IGIHE

Category: Justice

  • Al Jazeera’s Mahmoud Hussein referred to Giza court

    {Al Jazeera denies charges against Mahmoud Hussein and calls for his release as detention is extended for third time.}

    Egypt has for the third time extended the detention of an Al Jazeera journalist and referred him to the Giza Criminal Court.

    Egyptian authorities extended on Wednesday Mahmoud Hussein’s detention by four days, meaning he will be held for at least 48 day in total.

    Hussein, an Egyptian national and journalist with more than two decades of experience, was arrested on December 20 after arriving at Cairo’s international airport for a holiday.

    On January 4 and 19, when his detention was due to expire, authorities extended his arrest for a period of 15 days “pending a further investigation”.

    Five days after his initial arrest, Egypt’s interior ministry accused him of “incitement against state institutions and broadcasting false news with the aim of spreading chaos”.

    Al Jazeera rejects the charges against Hussein and calls on Egypt to release him immediately .

    “Al Jazeera deems all accusations against Hussein, including those which might be added later to the current allegations, to be a result of practices which violate international norms and conventions, and which, unfortunately, prevail in Egypt as exposed by human rights organisations,” the network has said in a statement.

    Hussein, who lives in the Qatar’s capital, Doha, joined Al Jazeera in Egypt in 2011. He had moved to the network’s headquarters in Qatar in 2013.

    Inside Story – How far will Egypt go in attacking media freedoms?
    The journalist’s defence team said on Monday that Egyptian authorities denied him the right to contact his lawyers and see his family members.

    Hussein has complained of suffering constant mistreatment, being denied his legal rights, and being kept in an individual cell that does not permit the entry of food or clothing.

    Commenting on Hussein’s arrest, the United Nations has previously called on the Egyptian authorities to comply with their commitments to protect freedom of expression.

    Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN secretary-general, said the world body has been following the latest developments in Hussein’s case.

    “We appeal for this case to be resolved in accordance with Egypt’s own international obligations to protect freedom of expression and freedom of opinion,” he said in a press briefing statement on January 6.

  • Uganda:Officers convicted for beating Besigye supporters

    {Police Disciplinary Court yesterday convicted nine police officers, including three senior superintendents of police for beating Dr Kizza Besigye’s supporters on July 13. The officers were given punishments ranging from demotion to fines.}

    In the judgement read by Police Court chairman, Senior Commissioner of Police, Denis Odongpiny, two officers were reduced to the ranks of Superintendent of Police and Inspector of Police for neglecting their duties.

    “Defaulter one (SSP Andrew Kaggwa) and Defaulter three (ASP Patrick Muhumuza) are sentenced to reduction in rank. Defaulter one to be reduced in rank from Senior Superintendent of Police to rank of Superintendent. Defaulter three (Muhumuza) to be reduced in rank from Assistant Superintendent of Police to Inspector of Police,” Mr Odongpiny said.

    The same court also demoted Mr Moses Nanoka to the rank of Assistant Superintendent of Police.

    Kaggwa, the former regional police commander for Kampala Metropolitan Police South; Mr Samuel Bamuzibire, the former Field Force Unit commander for Kampala Metropolitan Police; Nanoka, the former Wandegeya Division Police commander; and Muhumuza, the commander of Field Force operations at Katwe Division Police were accused of beating Dr Besigye supporters at Kalerwe and Najjanankumbi in Kampala in July 2016.

    Police Constables, Willy Kalyango, Sula Kato, Moses Agaba, Dan Muhangi, Robert Wanjala and Mr Dan Tandeka, a crime preventer, were also accused of the same offences.

    They were charged with unlawful or unnecessary exercise of authority contrary to Section 44 (1) Code 24 of the Police Act.

    They were also charged with discreditable or irregular conduct contrary to Section 44 (1) Code 12 of the Police Act.

    The three commanders were charged with neglect of their duties to prevent their officers from beating Dr Besigye’s supporters.

    On the count of unlawful or unnecessary exercise of authority, the police court sentenced Kaggwa, Muhumuza, Kalyango, Kato, Agaba, Muhangi and one other to a fine of a third of their one month salary. But Mr Bamuzibire was acquitted of the offence.

    The eight officers were also sentenced to severe reprimand for the count of discrediting the police image while Mr Bamuzibire was sentenced to reprimand.
    The sentence of severe reprimand means that if the officer commits any other offence, he or she is dismissed, while a reprimand sentence means that an officer can be given a lighter sentence when he or she commits another offence.

    The police court recommended to the police council to dismiss Mr Tandeka from the police and that he should never associate with the institution for 20 years.
    The police court doesn’t have authority to dismiss an officer from the force, but can only recommend to the police council which has that authority.

    The affected officers said they were going to appeal the judgement.

    Source:Daily Monitor

  • Oscar Pistorius prosecutor Gerrie Nel joins Afriforum

    {The South African lawyer who led the prosecution of Oscar Pistorius has quit to join a lobby group, accusing the state office of selective prosecution.}

    Gerrie Nel has joined AfriForum, a group fighting private prosecution that also aims to protect the rights of white Afrikaners.

    He will head the group’s new private prosecuting unit, which will target state officials and politicians accused of corruption.

    Mr Nel is nicknamed the Pitbull.

    He was widely praised for his aggressive, calculated and relentless prosecutorial style during the trial of Pistorius, who is serving a six-year prison term for murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in 2013.

    Mr Nel accused the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) of not treating everyone equally and says his new role would allow him to “help ensure that everyone, irrespective of position, is equal before the law”, a statement on AfriForum’s website says.

    In October last year, the NPA dropped fraud charges against South Africa’s Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, in what was seen as politically-motivated allegations, leading to questions about its independence.

    Mr Nel will take up cases which the NPA has decided not to prosecute.

    AfriForum has brought charges against firebrand opposition leader Julius Malema accusing him urging black South Africans to occupy white-owned farms.

    Kallie Kriel, CEO of AfriForum, says Mr Nel’s appointment sends a message to corrupt politicians and officials on national, provincial and local government levels that they can not be safe from prosecution due to their political contacts.

    His first assignment will be an investigation to determine which public officials are not being prosecuted despite a strong case against them, the statement says.

    Gerrie Nel: Gained reputation as a ruthless and merciless prosecutor

  • Uganda:Security operative identifies Kony, Ongwen voices

    {A Internal Security Organisation operative has identified the voices of leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) Joseph Kony and those of his then commanders after audio recordings were played back to him at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in a trial involving one of LRA’s former commanders Dominic Ongwen .}

    In his testimony as reported by International Justice Monitor on Monday, the witness, whose identity was concealed, also told court that he was able to identify the voices of Kony’s then deputy, Vincent Otti, and Ongwen who is currently facing trial and other commanders.

    Core to his testimony, the witness who for purposes of identification was referred to as P-059, told the ICC that after tapping into the radio communications of the rebels, he heard them discussing what happened during some attacks that they had carried out against civilians and Ugandan military bases as well as Ugandan military attacks on them.

    In his earlier testimony, the witness told court that he is a radio communication interceptor for ISO who has been secretly tapping into the radio communication for the rebels for the last 17 years.

    The transcripts in question were produced by the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) after receiving the audio recordings from the Ugandan government.

    Ongwen is facing 70 counts in connection with the war crimes and crimes against humanity that he allegedly committed between 2003 and 2004 after attacking internally displaced camps of Pajule, Odek, Abok, and Lukodi during the two decade armed conflict in northern Uganda.

    At the time of the attacks, the prosecution says Ongwen was a battalion commander and later a brigade commander in the LRA.

    The other charges that Ongwen is facing include forcibly marrying seven women who were girls at the time, and committing sexual crimes against them.

    Hearing continues.

  • Czech court rejects suit over school veil ban

    {A Prague court rules in favour of a nursing school that banned a Somali refugee student from wearing a headscarf.}

    A Czech court has rejected a discrimination suit filed by a Somali refugee, who was banned from wearing her headscarf in a nursing school, the first case of its kind in the European Union state.

    “The suit, which the plaintiff lodged seeking an apology and 60,000 crowns ($2,350) in compensation, was rejected,” said Justice Daniela Cejkova, handing down the verdict in a Prague court on Friday.

    Ayan Nuur filed a lawsuit against the school after she was not allowed to attend while wearing a headscarf.

    The school argued that the young woman had never formally enrolled in the establishment. Ivanka Kohoutova, the school’s principal, also argued that wearing a scarf covering the hair, ears and neck, and revealing only the face contravened its safety and hygiene standards.

    Nuur, who was granted asylum in the Czech Republic in 2011, did not attend the trial, but was represented by her lawyer.

    During the trial, a group of female students came in support of the school and its rules against the head covering, reported the Czech news agency, CTK.

    A group of Muslims also came out in support of Nuur, the agency said.

    The Czech Republic is a secular country of 10.5 million people, with a Muslim community of only 10,000 to 20,000 members. It has no law covering the wearing of religious garments.

    But like elsewhere in Europe, anti-Muslim sentiment has been on the rise there following the 2015 refugee and migrant crisis when more than one million people, mostly refugees fleeing violence in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, entered the EU.

    Czech President Milos Zeman, known for his fiery anti-migrant rhetoric, insisted last year that it was “practically impossible” to integrate the Muslim community into European society.

    Members of the public present in court on Friday sang the Czech national anthem and applauded after the verdict was handed down.

    Czech Muslims have been trying to fend off rising Islamophobia in the country

  • Seyoboka hearing extended

    {Military prosecution has asked Nyamirambo military court to extend the remand of Second Lieutenant Seyoboka Henri Jean-Claude to enable more investigations. }

    Seyoboka is a suspect of the 1994 genocide against Tutsi deported from Canada last year and has been on remand since 5th December 2016.

    Hearing of Seyoboka’s case had been stayed following his insistence for the government to pay his defense lawyer as per the agreements reached between the government of Rwanda and.

    The lead prosecutor, Mukagashugi Agnes has however insisted that Rwanda has never signed such an agreement.

    Seyoboka has appeared in court with his defense lawyer, Albert Nkundabatware saying he was ready for trial.

    The decision on extending remand will be read on Monday 30th January 2017.

    Seyoboka with his defense lawyer in court

  • Greek court blocks extradition of Turkey coup suspects

    {Turkish military officers, sought by Ankara over July’s failed coup, fled to Greece in helicopter and requested asylum.}

    Athens, Greece – Greece’s Supreme Court has ruled against extraditing eight Turkish air force officers, in a decision likely to complicate relations between the two countries.

    “It is a great victory for European values, for Greek justice,” said the claimants’ lawyer, Christos Mylonopoulos, after the ruling on Thursday.

    “The legal thinking is obvious. It is the observation of European values, the observation of legality, and the conservation of judicial civilisation.”

    Turkey said it would review its ties with Athens in light of the ruling.

    “We will carry out a comprehensive evaluation of the impact of this decision – which we believe has been taken with a political motive – on our bilateral ties, cooperation in the fight against terrorism and on other bilateral and regional issues,” a Turkish foreign ministry statement said.

    Turkish authorities want the officers to stand trial for their alleged involvement in the coup last July, which nearly toppled the government, and issued arrest warrants for the eight men in an apparent response to the ruling.

    They stand accused of attempting to dissolve the constitution, overthrow parliament, placing civilian human life at risk and stealing army materiel.

    The eight have been in police custody since landing at Alexandroupoli airport in a Turkish army helicopter on July 16. The court set all of them free, but it wasn’t clear when that freedom would take effect.

    The group had sat petrified in court before the decision, but as the first rulings were read out, they began to smile and nod in acknowledgment.

    “We didn’t escape the war. We just saved our lives, and waiting has changed our lives,” one officer later told Al Jazeera on condition of anonymity.

    He said that he and his colleagues made up their minds to escape after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on his supporters to rise up against the coup, leading to clashes with troops and bloodshed.

    “From our iPads we saw what was happening,” said the officer. “We couldn’t reach our commanders. We waited six or seven hours.”

    Turkey has dismissed an estimated 100,000 people from public sector jobs on suspicion of political affiliations hostile to the ruling AKP Party. An estimated 36,000 have been arrested on suspicion of collusion in the July 16 coup attempt.

    “The arguments were that first of all they were in danger to undergo inhuman and degrading treatment. The reintroduction of the death penalty in Turkey was an additional danger,” Mylonopoulos told Al Jazeera.

    {{A tall order}}

    The request for extradition was always a difficult proposition because of the thickness of the legal requirements.

    Turkey is a signatory to the European Treaty on Extradition, which forbids extradition for political or military crimes, and gave Greece the right to refuse extradition if the crimes are punishable by death. Erdogan has said that he may hold a referendum on the return of capital punishment.

    Under the European Convention on Human Rights, which Greece has ratified, the officers are deemed to be refugees if they are at risk of torture, execution or inhumane treatment or serious bodily harm in Turkey. Also under Article 6 of the Convention, they may not be extradited for legal process unless they are assured of a fair trial.

    Partly on these legal and humanitarian grounds, three Supreme Court criminal prosecutors have in the past weeks come down against extradition. All outside legal opinions the court has heard have also come down against it.

    The decision is final and cannot be overturned by the Greek government. Asked if this raises the possibility of more Turkish nationals fleeing what they fear is political persecution, Mylonopoulos said: “The circumstances under which these people came here were very eloquent. It was very obvious that their prosecution was due to political reasons. This does not mean that everybody who has a problem with Turkish authorities can come to Greece to find a shelter.”

    The officers have applied for asylum in Greece, a process likely to take months. Asked what they want to do now, one officer replied: “We would like for none of all this to have happened. We would like to go home and be with our families.”

    The officers deny having taken part in the putsch and claim their lives are in danger

  • Niger Delta villagers lose UK court bid to sue Shell over pollution

    {A British court has blocked Nigerian villagers’ attempt to sue oil giant Shell for allegedly polluting their fishing waters and farmland.}

    The two communities in the Niger Delta – the Ogale and Bille – claim decades of oil spills have ruined their homes.

    They wanted their case heard in the UK.

    But the High Court in London agreed with the Anglo-Dutch company’s argument that the case, affecting more than 40,000 people, should be heard by local courts in Nigeria.

    The villagers have repeatedly said they will not get a fair hearing in Nigeria.

    However, Igo Weli, a spokesman for the multinational’s subsidiary, the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC), told the BBC it was a “myth” that the communities could not get justice in their home country while welcoming the High Court decision as “common sense”.

    “It’s about claims by Nigerians about the operations of a Nigerian company in Nigeria and I think the Nigerian court is the best place to handle that,” he said.

    “It’s about incidents related to sabotage, illegal refining and crude thefts. Bille and Ogale are two communities that have been severely impacted by those activities which is a major source of pollution in the Niger Delta.”

    But neither of the communities – who say repeated spills since 1989 have meant they do not have clean drinking water, farmland or rivers – are ready to give up.

    King Emere Godwin Bebe Okpabi, ruler of the Ogale, said: “Our community is disappointed but not discouraged by this judgement.

    “This decision has to be appealed, not just for Ogale but for many other people in the Niger Delta who will be shut out if this decision is allowed to stand.

    “Shell is simply being asked to clean up its oil and to compensate the communities it has devastated.”

    They have been given the go-ahead by Mr Justice Fraser to challenge his ruling in the Court of Appeal.

    In 2014, another community in the delta, Bodo, took Shell to court in the UK over an oil spill. That case was settled by Shell the following year with an unprecedented $84m (£55m) payout to the Bodo community.

    The difference with this latest case is that the Nigerian subsidiary SPDC has refused to submit to a UK jurisdiction.

    The two communities want to pursue Shell for compensation in London

  • US suit filed as journalists, lawyers face riot charges

    {Lawsuit against DC police alleges “indiscriminate” arrests after protests turned violent during Trump’s inauguration.}

    A civil lawsuit has been launched over alleged “indiscriminate” arrests of lawyers, legal observers, journalists and medics amid protests that turned violent in Washington DC during President Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony last week.

    Jeffrey Light, an attorney who filed the lawsuit on Friday – the same day that the inauguration was held – against police officials, told Al Jazeera that about six journalists, more than three lawyers and a number of medics were among more than 230 who are facing rioting charges.

    Rioting carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and $25,000 fine.

    At least three of the lawyers detained had been marked as legal observers – who are designated to protect the rights of activists at demonstrations, Light said.

    Light, who has been contacted by many of those arrested, accused officers of using “excessive force” after some protesters hurled rocks and bottles at police, who responded with volleys of tear gas, stun grenades and an “indiscriminate” mass arrest.

    During the demonstration, at least one car was set on fire and windows of some downtown businesses were damaged by protesters.

    “Everybody has been charged with felony rioting and they (police) have not given a reason. They arrested everyone in a particular area. Police have reported that unspecified people threw objects, but have not accused specific individuals of throwing objects,” Light said.

    “It is unconstitutional because people were arrested without any determination by police that they were doing something wrong.”

    The DC Police Department’s press office told Al Jazeera that they can not comment on the arrests due to the lawsuit.

    Interim Police Chief Peter Newsham, who has been named as a defendant in the lawsuit, has been quoted by local media as saying that it was “disappointing” that the clashes and arrests happened, but was “very, very pleased” at how his department handled the situation.

    Light’s comments to Al Jazeera on Wednesday came as the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a US-based media watchdog, issued a statement calling on DC authorities to drop rioting charges against the detained journalists.

    Evan Engel, a senior producer at the news website Vocativ, Aaron Cantu, a freelance journalist who has written for Al Jazeera and Truthout besides other news agencies, and Alex Rubinstein, a reporter for Russia-based TV network RT, were among the media members detained.

    Carlos Lauria, of the CPJ, told Al Jazeera that the “excessive” charges against the journalists have raised fears of press freedom being under threat in the country.

    “Journalists should be able to cover the inauguration without interference, especially because people have the right to recieve information about what is going on that important day … The crackdown sends a chilling message to reporters and the media who cover protests,” he said.

    A limousine was set on fire and some buildings were damaged during the protests in DC

  • Three foreigners convicted of human trafficking charges, pay 30m/- fine

    {Three foreigners have avoided a custodial sentence of five years each after managing to pay a total of 30m/- in fines following their conviction on human trafficking-related offences by the Kisutu Resident Magistrate’s Court in Dar es Salaam.}

    They are Alidii Muhammmed (42), a Kenyan, Alhumaid Abdullah Homouda (48), a Saud Arabian and his wife, Dounia Bennani (34), a national of Morocco. Principal Resident Magistrate Huruma Shaidi convicted the trio on their own plea of guilty to charges of conspiracy and severe trafficking in persons.

    However, the magistrate acquitted two Tanzanians, Abdallah Ally Salum (46) and Jumanne Saidy Alawy (36), who reside at Kawe in Dar es Salaam and Sakina in Arusha, respectively, after the prosecution had failed to establish a prima facie case against them.

    While the three foreigners had admitted to the charges, the two Tanzanians denied involvement, forcing the prosecution to summon two witnesses to prove the charges in question.

    In his ruling, however, the magistrate found that the evidence tendered by the witnesses was insufficient to call upon the accused persons to give their defence testimony in respect to the charges.

    During the trial, the prosecution had told the court that on diverse dates between April 29 and June 6, last year, at unspecified place in the city within the United Republic of Tanzania, the accused persons allegedly conspired to commit an offence of severe trafficking in persons.

    It was alleged that within the same period at Kariakoo area within Ilala District in Dar es Salaam, the accused persons recruited, transported, received and harboured 12 persons, who are foreigners, for the purpose of voluntary servitude under the pretext of overseas employment in Saudi Arabia.

    They are Irakoze Singorine, Rahma Girukwishaka, Shimilimana Riziki Hassan, Rehema Cancana, Nduimana Riziki, Shimilimana Asia Selemani, Dishime Bella, Irakoze Amina, Nizigimana Aisha, Inasuku Edna, Zawadi Niyonzima and Nzeyimana Amina.