MELBOURNE, Australia (AFP) — Disgraced Australian Cardinal George Pell “may not live to be released from prison”, the judge warned a Melbourne court Wednesday as the sentencing of the 77-year-old for child sex crimes began. Pell, the most senior Catholic clergyman ever found guilty of child sex abuse, faces a maximum 50 years in prison for assaulting two choirboys in a Melbourne cathedral in 1996-97. The Australian cleric has been in custody since late […]
Tag: Court
Malaysia court frees Indonesian in Kim Jong Nam murder case
SHAH ALAM, Malaysia (AFP) — A Malaysian court Monday freed an Indonesian woman accused of assassinating the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s half-brother after prosecutors withdrew the murder charge against her. Siti Aisyah had been accused alongside Doan Thi Huong from Vietnam of killing Kim Jong Nam by smearing VX nerve agent on his face at Kuala Lumpur airport in February 2017, in a brazen Cold War-style hit that shocked the world. “Siti Aisyah […]
Canada launches extradition of Huawei executive to US
by Michel Comte Agence France Presse OTTAWA, Canada (AFP) — Canada on Friday launched the extradition of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou to the United States — the latest move in a case that has roiled relations between the North American neighbors and China. Beijing was quick to react, saying Ottawa’s action amounted to a “severe political incident.” The 47-year-old businesswoman was changing planes in Vancouver in December when she was detained at Washington’s request […]
Ex-Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn makes fresh bail request
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Lawyers for former Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn on Thursday filed a fresh bail request for the auto titan who has been detained for more than three months, the Tokyo District Court said. It is the first bail request filed by the 64-year-old since he shook up his legal team as he crafts his defence to three charges of financial misconduct. The former high-flying executive has been in detention since his shock […]
Israel ex-minister sentenced to 11 years for spying for Iran
JERUSALEM (AFP) — An Israeli ex-minister was sentenced to 11 years in prison on Tuesday for spying for his country’s main enemy Iran after a plea bargain in the case, the prosecutor said. Gonen Segev, who served as energy and infrastructure minister from 1995 to 1996, had previously agreed to a plea bargain on charges of serious espionage and transfer of information to the enemy. Court hearings were held in secret due to the […]
Canadian woman jailed for attack in name of IS group
OTTAWA, Canada (AFP) — A Canadian woman found guilty of terror crimes for trying to join the Islamic State group and in its name attacking staff at a department store was sentenced Thursday to seven years in prison. Rehab Dughmosh, 34, was arrested in June 2017 and later convicted of leaving the country for the purpose of joining a terror group, and assaults with a golf club and a butcher knife, and carrying an archery […]
French priest jailed for sexual abuse
COLMAR, France (AFP) — A French priest was Friday sentenced to five years, two without parole, for sexually assaulting four young female parishioners, one of whom was just nine when the offences started, and embezzling 100,000 euros ($115,000) to pay one of his victims. The trial was held behind closed doors at Colmar Criminal Court, in northeast France, which publicly announced the sentence late Friday. The 60-year-old cleric, who will have to spend at least […]
Six suspects in court over Nairobi hotel attack
NAIROBI, Kenya (AFP) — Six suspects, including a Canadian national, appeared in a Kenyan court on Friday in connection with a radical Islamist attack on a Nairobi hotel complex that left 21 dead. A magistrate granted a request from the prosecution to detain four men and one woman for 30 days while investigations continue. A sixth suspect will be held until next week. The suspects are accused of “possible involvement” in the almost 20-hour siege […]
South Korea awards ferry sinking survivors compensation
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — A South Korean court on Monday awarded compensation to some survivors of the Sewol ferry sinking, almost five years after the accident killed more than 300 people in one of the country’s deadliest maritime disasters. The 6,825-tonne Sewol was carrying 476 people — most of them high-school students on a school trip — when it capsized off the southern coast in April 2014. Almost all the victims were children, many […]
Ghosn’s detention extended by 10 days through Jan 1
Former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn will be spending Christmas and the beginning of 2019 behind bars after a Tokyo court on Sunday extended his detention through to January 1. “Today, a decision was made to detain (Ghosn). The full term of the detention will expire on January 1,” the Tokyo District Court said in a statement to media. The move by the court comes as Tokyo prosecutors continue to grill the automobile tycoon over allegations […]
Apple risks iPhone ban in Germany after court case loss
by Hui Min NEO Agence France Pressse BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — A German court on Thursday ruled in favour of US chipmaker Qualcomm in a patent dispute case against Apple, which could lead to a ban on sales of iPhones in Germany. This marks a second major win for Qualcomm in a month after a court in China on December 10 ordered a prohibition on iPhone sales over a separate patent dispute there. “Qualcomm ruling […]
Weinstein back in court seeking dismissal of sex assault case
by Catherine TRIOMPHE Agence France Presse NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — Could Harvey Weinstein, public enemy number one of the #MeToo movement. end up walking away a free man? On Thursday, the onetime Hollywood heavyweight producer will be back in a New York courtroom as his star attorney Ben Brafman asks a judge to dismiss the sex assault charges against his client. Brafman says police misconduct, specifically the work of one investigator, has “irreparably […]





