassan suffered multiple knife wounds as he fought with his attacker.

But he collapsed after the killer stabbed him in the thigh and punctured a major artery.



The knifeman fled leaving 20st Mr Hassan, 56, to bleed to death in his hallway. Last night, Scotland Yard detectives were trying to discover a motive for the murder.

One possibility is that his death may be connected to his work as a lawyer for the human rights organisation, Redress. Mr Hassan was a leading light in the campaign against torture and injustice in his native Sudan.

The killer might also have been a doorstep robber, although nothing appeared to have been taken.

A neighbour walking her dog found his body at the house in Lee, south London, at 7am on Saturday after seeing the door ajar.

The cause of death was established by a post-mortem examination on Sunday as loss of blood after the femoral artery in a thigh was cut. Police are trying to piece together the last movements of Mr Hassan, who was divorced and lived alone. It is thought he was last seen on Friday afternoon.

Colleagues were stunned by his murder. Alex de Waal, an expert on African affairs, described him as “an unflinching advocate for human rights”. Redress, where he was Sudan legal advisor, posted a tribute on its website.

It said Mr Hassan was “a renowned lawyer and intellectual, who played a leading role in the struggle for human rights in Sudan over