Bahrain: 3 opposition leaders get life term over Qatar spying case

Agencies
November 5, 2018

Bahrain's appeals court has sentenced three senior members of the country's opposition movement to life in prison over charges of spying for neighbouring Qatar, according to a statement from the public prosecutor.

The verdict against Sheikh Ali Salman, who headed the now-outlawed al-Wefaq movement, as well as Sheikh Hassan Sultan and Ali al-Aswad came on Sunday, months after their acquittal by the high criminal court in June. 

Sultan and al-Aswad were tried in absentia.

The trio was sentenced for "acts of hostility" against Bahrain and "communicating with Qatari officials... to overthrow constitutional order", the public prosecutor's statement said.

The latest ruling can be appealed.

Salman is currently serving a four-year sentence in a separate case - "inciting hatred" in the kingdom, which has seen mainly Shia protests against the Sunni monarchy since 2011.

In November, Salman and two other members of al-Wefaq were charged with working for Qatari intelligence with the aim of overthrowing the Bahraini government.

Rights groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have declared Salman and other jailed opposition leaders prisoners of conscience.

Sima Watling, Amnesty International's campaigner on Bahrain, told Al Jazeera from Beirut that the verdict was "absurd".

She said that Salman had phone conversations with the foreign minister of Qatar in 2011, urging Doha to mediate in Bahrain's political crisis, and the interaction was used six years later as a proof for spying charges.

"The new charges are absurd," Watling said. "It appears to be linked to the Qatar crisis and the Bahraini authorities are going forward with their crush on dissent. Any opposition or opposing voice is being crushed."

Bahrain, along with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, severed all ties with Qatar in 2017, banning their citizens from travel to or communication with the fellow Gulf Cooperation Council member.

Parliamentary elections

Sunday's verdict comes days ahead of Bahrain's November 24 parliamentary elections. Members of dissolved opposition parties, including al-Wefaq and the secular al-Waad group, are banned from running.

The Sunni-ruled Gulf state has been hit by waves of unrest since 2011 when security forces crushed Shia-led protests demanding a constitutional monarchy and an elected prime minister.

Opposition movements have been outlawed and hundreds of dissidents have been imprisoned - with many stripped of their nationality.

Bahrain last year ratified a constitutional amendment granting military courts the authority to try civilians charged with "terrorism", a term that is loosely defined by the Bahraini penal code.

In June, the kingdom amended its law on political rights, prohibiting "leaders and members of political associations dissolved for violating the kingdom's constitution or its laws" from running in legislative elections.

Bahrain, a key ally of the United States and home to the US Fifth Fleet, accuses Shia Iran of provoking unrest in the kingdom. Iran denies the allegations.

The United Nations and rights groups including Amnesty and HRW have criticised the Bahraini monarchy over its treatment of protesters.

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News Network
January 19,2020

New Delhi, Jan 19: Reacting to a tweet by ace lawyer Indira Jaising urging her to forgive the four men on death row for brutally raping that finally took her life, Nirbhaya's mother said on Saturday: "Even if God asks me, I won't forgive them."

Speaking to news agency, over the phone, the mother who had been fighting for seven long years to send her daughter's killers to the gallows, said, "...even if god comes and asks me to forgive them, I will not. People like these (Jaising) are a blot on the society."

Commenting on Jaising's tweet, she said: "Who is she to tell or suggest to me to forgive them. What relation does she have with me. I have nothing to do with such people. She can be a relative of those (the convicts) that she is having a soft corner for."

"She is an insult to women. She is running a business in the name of human rights. She is a veteran, she should give a message to the society. But she instead will go against her own kind," she added.

Earlier in the day, Jaising had requested Nirbhaya's mother to follow the example of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who had moved for the clemency of a woman, Nalini Murugan convicted for the assassination of her husband and former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

"While I fully identify with the pain of Nirbhaya's mother I urge her to follow the example of Sonia Gandhi who forgave Nalini and said she didn't want the death penalty for her. We are with you but against death penalty," Jaising tweeted on Friday.

A Delhi Court on Friday issued fresh death warrants against the four convicts -- Akshay, Pawan, Mukesh and Vinay in the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case.

Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Satish Kumar Arora fixed 1 February as the date of execution of the four death row convicts. They will be hanged at 6am.

The move came after the prosecution moved an application seeking issuance of fresh death warrants following the rejection of the mercy plea of one of the convicts Mukesh by President Ram Nath Kovind.

The 23-year-old victim was brutally gang-raped and tortured on December 16, 2012, which later led to her death.

All the six accused were arrested and charged with sexual assault and murder. One of the accused was a minor and appeared before a juvenile justice court, while another accused committed suicide in Tihar Jail.

Four of the convicts were sentenced to death by a trial court in September 2013, and the verdict was confirmed by the Delhi High Court in March 2014 and upheld by the Supreme Court in May 2017, which also dismissed their review petitions.

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News Network
February 11,2020

New Delhi, Feb 11: The government has decided to rename National Institute of Financial Management (NIFM), Faridabad, as Arun Jaitley National Institute of Financial Management, an official statement said on Tuesday.

Set up in 1993 as a registered society under the Department of Expenditure, NIFM trains officers of Finance and Accounts Services recruited by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) as also officers of Indian Cost Accounts Service. The Union Finance Minister is the President of the NIFM Society.

"Aligning the vision and aspiration of the Institute for the future with the vision and contribution of late Arun Jaitley, the Government has decided to rename National Institute of Financial Management (NIFM) as the Arun Jaitley National Institute of Financial Management(AJNIFM)," the statement said.

NIFM has become a premier resource centre to meet the training needs of the central government for senior and middle level of management in the fields of public policy, financial management, public procurement and other governance issues for promoting highest standards of professional competence and practice.

Padma Vibhushan awardee Jaitley was the Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs during May 26, 2014 to May 30, 2019.

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News Network
January 9,2020

New Delhi, Jan 9: JNU students who tried to march towards the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Thursday protesting the violence on the university campus were stopped by police and later detained.

The police also resorted to baton charge to control the mob who tried to block the traffic at Janpath. Using loudspeakers, the police also appealed to the crowd to maintain peace.

Before the students tried to proceed towards the Rashtrapati Bhavan, a delegation of JNU Students' Union and JNU Teachers' Association also met Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry officials and demanded the removal of Vice-Chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar from his post.

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