 | Preteen Womaniser, Child Molster and Underage Marriage Radical Muslims in Bangladesh accuse her of blasphemy over her debut novel Lajja or Shame and called for her execution author fled fearing for her plague on all their houses Daily Pioneer all news articles BBC News Evangelists try to sue Springer opera Irish Times Ireland Nov Christian evangelists in UK today launched a High Court battle for right to bring a private prosecution for blasphemy over Jerry Springer |
 | George Galloway in Swindon 7 Jun 2008 part 1 George Galloway MP on the million Iraqis killed by sanctions, the further million killed by the invasion and subsequent occupation, and the further two million refugees from the war. On the mainstream media's treatment of the anti-war movement, including the Sun's attempt to take out a private prosecution of him for treason. On Baghdad as the seat of civilisation, the first place that paper was used, the first library, the first place algebra was used and the first place that laws were codified. On his upcoming adjournment debate on Somalia and the way that western governments have funded and armed Ethiopian troops to occupy Somalia while Ethiopian children are once again starving. |
 | Police found guilty after cold blooded murder Police today were found guilty of endangering public life in a private prosecution over their murder of brazilian Jean Charles D' Menezes. Pulling him from his seat on a train and shooting him in the back in cold blood - British police then lied about the circumstances in attempt to cover up their mistake. They claimed he was wearing bulky winter clothing as if to suggest he was hiding a bomb belt but CCTV footage proves he was not. They claimed he had ran from them and jumped over the barriers in the station but again the CCTV footage from the station proves he did not - in fact it shows him picking up free newspaper and using his ticket like everyone else. The police had followed him from the block of flats where he lived and had been ordered to prevent him from getting on a train and yet he traveled to the station by bus and was not confronted by police until they pulled him from his seat and filled him full of bullets. Official investigations into the incident established that the initial reports from the police and the government were full of lies. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Charles_de_Menezes |
 | Demonstrating Against Tactics Used By Prosecution 3-30-07- A mistrial was called when the prosecution produced information from a private listserve meant only for the defense team and defendants. The defendants were arrested at the Port of Olympia in an attempt to prevent Stryker vehicles from being shipped to Iraq. They believe that Homeland Security might have had a hand in hacking into their private email list thus causing a mistrial to be called by the prosecution. Why? They were losing the case, is one guess. |
 | Private Life A West Wales man has gone on trial claiming the right to cultivate his own cannabis. Neil Christopher James Morgan, 52, told police officers they were infringing his rights under the European Human Rights Act--and even lit up a cannabis reefer in front of them. A jury at Swansea crown court heard how four police officers armed with a search warrant descended on a group of caravans parked in woodland off the B4333 Newcastle Emlyn to Cynwyl Elfed road. Neil, who is representing himself during the trial, told the court his defence was Article 8 of the Human Rights Act, which, he said, guaranteed his right to a private life. Neil said he would not deny cultivating the plants. But he would argue that his arrest and prosecution were illegal. A spokesman for the Legalise Cannabis Alliance, said: Neil's case is particularly interesting as nobody else was involved, there is no allegation of supply, and he lived so far away from anyone else in a wood in South Wales. "Moreover, in a previous court appearance in Swansea, police stated that although what he was doing was illegal, they did not consider it to be a criminal activity! Nobody was at risk of harm and nobody's own Rights were being effected. "Nevertheless, Neil has been taken to court and is about to appear again this time at Crown Court in Cardiff on September 2nd. This time he may be sent to prison -- for what? If Neil is not entitled to his private life in that situation, then none of us are. It means that police can force their way into their homes without good reason, and get away with it. The police are breaking the law and in some countries the prosecution would be disqualified. In Britain it appears there is nowhere we can go for a Private Life -- even miles from our nearest neighbours" Neil has openly admitted that he grows cannabis for his own use -- but the system seems set in concrete and he has made very little progress gaining support for his defence. The trial continues at Cardiff Crown Court on 02/09/08 -- The LCA will be there to support him, please try and be there DOWNLOAD HERE [copy full url into browser, youtube does not allow the links as they ase too long. NN http://www.zshare.net/audio/173072548e487292/ http://www.zshare.net/download/173376242842e7de/ |
 | Blackwater Launches 'Private CIA' Nisour Square Shooting On September 16, 2007, Blackwater guards shot and killed 17 Iraqi civilians in Nisour Square, Baghdad. The fatalities occurred while a Blackwater Personal Security Detail (PSD) was escorting a convoy of U.S. State Department vehicles en route to a meeting in western Baghdad with United States Agency for International Development officials. The next day, Blackwater Worldwide's license to operate in Iraq was revoked. The US State Department has said that "innocent life was lost" while U.S. military reports indicate Blackwater's guards opened fire without provocation and used excessive force. Iraq's government vowed to punish Blackwater after an Iraqi inquiry found that the guards were "not touched even by a stone" when they opened fire on the civilians in Nisour Square. The incident has sparked at least 5 investigations, with the FBI now saying it will begin a probe. A senior aide to al-Maliki said that three of the Blackwater guards were Iraqis and could be subject to prosecution. The aide also said that the Iraqi government was pushing for an apology, compensation for victims or their families and for the guards involved in the shooting to be held "accountable." Robert Gates has testified before Congress that the Pentagon has sufficient legal authority to control its contractors, but that commanders lack sufficient "means and resources" to exercise adequate oversight. The US House has passed a bill that would make all private contractors working in Iraq and other combat zones subject to prosecution by U.S. courts and Senate Democratic leaders have said they plan to send similar legislation to President Bush as soon as possible. |
 | New Modes of Accountability for Private Military Companies 3 Panelists Patrick Keefe and Doug Brooks discuss the lack of enforcement and prosecution of private military companies with existing modes of accountability. For transcripts and additional video please visit: http://www.tcf.org/list.asp?type=EV&pubid=205 ----- The recent controversy surrounding the activities of the American military contractor Blackwater have added urgency to discussions of the role of private military contractors assisting American operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. What are the legal, ethical, political, and military implications of augmenting America's uniformed military with large numbers of civilian combatants? Was the Nisoor Square incident involving Blackwater an aberrant event, or symptomatic of deeper and more intractable problems associated with having large numbers of private contractors undertaking security functions in a conflict zone? And if greater accountability for private military contractors is required, what form should that accountability take? Should contractors be allowed to self-police? Should they be subject to the domestic criminal law of the country in which they are deployed? Should they be brought within the Uniform Code of Military Justice? A panel, including Doug Brooks, a representative of the security industry, Jon Finer, an Iraq correspondent for the Washington Post, who has written about private contractors, and T.S. Sowers, a Special Forces Captain with two tours in Iraq who teaches American politics at West Point, considers these important questions. The panel is moderated by TCF fellow Patrick Radden Keefe, who has written about the privatization of national security for the New York Times and the New York Review of Books. |
 | TheRealNews -- No More Lies And Wars!!! US Rights Group Sues Blackwater A US human rights group says it is suing private security firm Blackwater for unspecified damages for war crimes and wrongfully killing Iraqi civilians.The Center for Constitutional Rights is acting on behalf of an injured survivor and three families of men killed by Blackwater guards on 16 September. The Iraqi government said the incident in which 17 people died was unprovoked. Blackwater denies firing without cause. The case has put a spotlight on private military contractors in Iraq. The action claims Blackwater "created and fostered a culture of lawlessness amongst its employees, encouraging them to act in the company's financial interests at the expense of innocent human life," the centre said in a statement. It has been filed in Washington on behalf of Talib Mutlaq Deewan and the estates of Himoud Saed Atban, Usama Fadhil Abbass, and Oday Ismail Ibraheem, the group said. "This senseless slaughter was only the latest incident in a lengthy pattern of egregious misconduct by Blackwater in Iraq," said lawyer Susan Burke. The group say its complaint alleges Blackwater is liable for claims of assault and battery, wrongful death, emotional distress and negligence. Blackwater has the contract for guarding US embassy staff in Baghdad and is also used both by visiting businesspeople and officials. It insists its staff were acting in legitimate self-defence, and that they had been fired on by insurgents first. Monitor allegations Separately, the UN has called for private security contractors in Iraq to face prosecution if they are accused of serious crimes. http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/10/12/4503/ |
 | POWER GRAB FROM PRESIDENT JOSEPH ESTRADA POWER GRAB FROM PRESIDENT JOSEPH ESTRADA: The Estrada presidency was soon dogged by charges of plunder and corruption, and he was reported by his Chief of Staff Aprodicio Laquian to spend long hours drinking with shady characters. In October 2000, an acknowledged gambling racketeer, Luis "Chavit" Singson, governor of the province of Ilocos Sur, alleged that he had personally given Estrada the sum of 400 million pesos as payoff from illegal gambling profits, as well as 180 million pesos from the government price subsidy for the tobacco famers' marketing cooperative. Singson's allegation caused an uproar across the nation, which culminated in Estrada's impeachment by the House of Representatives in November of 2000. He was the first Philippine President to be impeached. The articles of impeachment were then transmitted to the Senate and an impeachment court was formed, with Chief Justice Hilario Davide, Jr. as presiding officer. During the trial, the prosecution (composed of congressmen and private prosecutors) presented witnesses and evidence to the impeachment court regarding Estrada's involvement in illegal gambling, also known as jueteng, and his maintenance of secret bank accounts. However, the president's legal team (composed of a former chief justice, former congressman, former solicitor-general and other lawyers) was quick to deny these allegations and did its best to destroy the claims of the witnesses during cross-examination. [edit] EDSA II Revolution Main article: EDSA II On January 16, 2001, the impeachment court, whose majority were political allies of Estrada, voted not to open an envelope that was said to contain incriminating evidence against the president. The prosecution panel walked out of the impeachment court in protest of this vote. Others noted that the walkout merit court contempt which Davide, intentionally or unintentionally, did not enforce. That night, anti-Estrada protesters gathered on the historical EDSA highway at the site of the 1986 EDSA Revolution that overthrew Ferdinand Marcos. A political turmoil ensued and the clamor for Estrada's resignation became stronger than ever. In the following days, the number of protesters grew to the hundreds of thousands. On January 19, 2001, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, seeing the political upheaval throughout the country, decided to withdraw its support from the president and transfer its allegiance to the vice president, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Without military support, and with mass resignations from his cabinet, Estrada's government quickly fell. On January 20, 2001, the Supreme Court declared the presidency vacant and the Chief Justice swore in the constitutional successor, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, as acting President of the Philippines. Estrada and his family were quickly evacuated from the presidential palace |
 | Preaching to the Perverted BUY IT: http://www.caachi.com/Members/cyclopsvision/preaching_to_the_perverted/view - A departure from the traditional realism of British cinema, Preaching to the Perverted takes a look at the moral crusaders of government and the S&M world. A young infiltrator, Peter (Christien Anholt - left), is despatched by moral crusaders in Parliament to gather evidence for a private prosecution against fetish clubs operating all over Britain, where many of the saucier activities are illegal. From Peter's background as a virginal employee of the Holy Hardware computer company (motto: Log On To The Lord!), he is thrust into the sex glamour shock of these big fetish clubs and parties. |
 | Mistrial for the Olympia22--Come today3-30-07 Mistrial was declared by the prosecution after private listserve was compromised. By whom??? we are asking. How???Come today to the Courthouse. Watch video for info. |
 | John Pilger "The Invisible Government" Part 3/4 Blackwater: Hired Guns, Above the Law by Jeremy Scahill Global Research, September 22, 2007 My name is Jeremy Scahill. I am an investigative reporter for The Nation magazine and the author of the book Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army. I have spent the better part of the past several years researching the phenomenon of privatized warfare and the increasing involvement of the private sector in the support and waging of US wars. During the course of my investigations, I have interviewed scores of sources, filed many Freedom of Information Act requests, obtained government contracts and private company documents of firms operating in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. When asked, I have attempted to share the results of my investigations, including documents obtained through FOIA and other processes, with members of Congress and other journalists. I would like to thank this committee for the opportunity to be here today and for taking on this very serious issue. Over the past six days, we have all been following very closely the developments out of Baghdad in the aftermath of the fatal shooting of as many as 20 Iraqis by operatives working for the private military company Blackwater USA. The Iraqi government is alleging that among the dead are a small child and her parents and the prime minister has labeled Blackwater's conduct as "criminal" and spoke of "the killing of our citizens in cold blood." While details remain murky and subject to conflicting versions of what exactly happened, this situation cuts much deeper than this horrifying incident. The stakes are very high for the Bush administration because the company involved, Blackwater USA, is not just any company. It is the premiere firm protecting senior State Department officials in Iraq, including Ambassador Ryan Crocker. This company has been active in Iraq since the early days of the occupation when it was awarded an initial $27 million no-bid contract to guard Ambassador Paul Bremer. During its time in Iraq, Blackwater has regularly engaged in firefights and other deadly incidents. About 30 of its operatives have been killed in Iraq and these deaths are not included in the official American death toll. While the company's operatives are indeed soldiers of fortune, their salaries are paid through hundreds of millions of dollars in US taxpayer funds allocated to Blackwater. What they do in Iraq is done in the name of the American people and yet there has been no effective oversight of Blackwater's activities and actions. And there has been absolutely no prosecution of its forces for any crimes committed against Iraqis. If indeed Iraqi civilians were killed by Blackwater USA last Sunday, as appears to be the case, culpability for these actions does not only lie with the individuals who committed the killings or with Blackwater as a company, but also with the entity that hired them and allowed them to operate heavily-armed inside Iraq--in this case, the US State Department. http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=6849 |
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