Posts Tagged ‘ political prisoners ’

Israel: Prison authorities release two from solitary, expect end to hunger strikes

May 10, 2012
posted by

Jerusalem Post [Israel]    

"The Israel Prisons Service on Thursday agreed to permit two prisoners to leave solitary confinement and be returned to the general prisoner population, Israel Radio reported. The new decision takes place against the backdrop of an almost month-old prisoner hunger strike by approximately 1600 Palestinian prisoners protesting against certain conditions in Israeli jails. ... [a senior official] said that he expects that ongoing negotiations will lead to an end to the hunger strike in about 7-10 days." (05/10/12)

http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?id=269478  

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Israel: Court rules against hunger strikers

May 7, 2012
posted by

Ynetnews [Israel]    

"The High Court on Monday rejected an appeal by two Palestinian security prisoners, who have been on a hunger strike for the past 70 days, against their administrative detention. Thaer Halahla and Bilal Diab, both Islamic Jihad members, have been refusing food in protest of their detention. Their petition said the court should free them on medical grounds." (05/07/12)

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4225947,00.html  

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Rules are rules

May 6, 2012
posted by

Bradley Manning CounterPunch
by Ron Jacobs  

"That video was the first time most Americans had heard about Wikileaks. Not long after, the name of Bradley Manning also entered the US consciousness. He would be accused of releasing that video and thousands of other documents relating to the US wars on Iraq and Afghanistan, along with thousands of diplomatic cables describing in oftentimes explicit detail the crimes and morally questionable actions and words of Washington officials. Soon, Mr. Manning would be charged with treason and aiding the enemy (among other charges) for his actions. He is currently on trial in a US military court located at Fort Meade, MD. and faces life imprisonment. It is my belief that only an immense and broad popular movement could possibly change that fate." (05/06/12)

http://bit.ly/LqX0a6  

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Israel: Prisoners’ hunger strike escalates

May 6, 2012
posted by

Sydney Morning Herald [Australia]    

"The number of Palestinian [Arab] prisoners on hunger strike in Israeli jails has grown to at least 2800, human rights groups say, while two of the inmates hovered close to death as they entered their 69th day without food. The Israeli prison service disputes the numbers. Israel's practice of jailing people without charge -- known as administrative detention -- is the main issue driving the hunger strikers, whose images are seen on posters throughout the West Bank and Gaza as the protests backing the prisoners grow." (05/07/12)

http://bit.ly/KF2iKw  

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Court: No suit for Yoo!

May 2, 2012
posted by

Contra Costa Times    

"UC-Berkeley law professor John Yoo cannot be sued by [Jose Padilla] for helping to craft the Bush administration's torture and detention policies in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday. ... The 9th Circuit found that Padilla was not entitled to the same constitutional protections as an ordinary prisoner at the time of his confinement because he was a 'suspected terrorist designated an enemy combatant.'" (05/02/12)

http://bit.ly/IAoKWy  

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Bahrain: Court orders retrial for hunger striker, others

April 30, 2012
posted by

ABC News    

"A Bahrain court Monday ordered retrials for a prominent hunger striker and 20 others convicted by a military-led tribunal in crackdowns against a 14-month-old uprising in the Gulf kingdom. The decision, which shifts the cases to Bahrain's highest appeals court, was seen as a victory for supporters of rights activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja and other opposition figures sentenced last year under martial law-style rules imposed by Bahrain's rulers." (04/30/12)

http://abcn.ws/IOGXRA  

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China: Regime cracks down after dissident’s escape

April 29, 2012
posted by

Los Angeles Times    

"Supporters of blind human rights dissident Chen Guangcheng, who fled house arrest and is reportedly under protection at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, are now facing police detention, activists in the U.S. and China said Sunday. ... Officials at the embassy and in Washington have still not confirmed or denied that they are keeping Chen, 40, a lawyer who was imprisoned for exposing forced sterilizations and other abuses by authorities and was placed under house arrest after his release in September 2010." (04/29/12)

http://lat.ms/JTTZzN  

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Bradley Manning: Judge denies motion to dismiss, trial dates set

April 25, 2012
posted by

Bradley Manning ABC News    

"The judge overseeing the hearings of the alleged WikiLeaker PFC Bradley Manning today denied a defense request to dismiss all charges with prejudice. Manning’s lawyers had argued that they didn’t receive key pieces of evidence from the prosecution and therefore the charges should be dismissed. ... After court on Tuesday the defense and prosecution met with Lind to outline a tentative schedule for the remaining hearings and trial dates." (04/25/12)

http://abcn.ws/JGjphj  

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Ukraine: Former PM “on hunger strike” after alleged prison beating

April 24, 2012
posted by

Guardian [UK]    

"A lawyer for Ukraine's jailed former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko says she has started a hunger strike after prison guards allegedly beat her. ... Tymoshenko's lawyer, Serhiy Vlasenko, said on Tuesday that prison officials had kicked the former prime minister in the stomach while taking her to the hospital by force." (04/24/12)

http://bit.ly/JDBKNA  

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Israel: Court rejects hunger strikers’ appeals

April 23, 2012
posted by

Agence France-Presse    

"An Israeli military court on Monday rejected appeals by two Palestinian prisoners who have been refusing food for 55 days, their lawyer and a Palestinian prisoner rights NGO said. ... Diab, 27, and Halahla, 34, began refusing food on February 29 in protest at being held without charge under a procedure known as administrative detention, which means they can be held for renewable periods of up to six months." (04/23/12)

http://bit.ly/Jte5z7  

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Fifteen abductions in global recreational pharmaceuticals market crackdown

April 17, 2012
posted by

Atlanta Journal-Constitution    

"A sophisticated online drug marketplace that sold everything from marijuana to mescaline to some 3,000 people around the world has been cracked with the arrests of 15 people in several countries, U.S. authorities announced Monday. An indictment unsealed in federal court in Los Angeles claims eight men ran 'The Farmer's Market,' which allowed suppliers of drugs -- including LSD, Ecstasy and ketamine -- to anonymously sell their wares online." (04/17/12)

http://www.ajc.com/business/8-arrests-in-international-1419607.html  

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US cyber-thugs want MegaUpload host to preserve data, but don’t want to pay for it

April 15, 2012
posted by

CNet News    

"Since January, when the U.S. Department of Justice filed criminal copyright charges against MegaUpload, one of the world's most popular cyberlocker services, the private firm that hosted MegaUpload's servers has preserved user data on its own dime. Jay Prabhu, the lawyer representing the U.S. Attorney's office, said Carpathia's problems were not caused by the government. His message to the court was that if the cost of doing business with MegaUpload has gone up, Carpathia's added expenses shouldn't be thrust onto taxpayers." [editor's note: Oddly enough, I've seen no stories about Prabhu returning his paychecks to the US Treasury on the premise that it's not the taxpayers' job to finance his megalomania - TLK] (04/14/12)

http://cnet.co/HIV9b6  

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China: Ni Yulan sentenced to two years, eight months

April 10, 2012
posted by

New York Times    

"Ni Yulan, a rights advocate crippled from abuse during previous imprisonments and later left homeless on the streets of Beijing, was sentenced by a Chinese court on Tuesday to more than two years in prison, an advocacy group said. The court in the Xicheng district of Beijing sentenced Ms. Ni and her husband, Dong Jiqin, on charges of creating a disturbance, according to Chinese Human Rights Defenders, a group based in Hong Kong. It said Mr. Dong was sentenced to two years, while Ms. Ni was sentenced to two years and eight months because of an additional charge of fraud."

http://nyti.ms/HyIloO  

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US: Judge sentences Russian for selling arms to (fake) Colombians in Thailand

April 5, 2012
posted by

Voice of America [US state media]    

"A federal judge in New York Thursday sentenced Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout to 25 years in prison for conspiring to sell weapons to a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist group based in Colombia. ... The judge also ordered Bout to forfeit $15 million dollars, an amount equivalent to the value of the arms he had offered to sell U.S. informants posing as rebels from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. The judge said she was imposing the lighter sentences because Bout was arrested in a U.S. sting operation in 2008 and had never before expressed any interest in harming Americans." (04/05/12)

http://bit.ly/HlREZj  

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Zimbabwe: Six convicted … of watching news!

March 19, 2012
posted by

New York Times    

"Six political activists in Zimbabwe who gathered last year to watch and discuss television news broadcasts of the Arab Spring protests were convicted on Monday of conspiring to commit violence in an effort to overthrow the government. The penalty could be 10 years in prison. They are to be sentenced on Tuesday." (03/19/12)

http://nyti.ms/GzS7us  

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UN official critical of Manning detention

March 13, 2012
posted by

Bradley Manning CNN    

"U.S. Army Pfc. Bradley Manning, accused of aiding the enemy by passing reams of classified military documents to WikiLeaks, may have been treated inhumanely by the U.S. military since his arrest in 2010, according to a report from the United Nations' top official on torture. The findings are the result of a 14-month long probe conducted by U.N. special rapporteur Juan Mendez and released late last month." (03/13/12)

http://tinyurl.com/7yyza3a  

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The “Cairo 19″ got what they deserve

February 12, 2012
posted by

Justin Raimondo Antiwar.com
by Justin Raimondo  

"Egypt, like the US, has strict controls on foreign interference in its internal politics: foreign-funded organizations must register with the government, and give a complete accounting of their activities. The US has even stricter controls: foreign contributions to electoral activities on American soil are forbidden by US law, and, in addition, groups receiving funding from foreign governments must register as foreign agents. ... Neither IRI nor NDI ever registered with the authorities in Egypt ..." (02/10/12)

http://bit.ly/yxTFGv  

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Saudi Arabia: Newspaper columnist could face death for insulting Muhammed on Twitter

February 12, 2012
posted by

Daily Mail [UK]    

"A newspaper columnist could be the first person to face the death penalty for remarks he made on Twitter after he was arrested for allegedly insulting the Prophet Muhammad. Writer Hamza Kashgari fled his native Saudi Arabia for Malaysia after some Islamic clerics called for him to be put to death for his tweet. But the 23-year-old was arrested as soon as he arrived in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur on Thursday and was deported back to Saudi Arabia yesterday despite protests from human rights groups." (02/12/12)

http://bit.ly/Aza61M  

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Ecuador newspaper columnist seeks US asylum

February 8, 2012
posted by

USA Today    

"A former Ecuadorean newspaper columnist who faces prison and millions of dollars in fines for his criticism of President Rafael Correa requested asylum Wednesday in the U.S., claiming he is the victim of persecution aimed at stifling free expression. Emilio Palacio, 58, said in an asylum application that a criminal libel judgment against him in his homeland shows he 'is being severely punished in Ecuador for expressing legitimate opinions and subjective interpretations of factual events.'" (02/08/12)

http://tinyurl.com/7qm5w5b  

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NZ: Temporary ransom denied for main MegaUpload abductee

January 24, 2012
posted by

MSNBC    

"The founder of online file-sharing website Megaupload, accused of masterminding a scheme that made more than $175 million in a few years by infringing copyrighted content without authorization, was refused bail in a New Zealand court on Wednesday. The judge remanded Kim Dotcom, a German national, also known as Kim Schmitz, in custody until Feb 22 for a hearing of the extradition application on charges of internet piracy and money laundering." (01/25/12)

http://on.msnbc.com/znmJki  

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NZ: Dotcom denies charges in court

January 23, 2012
posted by

Guardian [UK]    

"Kim Dotcom, the internet mogul accused by the FBI of earning $175m (£112m) in illegal profits through file-sharing site Megaupload.com, has denied internet piracy in a New Zealand court. ... Judge David McNaughton said the bail application was too complicated for an immediate ruling, adding he would issue a written decision no later than Wednesday." (01/23/12)

http://bit.ly/zbbMNL  

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China: Court sentences activist to 10 years over writings

January 18, 2012
posted by

Bellingham Herald    

"A court has sentenced a democracy activist in central China to 10 years' imprisonment for subversion, a family member said Thursday. It's the third lengthy jail term handed down to a dissident in less than a month. Li Tie was sentenced by a court in Wuhan city to 10 years in jail on Wednesday after being convicted of subversion based on articles that he had written, said the relative, who did not want to be named due to fear of official retaliation." (01/18/12)

http://tinyurl.com/87x2vhj  

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Lawyer in WikiLeaks case wants to depose Clinton

January 16, 2012
posted by

Bradley Manning Wichita Eagle    

"A lawyer for an intelligence analyst charged with leaking classified information to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks wants to question Secretary of State Hillary Clinton before his client is tried. David Coombs, a lawyer for Pfc. Bradley Manning, included a request to question Clinton as part of a redacted document posted Monday on his website and also sent to Army officials. Clinton's name is obscured in the document, but it is clear from context that she is the person he wants to question." (01/16/12)

http://tinyurl.com/6u5csjg  

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UK: Web site owner to be extradited to US on copyright infringement charges

January 15, 2012
posted by

Guardian [UK]    

"A judge ruled on Friday that a 23-year-old student can be extradited to the United States for running a website posting links to pirated TV shows and films, despite significant doubts over whether such sites break any UK laws. ... Richard O'Dwyer, a computing student at Sheffield Hallam University, faces a potential 10-year term in a US jail despite never having been to America or using web servers based in the country." [editor;'s note: Yes, you read that right. Not ven "hosted copyrighted material," but "posted links to copyrighted material." Apparently now it's illegal to point and say "hey, there's copyrighted material over there!" - TLK]

http://bit.ly/x1GngR  

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Almanza recommends full court martial in Manning case

January 12, 2012
posted by

Bradley Manning Telegraph [UK]    

"The case of Bradley Manning, the American soldier accused of handing hundreds of thousands of secret military documents to WikiLeaks, has been recommended [by Article 32 hearing officer Lt. Col. Paul Almanza] to proceed to a full military court martial. ... The recommendation will now be passed to the Special Court Martial Convening Authority which will make a decision based on Lt Col Almanza's report."

http://tgr.ph/AmBBVL  

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