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Lawyer Stephen Kenny hailed for pro bono work
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Stephen Kenny
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A lawyer who defended David Hicks against the US military and who regularly works pro bono for refugees, asylum seekers and native title groups has been recognised for helping the disadvantaged.
Adelaide lawyer Stephen Kenny has won the Law Society of South Australia's justice award for 2010.
Society president Richard Mellows said Mr Kenny should be praised for his selfless dedication and passion for helping others in the community.
"While Mr Kenny will be known for his pro bono representation of David Hicks, the award also recognised his tireless efforts on behalf of other socially and economically disadvantaged members of our community," the society said in a statement.
Mr Kenny was the first Australian lawyer to represent Hicks after he was detained by the US military in Afghanistan and taken to Guantanamo Bay.
He has also acted for refugees and as the legal adviser to the Foreign Prisoner Support Services which works to help Australians imprisoned in various countries around the world.
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Singapore arrests author of death penalty book
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British author Alan Shadrake speaks during the launch of his book Once a Jolly Hangman in Singapore on Saturday. Singapore police arrested him Sunday. (Jacob George/Sunday)
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British author Alan Shadrake speaks during the launch of his book Once a Jolly Hangman in Singapore on Saturday. Singapore police arrested him Sunday. (Jacob George/Sunday) A British author who wrote a book critical of Singapore's death penalty has been arrested while touring with his book in the city state.
Alan Shadrake, a journalist who divides his time between Britain and Malaysia, has been charged with criminal defamation, which carries a penalty of up to two years in jail.
Singapore prosecutors are also considering laying charges of contempt of court on the grounds that Shadrake questioned the impartiality, integrity and independence of the judiciary.
Shadrake's book, Once a Jolly Hangman — Singapore Justice in the Dock, includes an interview with Darsan Singh, Singapore's hangman for the last 50 years.
It also investigates high-profile criminal cases that ended in the death penalty, which Singapore imposes for murder, treason, drug trafficking and other crimes. He interviewed police, lawyers and human rights activists, as well as the families of some of those hanged.
Singapore's Media Department said the book has not been banned in the city state, but that bookstores would be advised not to carry it.
Shadrake, 75, told reporters before his arrest Sunday that he was expecting trouble when he attended an event Saturday to promote his book.
"If they do anything, it'll just draw more attention to it all, and they have no defence," he told AFP news agency.
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British author Alan Shadrake arrested in Singapore over death penalty book
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Bethune still seeking justice
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Pete Bethune ... returning home. Photo: Barbara Veiga/Sea Shepherd
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New Zealand environmental activist Peter Bethune is relieved to be returning home to Auckland but is continuing his call for the Australian and New Zealand governments to seek justice from Japanese whalers.
Bethune, 45, was handed a suspended two-year jail sentence in Tokyo on Wednesday after he was convicted of assaulting a Japanese whaler and four other charges relating to clashes with whalers in Antarctic waters.
In a statement issued after his sentencing, Bethune said he still wanted justice.
"I strongly urge the Australian and New Zealand maritime authorities to continue putting pressure on the Japanese whalers to co-operate with their investigations into the collision," he said, referring to his boat's collision with a Japanese whaling vessel in January.
"I am very relieved and thankful at the decision from the Japanese court and immensely grateful to my legal team here in Japan.
"I am truly sorry for all the trouble and worry this has caused my family and am desperate to get back home to see them."
Bethune was arrested on February 15 when he boarded the Japanese whaling fleet's security ship, the Shonan Maru II, to make a citizen's arrest of its captain.
"All I did was to board the boat that I feel deliberately attacked and sunk my vessel," Bethune said in his statement.
"I wanted justice for the loss of my boat and the attempted murder of my crew."
Bethune was captain of the futuristic trimaran Ady Gil, which sank after its collided with the Shonan Maru II on January 6.
He was convicted on Wednesday of assaulting a Japanese whaler by hurling a rancid butter stink bomb, relating to a February 11 incident, and four other charges relating to his boarding of the ship.
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Whaling activist fears long jail term
Captain Pete Bethune’s Trial Starts Today
Home alone
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Sea Shepherd hails arrested activist as 'international hero'
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Australian arrested in Bali over cocaine
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Australian Angus McCaskill has been caught with cocaine in Bali and faces the maximum penalty of 12 years in prison.
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AN AUSTRALIAN who has been living in Bali faces up to 12 years in prison after police allegedly caught him with 3.84 grams of cocaine.
Police presented Angus McCaskill, 57, a New Zealand-born Melbourne investment adviser, at a news conference yesterday, during which he covered his head to hide his face.
Mr McCaskill had been living in Seminyak, an upmarket district north of Kuta Beach, when police arrested him last Wednesday after allegedly receiving information from a local.
As he was led into the conference, Mr McCaskill told reporters he had made a ''silly mistake'' and told police he had used the drug for the first time the day before he was arrested.
''I'm very, very sorry,'' he said.
He told reporters he had been watching the World Cup and had drunk a lot. ''I was very, very drunk."
Police said they caught Mr McCaskill with six packets of cocaine in his wallet after they watched him walk into a supermarket in Tuban, near the international airport at the southern end of the island.
Police said they then took sniffer dogs to his villa but did not find any more drugs. They said a urine test confirmed that he had been using the drug.
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18 Nigerians face execution in Indonesia
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Eighteen Nigerians who were condemned to death by the Indonesian judiciary in 2008 for their alleged various criminal offences, including drug peddling and other related offences, may be executed in Indonesia between June and August, this year.
The convicts had been slated for execution in Indonesia on September 28, 2008, shortly after the Ramadan feast of Indonesians, but Nigeria’s high powered delegation, comprising the then Minister of Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives Committee on Diaspora and some Senators visited Indonesia and opened discussions between the Nigerian and Indonesian governments on the fate of the convicts.
The Indonesian government had condemned a total of 21 Nigerians to death, sentenced four to life imprisonment and eight others to various jail terms, ranging from 11 to 18 years.
Out of the 21 condemned Nigerians, two of them, Samuel Iwuchukwu Okoye, and Hassan Anthony Nwaolisa, had already been executed on June 28, 2008, while another, Augustine Celo Ogbonna, died in prison custody in September, 2008.
In a strongly worded petition to Hon. Abike Dabiri-Ewa, Chairman of House of Representatives Committee on Diaspora, dated April 22, 2010, a copy of which was made available to Daily Sun yesterday in Onitsha, Anambra State, an Onitsha-based human rights lawyer, Barrister Melly Chukwuemeka Eze, is appealing to the National Assembly to take concrete steps with a view to getting reprieve for the condemned Nigerians.
Eze, in the petition entitled: “Shocking revelation from Indonesian Prisons: Execution of 18 Nigerians scheduled for between June and August, 2010,” noted that most shockingly, he learnt from the prisoners that those on death row might be executed anytime between June and August this year if no further diplomatic efforts and pressure were mounted on Indonesian authorities.
According to Eze, “I have it on good and reliable authority that officials of Indonesian government who opened discussions with the Nigerian delegation are now expressing disappointment over an apparent display of unseriousness on the part of Nigerian government over the diplomatic move already initiated by Nigerian government officials”.
The human rights lawyer recalled that his earlier petition to the Presidency, National Assembly and the Foreign Affairs Ministry in October, 2008 in respect of the 18 Nigerians on death row and others serving various jail terms in Indonesia had attracted reactions from Senator Uche Chukwumerije, who moved a motion on the floor of the Senate to that effect.
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Charity Programme Brings Kerobokan Prisoners Dental Care
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KEROBOKAN prisoners this week received dental treatment from a team of 10 dentistry students and four qualified dentists who went to the jail as volunteers under a programme organised by the Bali International Women? Association (BIWA) and its Australian-funded mobile dental clinic.
In a four-hour visit on Monday the team treated 112 inmates, 75 of them women. Three of those treated were foreigners.
BIWA charity programme aims to provide inmates with basic dental care and dental health education.
Only one government-employed dentist is available to treat the 663 prisoners currently in Kerobokan.
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Nigeria: Governor 'threatens to execute inmates' to ease prison congestion
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Amnesty International has condemned a reported move by Nigerian state governors to execute death row inmates to ease overcrowding and urged the authorities to instead address the underlying problems in the criminal justice system.
According to media reports, Theadore Orji, governor of the south-eastern state of Abia, announced this after a meeting of 36 state governors in the country's capital Abuja on Tuesday. "More than three of every five prison inmates in Nigeria have not been convicted of any offence; instead they wait years for their trial in appalling conditions," said Aster van Kregten, Amnesty International's Nigeria researcher.
"It is shocking to suggest that executing prisoners is a way around this problem."
According to Nigeria's Minister of the Interior, the total prison population is 46,000, of which some 30,000 are awaiting trial. Few can afford a lawyer and the government funded Legal Aid Council only has around 100 lawyers. There are currently more than 870 death row inmates, including women and juveniles.
Amnesty International research shows that many death row prisoners may be innocent as Nigeria's justice system is riddled with flaws. Many have been sentenced to death after blatantly unfair trials.
Trials can take more than 10 years to conclude. Appeals in some death row cases have been pending for a decade. Some never happen because case files have been lost.
International law prohibits the use of the death penalty for crimes committed by people under the age of 18, yet in Nigeria juvenile offenders continue to be sentenced to death.
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Inmates appeal to serve out their jail terms in Malaysia congestion
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After 20 months in jail without charge, Aussie faces extradition
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Robert McNeice and John Symonds.
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Indonesia's president has finally approved the extradition of an Australian man who has spent 20 months in a squalid Jakarta jail without charge.
Robert McNeice, a 44-year-old dual citizen of Australia and New Zealand, was arrested in Indonesia in August 2008 at Australia's request.
The former Sydney watch salesman is wanted in Australia for allegedly defrauding Aussie Home Loans boss John Symond and his nephew James out of $270,000 in 2003.
At the time of his arrest, authorities told McNeice he would have to wait about three months for extradition.
But it took eleven months for an Indonesian court to declare him eligible for extradition and a further nine months for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to issue final approval.
"The extradition letter for Robert McNeice has been approved and signed by the president," a presidential spokesman confirmed today.
It is understood the extradition is likely to take place later this month.
Dr Yudhoyono had intended to approve the extradition in February but delayed doing so after discovering Australia's original request had the wrong name on it.
The document, signed by former Home Affairs Minister Bob Debus, requested the extradition of "Robert John McNeice". McNeice's middle name is actually James.
McNeice has spent the entire 20 months in a hot, cramped, rat-infested police lock-up in Jakarta's south.
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Bungle keeps uncharged Aussie in Jakarta jail
Robert McNeice needs help
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Death Row Briton Linda Carty talks about her controversial conviction and how she is paying for someone else's crime
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Since losing what may well be her last appeal in September, Linda Carty has had to deal with a lot of unsettling comments.
'They've come both from other inmates and guards,' she says. 'I hear them asking, "How come she's still here? How come she hasn't been executed?" All I can do is ignore it. 'Since the appeal, they've moved me to a cell that feels like it's 115 degrees inside. My nose bleeds every day - sometimes I get through four T-shirts. The doctor said the reason is the heat.' Carty, 51, who spoke last week to The Mail on Sunday in an extraordinary prison interview, is the only British citizen on death row in Texas, and if her pending last-ditch petition to the US Supreme Court fails, she could be dead within weeks.
Linda Carty talks to David Rose about life on death row
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In 2002, she was convicted of ordering the kidnap and murder of Joana Rodriguez, 25, whose body was found in the boot of a car Carty had been leasing.
The reason for the murder, the prosecution alleged, was that she wanted to steal Rodriguez's four-day-old baby, who was unharmed. Although Carty already had a grown-up daughter, she was alleged to have told her former partner, Jose Corona, that she was pregnant.
He had left her, and the phantom pregnancy was supposedly a ploy to get him back. Carty, a former teacher, has protested her innocence throughout. Divided by a sheet of bulletproof glass, we meet in the echoing visiting room of the Mountain View Unit in the little town of Gatesville, four hours north-west of Houston. This is where Carty is locked up with Texas's eight other female death row inmates. 'I wake up at night and I wonder where I am,' she says. 'I look up to God and ask Him questions. "Why am I here? What was your reason for bringing me here?"' Dressed in a T-shirt and prison overalls, at first she is composed, almost cheerful. But as we discuss the details of her case and its impact on the lives of her family, she soon becomes emotional, her eyes filled with tears. It isn't hard to see why. The various state and federal judges who have considered Carty's case under America's labyrinthine death case appeals system have admitted that the defence at her trial was appalling. There is no dispute that instead of spending days with Carty exploring every avenue that might have secured her acquittal, or at least preserved her life, her court-appointed lawyer, Houston's Jerry Guerinot, met her only once before the hearing started. They spoke for just 15 minutes.
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Aussie tourist on Phuket drugs rap
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Australian Richard Beaver in handcuffs at Chalong Police Station in Phuket yesterday.
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CHALONG, PHUKET: -- An Australian tourist was one of five drug suspects paraded by Chalong Police at a press conference in Phuket yesterday afternoon.
Richard Beaver, 28, was allegedly caught with 0.9 grams of dry marijuana by police on Tuesday night.
Mr Beaver was stopped on Soi Samakee 2 off Saiyuan Road at around 11:30pm.
The tourist allegedly told police he bought the drugs for 500 baht from a Patong Beach dealer.
Mr Beaver arrived in Phuket on March 10 for a holiday and planned to stay on the island for one month.
Whether he makes it home within the planned time will now depend on how quickly a court hearing can be held.
Four Thais caught with small quantities of ya bah (crystal methamphetamine) were also paraded at the conference, which took place at Chalong Police Station.
Chalong Police Superintendent Wichit Intharasorn said his men were cracking down heavily on drug crime.
"Those involved with drugs should turn over a new leaf right away, before they get arrested and punished," he said.
Col Wichit warned that the punishment for serious drug crimes was execution.
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Aussie awaits Phuket drug trial
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Stern Hu trial goes behind closed doors
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Shut out: the part of the trial relating to the commercial secrets charges is a closed session (AFP: Frederic Brown)
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The trial of Rio Tinto executive Stern Hu has now been shut to Australian officials as it enters its second phase in Shanghai.
Hu and three of his colleagues are facing bribery charges as well as charges of commercial espionage.
Yesterday, Hu and two of his colleagues admitted to some part of the bribery allegations.
The Australian consul-general to Shanghai, Tom Connor, says the second half of the trial will deal with allegations the team offered inducements to Chinese steel companies in return for commercial information.
"At the end of [this morning's] proceedings, the court declared that was the end of the proceedings related to the bribery charges," Mr Connor said.
"The session that would open this afternoon would be related to the commercial secrets charges, which would be a closed session of the court."
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Prison term likely for Stern Hu
China clears Australia, miner Stern Hu
Australia in for 'long haul' on Hu case
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Lao Defense Minister warns Hmong returnees of subversive elements
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Last Saturday, the Lao Minister of Defense, Lieutenant General Douangchay Phichit, paid a special visit to a group of 3000 Hmong returnees resettled in Phonkham village, Borikhan district, Borikhamxay province.
On February 15, the Lao government’s state-controlled newspaper Vientiane Times reported that the Defense Minister had called on faster progress in developing the resettlement village. The paper further stated that the Defense Minister “gave advice on the structure of the village’s administrative body. He called for continuous education of the people on Party and government policy, and to make them aware of the tactics employed by subversive elements.”
The Hmong returnees well understand this type of ambiguous language used by the Lao government. The term “subversive elements” refers to “General Vang Pao Hmong” or those who sided with the United States during the Vietnam War and who the Lao military continues to hunt down in remote jungle areas.
Earlier this year, western journalists had again visited remaining jungle groups in military-controlled Saysomboun Special Zone claiming that survivors reported recent Lao government attacks, which included the killing of an unarmed 14-year old boy who was out foraging for food. The Lao foreign ministry spokesperson continues to deny that any such jungle groups exist or that any such attacks take place. Instead, the government refers to these subversive elements as bandits.
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International Author Kay Danes Speaks Out For Hmong Refugee in Thailand
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Aussie Robert Langdon facing death in Kabul
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A FORMER Australian soldier has been sentenced to death in Kabul for murdering an Afghan security guard and trying to blame the Taliban for the crime.
Robert William Langdon, 38, was working as a security contractor in Afghanistan and was arrested in May last year after shooting his colleague, a man known as Karim, four times in the head and body.
At the time, he was employed by the US-based contractor Four Horsemen International, which specialises in the hire of former US and foreign special forces for guard duties in Afghanistan.
The Australian can now reveal details of the case that potentially puts the Rudd government on a collision course with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, given its staunch opposition to the death penalty while it helps secure and rebuild the war-ravaged country.
Early on May 4 last year, Langdon went to assist a supply convoy that had been attacked that night by Taliban insurgents.
The convoy was protected by 60 Afghan and expatriate guards.
Karim was the Afghan team leader and when the convoy reached the Wardak provincial capital of Maiden Shar, 40km from Kabul, at about 3am he refused to continue, saying the road ahead was too dangerous. A violent argument then ensued.
In court, Langdon, who was the expatriate team leader, admitted killing Karim but said he fired in self-defence because the Afghan guard was reaching for his pistol.
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Wheels of justice grind slow for death row Australian
Rudd vows to act as Robert Langdon faces death penalty in Afghanistan
AUDIO: Aussie to face execution in Kabul?
VIDEO: Former Army soldier on death row
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Laos drug Briton Samantha Orobator has jail term cut
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Orobator gave birth to a baby girl after becoming pregnant in jail
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A British woman serving a life sentence in the UK for drug smuggling in Laos has had her prison sentence reduced.
Samantha Orobator, 21, of London, lost a High Court challenge against her continued detention but had the minimum term she must serve cut to 18 months.
She claimed she was forced to carry heroin after being raped and should be released because her conviction was a "flagrant denial of justice".
She was sentenced to death but her life was spared after she became pregnant.
'Show trial'
Her lawyers, who argued her human rights had been breached, will now apply to the parole board for her release because she has already spent more than 18 months in jail.
Orobator is currently in Holloway prison in north London along with her four-month-old baby daughter.
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Iranian man arrested with 4.2 kgs of 'Ice' drug
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An Iranian man was arrested at Bangkok's Suvarnbhumi International Airport for smuggling 4.2 kilograms of ICE (crystal methamphetamine hydrochloride) worth Bt17 million into Thailand, police said Wednesday.
Tipped off that some Iranians would smuggle narcotics into Thailand via the airport amid New Year holidays' tourists, Thai authority had been on a lookout and presented themselves Tuesday evening to search the Iranian suspect, Keyvan Ghannavatirajabnejad, 33, who had just arrived from Dubai. They found the bag of ICE hidden in his luggage's specially made compartment and apprehended him for legal prosecution.
Customs Department chief Somchai Sajjapong said that his office arrested 31 smugglers carrying more than 52 kilograms of narcotics last year.
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China and Britain clash over execution
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URUMQI, China (Reuters) - China executed a Briton on Tuesday caught smuggling heroin, prompting a British outcry over what it said was the lack of any mental health assessment.
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Beijing called the British criticism groundless interference in its judicial sovereignty.
Relatives of Akmal Shaikh, 53, and the British government had appealed for clemency, arguing the former businessman suffered from bipolar disorder, or manic depression. China's Supreme Court rejected the appeal, saying there was insufficient evidence of mental illness.
Shaikh was the first European citizen executed in China since 1951, Western rights groups say.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown condemned the execution, carried out in Urumqi, capital of the far-west region of Xinjiang, saying he was "appalled and disappointed that our persistent requests for clemency have not been granted."
"I am particularly concerned that no mental health assessment was undertaken," he said in a statement.
British Foreign Office Minister Ivan Lewis summoned China's ambassador in London, Fu Ying, to protest at the execution.
"I made clear that the execution of Mr Shaikh was totally unacceptable and that China had failed in its basic human rights responsibilities in this case...," Lewis said in a statement after what he described as a "difficult conversation."
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Shaikh's relatives lament Government's 'powerlessness'
China Holds the Highest Number of Executions in the World
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Suspected Iranian Drug Smuggler Arrested in Bali
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Shahbazi Saeid, center, with customs officers at Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport on Monday. (JG Photo/JP Christo)
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Denpasar. A 34-year-old Iranian man was arrested on Monday evening at Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport for attempting to smuggle more than 20 capsules of crystal methamphetamine into the country.
“The modus operandi and type of crystal methamphetamine is the same as that swallowed by seven Iranians arrested previously,” Chief Comr. Kokot Indarto, head of the Bali Police’s anti-narcotics unit, said at a news conference on Tuesday.
Early this month, Ngurah Rai customs officials arrested seven Iranians for attempting to smuggle drugs into the country by swallowing hundreds of methamphetamine-filled capsules. The drugs had a total street value of about Rp 4 billion ($420,000).
The suspect, identified as Shahbazi Saeid, arrived on a Qatar Airways flight on Monday evening in a group with eight other Iranians. Customs officials became suspicious when the group appeared nervous as they passed through the customs checkpoint. The Iranians were stopped and police took them to a hospital for CT scans.
“The results of the CT scans showed that only Shahbazi had cocoon-like capsules in his stomach,” said Faried Silby Barcea, the head of the customs office overseeing Bali and Nusa Tenggara.
Police found 22 capsules containing a total of about 200 grams of crystal methamphetamine, with an estimated street value of around Rp 400 million.
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Seven Iranians Arrested at Bali Airport For Drug Smuggling
Iranians hid drugs in stomachs
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Palfreeman trial unfair: prisoner advocate
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If anyone would like to offer support to this family please contact me via our website. I will be happy to forward your support along. Understanding that our Government cannot 'interfere' in the judicial process of another country, but it can make strong representations to support the appeal pending. I urge the Australian government to do so. I am wholly convinced that Jock Palfreeman deserves that in the very least!
Kay Danes -
Foreign Prisoner Support Service
foriegnprisoners.com
Contact Kay Danes Here
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Jailed: Jock Palfreeman leaves court after being found guilty of first degree murder (ABC News)
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An Australian man sentenced to 20 years' jail for murder in Bulgaria did not receive a fair trial, a prominent foreign prisoner advocate says.
Jock Palfreeman was found guilty in the Sofia City Court in Bulgaria of the murder of 20-year-old Bulgarian law student Andrei Monov and severely wounding Antoan Zahariev, 19, in a fight in Sofia on December 28, 2007.
Palfreeman pleaded not guilty, saying he came to the aid of a gypsy who was being attacked by a group of soccer fans and he acted in self-defence.
Kay Danes, from the Foreign Prisoners Support Service, told AAP there appeared to be several violations of Palfreeman's judicial rights.
"They didn't afford ... the right to cross-examine, CCTV footage wasn't allowed. So how can it be called a fair trial when vital elements were missing from the actual due process," she said.
"I think the case would have gone before a hearing and a magistrate in Australia, and it would have been fully investigated.
"I don't honestly believe the outcome given to this young man would have been the same outcome given to him in Australia.
"It could have been manslaughter or self-defence."
Ms Danes and her husband Kerry spent 10 months in jail in Laos after being accused of embezzling sapphires from the mine where Mr Danes worked.
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Palfreeman to lodge appeal
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No more 'Bali 9' cases, and extraditions to be monitored
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An Australian Parliamentary Committee is proposing sweeping changes to previous laissez-faire policies which expose Ausralians to the death penalty overseas, and also ignore what happens to people we extradite to other countries. Civil Liberties Australia is responsible for both these proposed positive changes to Australian Government policy.
Article continues ...
CLA’s proposals adopted by Parliamentary Joint Committee: no more ‘Bali 9’ cases
‘Government should prevent…exposing an Australian citizen to the death penalty’,
and
‘Government should monitor status/rights of extradited people’
Report by CLA President, Dr Kristine Klugman
An Australian Parliamentary Committee has adopted sweeping changes recommended by Civil Liberties Australia to previous laissez-faire government policies so as to:
not expose Australians to the death penalty overseas, and
not ignore what happens to people we extradite to other countries
Civil Liberties Australia submissions to the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties (JSCOT) are responsible for both these positive changes to Australian Government policy.
The most outstanding outcome from the changes would be preventing a reoccurrence of the ‘Bali 9’ situation. That is where the Australian Federal Police ‘shopped’ nine Australians – three of whom remain on death row – to Indonesian authorities for drug trafficking when the AFP could have waited, and arrested and charged the nine in Australia.
In a stunning turnaround of policy under the Howard Government, JSCOT has come down firmly on the side of protecting Australian lives:
The Committee recommends that the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security be asked to undertake a general review of Australian policy and procedures concerning police-to-police cooperation and other information exchanges, including intelligence sharing arrangements, with a view to developing new instructions to regulate police-to-police and other assistance arrangements not governed by agreements at the treaty level. The instructions should prevent the exchange of information with another country if doing so would expose an Australian citizen to the death penalty. (underline added)
All Australian civil liberties and human rights groups have been campaigning for just such instructions since immediately after the arrest of the Bali 9. They have been fiercely resisted by the AFP , and were resisted by Howard ministers.
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Friends welcome Simon Mann's release
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Alleged conspirators in the failed coup in Equatorial Guinea today welcomed Simon Mann's release as the Metropolitan Police confirmed it is continuing an investigation which could ultimately lead to some of them facing trial in British courts with Mann as a key prosecution witness.
Sir Mark Thatcher, who was convicted in a South African court of helping fund Mann's operation and given a suspended sentence, said he was "absolutely delighted that Simon will be reunited with his family at last". Greg Wales, a London-based property dealer who was named by the attorney general of Equatorial Guinea among the alleged of co-conspirators, said he was "very happy at last that my good friends in Equatorial Guinea have treated my good friend Simon Mann, with such humanity". Wales has strenuously denied any involvement in the plot.
Scotland Yard last night would not name individuals involved in its ongoing investigation into whether "offences may have been discussed in this country" in relation to the failed coup. Mann has claimed that some of the planning meetings took place in London. Since July 2008, officers from the Metropolitan Police's counter-terrorism command have spent a total of 24 days in three separate trips to Equitorial Guinea conducting interviews with Mann and investigating the case. The London-based, Lebanese-born oil tycoon, Ely Calil, also was named by the Equatorial Guinea government as one of the plot's leaders and Mann is reported to have told detectives about coup plotting meetings which took place at Calil's London home.
It was reported this spring that Scotland Yard officers had passed files to the Crown Prosecution Service and were encouraged to seek Mann's return, to help any possible prosecution.
"We are liaising with the police and this is still a matter of investigation," a spokeswoman for the CPS said tonight.
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Pardoned Briton's joy at return
Click Here for Simon Mann Case Information
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EU and rights activists condemn Thai executions
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Thai policemen in Bangkok where the recent execution of two convicted drug traffickers - the country's first use of the death penalty in six years - has prompted condemnation from the European Union and human rights activists.
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The European Union and human rights activists have condemned the recent execution of two convicted drug traffickers in Thailand -- the country's first use of the death penalty in six years.
The EU said it "deplores" the executions of Bundit Charoenwanich, 45, and Jirawat Phumpruek, 52, by lethal injection in Bangkok?s Bangkwang Prison on Monday.
The deaths "mark the end of a near six year-long de facto moratorium on the use of the death penalty in Thailand", said the statement released late Wednesday.
The bloc urged the Thai government to abolish the use of capital punishment, which it opposes "in all cases and under all circumstances".
The drug traffickers, who were convicted on March 29, 2001, were reportedly only given 60 minutes' notice before their executions, according to human rights group Amnesty International.
"As country after country abandons its use of judicial state killing, the resumption of executions in Thailand is a major step backwards," said Donna Guest, deputy director of Amnesty's Asia Pacific programme.
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Randy Sachs Goes Home
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FPSS advocates are pleased to announce that the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, have just agreed to repatriate Randy Sachs to Canada. This is wonderful news and we are sincerely grateful to the Government of Vietnam for the mercy they have shown in agreeing to reunite this family.
FPSS Advocate Kay Danes writes;
We are all just so thrilled for Randy and his family. This has been such a long, hard slog but they’ve shown tremendous courage and determination. They have all conducted themselves with dignity and never once waivered in their support to Randy. As an advocate, I deal with hundreds of families all throughout the world, and I can safely say, that most all of them experience many days and nights of devastating anguish. I will never forget the email I received from Dee Hogle, all those years ago when she wrote to tell me that her son Randy had been arrested in Vietnam. It was around midnight when Dee returned home from a very busy midnight sale at her family clothing store. The phone rang. It was her eldest son’s fiancée calling from their home in Ontario. She was frantic as she told Dee that Randy had been arrested on drug charges in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Dee’s life, as she knew it, changed forever in that single moment.
‘My spouse, Robin, tucked Randy’s siblings, Colbie, (then 10 years old) and Robbie (then five years old) into bed. We immediately placed a call to the Canadian embassy in Ho Chi Minh City. We had great trouble getting through to them with the time zone difference. The language barrier and very thick Vietnamese accent was a definite challenge for us. We received no answers that evening, other than confirmation of Randy’s arrest. I cried myself to sleep … the first of many nights like that,’ says Dee.
Randy Sachs may or may not have thought about the consequences of his actions. He might have been foolish, believing, like so many others, that prescription drugs aren’t as bad as illicit drugs. In countries like Vietnam, however, they take a much stronger view of the illegal trafficking of any drugs. Mere possession of drugs can result in the death penalty. According to those who know Randy, they believe he did not set out to intentionally hurt his family, but everything that happened after the police slapped those handcuffs on his wrists, affected them. They were completely devastated. His mother Dee, his family and his closest friends were all helplessly drawn into a nightmare, his nightmare. Not only did they have to immediately come to terms with Randy’s arrest in a foreign country, but they were asked to pay in advance for the body bag that would be used to transport his remains home after execution.
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Randy Sachs Campaign Page
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89 kilograms of marijuana found in one room
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DEPOK - The local police in Depok have succeeded in seizing 89 kilograms of marijuana ready to be distributed in a boarding house in the Pancoran Mas Permai housing complex in the city in West Java province. The police was not able to arrest the person who was about to distribute the drugs, only known by his initials A.Y.
When the police raided the boarding house around ten in the morning yesterday, they also seized evidence. Four boxes of marijuana. Three boxes with a weight of 25 kilograms and one box with a weight of 14 kilograms. Five boxes of paper to be used for smoking a marijuana cigarettes were also seized. Five empty boxes are probably evidence that over half of the stock had already been distributed.
After the raid some neighbors told that there were indeed some suspicious activities in and around the room in the boarding house. Late night activities by the person that rented the room did not ring a bell immediately, however neighbors thought it was strange that he acted so closed to his house mates. One evening he came home at two in the night, together with a few other people. Four days ago a pick-up arrived for him, probably bringing in the illicit goods.
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Corby’s condition explained
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Kay Danes – Advocate Foreign Prisoner Support Service – 29 August 2009
In response to the article in the Australian, “Doctor confirms Corby condition” by Deborah Cassrels | August 29, 2009, I think that there is an excellent opportunity here for Indonesia to exercise due diligence in providing duty of care by transferring Schapelle Corby to the Bangli Mental Hospital, as suggested by both Dr. Thong and Dr. Phillips.
On 23rd December 2000, whilst working as security managers in Laos, my husband was abducted by Laos secret police and taken to an undisclosed location, where he endured brutal interrogations. The Laos authorities had tried forcing him into signing a false statement against one of his clients, whom they were seeking to illegally nationalise. When my husband refused to cooperate, the authorities arrested me. For the 11 months that followed that harrowing ordeal, we were detained in a prison camp in complete isolation from family, and in violation of our human and civil rights.
During the latter part of our detainment, I began experiencing ‘depression with psychotic symptoms’. There were occasions that I convinced myself that I heard voices of dead people whispering in my ear, and at other times, that my own shadow was working with the secret police to manipulate me into signing a false statement against our client. It was all rather bizarre and a little frightening which prompted the Australian Embassy doctor to prescribe me anti-depressants. Despite the fact that I had strong support from my government and their belief that we were innocent pawns in a political power play, I still found the conditions of the prison often intolerable.
Perhaps the most frustrating part, aside from being robbed of my freedom, tortured and isolated from our three small children, was the fact that we were in an environment that presented both cultural and language challenges. It is maddening to face every day knowing that the only way to ensure your needs are met, is by communicating with others in another language. Given that I was unable to communicate with my own husband, I was forced to become a whole other person.
Most Australian prisoners detained overseas learn very quickly, as I did, that they must adapt to language and culture as a mechanism for survival. Taking care of the mind is primarily important since it is on par for course that when you are detained in a foreign prison, you begin to become conditioned, often subliminally, to your environment. In my case, though vastly different from Schapelle Corby’s, I didn’t even realise when it was that I had stopped thinking in English because my mind automatically began reprogramming itself to think in Lao language.
Article Copyright Kay Danes 2009 - No reprint or reference in part or whole without permission from the author.
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Advocate Responds to: Corby's release hinges on agreement: PM
Author Website: www.kaydanes.com
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FPSS acknowledged for contribution to Joint Standing Committee on Treaties
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Report 103 - Treaties tabled on 12 March and 13 May 2009
On the 11th of June 2009, FPSS was invited by the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties to provide advice to the committee re: Prisoner Transfer Agreement between Australia and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam concerning Transfer of Sentenced Prisoners.
On the 18th of August 2009, FPSS received a thank you letter from the Treaties Secretariat, ‘We thank you for your involvement, and trust you found participating in the process worthwhile.’
FPSS raised three critical points:
1. FPSS sought clarification of the current text on Continued enforcement of sentence and sentence equivalency;
2. FPSS sought clarification of the current text on Expenses; highlighting particular cases whereby prisoners have been denied transfer due to their inability to pay for the cost of transfer.
3. FPSS sought clarification of the absence of text in relation to ‘Wrongful convictions’. FPSS asked the committee to consider this issue in future discussions to seek greater considerations to the pre-trial process, for fairness and safeguards to ensure a more appropriate delivery of due process.
The report can be found at:
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Aung San Suu Kyi convicted Time For Global Arms Embargo Against Burma
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Dear friend
Today Burma’s democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been found guilty and sentenced to 18 months under house arrest.
She was put on trial on 18th May for breaking the conditions of her house arrest after an American man swam to her home and refused to leave. Aung San Suu Kyi has already spent more than 13 of the past 19 years in detention. The dictatorship is determined to silence all pro-democracy voices in the country in the run up to rigged elections next year.
Aung San Suu Kyi’s trial has provoked a global outcry. World leaders, including Prime Minster Gordon Brown, President Obama and the UN Secretary General have all condemned the actions of the Burmese regime. Now we need to turn those words into real pressure. We are calling for a global arms embargo against Burma.
Please take action now, go to here
The regime is directly defying the United Nations Security Council. 20 years of gentle UN diplomacy, including a visit earlier this month by the UN Secretary General himself, have failed to achieve any breakthrough. It is time the generals faced consequences for their actions, a global arms embargo should be imposed immediately.
Take Action Now
Please take action for a Global Arms Embargo, go to: here
Thank you.
Anna Roberts
The Burma Campaign UK
Registered Company No. 3804730
Registered office address
28 Charles Square
London N1 6HT
Click Here for Archive of above letter
AUNG SAN SUU KYI MUST BE RELEASED WITH NO HESITATION
'Aung San Suu Kyi Case Information
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Heroin courier, Andrew Hoods, jailed in Thailand
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SHACKLED at the ankles, with his head bowed, Sydney man Andrew Hood barely flinched when a panel of judges in Bangkok's Central Criminal Court yesterday sentenced him to life in prison for an attempt to smuggle 3kg of heroin from Thailand into Australia.
Hood had earlier told The Australian he had been promised $15,000 for the smuggling run by someone he knew in Sydney; and it was tempting because he had lost his job and his car had been repossessed.
A former heroin addict, Hood had never left Australia before, and he was only in Thailand for a few days before he was arrested at the airport.
"It's cost me my life," he said from behind the screens of a visiting cell in Bangkok's Central Correctional Institution for Drug Addicts, some time after he was caught. I wouldn't want no one to go through this."
Hood said he had not been aware of other Australians serving lengthy jail terms for drug smuggling. "I didn't research it all; it's the first time out of my country. I didn't research the penalties. I knew from the start that my heart wasn't in it, but my head was greedy."
The Thai judges yesterday said the crime was extremely serious, but the sentence had been reduced from the death penalty because Hood had freely admitted his guilt.
Did Hood, 37, expect the life sentence? Barely raising his head, he said "yes". But later, as he was escorted away from the court, he said he was "disappointed" by the verdict.
Before an earlier hearing, he told The Australian he had confessed to the crime to avoid the death penalty.
Click Here for Complete Story
Australian jailed for life in Thailand
Aussie awaits drugs verdict in Bangkok
Australian Andrew Hoods arrested in Thailand on drug charges
The tragedy of Andrew Hoods - and his little girl
I did it for the money: alleged Aust drug smuggler
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Thailand jails Iranian man over meth possession
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Located about 25km east of downtown Bangkok, Suvarnabhumi International Airport is one of the busiest airports in Asia and a major air cargo hub.
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Thai police say they have arrested an Iranian national for the possession of over five kilograms of meth when entering Bangkok from the Suvarnabhumi International Airport.
Customs officials on Tuesday revealed that a 47-year-old man had been detained at Suvarnabhumi airport after arriving from Istanbul on a Turkish Airlines flight on Monday afternoon.
He was handed to police after airport officials found 5,065 grams of methamphetamine, worth around 676,470 dollars, hidden in compartments of his luggage.
Also known as crystal, meth is a powerful, highly addictive stimulant drug that dramatically affects the central nervous system. Unlike drugs derived from plants - marijuana, cocaine, and heroin - it can be manufactured using a variety of store bought chemicals.
Last Thursday, Thai authorities arrested a 25-year-old Iranian he arrived from Tehran with 4,382 grams of meth, worth 588,000 dollars.
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Fate of Briton could be Laos jail 'black hole'
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A Briton who is believed to have fathered a woman's baby in a Laos prison to save her from a death sentence has gone missing from the jail, prompting fears for his safety. John Watson was removed from Phonthong prison last week, according to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, which admits it has lost track of the whereabouts of the 47-year-old from Bradford, West Yorkshire.
Welfare groups say he has been secretly taken to a "punishment prison" in the capital, Vientiane, and his life is in danger. Watson is understood to have artificially impregnated Samantha Orobator, 20, with a syringe while they were in Phonthong prison together, so she could avoid the death penalty. She is expected to be flown home this week to serve her sentence in the UK.
Watson was taken from the jail by Laotian officials shortly before the arrival of Foreign Office minister Chris Bryant last Tuesday. The officials refuse to tell British diplomats where Watson is.
Click Here for full story
John Watson, UK Prisoner, secretly detained in Laos.
Man expects to die for fathering child to save life
Pregnant Briton Samantha Orobator to return to UK after Laos conviction
Visit Campaign Page Here
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Jailed Welshman hopes for appeal success
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AFTER five long years, a Welshman locked up in a notorious African jail for a crime he insists he did not commit has spoken for the first time about the gut-wrenching conditions he is forced to endure every day.
Alan Hodgson, 51, was sentenced to 20 years’ hard labour in Ghana’s Nsawam prison for his alleged involvement in a £79m drugs bust – the largest cocaine haul West Africa had ever seen.
To this day, the dad of one claims he is the victim of a tragic miscarriage of justice – and says the date stamp on his passport proves he was still at his home in Carway, Carmarthenshire, when the crime was committed.
Numerous appeals have failed – and the outlook for the next 15 years is bleak unless Ghana’s Supreme Court can grant him a reprieve next month.
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Visit Campaign Page Here
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Aussie appears in court on Hong Kong murder charge
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Kelsey Mudd has been charged with murder after a taxi crash.
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An Australian man has appeared in a Hong Kong court charged with the murder of a city taxi driver.
Kelsey Lord Michael Mudd, aged 22, appeared at Eastern Magistrates' Court today charged with the murder of the 58-year-old driver in the early hours of Saturday morning.
Mudd, dressed in a navy blazer, checked shirt and khaki trousers, confirmed his name and did not enter a plea during the short hearing.
Hong Kong police have charged a 22-year-old Australian man with murder following a fatal traffic accident in which a taxi driver was killed.
He wore a surgical mask in the dock, and cuts were clearly visible on his face. Mudd's parents both attended court.
His request for bail was turned down and the case was adjourned until a later date.
According to the Sunday Morning Post, which cited police sources, Mudd and the driver had had a dispute shortly before the incident, in Hong Kong's central district.
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Merauke Five arrive back in Australia
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Five Australians detained for nine months by Indonesian authorities are celebrating their first night back on home soil after finally being allowed to leave the troubled province of Papua.
First on the agenda were beers and meat pies, followed by a night watching the State of Origin rugby league match - if they could stay awake that late.
"I feel like a goldfish that has escaped a pool of piranhas," Pilot William Scott-Bloxam told AAP shortly after touching down on Horn Island, in the Torres Strait, on Wednesday.
Mr Scott-Bloxam, his wife Vera and friends Keith Mortimer, Hubert Hofer and Karen Burke, all middle-aged residents of the Torres Strait were detained by Indonesian authorities after flying to the Papuan town of Merauke without visas last September.
The so-called "Merauke Five" spent almost two months in rat-infested immigration detention before being released to a local house, only later to be moved to the local prison after being sentenced to between two and three years' jail.
Indonesia's Supreme Court this month overturned the decision but it took another fortnight of waiting for their official clearance to leave.
"It's hard to imagine that you end up in the highest court in the land for a misdemeanour case," Mr Mortimer said.
"We were all naive in thinking the system would look after us and it never did.
"At the end of it, it was the Australian government, the Australian people and the Australian media that got us out."
Click Here for full story
Five Australians leave Papua for home
Ordeal set to end for Merauke Five
Govt 'pleased' with release of Papua five
Why the Merauke Five feel betrayed by Australia
FPSS request Aust Government Urgent Intervention
Detained Aussies not spies: friend
Aussies jailed in Papua free to return home
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'Mum's free': Family celebrates Kuwait jail release
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Nasrah Al Shamery is due to arrive back in Australia at the weekend.
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The family of an Australian woman jailed for the past five-and-a-half months in Kuwait is celebrating after a surprise decision by Kuwaiti authorities to deport her.
Nasrah Al Shamery, 44, was sentenced in April to two years' jail for assaulting the ruling Emir of Kuwait.
The charge stemmed from an alleged insult against the Emir after arriving at Kuwait International Airport with her family on holiday.
Mrs Al Shamery always maintained her innocence and there was an appeal last week, but the reason for the sudden deportation is not clear.
Mrs Al Shamery is due back in Australia at the weekend.
Her family, who live in Sydney, hoped she would be deported but were not expecting it.
One of Mrs Al Shamery's seven children, Ahmad Al Shamery, says he did not expect this decision.
"They said 'mum's free' and in a couple of days she will be here," he said.
Ahmad says his family and the lawyers attempted to appeal the jail sentence, but they had little confidence in the system.
He says at this stage no-one know actually knows why she is being released.
Click Here for Complete Story
Emir insult: Sydney mother released
Happy surprise as Australian woman released from Kuwait jail
Aussie mother jailed two years for 'insulting' Kuwaiti emir
Mum jailed in Kuwait 'sick', son says
Sydney woman arrested in Kuwait .....
Kuwait lawyer of Australian: she might go to trial
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Australian beer mat mother Annice Smoel walks free in Thailand
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Free at last ... Annice Smoel is greeted by her husband Darren.
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IT took 18 days, an international outcry and a little leverage from the local Thai Governor - but Aussie mum Annice Smoel is finally coming home.
Mrs Smoel, who was unable to leave Thailand after being accused of stealing a beer mat when a drunken prank went wrong, was given a six-month suspended jail term and a 1000 baht ($38) fine in return for a guilty plea yesterday.
She was last night preparing for an emotional reunion with the four young daughters she hasn't seen for more than a fortnight.
"I don't know exactly how it all happened today," Mrs Smoel said.
"I think it was a combination of my lawyers here, my lawyers in Australia and my Government and the Thai Government.
"The Governor has apologised to me and been very kind. He seems like a lovely man. He has really looked after me."
Phuket Governor Wichai Praisa-nob paid Mrs Smoel's fine as an act of good faith. It is believed he intervened after being contacted by Thailand's Ministry of Tourism and the Foreign Ministry.
Until yesterday, Mrs Smoel feared she would spend at least the next four months in Thailand until a trial and possibly up to five years in prison if convicted.
But in return for her freedom, Mrs Smoel pleaded guilty.
Click Here for Complete Story
'Guilty' bar-mat mum on the way home after high-level Thai intervention
Melbourne mum arrested over Thai bar 'prank'
Melbourne mum Annice Smoel facing five years jail in Thailand
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Lao government continues to hold Hmong refugees hostage
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Yesterday, the Lao state-controlled newspaper Vientiane Times quoted the Lao Foreign Ministry spokesman criticizing Thailand for its recent offer to allow 158 UNHCR-recognized Hmong refugees resettlement in third countries. The offer was made last week while Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya was in Washington, DC meeting with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to discuss this very sensitive issue.
The Lao FM spokesman belittled Thailand’s Foreign Minister for making such a statement saying he found it hard to believe that “a senior diplomat with much experience in foreign affairs would make such remarks.” This is an amusing comment by the Lao FM spokesman considering that deporting this group of UNHCR-recognized refugees is in clear violation of international refugee law.
For over 29 months now, the Lao government has basically been blackmailing Thailand into repatriating this group of Hmong refugees held at Nong Khai jail. On January 30, 2007, during a failed deportation attempt, Lao authorities were allowed up into the Hmong refugees cell area and gassed the resistant Hmong with an unidentified chemical agent. Those exposed to the chemical, including some young children, were sick for months later having chest pain, headaches, and difficulty breathing in their sleep.
Due to international outrage over the incident, which blatantly defied international refugee law, Thailand softened up and made a generous offer of allowing the group resettlement in third countries. The United States, Australia, Canada and the Netherlands all stepped forward agreeing to resettle the group. Then just days later, Thailand reneged on its promise due to a huge amount of pressure from the Lao government who threatened not to accept the remaining 8000 or so Hmong refugees remaining in Huay Nam Khao camp if the Thais allowed the 158 to go to third countries.
Now, well over two years later, Hmong parents and their small children remain held hostage under torturous-type living conditions until they “volunteer” to return. The Lao government is at it again, putting pressure on Thailand to bar these 158 from resettlement in third countries boldly stating that these countries must seek official permission from the Lao government and that they must be returned first.
How is it that a tiny country like Laos can get away with such a giant breach in international law while superpowers like the United States remain ominously quiet? The tortured and suicidal Hmong refugees in Nong Khai jail are waiting for you to step up to the plate.
Click Here for Complete Story
Tortured & Imprisoned, Students seek safety in Canada
BBC guide beaten by Thai military
Thai authorities arrest BBC guide for deportation
Hmongs returned by year end
The C.I.A.'s tribe in danger
Hmong Campaign Page
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Aussie mates in Thai jail nightmare
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Jacob McGrath (left) and Paul Johnson (right), are in a Thai prison. |
TWO young Australians, best mates since primary school, have been locked up in a Thailand jail after their dream holiday turned into a nightmare.
Jacob McGrath and Paul Johnson, both 22 from Yamba in northern New South Wales, had saved hard for 18 months to go on a fun-filled two-week trip to Thailand.
But on March 26, the day they were due to fly home, the Australians were arrested by Thai police and charged with making a false statement.
Police said that items the Australians claimed had been stolen – including a laptop, iPod, sunglasses and digital camera – were later found by officers during a search of their hotel room.
Family members back in Australia said details of the subsequent investigation and hearing in a Chiang Mai court were sketchy, but the pair pleaded guilty to the charge.
The Sunday Mail believes the use of an interpreter after the pair's arrest led to communication problems and a misunderstanding of Thai law.
Mr McGrath and Mr Johnson were sentenced to two months in the city's feared prison, where their heads have been shaved and they share a cell and open toilet with up to 35 other inmates.
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Local men in Thai prison
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Aussie caught with drugs faces 10 years in Bali jail
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Jason McIntyre
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The intention of the suspect was to have the hashish for his own use. -
Bali Police Drug Squad Colonel Kokot Indarto
An Australian pearl farmer faces up to 10 years' jail after he was allegedly caught with hashish outside a Bali bar.
Jason Scott McIntyre, 33, was arrested outside Crusoes Bar in Kuta in the early hours of Monday carrying about five grams of hashish, Bali police allege.
McIntyre will be charged with drug possession, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years' jail.
"The intention of the suspect was to have the hashish for his own use," Bali Police Drug Squad Colonel Kokot Indarto said.
"The defendant has not had the chance to use it."
Charges were expected to be laid over the next few days.
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Guantánamo Detainee Phones Al Jazeera From Prison
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Given the opportunity to make a phone call from the U.S. detention facility in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, a detainee awaiting release reportedly phoned Al Jazeera to complain about his treatment.
In a video report (embedded above) posted on the Arab broadcaster’s English-language Web site on Tuesday, Mohammed El Gharani (whose name is transliterated differently by Al Jazeera) told a journalist for Al Jazeera, Sami al-Hajj, who was himself detained for six years in Guantánamo, that he had recently suffered abuse from guards at the prison.
According to Al Jazeera, Mr. Gharani said that guards had used tear gas on him when he refused to leave his cell and he had been beaten. The text of a written report on Al Jazeera’s Web site says that the detainee “said in a phone call to Al Jazeera that the alleged ill-treatment ’started about 20 days’ before Barack Obama became U.S. president and ’since then I’ve been subjected to it almost every day.’”
Mr. Gharani’s claim that he was abused at the detention facility in recent months echoes a statement by a detainee who was released to British authorities. In an interview with a British newspaper, Binyam Mohamed, who was released from Guantánamo in February, said that the election of President Obama did not immediately mark a change for the better for detainees. Mr. Mohamed told The Mail:
Since the election it’s got harsher. The guards would say, yes, this place is going to close down, but it was like they wanted to take their last revenge.
As reported in The Times in January, Judge Richard J. Leon of Federal District Court ordered the military to release Mr. Gharani after reviewing his case. According to that report:
The military accused the man, Mohammed el Gharani, of being part of Al Qaeda, working for the Taliban and fighting American forces in Afghanistan. Mr. Gharani is a Chadian who has lived in Saudi Arabia. Judge Leon said the accusations were based on testimony from other Guantánamo Bay detainees, which he found unreliable.
Click Here for Complete Story
Guantánamo inmate interviewed
Will the US adjust life at Guantánamo for detainees?
What Guantánamo Can Teach Us
Guantánamo Page
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Pardoned by Thai monarchy, Australian writer returns home
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Harry Nicolaides — seen here at Bangkok's criminal court on Jan. 19 when he was sentenced to three years — spent more than five months in a Thai jail before being pardoned on Thursday. (Apichart Weerawong/Associated Press) |
An Australian writer, sentenced to jail in Thailand for insulting that country's monarchy, has been pardoned and whisked back to his country after spending more than five months behind bars.
"[I am] bewildered and dazed — nauseous," Harry Nicolaides, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. on Saturday.
"I've been crying for eight hours — I learned only a few minutes before boarding my flight that my mother has suffered a stroke."Harry Nicolaides — seen here at Bangkok's criminal court on Jan. 19 when he was sentenced to three years — spent more than five months in a Thai jail before being pardoned on Thursday.Harry Nicolaides — seen here at Bangkok's criminal court on Jan. 19 when he was sentenced to three years — spent more than five months in a Thai jail before being pardoned on Thursday. (Apichart Weerawong/Associated Press)
The writer, 41, was arrested last August and sentenced to three years in prison in January for insulting King Bhumibol Adulyadej and the crown prince in a passage in his 2005 book, Versimilitude, which sold only seven copies.
Under Thai law, insults against the monarchy result in sentences of three to 15 years behind bars.
Click Here for full story
Thailand frees Australian writer
Nicolaides in line for royal pardon
Jailed Australian writer Harry Nicolaides kept in 'medieval' cell
Writer sentenced for 'Thai insult'
Writer Harry Nicolaides jailed for insulting Thai king
Author guilty of Thai king insult
Australian govt criticised over jailed Aussie in Thailand
Thais hold writer for political reasons, says lawyer
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Free Roy Bennett from Zimbabwe’s Mutare Jail
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On Friday the 13th February 2009 Roy Leslie Bennett was arrested and charged with Treason in Harare. We call for the urgent release of Mr Bennett. Mr Bennett should be allowed to take up his ministerial post to help revive Agriculture immediately. The angels of suppression should accept that the winds of change are unstoppable.
The Junta keeps on flip flopping about the charges that Mr Bennett faces. It is inspiring to hear that Mr Bennett is in good spirits and he sends a message to all Zimbabweans through his lawyer "Whatever these challenges, if we remain unwaveringly dedicated, we will achieve peace, freedom and democracy in our life time - believe me,"
Click Here for More Information
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International Community ignores the torture of 91 children
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158 Hmong UNHCR Refugees are detained in the Immigration Detention Centre Nong Khai, Thailand. They have been there for 800 days - waiting to be relocated to a Third Country. 158 people including 91 children are locked up for 22 hours a day in dirty cramped, windowless spaces.
PLEASE TELL ALL YOUR FRIENDS TO PROTEST THE DETENTION OF THESE INNOCENT CHILDREN.
THIS FORCED DETENTION OF CHILDREN GOES AGAINST ALL THE RULES KNOWN TO LAW AND CIVILISED MAN.
Tell your Friends, Politicians, International Organisations - tell the World. Please!
For more information Google: 158 Hmong Refugees in Nong Khai Detention Centre.
It is a very Political issue for UNHCR, IOM, American, Australian, Thai and Laos Governments – but while bureaucrats delay these people are LOCKED UP 22 HOURS A DAY. It has to be seen to be believed. The adults are stressed and trying to remain controlled for the sake of the children. They are all registered Refugees with UNHCR, but because of International Politics they are being denied the right to travel to a Third Country. They fear being repatriated to Laos and further oppression.
Please tell everyone you know so that they too can ask questions and help move all the detainees, every man, woman and child, to a deserved, and just, freedom.
Click Here for More Information
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Randy Sachs Campaign - Update Feb 08 2009
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Photo: Randy and his companion 'Lucky'.
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"I pray everyday that our family survive this dreadful ordeal.... all I have now of my son are snap shots that remind me everyday that he is no longer that silly boy who boarded a plane five years ago!"
Canadian Randy Sachs, spends most of his days trying to endure the harsh reality of a Vietnamese prison and a sixteen year sentence handed down to him in May 2003. Remarkably he remains positive despite the fact that he hasn't seen his family since his nightmare began. Randy told FPSS advocates that he didn't want to put his family through any further distress, either physically or emotionally.
"They don't have the money to spend on airfares... and I really don't want my Mom to see me in this place" said Randy.
On the 21 Jan 2009, Randy was able to get a message to his mother via the Embassy;
"Hey mom, I got my sentence reduced 7mths today! So its a start and that's what counts. Keep smiling mom..... Love Randy.xoxo"
It is in the simplicity of these messages that Randy's family maintain their hope that oneday soon, they will embrace. A tiny thread holds them together and reminds them that every moment they have is precious.
There has been no further news on Randy's appeal for Clemency or Amnesty. He was given a seven month reduction in sentence for good behaviour. Indications lead FPSS to believe that foreigners do not easily obtain a sentence reduction in Vietnam so this reduction is most welcomed. According to Randy's family, the Canadian Embassy is hoping to schedule a meeting with Vietnamese authorities in mid-February. We hope that they will push Randy's appeal for mercy forward so that he can move one step closer to returning home to family and friends who miss him dearly.
Click Here for Randy Sachs Campaign Page
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Life sentence an alternative to the death penalty
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A prominent human rights lawyer has suggested that life sentences are harsh enough for those facing the death penalty, claiming capital punishment fails to deter people from committing crimes and is a breach of the Indonesian Constitution.
Lawyer and rights activist Todung Mulya Lubis told a discussion at the launch of his latest book Controversy over the death sentence on Wednesday that capital punishment not only violated the right to life enshrined in the Constitution, but also risked killing innocent people.
He said the death penalty was bound to be handed out to the wrong person in Indonesia because criminal investigations often lack professionalism. A lifetime in jail, he argued, was a valid alternative to capital punishment.
The book, published by Kompas, details Todung's failed attempts to challenge the legitimacy of death sentences at the Constitutional Court throughout 2007.
Some of these cases are facing judicial review, which if granted, will pardon three convicted Australian drug traffickers from execution.
Click Here for Randy Sachs Campaign Page
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URGENT URGENT URGENT
High-level Thai delegation to visit Hmong refugees at Nong Khai jail
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On January 15, 2009, a high-level Thai delegation from Bangkok is expected to visit the 158 Hmong refugees held at Nong Khai immigration jail. The visit is expected to be just another attempt at convincing these Hmong refugees to “voluntarily” return to Laos.
The Hmong refugees believe that the real purpose of these visits is to break their human spirit. The “concerned” officials always ask the group why they are afraid to return to Laos but at the same time tell them that no third-country is willing to accept them, which is an outright lie! The Hmong detainees are also told that they are not political refugees even though they have the UNHCR documentation to prove it! Then, they are told that they only have two options available to them. One, they can “voluntarily” return to Laos. Or two, they can spend the rest of their lives in this small overcrowded immigration jail (photo attached).
Much worse than suffering from the awful physical and psychological conditions at the overcrowded jail is the fact that the United States, Australia, Canada and the Netherlands have all remained seemingly silent on this issue. These are the countries which had quickly stepped forward after a failed deportation attempt some two years ago and agreed to resettle these refugees.
Click Here for Complete Story
Hmong Watch Campaign Page
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Australian prefers Thai jail to home
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A MELBOURNE man who has been living in shocking conditions in a crowded Bangkok immigration jail cell for more than four years is refusing to accept Australian Government help to return home.
Colin Hansch, 61, has told Thai authorities he would rather stay in jail than return to Australia, even though he has only a mat to sleep on and receives a small daily serve of rice and soup.
"I've not been back to Australia for 30 years. I don't want to go back, I've got nothing to go back to," he said.
Mr Hansch, a computer engineer who left Melbourne in 1967, is worried he will not be able to obtain a passport to travel overseas again if he accepts the offer. It is believed he wants to be able to visit Malaysia or Cambodia.
"I think they [Australia] don't want to give me a passport … they don't want to set a precedent giving a passport to somebody while they are in custody," he said.
#A spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs in Canberra said Mr Hansch had repeatedly rejected an offer from the embassy in Bangkok to issue a limited-validity document to let him return home immediately.
Mr Hansch has been held at the immigration centre in Bangkok, just around the corner from the Australian embassy, since September 2004. He was transferred there, supposedly pending deportation, after serving two years in a Bangkok jail for assault causing serious bodily harm, which related to a dispute with a bar girl in the beach resort of Pattaya.
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Egypt could jail Australian dealer for 15 years
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AN AUSTRALIAN antiques dealer has been arrested in Egypt for allegedly trying to smuggle two 2300-year-old animal mummies and religious figurines out of the country.
It is believed Frank Bottaro, 61, who runs BC Galleries in Armadale, Melbourne, was on his way to Thailand on Tuesday when he was picked up at Cairo International Airport.
A security official became suspicious of the figurines that were allegedly wrapped as gifts and placed amid souvenir ceramic pots in his suitcase.
A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokeswoman confirmed yesterday that an unidentified 61-year-old was arrested for allegedly smuggling antiquities but had yet to be charged.
She said that, under Egyptian law, he could not be charged until he had appeared before a magistrate, and Egyptian courts were shut for several days during Christmas holidays.
She said officials were providing consular assistance to the man and his family in Cairo and Canberra.
A separate source later confirmed the man's name was Frank Bottaro.
The charge of smuggling antiquities carries a maximum jail term of 15 years.
Click Here for Complete Story
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Help to find Ryan Chambers - Last Seen in India
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This is the story of our youngest son, Ryan (DOB 20/3/1984) who has been missing in India since 24 August 2005.
We hope that this will help find him. It will certainly enable many more people in India to become aware that Ryan is missing and that he has a family in Australia desperate for some news of him. This includes his parents of course but also his older brothers Aaron and Jarrad and his extended family.
Many things have been tried- Australian authorities, Private investigator, Rotary International, Coca Cola India, State Bank of India and many new friends have assisted our search. Facebook has also been used extensively and this medium has resulted in two unconfirmed "sightings."
Psychics have also offered advice but no results have been forthcoming.
A few "sightings" have been reported over the past 3 years but never able to be confirmed.
Meanwhile, people around the world wait for word that Ryan has been found.
Please Click to Email us and let us know if you have any information on Ryan - your details can remain confidential should you wish
Click Here for Complete Story
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Australian man Shane Demos jailed for drugs in Bali
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AN Australian man convicted of drug use in Bali has been jailed for eight months.
Sydney man Shane Christos Demos, 37, was today found "officially and convincingly guilty" of using hashish and heroin.
Following a trial in Denpasar District Court, Chief Judge Nyoman Sutama imposed a sentence of eight months.
Demos had acted against the Indonesian Government's efforts to fight drug abuse in the country, Judge Sutama said.
Prosecutors had sought a years' imprisonment.
Demos was arrested in September outside a shop in Bali's Double Six nightclub area.
Click Here for Complete Story
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Kelly Trueman free from Mumbai prison after three-year battle
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Kelly Trueman was found not guilty of drug charges by an Indian Court and is free after almost three years in a Mumbai prison.
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A RINGWOOD NORTH woman locked up in a Mumbai prison for three years will be reunited with loved ones after an Indian court found her not guilty of drug trafficking, it was revealed this morning.
Kelly Trueman, 25, was arrested in March, 2006 and charged with the possession, carriage and involvement in conspiracy to export 5.7kg of hashish.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade this morning confirmed Ms Trueman had been acquitted and released into the custody of her family.
Her father, Michael Trueman, told Leader: "Kelly will be out today and will have her mother and her sister with her."
She was held on remand in Mumbai’s Byculla District Women’s Prison for almost three years.
Click Here for Complete Story
Kelly Trueman trying to be positive after Mumbai jail term
Waiting game for Melbourne woman wanting to leave India
Kelly Trueman released from prison at last!
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AGO to execute five convicts
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JAKARTA: The Attorney General's Office (AGO) is preparing to execute five convicts who are on death row before the end of the year.
Assistant attorney general for general crimes Abdul Hakim Ritonga said one of the five convicts was a Nigerian, who had been found guilty of a drug-related crime. The rest are Indonesians.
Ritonga, however, denied reports that premeditated murder convict Gunawan Santosa was among the criminals who would soon face a firing squad.
"(Gunawan) is still appealing," Ritonga said.
Also, the execution of three members of an Australian drug ring known as the "Bali Nine" was still hanging in the balance due to their case review appeal, Ritonga said.
The executions will take place on Nusakambangan Island, where several maximum security prisons are located and where the three Bali bombers were executed early this month. -- JP
Click Here for Complete Story
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Burma democracy activists sentenced to 65 years in prison.
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Today the regime sentenced 14 leading democracy activists in Burma to 65 years in prison.
If they are forced to serve their full terms, they will die in jail. The sentences were handed down at around 1pm,
behind closed doors in Insein prison special court in Rangoon. Family members were not allowed to attend the hearing.
The sentences today relate to only five charges. They are all charged with a total of 21 charges and face further
sentences as their trials continue.
Those sentenced are all prominent members of the 88 Generation Students group, which led the peaceful demonstrations last September.
Click Here for full story
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Rachel Diaz Case Update - Nov 10 2008
Trying to keep the wolves from the door
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Well the $10,000 dollars that was generously donated by Hong Kong businessman, Mr. Rockowitz, was paid to the Australian Government [NSW] as the compulsory prisoner transfer fee. The Diaz family fully expected Rachel to be transferred back to Australia within a matter of weeks. It seemed as if their prayers had finally been answered. Unfortunately they were informed that the transfer would be delayed, possibly for a further three months, due to administrative staff changes in Hong Kong.
Given that Rachel is not a celebrity, there is no way of pushing her transfer forward. Neither she or her family have the key ingredients that would otherwise see them all reunited this Christmas; a public profile, a big shot lawyer coupled with strong support from an Australian Government willing to intercede, and a significant amount of human and financial resources to push the process to a successful conclusion.
Just when things couldn't get any worse for this struggling Sydney family, they are hit with more terrible news. Mr. Diaz's salary is being subjected, in part, to a garnisheed order due to his failure to repay his credit card debt of several thousand dollars accrued over the last three years of his daughter's detainment. Mr. Diaz has offered to repay the debt by installments but the debt collection is already in motion and begins at his next pay day, leaving him and his family with only $300 per week to survive on.
"This is an impossible situation. Mr. Diaz is really struggling" says Martin Hodgson, senior advocate for the Foreign Prisoner Support Service. "The family is hurting badly at the moment and has been for the last three years since their nightmare began!"
Foreign Prisoner Support Service advocates are working to engage a lawyer to assist Mr. Diaz 'free of charge' and the aim is to get a stay in the order to seize salary.
"Time is the biggest difficulty we face because everything has to be done like yesterday! Second to the problem of funding" says family advocate Kay Danes. "I've been with this family ever since their ordeal began [2005] and I'm amazed by their endurance... but I fear this burden will overcome them at some point. I really worry for Mr. Diaz.... it's a wonder he hasn't had a nervous breakdown by now!"
With Christmas approaching the Diaz family will have very little cause for celebration unless a miracle happens. Rachel's two young brothers seem certain to face yet another festive season without the usual trappings on their family Christmas tree. Times are tough and this decent family is paying a very high price that makes every day a living hell.
If you would like to offer any support to the Diaz family please contact us or send your support directly!
Campaign for Rachel Diaz
The Diaz Family
P.O Box 158
Panania NSW 2213
Australia
Click Here for full story
Hong Kong Business man comes to the rescue
No jail swaps if family don't pay
Cost crushes young prisoner's hope of transfer to Australia
Rachel Diaz admitted to hospital in Hong Kong
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No jail swaps if family don't pay
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THE NSW Government is charging traumatised families thousands of dollars to bring convicted relatives back to Australia - a cost-recovery measure that has infuriated the Rudd Government.
Under the NSW prisoner transfer policy, the families of people convicted overseas who want to serve the remainder of their jail terms in a state prison must pay for a police escort's airfare and accommodation.
The parents of convicted drug smuggler Rachel Diaz, a 20-year-old Australian jailed in Hong Kong, are among those who cannot afford the $10,043 charge to bring their daughter home to serve the rest of her jail sentence in Sydney.
Click Here for full story
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High flyer who ended up in jail
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Fake licence: Brian Burgess |
BRIAN Burgess came to Australia under the British Boy's Movement for Australia aged 17 in 1969.
His first job was as a labourer and his second as a bank teller.
He then he got a job with Ansett reservations and was promoted through the ranks.
He was office manager of a new Ansett office in Sydney before becoming Australian sales manager of Continental Airlines.
After this he bought a travel agency, which he sold for $500,000, and went into the property market.
This was short-lived when the recession hit and the bank foreclosed on a loan.
In his early 40s, Burgess became depressed, began drinking, became bulimic and a cocaine user and fell into debt, losing his $1.7 million home.
He saw importing cocaine as a way out, and in 1996 he pleaded guilty to importing 2kg of cocaine with a street value of $656,000 and was sentenced to four years in prison.
An international human rights group threatened to take the Federal Government to the European Court of Human Rights over his deportation to Britain.
Click Here for full story
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Aussie arrested in Bali refusing help
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A 37-year-old NSW man has been arrested in Bali on charges of possessing heroin and marijuana.
Shane Demos was arrested on Tuesday morning in the Seminyak nightclub district, with police allegedly finding a packet of heroin and another of marijuana.
It is believed neither drug was in sufficient quantity to justify charges of drug dealing which carries a death sentence under Indonesian law.
Mr Demos has refused consular support from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, though a spokesperson confirmed they were ready to help should he change his mind.
Click Here for full story
Aussie detained, questioned in Bali
Australian man arrested for heroin, marijuana in Bali
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Narcotics Prison to Be Built in Bangli
US$1 Million Set Aside to Build Facility to Move Drug Offenders Out of Bali's Kerobokan Prison.
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(9/20/2008) NusaBali reports that a custom-built penitentiary for convicted narcotic offenders will soon be constructed on a 2 hectare site in Bangli starting in 2009.
To be built in close proximity to Bangli's current mental health asylum, an allocation of Rp. 9 billion (US$1 million) has been set aside to construct a prison to help house the 400 narcotics offender now imprisoned at Bali's Kerobokan prison. Those convicted of narcotic offenses represent more than half of the current inmates in Bali's main prison.
While little details are available on the new prison, government officials say they are intentionally placing the new prison in a location near Bali's main mental health facility. Those officials hope easy access to the mental health facility will assist jailers in their efforts to rehabilitate convicted drug users.
Click Here for full story
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Priest relives firing squad deaths for court
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THE fate facing condemned Australian drug smugglers and the three Bali bombers was played out in grisly detail as the court hearing the bombers' death penalty challenge was yesterday given a firsthand account of an Indonesian firing squad.
A Catholic priest, Charlie Burrows, softly echoed the moans of the two Nigerian drug traffickers as their lifeblood ebbed away near midnight on June 26.
"They were moaning again and again for seven minutes," he told Indonesia's Constitutional Court. "I think it is cruel, the torture."
Desperate to provide some sort of consolation, Father Burrows sang Amazing Grace as the pair slowly died from their bullet wounds. They were pronounced dead 10 minutes after being shot.
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Lao officials attempt discreet visit to Hmong refugees held at Nong Khai IDC
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On September 16, four plainclothes Lao officials arrived at Nong Khai IDC trying to get access to the 158 Hmong refugees still being held there. Two of the officials happened to be ethnic Hmong and were able to question one elderly refugee before being asked to leave by Thai prison authorities.
The plainclothes Lao officials questioned the old man in his native Hmong language, asking him where he came from and why he lived in the jungle. They asked him where his wife and children were currently living and what the Thai authorities had told the Hmong refugees regarding prospects of their future.
These types of sneaky visits by Lao officials have been an ongoing problem for the Hmong refugees. On past occasions, Lao officials have been allowed free access to the Hmong and even brought up to their second floor cells. They’ve even been allowed to photograph and freely question the Hmong refugees.
On the other hand, UNHCR, western diplomats, human rights groups, and journalists have all been forbidden access to these Hmong. This obvious double standard has enraged the Hmong refugees, who feel they have absolutely no recourse to justice.
Meanwhile, just days earlier on September 11, the Lao government had invited a high-level Thai military delegation to visit Ban Pha Lak, the highly promoted Hmong returnee village. Whisked in by Lao military helicopter, Thai officials and some invited local news media were carefully escorted through the village by the Lao government appointed village chief. Not a jungle returnee himself, but rather a long-time trusted communist official posted there, he painted a very positve view on the progress of this new settlement site and how happy the Hmong returnees were.
Click Here for full story
Hmong refugee drama in the North
Update: More Hmong refugees deported to Laos
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Mentally ill 'held like animals'
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Yatala Prison |
MENTALLY ill people are being held within South Australian prisons in conditions unfit for animals, a legal inspection team says.
The SA Law Society's Human Rights committee has described the treatment of mentally ill prisoners as a "scandal which must be seen to be believed".
It has told a government committee that none of the prison facilities in SA "is able to provide adequate psychological or other longer term counselling and treatment for the mentally ill".
"The absolute failure in the treatment of the mentally ill in the prison system has now reached the stage of being an unmitigated disaster and crisis," its report says.
The report was written for the Correctional Services Advisory Council by five senior lawyers who last month visited the Adelaide Remand Centre, Yatala Labour Prison, Northfield Women's Prison and City Watch House amid widespread concerns about chronic overcrowding.
It calls for the urgent upgrade of Yatala's maximum-security G-Division and its medical infirmary, describing them as unfit for humans.
Click Here for Complete Story
Click Here for Australian prison Information
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Prisoner-swap hopes rise for teen in Cambodia
SCHAPELLE Corby is not the only prisoner inching closer to home.
An Australian schoolboy sentenced to 13 years in a Cambodian jail
at the age of 16 is a step closer to a return, after the Cambodian
Government notified Canberra of its willingness for a
prisoner-exchange treaty.
Sydney teenager Gordon Vuong, now 17, is housed in a squalid
cell in Phnom Penh's Prey Sar prison, having been convicted for
attempting to smuggle 2.1 kilograms of heroin to Australia in
January last year.
Family and friends of the Christian Brothers, Lewisham, student
claim he was coerced into the drug run by two men — a
47-year-old Cambodian man and a 25-year-old Cambodian-born
Australian — who were arrested along with him.
Click Here for Full Story
The Schoolboy - The Gordon Vuong Story
I'm innocent, says teen jailed in Cambodia
Australian jailed for 18 years over opium: report.
Australian Federal Government has to get involved.
Gordon Vuong Case Page
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The Tennessee Supreme Court announced on April 19, that it has denied the commutation request, filed on Friday, Feb. 5, on behalf of Gaile Owens. Governor Phil Bredesen is now the only person who can decide to commute Gaile's sentence of the death penalty to life in prison. It is important now more than ever to show your support for Gaile.
AUDIO INTERVIEW with Kay Danes
Video:7pm TV News NSW
The Bali Nine prisoner tells Alan Shadrake about her new job, as the 'jailhouse angel' keeping troubled Schapelle Corby alive.
Former ABC foreign correspondent Peter Lloyd has been released from Singapore's Changi prison.
