A Lebanese court upheld the death sentence for an Uber driver convicted of killing a British woman who worked for the British embassy in Beirut five years ago, the embassy said on Friday.
According to an embassy statement, the Lebanese Court of Cassation rejected an appeal by Tariq Houshieh in the case and affirmed his conviction for the killing of Rebecca Dykes.
Dykes, who worked for the Department for International Development, was found dead on December 16, 2017, by the side of a road, strangled and with signs of sexual assault. Houshieh was arrested days later.
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The killing has rocked the expat community in Beirut, where such crimes are rare and where foreigners generally feel safe.
A Lebanese activist places a flower on the poster of Rebecca Dykes, a British woman killed by an Uber driver, during a candlelight vigil to condemn violence against women in Beirut, Lebanon December 23, 2017.
(Marwan Naamani/picture alliance via Getty Images))
“We hope this verdict brings closure for Becky’s family, for the many around the world who loved Becky, and for all those whose lives she has touched through her humanitarian work in Lebanon and elsewhere,” the embassy said. .
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Dykes’ family, in a separate statement released by the Lebanese state-run National News Agency, said the final verdict followed numerous delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic, court employee strikes and other issues.
The final sentence is “an occasion to remember Rebecca as a young woman who dedicated her short life to the victims of war and poverty”, reads the statement. “Her family had never seen Rebecca as motivated and happy as she was during her stay in Lebanon.”
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After his death, Dykes’ family and friends established a foundation in his name “dedicated to establishing stable communities in Lebanon”.
Houshieh was sentenced to death in 2019, although there is a de facto moratorium on capital punishment in Lebanon. No executions have been carried out since 2004.
