Following reports that a Chechen man Ibragim Todashev, suspected in a 2011 triple murder in Massachusetts alongside the elder Tsarnaev and questioned about the Boston bombings previously, was shot by an FBI agent during interrogation in Orlando, Florida, RT had a phone conversation with the suspect’s father.The elder Todashev described his son as “a very calm” man, who wouldn’t become aggressive for no reason.“Never in his life would he attack anyone unprovoked,” Abdulbaki Todashev stressed.Abdulbaki, who lives in Grozny, Chechnya, said he was not contacted by anyone from the US, and his only sources about Ibragim’s fate were neighbors citing media agencies.Having heard the reports that Ibragim was questioned by a group of people, including several policemen, Abdulbaki also said he does not believe he would rush to engage in a one-sided fight.He explained that his 27-year-old son studied in the Russian city of Saratov, and later in Grozny, but decided to give up his education and move to the US after going on a student internship there.Ibragim decided to leave for Florida because he “liked America,” Abdulbaki explained, adding he never got to know what occupation, if any, his son had in the US, other than practicing sports.Abdulbaki said they were not acquainted with the Tsarnaev family at home in Chechnya. Ibragim knew Tamerlan Tsarnaev only because they went to the same gym when he stayed in Boston, he added.Ibragim “couldn’t take part” in the Boston Marathon bombings as he was undergoing a surgical operation on his tendons in Florida days before the bombings and “had to learn how to walk again,” the father said.Todashev’s friend Kushen Taramov said he and Ibragim had been interrogated about the bombings earlier this week.But reports said that on Wednesday the investigators were questioning Todashev over his alleged role in an unsolved 2011 triple homicide in Waltham, Massachusetts, which the bombing suspects Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev have been implicated in, and that he was ready to sign a confession.Todashev allegedly took out a knife and attacked the FBI agent questioning him, but was shot to death.Taramov said Ibragim was going to fly back home to Chechnya, but the FBI insisted that he postpone his trip for “one last” interview. Abdulbaki also knew that his son was flying to Grozny on May 24. … Read More
ICC opens initial probe into Israel’s deadly 2010 Gaza flotilla raid
The referral has come from the Indian Ocean island of Comoros, where one of the flotilla’s vessels was registered. Comoros is a member of the ICC and according to the court’s rules it is obligated to address an issue when a member state complains. “My office will be conducting a preliminary examination in order to establish whether the criteria for opening an investigation are met,” prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said in a statement after meeting with lawyers from a Turkish law firm Elmadag that is representing Comoros. The Mavi Marmara ship registered in Comoros was stormed by Israeli forces on May 31, 2010 when it was attempting to break an Israeli-Egyptian blockade of the Gaza Strip. Soldiers killed nine activists, eight of them Turkish nationals, sparking international outcry and condemnation from the UN for use of “excessive force.”The UN has called for the six-year blockade on Gaza to be lifted on numerous occasions on the grounds that it represents “a denial of basic human rights in contravention of international law.” Lawyers from the Istanbul-based law firm claimed, during the filing, that the events on the ship should be considered as having occurred on the territory of Comoros. So far the court has declined to investigate events in the Palestinian territories, due to lack of jurisdiction. The ICC has jurisdiction over its members, over cases that are referred to it by the UN Security Council and over events that take place on the territory of member states. “After careful analysis of all available information, I shall make a determination that will be made public in due course,” Bensouda said. Relations between Israel and Turkey were strained by the incident. However in April Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a phone conversation apologized to Turkey for “any error that may have led to loss of life.” Israel offered compensation to the families of the victims of the flotilla raid. Earlier this month, a second round of reconciliation talks between Israel and Turkey took place in Jerusalem. Following the talks Israel announced that an agreement had been drafted “but a number of clarifications are needed on a few issues.” Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that full diplomatic ties can only be resumed after compensation is paid and Israel must end all commercial restrictions on the Palestinians. … Read More
Boston bombing suspects’ mother talked about jihad
Russian authorities secretly wiretapped the mother of the Boston bombing suspects and recorded her discussing jihad in vague terms during a 2011 telephone conversation, CNN reported. The Russians only turned over the information to their US counterparts in recent days, according to the report. A US…
Boston Radical Routes: Why FBI ignored Russian warnings on Tsarnaevs?
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Hunger striker: ‘I don’t want to die in Guantanamo’
Younus Chekkouri, Stafford Smith’s client, has been described as “one of the most compliant prisoners” at Guantanamo Bay. Smith said he was “surprised and worried” that Younus has taken part in the hunger strike that has been lasting for well over two months.The details revealed in the attorney’s letter were gathered during an April 9 unclassified telephone conversation. “We spent most of the phone call on the subject of the hunger strike,” Smith writes in his official declaration.Younus – who has been cleared for release for “a long time” – has lost around 30 pounds, and is currently surviving on Metamucil. He has also taken some powdered juice and attempted to drink water, but that was not so simple:“The water was severely restricted and his block only got it back because one of the prisoners’ lawyers made a fuss about it in the media. Younus understands that other blocks are treated differently, and some still have very little access to water.”The lack of food and drink are reportedly having serious psychological effects on the detainee.“Younus said that he now wakes up in the middle of the night, starving, and he remembers his dreams, where he has imagined that he is faced with large piles of wonderful food. It is torture.” Stafford Smith said that Younus also described the same physical problems he has had for years – pain in the feet, knee, back, his testicles, and throat. However, he said that his whole body is now hurting, due to his state of starvation.“Really, now it is just pain everywhere. I don’t want to die in Guantanamo,” the inmate told his lawyer during the telephone call.‘Wrong and unfair’ Younus also described to Smith the events which led him to stop eating two months ago. He was provoked by guards searching Korans, which they had previously agreed not to do. This is due to Islamic law, which says that only those who are “clean and pure” should touch the sacred text. However, guards alleged that detainees were using the Korans to hide pills and weapons, and began searching the Korans by handling them. Although this upset Younus, Stafford Smith said that his client originally wanted to avoid confrontation and resolve the issues, but “the response was harsh and immediate.” “Younus came back to his cell after a search to find that it ‘looked like Hurricane Katrina had just been through,’” Stafford Smith said. The soldiers had reportedly taken most of Younus’ comfort items, including his books and a large number of his legal papers. It was soon after that incident when the prisoners began their hunger strike. Of the 166 detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Younus estimated that well over 100 of them were taking part in the strike. However, the US government’s tally said that only 41 people were participating. Two months after the hunger strike began, Younus is reportedly “very, very depressed…and desperately misses his wife and family.” The prisoner says that he does not want to be striking, but feels he has no other choice.“He asks only that he be treated with respect, and that the prisoners who are cleared be allowed to leave – to go back to their families, to have hope, and to live their dreams.” Most of Guantanamo Bay’s 166 detainees have been cleared for release or never been charged. Just last week, UN Human Rights Chief Navi Pillay urged the US to close Guantanamo bay, saying the indefinite detention of inmates without charge or trial violates international law. In January 2009, shortly after President Obama was inaugurated, he ordered the facility to be closed within a year, and banned certain interrogation methods after the US government admitted to torturing some of the detainees. However, in May of that year, the US Senate refused to allow the prison to be closed until the president provided more detail as to what would be done with the prisoners. While Younus continues to wait for that day, he has a message for President Barack Obama: “Eighty-six of us have been cleared for release and we are still here. Let us leave Guantanamo with clear hearts, and without hatred. Hatred is evil, and it harms the person who is hating as well as the person who is hated.”For more on the Guantanamo Bay hunger strike, follow RT’s day-by-day timeline … Read More
Canadian police need wiretap warrant to search text messages, court says
The Supreme Court of Canada ruled 5-2 in favor of wireless provider Telus, which generally logs electronic copies of conversations between subscribers and keeps thе information in a database for 30 days. The majority agreed that text messaging is similar to voice conversation in every way except for delivery method.The ruling comes as the result of an investigation in Owen Sound, Ontario where police obtained a general warrant for “any stored text messages sent or received by two Telus subscribers” under sections 487.01 and 487.02 of Canadian Criminal Code.“Text messaging is, in essence, an electronic conversation,” wrote Supreme Court Justice Rosalie Silberman Abella. “Technical differences inherent in new technology should not determine the scope of protection afforded to private communication…The distinction should not take text messages outside the protection to which private communications are entitled.”Justice Abella noted in her summary that police would have needed a wiretap warrant had the suspects been customers of another cell phone service that did not keep conversation logs.“This creates a manifest unfairness to individuals who are unlikely to realize that their choice of telecommunications service provider can dramatically affect their privacy,” she concluded.Police must meet a higher standard for a wiretap warrant in Canada because the law recognizes that private conversations involve sensitive personal information, анд thereby deservе an extra layer of protection. Unknowing targets of surveillance have little control over what happens to the information, a vulnerability acknowledged by the Supreme Court. In order to obtain a wiretap warrant, police generally need to prove there is no other method of obtaining the evidence they seek.Telus, being one of the only major providers that keeps such transmissions, defended its customers by “arguing that the prospective, daily acquisition of text messages from their computer database constitutes an interception of private communications and therefore requires authorization under the wiretap authorization provisions in Part VI of the Code.”Justice Thomas Albert Cromwell, one of two dissenting judges, admitted there was “no doubt” that text messages were a private conversation, but the police only asked Telus to provide a transcript of the conversation.“The general warrant did not require Telus to intercept communications, but to provide copies of communications that it had previously intercepted for its own lawful purposes,” he wrote.Both the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and telecommunication executive hailed the decision for modernizing the law in the digital age. … Read More
Wachowskis creating original sci-fi series for Netflix
More good news for Netflix subscribers: Andy and Lana Wachowski, creators of “The Matrix” trilogy and “Cloud Atlas,” have signed on with the video streaming service to create a 10-episode sci-fi season called “Sense8.”According to Deadline, the Wachowskis will join efforts with “Babylon 5″ creator J. Michael Straczynski to create characteristically Wachowski-like “gripping global tale of minds linked and souls hunted.”"Several years ago, we had a late-night conversation about the ways technology simultaneously unites and divides us,” said the Wachowskis. “And out of that paradox ‘Sense8′ was born.”The show will be released in late 2014.Continue Reading… … Read More
