Defendant in Trayvon Martin shooting case makes defence gamble ahead of June trial on second-degree murder charges George Zimmerman told a judge on Tuesday that he “freely and voluntarily” waived his right to seek immunity from prosecution for the murder of Trayvon Martin under…
Ethiopia – Concern about two journalist held since June 2011 for “terrorism”
Reporters Without Borders is very worried about two journalists, Woubeshet Taye and Reyot Alemu, who have been detained since June 2011 and were given long jail sentences more than a year ago on terrorism charges. Taye, who was the deputy editor of the Amharic-language weekly Awramba Times, was transferred on 19 April to a detention centre in Ziway, 130 km southeast of the capital, Addis Ababa. Alemu, a columnist for the national weekly Fitih and recent winner of an international media (…) … Read More
Iceland bank heads appear in court
http://www.youtube.com/v/Y-hz7Gd2Uhs?version=3&f=videos&app=youtube_gdata Source article: Iceland bank heads appear in court
US teenager snared in FBI ‘terror’ sting
http://www.youtube.com/v/gMEyE2QDvzc?version=3&f=videos&app=youtube_gdata See original article here: US teenager snared in FBI ‘terror’ sting
Moscow court issues arrest warrant for Magnitsky’s boss Browder
The decision by Tverskoy Court comes on Monday after the Hermitage boss was put on an international wanted list, as ordered by the Russian Interior Ministry on April 17.Investigators suspect that Browder, a US-born businessman with British citizenship, masterminded a stock buying scheme that cost the Russian budget at least 3 billion rubles (over $100 million). His company allegedly used several Russian firms registered in tax havens to purchase shares of the natural gas monopoly Gazprom destined for foreign investors. Browder never received permission from the Russian Federal Commission for Securities for such operations, which was required at the time, the investigation says.Hermitage Capital representatives however insist that Browder’s company never hid the fact that they purchased the shares and went through several inspections by the Prosecutors Office and tax officials, without being told to cease transactions. Gazprom also never filed a complaint on the nature of the company though it was aware of it, Browder’s lawyer said earlier.The Russian Interior Ministry on Monday dismissed these comments and warned that any further statements of the kind would be “interpreted as an attempt to pressure investigators.”“Representatives of the affiliate of Hermitage Capital are not a competent body to interpret the norms of Russian laws, and are not entitled to assess the actions of official bodies of power who are conducting an objective investigation,” the ministry added in a statement.Hermitage Capital replied that they “have no intention of being muzzled by a group of corrupt police officers who are trying to cover up the grave crimes of torture, extra-judicial killing and massive thefts.”Browder is already on trial in absentia on embezzlement charges alongside his late employee, auditor and whistleblower Sergey Magnitsky. His company maintains they paid 5.4 billion rubles ($180 million) in taxes, but the money was stolen by corporate raiders with the help of law enforcement officials.Magnitsky’s death in pre-trial custody in 2009 sparked a major international scandal, leading to a substantial cooling down between Moscow and London, as well as -for-tat measures between Russia and the US.As a UK citizen, Browder is unlikely to ever be arrested, as Britain has repeatedly rejected extradition requests from Moscow for businessmen in the past. Washington for its part, recently published the names of 18 Russian officials on the so-called “Magnitsky List”. The group, deemed by the US as complicit in human rights abuses, faces visa and financial sanctions; 16 of them are accused of involvement in Magnitsky’s death. Russia responded with a corresponding “Guantanamo List”. … Read More
Authorities thwart terror plot in Canada to attack railroad
Canadian media confirms that authorities thwarted an alleged terror plot in Canada that targeted a railroad that runs between Toronto, Ontario and New York City in the United States.According to CTV, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) has apprehended two men thought to be responsible in what is being called a homegrown terror plot.Robert Fife, chief of CTV’s Ottawa news bureau, reports that both suspects were arrested early Monday and “will face criminal charges.”“I am told that the two people who have been arrested, they are linked somehow to al-Qaeda,” Fife says. … Read More
Boston: Where things stand
Two days after a manhunt froze Boston, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, is in Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in “serious but stable” condition awaiting interrogation by an elite counter-terrorism team and criminal charges. His older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, who had spoken to the FBI in 2011 was killed in a firefight after a police chase Friday night. The brothers are ethnic Chechens who immigrated to America with their family and lived in the Boston area. Dzhokhar became an American citizen on September 11, 2012. Tamerlan’s efforts to become a citizen had not yet been successful. In 2012 he spent an extended period in Chechnya and Dagestan in Russia’s northern Caucus region, according to the New York Times.The Boston Globe reported on how Tamerlan came to the FBI’s attention:Continue Reading… … Read More
