Saudi Arabia Jails Sudanese Journalist On Bogus Charges

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July 28, 2021

A Saudi court handed a Sudanese journalist a four-year prison sentence on June 8 for social media posts critical of the kingdom, according to the group Human Rights Watch.

In a statement on Tuesday, HRW said Ahmad Ali Abdelkader, was charged with insulting state institutions and symbols and negatively speaking about the kingdom’s policies.

It added the charges were related to tweets and interviews in which he expressed support for Sudan’s 2018-2019 revolution and criticised Saudi’s actions in his home country and Yemen.

HRW’s deputy Middle East director Michael Page,” said jailing a media personality on bogus charges speaks more negatively about Saudi Arabia’s policies than anything Ahmad Ali Abdelkader ever posted.

He said this and other similar prosecutions demonstrate just how determined Saudi authorities are to stamp out even the most minor criticism or questioning on social media and deter all dissent under threat of long prison sentences.

According to HRW, Abdelkader was arrested at Jeddah airport on April 19 and denied access to a lawyer during the trial.

He was held for 20 days at a police station in Jeddah and then transferred to Al-Shumaisi detention centre near Mecca before facing a judge, they added.

The trial consisted of two short sessions, where he was unable to defend himself, according to a source with direct knowledge of the case.

The source added that Abdelkader was interrogated twice during his detention and accused of behaviour on Twitter that was harmful to the kingdom.

Chinese Court Gives Agricultural Tycoon 18-Year Jail Term

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Zoe Maven

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July 28, 2021

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A Chinese court sentenced agricultural tycoon Sun Dawu to 18 years in jail on Wednesday for crimes including “provoking trouble” after the outspoken billionaire and grassroots rights supporter was tried in secret.

The court in Gaobeidian near Beijing said Sun was found guilty of crimes including “gathering a crowd to attack state organs,” “obstructing government administration” and “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” a catch-all term often used against dissidents.

He was detained by police in November along with 20 relatives and business associates after his firm was embroiled in a land dispute with a state-owned competitor.

The charismatic Sun built one of China’s biggest private agriculture companies with his wife from a few chickens and pigs in the 1980s.

He has also been a vocal champion of rural reforms and was a whistleblower during a devastating swine fever outbreak in 2019, posting photos of dead pigs online after local officials were slow to respond to the disease.

Sun was also fined 3.11 million yuan ($475,000) by the court on Wednesday.

The hearing began at Gaobeidian People’s Court in northern Hebei province on July 15, according to his lawyers, who said in a statement that the secrecy of the trial violated legal guidelines and did not protect the defendant’s litigation rights.

Sun had previously been sentenced to prison for “illegal fundraising” in 2003, but this was overturned after a massive outpouring of support from human rights defenders and the public.

Zimbabwe’s President Mnangagwa Named In U.S. $500K Fraud Case

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Emenike Agu

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July 28, 2021

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Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s name was allegedly used in a botched deal which resulted in a Harare man losing US$488, 000.

According to a Zimbabwean news daily, a suspected fraudster, Eustine Charambira (33) appeared in court accused of duping a Harare man Erasmus Chimbumu of US$488, 000 in a mining chemical deal.

The accused is alleged to have told Chimbumu that she could only deliver after he gave her a deposit of US$1 million since the deal included the head of state Mnangagwa and some unnamed army generals who needed their part of the share.

This is not the first time the accused has faced such allegations.

The prosecutors initially consented to $50 000 but made a U-turn on its decision after establishing that Charambira had previous convictions for similar offences according to the Zimbabwean news daily.

It is alleged that last October, Charambira was approached by the complainant, who wanted to buy mining chemicals.

This was after he was referred by one of his suppliers, Ragu Sivaragas.

Charambira told the complainant that, indeed, she had a company that imported the chemicals from the United Kingdom through Durban, South Africa, where they would collect them into the country.

It is alleged that the complainant told the accused person that he had only Zimbabwean dollars Charambira told him that her company only sold the chemicals in United States dollars.

Charambira allegedly phoned the complainant the next day and advised him to send the money in local currency to various bank accounts and suppliers, who would change the money into the US dollars at the black market rate.

“From October to December 2020, the complainant sent money to various accounts supplied by Charambira.She told the complainant that he would get his chemicals in January 2021, but later changed stance and told him that the money had been stolen after failing to meet her deadline,” said prosecutors.

The complainant allegedly reported the matter to Borrowdale Police Station and she was summoned, the local wrote.

It is alleged Charambira told the police that she delayed telling the complainant that the money was stolen because the person who stole the money promised to pay back in April this year.

After being further asked, Charambira told the complainant that she was expecting US$1 million from an investor, who is based in the United Kingdom in a deal that involved the President and some army generals.

Charambira again asked for US$100 000 to charter a private jet for the investor from the UK to Zimbabwe so that he could bring the US$1 million, which is part of the deal which she promised to use to pay him back.

The complainant allegedly sent US$50 000 to Chirambira through Sivaragas, but he later on established that there was no investor brought from the UK and that there was no money that was stolen, the paper revealed.

The State alleges the accused person prejudiced the complainant of US$488 000 and nothing was recovered.

French Court Upholds Guilty Verdict For Equatorial Guinea’s VP

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Zoe Maven

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July 28, 2021

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France’s highest appeal court on Wednesday upheld a guilty verdict against the son of Equatorial Guinea’s president for embezzlement, paving the way for the potential return of tens of millions of dollars to the country’s people.

Teodoro Obiang Mangue, who is also the vice president of the Gulf of Guinea nation, was handed a three-year suspended sentence and a 30 million euro fine at the end of his trial in absentia in 2020.

Luxury assets seized in France during the investigation were ordered to be confiscated.

Transparency International, which was party to the case, has estimated that the seized goods, which include a mansion in the heart of the French capital, are worth around 150 million euros.

Obiang has always denied any wrongdoing and argued that French courts had no right to rule on his assets, but the Cour de Cassation rejected his appeal.

The residence at the centre of the dispute is a luxury residence on Avenue Foch in Paris — a grand, sweeping road near the Arc de Triomphe. It has 101 rooms, a gym, a hair-dressing studio and a disco with a cinema screen.

Now that there can be no more appeals in this case, the assets are set to be put on sale under a new French law which stipulates that the money, instead of going to the French state’s coffers, should go back to Equatorial Guinea.

That could be done via local or international NGOs or France’s development aid fund.

UNESCO Awards Gabon’s Ivindo Park World Heritage Status

By

Zoe Maven

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July 28, 2021

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Gabon’s Ivindo National Park was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site on Wednesday in recognition of the nation’s success in defending biodiversity and challenging climate change.

The park is the second nature reserve, after Lope Park in 2007, to be listed in this small central African country, which is 90 percent covered by forest and known for efforts to preserve its natural heritage.

Tweeting on Social Media, President Ali Bongo Ondimba, said the inclusion rewards Gabon’s efforts to protect its forests, which play a key role in the fight against global warming.

At the end of June, Gabon became the first African country to be paid by international funds to continue its efforts against deforestation on its territory.

The 300,000-hectare park is home to some emblematic mammals, now threatened, such as the forest elephant, gorilla, chimpanzee, leopard and three species of pangolin.

Some parts of the site are barely explored, according to UNESCO.

For several years, the Gabonese authorities have developed a relatively advanced policy to protect the Central African rainforest, called “the second lung of the earth” after the Amazon.

It has 13 national parks, covering 11 percent of its territory, and 20 marine protected areas. Gabon is home to nearly 60 percent of Africa’s remaining forest elephants, recently listed as critically endangered.

Peru’s Castillo Assumes Presidency, Pledging Economic Stability

By

Zoe Maven

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July 28, 2021

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Pedro Castillo on Wednesday vowed to tackle what he says are persistent social divisions in Peru that dated back to colonial days as he was sworn in as the country’s president.

In a speech shortly after he was inaugurated, Castillo, sporting his trademark wide-brimmed hat, struck a conciliatory tone for investors, saying he wanted the state-owned bank to compete with private lenders but that he would maintain economic order and predictability.

Castillo was elected in last month’s vote as a representative of a Marxist party, shaking the political elite and worrying companies fearful of his plans to hike taxes on mining to fund health and education reforms.

But he reassured them on Wednesday there was “not the remotest” plan to nationalize industry but said he would seek “a new pact” with private investors.

He wanted to streamline regulation of the mining industry to improve the local economy with tax revenue and net capital inflows, he added. Peru’s riches needed to be more equitably shared.

There is intense interest in the make-up of his cabinet of ministers, still under wraps amid horse trading between the radical wing of his Free Peru party and more moderate advisers and allies.

The cabinet’s swearing in was due to take place shortly after Castillo’s inauguration but his party announced on Wednesday morning that it would be delayed until Friday.

Sources close to Castillo have said the economy minister role will likely go to Pedro Francke, a moderate left-leaning economist, who has helped soften the outsider candidate’s image and calm jittery markets in recent months.

Russian Court Asked To Restrict Navalny Ally’s Freedoms

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Zoe Maven

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July 28, 2021

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Russian state prosecutors asked a court on Wednesday to find Lyubov Sobol, a close ally of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, guilty of breaching COVID-19 safety regulations and to impose a set of restrictions on her for two years.

Her lawyer Vladimir Voronin said on Twitter that Prosecutors told the court to order Sobol to remain at home from 2200 to 0600 for the next two years, to ban her from attending mass events or political meetings and to have her check in with the police four times a month,.

Sobol, who says the charge against her is politically-motivated nonsense, was charged with breaching COVID-19 safety regulations at an unsanctioned street protest in support of Navalny earlier this year.

She was initially placed her under house arrest. Several close Navalny allies, including his brother, are being tried for the same offence.

Navalny himself is serving 2-1/2 years in jail for parole violations in an embezzlement case he says was trumped up.

Navalny’s allies accuse the authorities of using the law to crush dissenting voices ahead of September parliamentary elections.

Court Acquits Shi’ite Leader Zakzaky And Wife Of All Charges

By

Zoe Maven

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July 28, 2021

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A Nigerian court on Wednesday acquitted Ibrahim Zakzaky, leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), a banned Shi’ite group, of all eight criminal charges against him.

Justice Gideon Kurada ruled there were no charges to answer and acquitted the pair while Prosecution lawyer Dari Bayero confirmed the ruling.

Zakzaky and his wife, Zeenah, had been in detention since 2015 when he was arrested after a clash in which the army killed an estimated 350 people at an IMN compound and a nearby mosque and burial ground in northern Kaduna state.

The couple had been facing a range of charges filed by the state government in 2018, including aiding and abetting homicide, unlawful assembly and disruption of public peace.

IMN spokesman Ibrahim Musa said the ruling “a victory for perseverance in the face of extreme persecution.” Zakzaky’s supporters at the courthouse said they feared police would re-arrest him following his release.

The police and Nigeria’s attorney general did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The government banned IMN in 2019 after a series of protests calling for Zakzaky’s release turned deadly.

Canterbury Cathedral Stained Glass, Among World’s Oldest

By

Angel Gimalo

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July 28, 2021

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New research indicates that some stained glass windows from Canterbury Cathedral may be among the oldest in the world.

The panels, depicting the Ancestors of Christ, have been re-dated using a new, non-destructive technique.

The analysis indicates that some of them may date back to the mid-1100s.

The windows would therefore have been in place when the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket, was killed at the cathedral in 1170.

Léonie Seliger, the head of stained glass conservation at the cathedral, and part of the research team said the discovery was historically “hugely significant”.

“We have hardly anything left of the artistic legacy of that early building [apart from] a few bits of stone carving. But until now, we didn’t think we had any stained glass. And it turns out that we do,” she said.

She said she had been so happy at hearing the news, she had been “ready to dance.”

Ms Seliger added: “[The stained glass] would have witnessed the murder of Thomas Becket, they would have witnessed Henry II come on his knees begging for forgiveness, they would have witnessed the conflagration of the fire that devoured the cathedral in 1174. And then they would have witnessed all of British history.”

Thomas Becket was murdered in the cathedral by four knights who believed they were acting on the orders of Henry II, with whom the archbishop had clashed. However, some historians doubt that Henry issued the command to assassinate Becket, and that his words may have been misinterpreted.

The re-dated panels are part of the Ancestors of Christ series depicted over one of the cathedral’s entrances. It was thought for centuries that they were made by master craftsmen in the 13th century.

The art historian Prof Madeline Caviness suggested in the 1980s that some of the panels were earlier than previously believed because they were stylistically different. That suspicion has now been confirmed by a team of researchers from University College London (UCL), who built a device called a “windolyser” to solve the mystery.

British Members Of Parliament Call For Fair Pricing Of Electric Car Charging

By

Angel Gimalo

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July 28, 2021

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People must be protected from excessive pricing for public electric car charging, British Members Of Parliament say.

Charging an electric car at home is much cheaper than using public charge points.

This could put pressure on people who are less able to afford it, the Transport Select Committee said.

The government also needs to make charging infrastructure accessible and reliable, and make sure people in rural areas have equal access, the MPs added.

The UK plans to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030, and hybrids by 2035.

That should mean that most cars on the road in 2050 are either electric, use hydrogen fuel cells, or some other non-fossil fuel technology.

However, at present there is a disparity between how much it costs to charge a car at home compared to public charging, which is more expensive.

Consumers need to be protected from excessive charges, the Transport Committee said.

Property developers should also be required to provide public charging points, and councils should make sure charging infrastructure is built, the MPs added.

“Charging electric vehicles should be convenient, straightforward and inexpensive and drivers must not be disadvantaged by where they live or how they charge their vehicles,” said committee chair Huw Merriman.

In addition, drivers who live in rural or remote areas or who do not have off-street parking “risk being left behind”, the committee said.

The committee said industry must use pricing “to change consumer charging behaviour to a ‘little but often’ approach and at times when the National Grid can meet total demand”.

Graeme Cooper, head of future markets at National Grid, said that the energy network operator was “working with government to map out where critical grid capacity is needed to enable the faster roll out of charging points”.

“There will be an uptick in demand for energy so we need to ensure that we are future proofing, putting the right wires in the right place for future demand.”

He said National Grid would have to ramp up capacity to help achieve the UK’s net zero goals, both by making it smarter, but also putting in more physical infrastructure.