The 'Cyprus Emergency’ and India’s nuclear mango deal

30:04Me and my friends, we had older brothers and they were about the same age as the neo-Nazis at that time, especially from this group. So I do remember that my brother and his friends and my friends' siblings as well did have violent situations with them. In 2000, Luciana moves to a new neighbourhood, but she stays in touch with Benjamin. They share texts and want to meet up again, but they never get the chance. On the 26th of January 2001, Benjamin is attacked and fatally stabbed. I got a phone call from a friend and what she said on the phone was Benjamin is dead. And in the background I could hear my parents watching the news about this boy that was murdered in Holmlia.

30:58It was a huge, huge shock and it really took time for me to understand what had happened. That day was winter and then I just opened the door, put on my shoes and just took my jacket and walked out. And I think I was outside for at least a couple of hours just walking. News reports state five people are arrested in an Oslo flat filled with Nazi memorabilia. The news of his death is reported and discussed around the world, including on the BBC. This is the first murder that is committed with a racist motive. It was quite a wake-up call for a lot of people in Norway. This is probably the first very clear time where we've had a killing which can be linked directly to a race-motivated act of violence.

31:47And that, in a way, had an intense effect of mobilisation. And people did mobilize. Just days after the killing, on the 1st of February 2001, tens of thousands of people take to the streets of Oslo. It started at Jungstorget. People were carrying torches from there up to Universitetsgata nearby the university in Oslo. There were banners. There were signs like no Nazis in our streets. It was anti-racism and anti-fascism. And also something like do not let this happen again. But it was a sense of united empathy at that time. And people just standing up for Benjamin and also his family in solidarity to what has happened.

32:40But also that we don't want this to happen in our city and in our country. And it actually brought out in the streets of Oslo the largest crowd since the liberation of Norway in 1945. So it had this kind of intense triggering of a mood in the population, not only in Oslo, all around the country, actually. Even though you have like shattering grief inside of you and in your heart, it was still important to be there and just let your feet carry you in whatever this is right now. But standing there together with each other and also seeing that so many people are engaging and they were also touched by it, you know, even though they didn't know him.

33:31And that was the beauty of it. Norway's prime minister addresses the crowd, describing Benjamin's murder as a watershed moment in the country's history. This is a shattering and brutal incident that we have to stand together against and not let anything like this happen. That is mainly what I took from it. I don't recall his exact words, but I do recall him addressing what had happened and that we have to take responsibility as a society and them as politicians to not let anything like this happen again. The following year, on the 17th of January 2002, two young men who admit having links to Norwegian neo-Nazi groups are sentenced to 16 and 15 years in jail respectively.

34:27A teenage girl is given three years for abetting actual bodily harm causing death. Luciana stays in touch with Benjamin's mother, who creates the Benjamin Prize, an award to schools for their work against racism and discrimination. And this is also something that she said to me a few years before she passed away, and that is, I still carry him with me every single day. And I miss him every day, and I grieve every day, and I try my best to live my life every day, but it's hard. But even though that happened, I know that after his death, he has affected so many people. As a young teenager, Luciana doesn't realise that one march won't solve the issues of racism and extremism.

35:17When you're so young, you don't really grasp everything that has to happen with action, real action, I thought that this was the end of all of it. That was being naive, I guess. That was 25 years ago, and a lot of things have happened since then. There was something to it that just felt very real and necessary at that day for so many people. It did give hope. It did give us hope. Luciana Pavene Zehe in Norway was speaking to Gendale. Religious discord in the Indian Ocean next. In 1999, seven people died in a fire at the Lamikau Gaming House in Port Louis, Mauritius. Police arrested dozens of suspects and four men were later convicted of arson and murder.

36:14They became known as the Lamikau Four. However, years later, a group of senior lawyers reviewed the case and found major gaps in the original investigation, raising new questions about what really happened. Imran Sumodi, one of the Lamik Al-Four, has been telling Katie Harris about his ordeal.

36:36I still remember the atmosphere in court as we waited for the jury's verdict. It was like being in suspense during a thriller. but my family still had hope that we would receive justice. It's the 20th of November 2000. Imran Samudhi and his fellow accused are waiting to hear their fate in the courthouse in the Mauritian capital. Watching from the public gallery are their family and friends. The verdict was announced and our family broke down. My sister-in-law fainted. My parents were crying. They were devastated because our solicitor had given them false hope. The jury took just two hours to find Imran, his brother Khalil Ludeen, Abdul Naseeb Karamut and Mohammed Shafiq Nawour guilty of arson causing death.

37:30They were sentenced to life in prison. All four men, devout Muslims, protested their innocence. As believers, we held on to faith. We knew human justice condemned us, but we trusted that if not today, if not tomorrow, divine justice would free us. Imran was 38 when he went to jail. He had never been in trouble with the police. He had had a happy childhood, one of five children growing up in Port Louis, and he learnt the family trade of baking. We were a very happy family. By 1990, I had already had my wife and two children. Our life was great. Imran had always loved football. He and his family followed the Scouts Club, largely supported by the small Muslim community.

38:20They never missed a match. On May 23rd, 1999, the Scouts were due to play their biggest rivals, Fire Brigade, whose fans were from the Catholic community. The decisive game was played at Angele Stadium. Imran and his whole family went along. We loved organising for a match, getting everything ready, sometimes one day or two days before. We would all get motivated, my friends, my mum, my dad, my whole family, getting ready for the match. It was a tense game, with a contentious decision and late goal leading to victory for Fire Brigade, infuriating Scouts Club fans. Their anger quickly erupted into violence, first in the stands, then spilling out into the streets of the capital.

39:10Even before the football ended, supporters had started breaking the seats. Other fans started throwing bottles and broken chairs around the stadium. When I got to the city, I joined the crowds throwing stones and rocks at the Mauritian Football Association building. I was angry. The referee had stolen the match from us. I saw fires and I said to myself, the police will come and there will be more trouble. I went looking for my brothers and my friend. We got in the car and we went home. Rioting continued overnight. By morning, the city was filled with debris and broken glass. Then news broke that the Lamiquel gambling house in the centre of Port Louis had been burnt down.

39:56News reports were that seven bodies had been pulled from the rubble, including a pregnant woman and two children. A police search led to Imran's family home. His father was taken away. Someone had reported seeing his car in the area. Next, Imran's older brother was called in for questioning. A week later, Imran and his younger brother were summoned by the police. They wanted us to tell lies on other people. For us to say, this one was there, that one was there. I did not want to put innocent people in jail. I did not accept to name people that I did not see. Why would I tell lies to make other people suffer?

40:37But it was Imran and his loved ones who went on to suffer. When Imran refused to give the police names, their focus shifted to him. His father and older brother were soon released, but Imran, his younger brother and two other men were charged with arson causing death. The police carried out identity parades, brought in witnesses who claimed they had seen Imran with a Molotov cocktail in his hand. This witness testimony was highly disputed at the time. The previous year, there had been street protests in Mauritius after the death of a suspect in police custody. Now, says Imran, the authorities were under pressure to get a conviction.

41:19We could see how the judges and the jury looked at the case, how all the arguments our lawyers presented were dismissed. This was a one-sided trial. We were made scapegoats to satisfy public opinion, to make people believe justice had been done. The men, who became known as the Lamical Four, would spend the next two decades in jail, protesting their innocence. Imran lost his father and older brother during this time. Imran's wife, who had stood by him during the whole ordeal, died of breast cancer. She had no prior health problems. But the trauma and stress from those terrible moments, the prison visits, the pain of it all took their toll.

42:06It was a tragedy. Unacceptable. That is what justice did to us. So how did you get by during those years? At one stage, I was learning to be a tailor, but I wasn't very interested. Then I was given other responsibilities. During Ramadan, my friend and I looked after the mosque. I took the opportunity to teach the Koran, hoping it would make some of the other prisoners change. During their first ten years in prison, the men lost five appeals against their convictions. Eventually, in 2013, leading lawyers, including a former attorney general, published a report on the case. They found numerous gaps in the original investigation and concluded there had been a miscarriage of justice.

42:52The lawyers also said the fire attack on Lamical Gambling House had been the work of a criminal gang who had looted the casino and then burnt it down, trying to make it look like it was part of the football riots. Based on these conclusions, the president of Mauritius reduced the men's life sentences to 18 years. And so, on August 23rd, 2018, Imran and the rest of the Lamechal Four were finally released. I accepted that if it was God's will for me to die in prison, despite being innocent, then I would die. But if his will was for me to be freed, then my innocence would be proven and my freedom restored.

43:37Imran now lives next door to the family bakery, which he runs with his son and other relatives. He's a devoted grandfather and spends his free time making the most of being with his family. Though life has moved on, Imran says he wants justice for the victims' families and still feels the heavy weight of his conviction. Under Mauritian law, criminal exoneration is not possible. So Imran, Khalil Ludeen, Abdul and Mohammed are still considered guilty. The case has never been reopened and the victims' families still don't have answers. When I came out of prison, I went to see the mother of the pregnant woman who died in the fire.

44:20I made it my duty. I needed to tell the family face to face, I am not your child's murderer. The mother said, I know, son. I know you did not do this. I know you are innocent. Many Mauritians still believe we are innocent and that we endured a grave injustice. For that, I am grateful. Imran Sumodi was speaking to Katie Harris. It was a CTVC production. Next, to North Africa. It's 70 years since Tunisia gained independence from France in August 1956, and the new independent government brought in an equality law that revolutionized women's lives. Under the socialist president, Habib Bourguiba, Tunisia became the first country in the Muslim world to legalize civil divorce and abortion and to ban polygamy.

45:13Nidal Abu Murad spoke to Saeed El-Gayed, a founding member of the Tunisian Women's Union in 2019. On paper at least, the Tunisian woman of today is as free as the wind. She has the vote, she has the right to compete in any sphere of business with the men. Where once divorced was the privilege of the man, the woman can now win her case in the courts of law. According to the statute books, the Tunisian woman is as emancipated as her European counterpart.

45:45The equal rights law was the biggest ever gain for Tunisian women. President Bourguiba said he was not just the liberator of Tunisia, but a liberator of Tunisian women as well. Habib Bourguiba had led a 30-year fight for independence from France and become Tunisia's first president in 1956. Bourguiba's socialist vision for the country meant a bigger role for women. And just a few months into his presidency, he announced the personal status code, a wide-ranging set of laws to achieve equality between men and women. I knew President Bourguiba during the struggle against colonialism. We worked closely together because I was a journalist and one of the founders of the Tunisian Women's Union.

46:40And President Bourguiba asked her to help him explain the new laws to all Tunisians. We always met with Bourguiba. Under his direction, we felt a great sense of duty and responsibility. He relied on us a great deal. The law changed women's lives completely. Sayyid Al-Gayed says before the new law, most Tunisian women did not take part in public life. It was not easy for women to go out back then. They would go to a funeral or a wedding, but going out to a meeting or a gathering was very difficult. But the women's movement had a long history in Tunisia. Sayyid Al-Gayed says that since the start of the 20th century, both men and women had been calling for women's rights.

47:35The most famous of them was the Tunisian religious scholar Tahir al-Haddad, who argued that Islam was compatible with women's liberation.

47:49He said what is important is that women are allowed to be free to learn, to work, and to escape their repressive situation. But he was accused of heresy. We called him the woman's martyr, and he died penniless. Saeeda herself had taken part in street protests calling for greater women's rights. So when the new code of personal status was announced, she was overjoyed. When the new laws were announced, I went out on the streets with other women to express our joy. We carried flags and chanted, long live Tunisia. When President Bourguiba asked for her help, she was thrilled, but she says it was difficult at first.

48:43We used to go out to the countryside in the harvest season when women would be gathered in big numbers to talk to them about the new law because they were unsure about education for girls and family planning. The Women's Union also runs special schools to teach young girls about their new rights. In this school, 100 miles from Tunis, a teacher hammers home the newly discovered facts of female life to 60 teenagers. There are 13 such schools in Tunisia, organized and staffed by the Tunisian Women's Union, a militant and powerful body of opinion in the land. The teacher leaves them in no doubts about their rights.

49:26She tells them, you're not slaves anymore, you're like European women, you have equal rights with men, this you must understand.

49:37This law protected girls. Fathers were no longer able to force their daughters to marry against their will. President Bougieba encouraged us to make sure families were not stopping girls from getting an education. They're taught about contraception, abortion, and the laws giving them equal rights. After three months here, they return to their villages to spread the word. Because it's here, in the Tunisian countryside, that the modern Tunisian woman has to win the fight for equality in territory that for centuries has remained the unassailable stronghold of Tunisian men.

50:19We spoke to men more than we did to women, because we faced opposition from them. We spent a lot of time meeting men and explaining the law to them. There was a time when my friend, the feminist activist Radia al-Haddad, visited this one region and there wasn't even one woman around. She asked why. And she was told that it was because she needed to explain it to men first. They said, explain it to us and then women will follow. So she told the men that the law was not designed to undermine them. The men then returned with the women so that they could hear more. Sayyid Al-Gayyid says President Bourguiba was prepared for opposition and had even consulted religious scholars to make sure the law was compatible with Islam.

51:22and Tunisia became second in the Muslim world after secular Turkey to ban polygamy.

51:32Some members of the clergy objected at that time, but Mugiba was confident he had made the right decision because he consulted with religious figures. They found there was a verse in the Quran about polygamy, which suggests if you cannot treat all wives fairly, then you should just have one. He even asked a religious scholar to tool the Arab world and explain the rationale behind the new laws and its benefit to Tunisian women and Islam. The ban on polygamy and the introduction of abortion was unique in the Muslim world, as the BBC reported in the 1960s. Tunisian women were given yet another safeguard against massive families when they became the first women in any Muslim country able to have abortions.

52:19The law at present is that any Tunisian woman with four children can have an abortion without her husband's consent. The operation is paid for by the government. Family traditions used to oppress girls, but the law freed them to choose who to love. Sayyid Al-Gayyid says President Bourguiba saw all the new laws as a way of freeing Tunisian women to play a bigger part in post-independence society.

52:53President Bougiba told us to make women feel like they have a role to play, that they have the right to live in dignity and to trust themselves and their soul. He said he gave women these rights, not as a gift, but because he saw women's power to lead in a post-independence society. Saida Al-Ghayab is speaking to Nidal Abu Mered. And her story is among the more than 100 first-hand testimonies on our website relating specifically to women's history. Everything from Rosa Parks to Mother Teresa. Find them by looking for the Collections tab when you go to bbc.com slash witness history. Finally, we've got this week's Sporting Witness.

53:42For this, we're going back to 1996, when the unfancied Czech Republic, playing in their first major football tournament since the country's formation three years earlier, reached the final of the European Championship. One of the stars of the team, Patrick Berger, explains how it all happened to Guy Kilty. Before Euro 96, nobody gave the Czech Republic much of a hope. They undoubtedly had a bunch of promising players, including Patrick Berger, Karol Paborski and Pavel Nedved, who had gone to win the European Player of the Year award, but back then, most people hadn't heard of them. According to Patrick Berger, his Borussia Dortmund teammate, the World Cup winning German defender Jürgen Kohler, didn't even know the Czechs were playing at the tournament.

54:28After the last training session before the Euros, he was asking me what is my plans for the summer. And I said to him, well, I'm going to the Euros. And he said, are you going to the Euros to watch games? and I said, no, no, no, no, no, no, we play you guys the first game of the group stages and then we're going to play in the final as well. And then he was laughing. At Euro 96, the Czechs were drawn in a ridiculously tough group against Germany, Italy and Russia. Nobody expected them to make much of an impact, especially after they were comfortably beaten by Germany in their opening game. To be honest with you, if you lose the first game 2-0 and then you know you're going to be facing Italy and then Russia, then the chances you're going to qualify are very limited but you know we just said to ourselves if we can get the result against Italy then anything can happen because they still had to play against each other as well both teams still have to play Russia so let's wait, let's just focus on the next game Improbably, two first half goals were enough to give the Czechs a famous win over Italy in that second game which meant they could qualify for the knockout stages if they got at least a draw with Russia and Italy failed to beat Germany.

55:39Everything was going perfectly at first, after two early goals gave the Czechs an early lead. But, amazingly, three second-half goals from Russia meant Patrick and his team were on their way out. Then, with just two minutes left, chaos. We got the Nikolais, which we knew we were still in it, but we didn't know what the other result is. One minute it was like we're not qualifying, the next minute it was we're qualifying, so we didn't really know. and I think after the final whistle I think it took a few minutes before we realised that we really qualified for the quarter-final. A 3-all draw at Anfield and a goalless draw in the other game meant the Czech Republic joined Germany in the knockout stages.

56:21And while the players may have been celebrating their achievement a place in the quarter-finals made life complicated for some of them. Most of the players, they booked their holidays straight after the group stage and they had to cancel everything. It wasn't just holidays midfielder Vladimir Smica was due to get married back in Prague just two days before the final, but more on that later. In the quarterfinals, Patrick and his teammates upset the odds to beat a star-studded Portugal side 1-0, thanks to an outrageous scooped goal from Karol Poborski. That win set up a semi-final showdown with France at Manchester United's home, Old Trafford.

56:59France had a great team with Zidane in their starting line-up. So we knew we were facing, you know, probably, I mean, they were the favourites, obviously. And we kind of approached the game, just have fun, play as best as we can, enjoy it. Opposite France, you know, they were the favourites and they were under pressure, you know, to get to the final. Despite France's best efforts to score, a heroic defensive performance from the Czech Republic meant the game ended goalless after extra time. A penalty shootout would decide who would go on to face Germany or host England in the final. Patrick stepped up to take the Czech Republic's third spot kick.

58:03have chosen. And luckily I scored. The tension mounted at Old Trafford as each side scored their first five penalties. Then, the Czechs took the advantage when goalkeeper Peter Kuba saved France's sixth. Defender Miroslav Kadlek stepped up to score the winning penalty to send the Czechs through to the final at Wembley. When we won, we couldn't believe it. We were just like living the dream and it was amazing, amazing feeling. It was an amazing moment for us, but also for the country, because that was the first tournament where we have represented Czech Republic. It was the first major tournament for us, for the people, for the country.

58:45And to manage to get to the final, it was kind of like a miracle for everyone. But we had unbelievable support from everyone at the time. And the communication was through faxes in 1996. There was not many mobile phones at the time, so we were getting faxes from all sorts of people, you know, congratulations, you know, after we qualified from the group stages and then also after the quarterfinal, semifinal. And yeah, it was fantastic. Incredibly, the Czech Republic were in the final, where they would face the mighty Germany again. So what about Vladimir Smic's wedding? He flew to Prague in the morning, had the wedding, and the same day in the evening he had to come back.

59:28Obviously, because the euphoria in Czech Republic at the time was massive. He had a wedding in the city centre and there were thousands and thousands of people. The honeymoon would have to wait, though, as just two days afterwards, the Czech players walked out of the famous Wembley Tunnel for the final.

59:46It was unreal, unreal feeling, you know, just to walk and represent your country in the final of the European Championship at Wembley. meeting the queen you know shake the hands with the queen the icing on the cake as well so not many people in the world had the opportunity to shake the hand with the queen of England so yeah it was fantastic memory amazing after an hour without any score the Czech Republic were awarded a penalty he didn't know it until the last minute but the responsibility for taking it fell to Patrick I think I was not even the one who supposed to take the penalty but I can't remember who was the first one but I could see nobody really wanted to take the ball and I think I was the second to be the penalty taker so I took the ball and the only thing in my mind was just hit it as hard as possible and hit the target and it was not the best penalty but it was a goal In the end an equaliser from Germany's Oliver Bierhoff took the game to extra time then, just five minutes into extra time A speculative shot from Bierhoff squirmed through Peter Kuba's grasp and into the net.

1:00:58The golden goal rule was in place at Euro 96, which meant the first team to score in extra time immediately won the match and the tournament. Peter Kuba, he saved us so many times during the tournament and during the qualification. So obviously it happens. And I think there were two deflections also before the ball actually got to his hands. And I mean, it happens. It happens. it wasn't meant to be obviously I would love to be European champion as probably every European footballer but silver for us was like a gold because it opened doors to so many of us and also we then opened the doors for a generation after us so I have no regrets

1:01:45After Euro 96 Patrick signed for Liverpool where he played for seven years Thanks to 96, because it was played in England, I caught the eye of Liverpool and they wanted to sign me. So I'm grateful for every single moment, you know, through my career. When we came back after the final, even if we lost, there was, I think, 100 ,000 people waiting for us in Prague, celebrating because even silver felt like a winning the tournament for us. The wonderfully level-headed Patrick Berger was talking to Guy Kilty. And that's it for this week's History Hour. Do like and subscribe to this programme. For now, though, this is Max Pearson from all of us here.

1:02:29Thanks for listening. Goodbye. From the pioneers. We weren't going to ask mission. We were just going to do it. And the celebrations. You feel you have, you win. I feel it. I was first. I was first. We were so proud of ourselves, and Cameron was proud of us too. I still cannot believe it. It was such an amazing feeling. It was incredible. To the humiliations. I did cry most of the half. Oh man, I'm failing. I'm failing this sport that I love. Sporting Witness takes you to the events that have shaped the sports world through the eyes of the people who were there. It's not just about the sport. It's about all the other things that people with disabilities learn from each other.

1:03:14For nine minutes, you become a fan in the stands as we take you back in time to examine memorable moments from all over the world. There's a magic during those moments that carries your soul. We were truly blessed to be a part of history. Sporting Witness. Subscribe wherever you get your BBC podcasts.

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