Joining with MADD, they say a ticket isn't sufficient BY NAVID IQBAL DAILY RECORD http://www.dailyrecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060511/COMMUNITIES22/605110338/1203/NEWS01 PATERSON -- Family members of the two teenage girls killed by a passing car in Kinnelon last month said Wednesday that they need the public's help to make driving while intoxicated more than a motor vehicle violation, in New Jersey. They spoke at a press conference in an Islamic Center on Wednesday afternoon. Mayada Jafar, 15, of Kinnelon and her cousin, Athear Jafar, 16, of Jefferson, were walking from Mayada's house to a movie theatre at 8 p.m. April 20 when they were struck by a car driven by Eugene Baum of Dover, police said. Authorities said Baum admitted to drinking a half-liter of vodka before getting into his car. He also told police he was taking an anti-anxiety medication. While Baum is facing two counts of death by auto, he was issued summonses for driving while intoxicated and reckless driving, both motor vehicle violations. During his arraignment April 21, he handed over his driver's license. Within a week he had posted $100,000 bail and was freed from Morris County jail, pending a trial. The Jafar family believes driving while intoxicated is too severe a crime to just get a ticket. MADD, Islamic view At the press conference, a representative from the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a national civil rights group for Muslims, and the state director of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, addressed a small crowd of reporters, Teresa S. Stevens, the state executive director of MADD, based in Trenton said that DWIs are considered motor vehicle violations. Though alcohol-related fatalities have declined overall, she said 270 deaths in New Jersey in 2004 were attributable to alcohol. She added that the figures in 2005 may be higher and that early figures of 2006 indicate another spike. All of this, she said, is alarming especially because it is before the peek season of drunk-drivers. Yet New Jersey still hasn't criminalized DWIs, though there is legislation being worked on, Stevens said. "The families' cries for justice are very familiar: 270 families had the same cry last year." James R. Sues of South Orange, vice president of CAIR's New Jersey office said no one was being critical of the Morris County Prosecutor's Office handling of the case thus far, a point reiterated by family members. "It's not as if Muslims' civil rights are being violated here," Sues said. "We're just trying to work with Mothers Against Drunk Driving to highlight the importance of preventing this kind of behavior." Prosecution ongoing "Our investigation is continuing and we will prosecute the matter as vigorously and expeditiously as possible," said Morris County Prosecutor Michael M. Rubbinaccio, contacted after the press conference. Mohamed El Filali, a religious director at ICPC, said the problem with drunk drivers and of any intoxicants -- all of which are forbidden in Islam -- was societal. "Society is you and I. We are all responsible for society." "I actually think it's really ironic that they died because of alcohol," said Hanan Jafar, 23, the younger sister of Suade. "As a Muslim community, for the most part, we're kind of sheltered from that. But this opens our eyes to that." Suade Jafar, 24, of Jefferson, said that no one in her family hated Baum. "We're only using him as a symbol," she said. "We have no room for hate in our hearts. It is too late for Eugene (Baum), obviously too late for my sister, my cousin. But not too late for the others." Baum could not be reached for comment Wednesday night. Criminal penalty Suade and her younger sister, Hanan, 23, leaned against a stage in the praying room at the Islamic Center of Passaic County. Their mother, Asia, stood silently through the press conference, clenching a framed picture of her daughter. "We not only lost our sister, we lost our mother," Suade Jafar said. Magida Jafar tearfully pleaded for a change in laws. "We lost two beautiful girls, we're asking only for justice," she said. "I want it to be safe for everybody's kids. If you drink and drive, you should go the rest of your life in jail." Navid Iqbal can be reached at (973) 428-6627 or at niqbal@gannett.com. |
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