Tag: Trial

Malaysia ex-PM Najib pleads not guilty as he goes on trial over 1MDB mega-scandal

by M. Jegathesan Agence France Presse KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AFP) — Malaysia’s disgraced former leader Najib Razak pleaded not guilty to all charges against him as he went on trial Wednesday over a multi-billion-dollar fraud. The 65-year-old faced the first of several trials over his alleged involvement in the looting of sovereign wealth fund 1MDB, a state investment vehicle established to develop the economy of the Southeast Asian nation. The former premier and his cronies […]

New Zealand orders top-level inquiry into mosque massacres

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AFP) — New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Monday ordered an independent judicial inquiry into the Christchurch mosque attacks, asking whether police and intelligence services could have prevented the March 15 attack. Ardern said a royal commission — the most powerful judicial probe available under New Zealand law — was needed to find out how a single gunman was able to kill 50 people in an attack that shocked the world. […]

Glyphosate under fire from San Francisco to Sri Lanka

Glyphosate, the world’s most widely used herbicide and the active ingredient in Monsanto’s weedkiller Roundup, is the subject of fierce controversy across the globe and is classified by the World Health Organization as “probably” being carcinogenic. After the second US cancer victim in a year won a surprise court victory against Monsanto over the weedkiller on Tuesday, here is the state of play regarding lawsuits and restrictions on the use of glyphosate around the world: […]

Vietnam woman in N. Korea murder case has release bid rejected: prosecutor

SHAH ALAM, Malaysia (AFP) — A Vietnamese woman charged with assassinating the North Korean leader’s half-brother lost her bid for immediate release Thursday as Malaysian authorities refused to drop a murder charge, days after her Indonesian co-accused was freed. “In reference to the representation submitted on March 11 to the honourable attorney-general, we got an order to proceed with the case,” lead prosecutor Muhammad Iskandar Ahmad told the High Court in Shah Alam, outside Kuala […]

Top Vatican cleric Cardinal Pell convicted of child sex crimes

  MELBOURNE, Australia (AFP) — Australian Cardinal George Pell, who helped elect popes and ran the Vatican’s finances, has been found guilty of sexually assaulting two choirboys, a court said Tuesday, becoming the most senior Catholic cleric ever convicted of child sex crimes. An Australian court found Pell guilty by a trial jury on one count of sexual abuse and four counts of indecent assault of two boys at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne in […]

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 […]

Toppled Malaysian leader’s 1MDB trial delayed

Former Malaysian premier Najib Razak’s trial over a massive financial scandal that contributed to his government’s downfall was postponed Monday, in a blow to slow-moving efforts to bring the disgraced politician to justice. Najib had been due to go on trial Tuesday for the first time over allegations linked to his involvement in the looting of Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1MDB in a fraud that reverberated around the world. Billions of dollars were allegedly stolen […]

Malaysia’s toppled leader to go on trial over 1MDB scandal

  KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AFP) — Malaysia’s toppled leader Najib Razak will go on trial this week over an extraordinary financial scandal that contributed to the downfall of his long-ruling coalition and reverberated around the world. The former prime minister and his cronies are accused of stealing $4.5 billion from Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1MDB in a mind-boggling fraud that stretched from Switzerland to the Seychelles. The money was purportedly used to fund a global […]

Canada asks China clemency for convicted drug trafficker

MONTREAL, United States (AFP) — Canada urged Beijing on Tuesday to grant clemency to a Canadian sentenced to death for drug trafficking, after his sentence reignited a diplomatic dispute that began last month. Ottawa has warned its citizens about the risk of “arbitrary enforcement” of laws in China following a court’s sentencing of Robert Lloyd Schellenberg, 36, to death on Monday, increasing a previous 15-year prison term. The sentence came during a clash between Ottawa […]

Chinese court sentences Canadian drug suspect to death

  DALIAN, China (AFP) — A Chinese court sentenced a Canadian man to death on drug trafficking charges on Monday after his previous 15-year prison sentence was deemed too lenient, deepening a diplomatic rift as Canadian premier Justin Trudeau accused Beijing of “arbitrarily” using capital punishment. Robert Lloyd Schellenberg, 36, nodded as the judge in the northeast city of Dalian asked him whether he understood the verdict, following a day-long retrial in which he declared […]

Chinese court sentences Canadian drug suspect to death

by Elizabeth LAW Agence France Presse DALIAN, China (AFP) — A Chinese court sentenced a Canadian man to death on drug trafficking charges on Monday after his previous 15-year prison sentence was deemed too lenient, deepening a diplomatic rift as Canadian premier Justin Trudeau accused Beijing of “arbitrarily” using capital punishment. Robert Lloyd Schellenberg, 36, nodded as the judge in the northeast city of Dalian asked him whether he understood the verdict, following a day-long […]

Germany tries ‘serial killer’ nurse over worst post-war spree

  BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — German nurse Niels Hoegel, already serving a lengthy term for previous killings, will go on trial before anguished relatives Tuesday over the murders of around 100 more people — a spree prosecutors say is unprecedented in the post-war period. The 41-year-old is accused of intentionally administering medical overdoses to patients in his care in order to be able to bring them back to life at the last moment. He rarely […]