Zimbabwe Hangman Raises Execution Fears
~~By Gift Phiri | Aljazeera 

The murder of 12-year-old Christpower Maisiri was a crime many said should be punished by death [Reuters]

Harare, Zimbabwe - In Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison on the outskirts of Harare, Zimbabwe’s capital, there are 77 convicts who have been condemned to death by hanging.

Held in solitary confinement in cells close to the gallows, some of those condemned to death have been there for more than a decade, their appeals rejected by President Robert Mugabe.

Although the death penalty is still on the books in Zimbabwe, there have been no executions since 2004, in part because there was no hangman.

But a macabre development could potentially activate the dormant penalty. Years of unsuccessful headhunting by the country’s Justice and Legal Affairs ended last September with a sombre announcement by Justice and Legal Affairs secretary David Mangota: the government had secured a hangman who was "raring to go".

Little is known of the hangman, who is rumoured to be from Malawi. Authorities have refused to clear any interviews with him.

The announcement came as a surprise, given the ambivalence within the Zimbabwean criminal justice system about executions. Although capital punishment was codified during British rule, which ended in 1980, evolving jurisprudence and new sensitivities within Zimbabwe have limited the actual practice to the barest minimum.

The recruitment has sharply divided the government - formed between President Robert Mugabe and his rival Morgan Tsvangirai, who is now prime minister.

The Justice and Legal Affairs ministry is a shared portfolio: minister Chinamasa belongs to Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) and his deputy Obert Gutu is a member of Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

Chinamasa says in a country with high levels of violence and regular reports of grisly rapes and murders, the perpetrators of such crimes are "worthy" of death sentences.

However, his deputy Gutu is staunchly opposed to the recruitment.

"It's bizarre and odious in the extreme," the deputy minister said. "Whoever sanctioned the hiring of a hangman at this juncture of Zimbabwe's jurisprudential history is obviously of unsound mind. For how else can you describe such an absurd decision to engage the services of a hangman when the draft constitution has made it quite apparent that the death penalty is on its way out?

Gutu added that there will not be any executions taking place in the near future.

Abolishing capital punishment:
With 77 prisoners on death row, there is a growing clamour to abolish capital punishment through the ongoing constitution-making process.

Zimbabwe’s new constitution prohibits the death penalty for all women, as well as men who were under 21 at the time of the crime and those over 70. It also bans using the death penalty as a mandatory punishment.

The new constitution, overwhelmingly approved by Zimbabweans during a national referendum on March 16, puts greater limits on the use of capital punishment. Two women on death row recieved stays on their proposed executions after the draft constitution won support in the referendum.

Human rights group Amnesty International said while the proposed limitations to applying the punishment are welcome, it called for the death penalty to be abolished fully in the new constitution, regardless of gender and the circumstances in which a crime was committed.

“This macabre recruitment [of a new hangman] is disturbing and suggests that Zimbabwe does not want to join the global trend towards abolition of this cruel, inhuman and degrading form of punishment,” Noel Kututwa, the southern Africa director for Amnesty, said.

Human rights groups and other non-governmental agencies have been circulating petitions calling for the abolition of the death penalty for some time now.

Women's Coalition of Zimbabwe chairperson Virginia Muwanigwa said: “We want the death penalty to be removed from our constitution and our laws completely. One important reason for this is that it is mostly poor people who often get hanged.”

She spoke as the UN chief Ban Ki-moon stepped up calls for a global moratorium on applying the death penalty. “A global moratorium is a crucial stepping stone towards full worldwide abolition,” Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Kyung-wha Kang said in a speech delivered at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva last month on behalf of Ban.

Revived national debate:
Within Zimbabwe, opinion is sharply divided, and the possibility of resuming executions has stoked a national debate.

Former national director of the Zimbabwean National Constitutional Assembly Earnest Mudzengi believes that capital punishment must be abolished. “It is degrading, and is against God-endowed values of humanity,” he said.

Mary Moyo, a vendor in Harare, holds the same views, believing that “only God has the right to take life”.

But Samson Marecha, a self-employed motor mechanic, says abolishing capital punishment will foment crime. “There are times when you need an eye for an eye,” he argued.

His views are similar to those of civil rights campaigner Sydney Chisi, who backs the death penalty as a deterrent for crime and political violence. He spoke as Christpower Maisiri, the 12-year-old son of a district organiser and aspiring legislator for the MDC, died in what the party called a “politically motivated attack” by alleged militants of Mugabe’s Zanu-PF.

"Look at the Zimbabwean context and the level of funded political violence, but also the emergence of ritual killings. I think the issue of capital punishment should be maintained,” Chisi said. “The constitution should allow that provision so as to manage the violence we are engulfed in.”

Meanwhile, men on death row such as convicted murderer Shepherd Mazango, who robbed and hacked a man to death, have raised constitutional arguments in a Supreme Court challenge against the death penalty.

Convicted to die by hanging in November 2009, Mazango's presidential mercy petition fell through. He has filed an emergency motion with the courts, but because court cases have been known to take ages without judgments, Zimbabwean defence lawyers have raised arguments that forcing someone accused or even convicted of a capital offence to wait for years before an execution amounted to cruel and unusual punishment - which the constitution says is illegal.

Mazango wants his sentence commuted to life in prison, and says he has suffered anguish on death row because of the delay in execution.

"This [delay in execution] has caused severe trauma on the inmates that some of them are losing their mind," Mazango said in his constitutional challenge in the Supreme Court.

"The very thought that I am dying steals all my hope for the future, makes me restless and the delay traumatises me. It causes me emotional and psychological trauma. Worse still, to think that I can spend 13 years before execution like my colleague George Manyonga crushes me."

Courtesy: Yahoo.com

Mumbai case: Pak Court Issues Summons To Those Who Sold Boat

ISLAMBAD, 30 MARCH: A Pakistani anti-terrorism court conducting the trial of seven men charged with involvement in the Mumbai attacks today issued summons to six witnesses for selling a boat and other equipment to the accused.

Judge Chaudhry Habib-ur-Rehman, who is conducting the trial behind closed doors at Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi for security reasons, issued the summons to Hamza Bin Tariq, Muhammad Ali, Mohammad Saifullah, Umer Draz, Saqib Iqbal and Atiq Ahmed, prosecutors said.

“The accused had bought the boat, an engine and related equipment from these private witnesses,” chief prosecutor Chaudhry Zulifqar Ali told PTI after the hearing.

He said since Indian authorities had not yet responded to Pakistan's request to allow a Pakistani judicial commission to cross-examine and record the statements of four witnesses in Mumbai, the prosecution today requested the judge to proceed with the trial.

“There has already been a considerable delay in the case and the court should continue the trial proceedings,” Mr Ali told the judge during proceedings.

Prosecutors also requested the court to take up their application to conduct hearings every day.

The judge subsequently adjourned the case till 6 April.

The Pakistani judicial commission's visit to India has already been delayed by several weeks over the issue of Islamabad seeking an assurance that members of the panel will be allowed to cross-examine witnesses.

The commission is set to make a second visit to Mumbai to record the statements of four witnesses because the anti-terrorism court had rejected a report submitted after its first visit on the ground that the panel was not allowed to conduct any cross-examination.

The trial of the seven suspects, including Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, has progressed at a snail's pace due to repeated adjournments and various technical delays.

They have been charged with planning, financing and executing the attacks that killed 166 people in November 2008. 

Courtesy: The Statesman

Turkish Woman Sentenced For Funding Pak Terror Outfit 

WASHINGTON, 30 MARCH: A Turkish woman was sentenced to five years in jail by a US court on charges of sending money to a terrorist outfit in Pakistan for attacks against American military personnel.

40-year-old Oytun Ayse Mihalik, a lawful permanent resident of the USA residing in California, had pleaded guilty last August to one count of providing material support to terrorists.

When she pleaded guilty, Mihalik specifically admitted that she provided money to an individual in Pakistan with the intention that the money would be used to prepare for and carry out attacks against US military personnel and other persons overseas, the US justice department said today.

Using the alias Cindy Palmer, Mihalik sent a total of USD 2,050 in three wire transfers to the person in Pakistan over the course of three weeks at the end of 2010 and the beginning of 2011.

“International terrorists require a steady pipeline of money to maintain and support their operations,” said US Attorney Andre Birotte.

“The defendant in this case knowingly and deliberately made wire transfers to fund terrorist operations overseas, where contributions like these could have a significant and devastating impact on American interests,” he said.

Mihalik has been in federal custody since she was arrested on 27 August, 2011, as she was preparing to board a flight to her native Turkey with a one-way ticket.

As part of this case, Mihalik agreed that the USA can take away her immigration status and that she will be removed from the US to Turkey after serving her prison sentence.

After her arrest, she told the FBI that she believed the person in Pakistan was a member of the Taliban and Al Qaida, and she knew he was using the money for mujahadin operations against American military forces in the Afghanistan/Pakistan region. 

Courtesy: The Statesman

Bangladesh: Hunger Strike: 4 more Shahbagh protesters hospitalised

Memo demanding Jamaat ban to be submitted to PM online Sunday

Dhaka, Mar 30 (UNB) – Four more members of `Shaheed Rumi Squad` were hospitalised after they fell sick on Saturday, the fifth day of their fast-unto-death programme.

Spokesperson of the protesters Sejuti Sonima Nadi told reporters in the evening that Shahdat Hossain Niloy, Rubayet Adnan Dip, Alif Sadan, Shuvro Mahmud Jyoty and Mehdi Hassan Shuvo were rushed to Birdem Hospital after they fell sick around 5:30pm.

Earlier, on Friday, another protester, Manik Sutradhar, was admitted to the same hospital after he fainted due to weakness.

The members of the ‘Shaheed Rumi Squad’ began their fast-unto-death programme in front of the National Museum at Shahbagh on Tuesday, protesting ‘inadequate’ action by the government to ban Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir.

The bloggers and online activists, who staged a massive month-long demonstration at Prajanma Chattar of Shahbagh on February 21 demanding capital punishment of all the war criminals, gave the government until March 26 to initiate the process to ban the politics of Jamaat and Shibir.

The Shaheed Rumi Squad will submit an online letter to the Prime Minister’s Office at 3:30am on Sunday when their hunger strike will turn 100-hour-old.

Meanwhile, the organisers of Ganajagaran Mancha said they will submit signatures, collected from several lakh people across the country, to acting President Abdul Hamid on Sunday.

Courtesy: UNB Connect

Bangladesh: 10 Million Sign On For Death To War Criminals

The demand for death penalty to war criminals and a ban on Jamaat-e-Islami has attracted almost 10 million signatures as a mark of solidarity with the Gonojagoron Mancha.

This undated file photo shows youths gathering
at Projonmo Chattar demanding death penalty
to war criminals.

Imran H Sarker, spokesperson for the Gonojagoron Mancha, disclosed the information at a press briefing at the Shahbagh Projonmo Chattar on Saturday.

He said the Gonojagoron Mancha would submit a memorandum along with the mass signatures to the parliament Speaker on Sunday.

“We hope that the honourable parliament will show due respect to the people’s verdict delivered through the mass signatures and come forward to implement the six-point demand of the Gonojagoron Mancha,” he stated.

The month-long signature campaign continued till March 22.

Meanwhile, the protesters of Rumi Squad continued their fast-unto-death, demanding effective action in initiating the process of banning Jamaat. The participants completed 98 hours at midnight.

So far the government has made no steps to initiate the banning process, nor has it made any comments regarding the protestors on hunger strike, said the protesters.

The hunger strike, which began Tuesday night with seven participants, now has a total of 20 participants.

Courtesy: The Daily Star

Gutless Hindu MPs in Bangladesh. Plight of Bangladeshi Hindus as We are Guilty.

~~Dr. Richard L. Benkin

If my recent trip to South Asia taught me anything, it is that the solution to stopping the ethnic cleansing of Hindus in Bangladesh lies within us.  And so do the obstacles.  This is a serious human rights travesty that has been flying under the world’s radar for at least 40 years as Hindus went from almost a fifth of the new nation of Bangladesh (1971) to less than eight percent today.  Throughout that period, there has been a torrent of confirmed and specifically anti-Hindu atrocities that have proceeded with the tacit approval of successive governments representing all political stripes in Bangladesh.  According to Professor Sachi Dastidar of the State University of New York, the number of Hindus murdered, forced to emigrate, and forced to convert to Islam, or never born as a direct result come to 50 million.  That is a third of Bangladesh’s current population, which shows how that country is as much Hindu as Muslim—or would be were it not for this creeping jihad.

Bangladesh still has the world’s third largest Hindu population with about 12 million Hindus living without protection from radicals and others who can attack and abuse them with impunity because the government they helped vote into office turns a blind eye toward their victimization.  And yet, what major media outlets report this ongoing ethnic cleansing?  What internationally hailed human rights organizations champion a fight against it—or even mention it in any significant way?  That the answer to both questions is “none” does not mean they all are anti-Hindu or funded by of petro dollars.

As Ceasar said in William Shakespeare’s play, “The fault dear Brutus is not in the stars but in ourselves.”

On February 18, I was in Bangladesh where I embraced Hindu victims and confronted their victimizers, stood with their defenders Hindu and Muslim, and confronted Bangladeshi officials participating in and allowing these atrocities.  I had also spent a great deal of time with Advocate Rabindra Ghosh, who puts his own well-being aside to fight to stop the atrocities.

That night, I arrived at my hotel to find two Hindu Members of Parliament (MPs), waiting to speak with me.  They came expecting well-wishes, photo-ops, and hand-wringing about how bad others are.  But they represent Dinajpur and Khulna, two areas in Bangladesh where anti-Hindus abuse is a way of life, where the Awami League government continues its predecessors’ practice of purposely turning a blind eye to this “quiet case of ethnic cleansing,” and where these government officials who say they represent the Bangladeshi Hindu community sit silently while their co-religionists are slaughtered.  Having freshly returned from one of them where I met victim after victim, I was in no mood for their sort of false solidarity.  So, after a brief introduction, I asked, “Okay, tell me what you—as Hindu MPs—are doing about the ethnic cleansing of your people here.”

             “We have done many things. “  Answered the man from Khulna where fresh atrocities are occurring even while I am writing this.

            “Many things?  You know that’s [a lie],” I replied sharply.  “Hindus in your district are being raped and killed, their land snatched, Mandirs destroyed; and no prosecutions.  So, don’t tell me that you’re doing ‘many things.’  How many Hindu Members of Parliament are there?”

             “Seventeen.”

         ..“Seventeen?  That’s a lot of people; and you mean to tell me that with that many in parliament, you still haven’t done anything?”

             “Well, the party—“

             “That’s your other mistake, and I tried to tell this to Hindus before the last election.  Minorities need to form their own political party.  Right now, the Awami League doesn’t have to do anything.  They know you’ll vote for them anyway.  And the BNP doesn’t have to do anything because they know you won’t vote for them.”

Dr. Benkin with victimized Hindus in a Protest Rally in Bangladesh

And I went on for some time, peppering them, demanding, egging them on, etc.  I told them that they should be ashamed that I come half way around the world while they do nothing here for their own people.  Pointing to Rabindra Ghosh, I said that “he has extensive evidence that there are Members of Parliament involved big time in grabbing Hindu land, even rapes and other atrocities.  You know what your enemies think of you as you sit next to them smiling?  ‘We can steal their land, rape their daughters and sisters, and just give them a few Taka.”

Someone started to say something about there being problems.  “Problems?  Problems?  I don’t want to hear about problems,” I said.  “You think I don’t have problems?  Or that he [Rabindra Ghosh] has none? ‘Problems’ are just an excuse for not doing what’s right.”

They sat either with their face buried in their hands (people in the lobby were beginning to take notice) or looked up at the ceiling; but I would not let up.  For years, we have been struggling against a system and a government that wants to keep the issue buried while keeping the destruction of Bangladesh’s Hindus going strong.  People like these two men are in a position to do something about it but do not.

I reminded them that an American Christian, former US Congressman Bob Dold raised the issue of the Bangladeshi Hindus on the floor of the US House, while they remain silent.  Referring again to Rabindra Ghosh, I noted that “this man has extensive, direct, and verified evidence of enough atrocities so that each Hindu MP can begin each session of the Jatiya Sangsad (Bangladeshi parliament) by reading a new one in the record.  Perhaps they can be the agents who force the government to act or the world to take notice.”

Right now, however, they refuse to acknowledge their responsibility to act.  And while they sit silently and watch their people being brutalized, organizations like Struggle for Hindu Existence under the leadership of Upananda Brhmachari, is providing a public forum to do what they are not:  exposing the truth of what is happening to Hindus in Bangladesh so that people will act to stop the atrocities.

It has been more than a month since our encounter, and none of Bangladesh’s 17 Hindu MPs have taken any action or uttered a word of protest even while the atrocities continue and their constituents suffer.  If these “leaders” are too cowardly to act, perhaps the voters in their districts should vote for people who are not.

Courtesy: Struggle For Hindu Existence

Slovakia commutes death sentence for Lazlo Csatary to life imprisonment
~~Addison Morris

A Slovak court has commuted a death sentence against Laszlo Csatary, a war criminal whom Slovakia wants extradited from Hungary for his complicity in murdering thousands of Jews.

The decision cancels a 1948 sentence Csatary received in absentia for torturing Jews and helping deport them to Auschwitz when he served as senior police commander in the eastern Slovak city of Kosice.

Csatary is 98. He was in hiding for decades until Hungarian authorities put him under house arrest in Budapest last July. He has denied any guilt.

The Slovakian cancellation of the death sentence was based on the punishment's abolishment of the death penalty in the country 1990.

Slovakian legal analysts said that with Csatary's death sentence now null and void, a way was opened for Slovakia to seek other punishment for him and obtain his extradition from Hungary.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center has estimated that Csatary helped organized the deportation of some 16,000 Jews to Auschwitz in 1944. He has denied all responsibility for any crimes against humanity.

Eyewitness accounts have fingered him as having whipped, tortured and even killed some of the deportees before they left. Csatary is number one on the Simon Wiesenthal Centre's wanted list.

Courtesy: Jewish News One

Pakistani Hindus Protest Over Forced Conversion Of A Woman To Islam 
~~By Rezaul H Laskar

Members of Pakistan’s minority Hindu community staged a protest in southern Sindh Province after a Hindu woman converted to Islam and married a Muslim man, according to a media report on Saturday.

The protest and a “wave of anger” within the minority community led to the postponement of polls for the Hindu Panchayat in Jacobabad on Friday.

Reports from Jhanjhri Street area of Jacobabad said Ganga, the daughter of gold trader Ashok Kumar, married Asif Ali, son of another gold trader Bahadur Ali Surhio, at Amrot Sharif Dargah after converting to Islam, the Dawn reported.

Ganga changed her name to Aasia. The woman’s parents and several relatives rushed to the shrine after learning about the conversion but the marriage had already been registered. They returned to Jacobabad and lodged an FIR that alleged Ganga was kidnapped by Asif Ali his father, a brother named Abid Ali, and another man identified as Miran Bukhsh.

Asif Ali was not at his residence but his father, brother and Miran Bukhsh were arrested. The Hindu community of Jacobabad took to the streets and organised a protest against what the “kidnapping” of the woman.

Angry groups of local residents called for a strike and postponement of the Hindu Panchayat polls till the matter was settled. Heated arguments over the polls created an ugly situation and police had to be called in to restore order.

Incumbent Panchayat chief Harpal Das Chabria told several hundred voters and their candidates that kidnapping of Hindu girls and their “forced conversion” had increased for some time.

He appealed to authorities to check the trend and provide protection to Hindus in Sindh. A rally was organised from Janta Hall in Jacobabad against the alleged kidnapping. People marched to the local press club, shouting slogans for Ganga’s reunion with her family.

Hindu leaders warned that if their demand was not met, the community would observe a strike across the city and start an agitation.

Some Hindus alleged Sarafa Association president Samiullah Surhio was involved in the alleged kidnapping.

However, Surhio told the media that he had nothing to do with the matter. The Hindu community in Sindh has been up in arms since last year over the alleged abduction and forced conversion of several women.

(PTI)

Courtesy: NITI Central

Panchayat cuts off girl's hair in public for allegedly eloping with uncle

The police has registered a report against 16 people for being part of a tribal panchayat which punished a girl recently, for allegedly eloping, by cutting off her hair in public.

The tribal panchayat at Chikhlar village situated about five kilometres away from Betul district headquarters also punished the girl's uncle for allegedly eloping with her, by making him run around with a garland of shoes and a grinding stone tied to his chest.

Though the girl aged about 18 pleaded that her uncle had kidnapped her from the village market, the tribal panchayat allegedly did not listen to her pleas and insulted her.

The villagers vociferously have protested against the police action yesterday before the Superintendent of Police (SP) office here, demanding that the report be withdrawn. They also justified the action of their panchayat as it was their "tradition".

Terming the panchayat's decision as illegal, the police said a case has been registered and a further probe is on.

So far, 13 persons have been arrested and released by the police on a personal bond and a search is on to trace the remaining three culprits.

The police had intervened following a tip-off by an anganwadi worker and the girl's family members spoke out against the panchayat diktat.

Her uncle who has been accused of eloping with her three months ago, was married, with two children. He returned to the village on March 19 after which the local tribal panchayat met on March 20 to issue the diktat, police sources said.

Courtesy: Indian Express

Jodi Arias Defense in Murder Trial Has Cost Taxpayers $1.4 Million

The video above is filled with strange antics of Jodi Arias, 32, who is accused of murdering Travis Alexander in 2008 with 27 stab wounds, a slit throat and a bullet in the head. She could face the death penalty if convicted in her marathon murder trial.

In the clip she, digs through the trash-bin, takes paper from the printer, talks to herself,  enacts a headstand, sings a Dido song (lyrics below):

"This is really trivial question and it's going to reveal how shallow I am but before they book me can I clean myself up a little bit" - Jodi Arias

"You should have at least done your makeup, Jodi. Gosh" - Jodi Arias
(laughs) "goodness" - Jodi Arias

Arias' demeanor changes dramatically throughout the videos, which were filmed on July 15 and 16, 2008. 

The defense of Jodi Arias, on trial for allegedly murdering her ex-boyfriend, has cost Arizona taxpayers more than $1.4 million.

Death penalty cases as a rule are more expensive than normal murder trials and the tab for her defense so far has exceeded $1.4 million, the state has revealed. Arias is represented by court-appointed attorneys at a rate of up to $250 per hour after she was unable to afford her own defense. The total does not include the cost of the state's prosecution.

The figure was released as the trial neared the end of its third month of testimony, which began Jan. 2.

The jury is currently hearing testimony by domestic violence expert Alyce LaViolette, who spent 44 hours interviewing Arias in jail. LaViolette was paid $250 an hour for that, and is now being paid $300 an hour for her expert testimony.

Arias and Alexander dated for about a year, but continued to sleep together after they broke up. Alexander was killed after a tryst in which the two took nude photos of each other.

The prosecution claims Arias killed Alexander out of jealousy, but Arias claims Alexander had become increasingly abusive and menacing and that she was forced to kill him in self defense when he became enraged because she dropped his camera.

LaViolette never met Alexander, but she read his emails, text messages and listened to recorded phone sex conversations he had with Arias.

Based on the evidence that she has collected, and the word of Arias, LaViolette said Arias was a battered woman. LaViolette cited one email that Alexander's close friends sent Arias early in the couple's relationship, which began in 2006.

"They advised her to move on from the relationship," LaViolette told the court. "That Mr. Alexander has been abusive to women."

Arias also claims she has been abused since childhood, a notion echoed by LaViolette in court this week.

"Jodi's mother didn't protect her from her father," LaViolette told the court.

LaViolette will continue her testimony next week and then face what is sure to be an intense cross examination by prosecutor Juan Martinez, who has suggested that Arias is making up stories of Alexander's alleged abuse. 

Sources:

(i) YouTube

(ii) ABC News

Alexis Wright, Maine Zumba Teacher, Pleads Guilty To Prostitution

Alexis Wright

PORTLAND, Maine — A dance instructor accused of using her Zumba fitness studio as a front for prostitution pleaded guilty Friday to 20 counts in a scandal that captivated a quiet seaside town.

The agreement that followed a second day of plea negotiations spares Alexis Wright from the prospect of a high-profile trial featuring sex videos, exhibitionism and pornography. Prosecutors will recommend a jail sentence of 10 months when she's sentenced May 31.

Wright quietly answered "guilty" 20 times when the judge read the counts, which include engaging in prostitution, promotion of prostitution, conspiracy, tax evasion and theft by deception.

"We're very satisfied with it. It's an appropriate outcome, given the gravity of her actions," Assistant Attorney General Darcy Mitchell said after the brief court hearing.

The 30-year-old Wright was accused of conspiring with insurance agent Mark Strong Sr. to run a prostitution business in which she kept detailed records indicating she made $150,000 over an 18-month period. She was also accused of using a hidden camera to record sex acts without her clients' knowledge.

She was originally charged with 106 counts. All the counts in the agreement were misdemeanors, including three counts relating to welfare and tax fraud that were reduced from felonies.

Strong, 57, of Thomaston, was convicted this month of 13 counts related to promotion of prostitution and sentenced to 20 days in jail.

The scandal became a sensation following reports that Wright had at least 150 clients, leading to a guessing game of who might be named publicly in the coastal town of Kennebunk, a community better known for its beaches and sea captains' homes than for crime. Attorneys who have seen the client list say it included some prominent names. Those who have been charged so far include a former mayor, a high school hockey coach, a minister, a lawyer and a firefighter.

Working together, Strong and Wright represented an unusual pairing.

Wright had attended college classes and ran dance classes for the local parks and recreation program before opening her studio in Kennebunk. But she was also engaging in paid-sex acts in the studio, in her apartment and in her office, law enforcement officials said.

Overseeing the operation and watching the sex acts live on his office computer 100 miles up the coast was Strong, a married father of two who ran a successful insurance agency in Thomaston.

It came as no surprise that Wright would seek a plea agreement because evidence presented in Strong's trial was so overwhelming. A video played for jurors showed Wright engaging in sex acts with a man who then inquired about her rate before leaving $250 cash on her massage table.

After the man left, the video showed Wright pocketing the money.

There was plenty of electronic evidence because the two kept in touch via text and email and because Wright videotaped the clients and Strong watched live via Skype. Videos showed them speaking openly of ledgers, payments and scheduling.

Under the plea agreement, prosecutors will seek restitution of $57,250 from Wright after she's released from jail.

Defense lawyer Sarah Churchill said Wright is married and employable, and she expects Wright will be able to enter into a payment plan. Churchill left the courtroom without talking to reporters.

Residents of Kennebunk were frustrated by the media coverage of the scandal.

Names of purported clients trickled out as they were charged, leading to speculation about who else might be on the list. But residents soon grew weary of the media's attention, especially after it became clear that only a few of clients were locals.

So far, 66 people have been charged as clients, York County Deputy District Attorney Justin McGettigan said. The state will continue to pursue charges against additional people identified on Wright's ledger if the evidence is strong enough to prove the charges beyond reasonable doubt, she said.

Things have largely returned to normal in Kennebunk. And on Friday night, a free dance was being held at Wright's old Pura Vida Studio, where Zumba continues under new management and a new name, Danceworks.

Jeremiah Ouellette, manager of New Morning Natural Foods Market, across the street from the fitness studio, said residents have put the prostitution episode behind them.

"I think people have really lost interest," Ouellette said. "People really don't care anymore."

Courtesy: Huff Post Crime

Lancaster Woman’s Execution To Be Delayed

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - A woman scheduled to be put to death next week has been given a temporary stay of execution. Kimberly McCarthy of Lancaster was convicted of the brutal 1997 murder of an elderly neighbor. But a press release from Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins said that her execution date has been moved from April 3 to June 26.

McCarthy was sentenced to death for the robbery, beating and fatal stabbing of 71-year-old retired college professor Dorothy Booth. McCarthy went to Booth’s home under the pretense of needing a cup of sugar. Police said that she a crack cocaine addict who used a butcher knife to cut off Booth’s finger and remove her wedding ring.

DNA evidence linked McCarthy to Booth’s murder and the murders of two other women. She was never tried on those other cases.

In the District Attorney’s statement, Watkins said, “When I sign a death warrant in Dallas County, I want the public to trust that the inmate who was sentenced to death by a jury received a fair trial.”

The delay comes as “six proposed bills seek to improve the fairness of the ultimate punishment.” Those six bills in the Legislature address a number of issues involving death penalty cases. One of the bills introduced would require biological testing of all evidence for DNA before seeking the death penalty.

However, the questions in McCarthy’s case are not related to the actual death sentence, but rather how that sentence could be impacted by pending legislation. There is some confusion as to whether or not the bills would affect McCarthy’s case. Officials are waiting for decisions from lawmakers to determine the potential outcome. The defense has suggested racial bias amongst the jury. McCarthy was already tried twice and sentenced to death both times.

Greg Davis was the prosecutor at the time of McCarthy’s trial. He said that none of the pending bills should impact the McCarthy case because there was no racial bias. Although she was sentenced for killing a white woman, McCarthy’s other two alleged victims were black. Watkins also agrees that McCarthy was responsible for the murder.

Watkins was in court on Friday morning to formally announce the agreement for a temporary stay of McCarthy’s execution. “I think it’s just prudent for us to stand aside and let our lawmakers make a determination on these issues before we go forward with an execution,” Watkins explained.

The judge on Friday said that he is waiting for the Court of Criminal Appeals to rule on motions filed by lawyers on both sides of the case. If he does not hear back from the court by 4:30 p.m. on Monday afternoon, he will order that the execution be delayed.

Courtesy: CBS DFW

4 Pakistani nationals among 16 held with bombs in  Dhaka, Bangladesh

Dhaka

Dhaka, Mar 30 (UNB) – Plainclothes police arrested 16 people, including four Pakistani nationals, along with eight hand bombs and Indian Rupees 1.29 crore while planning subversive activities in city.

Acting on a tip-off, a team of DB police conducted simultaneous drives in several areas of the city, including Paltan, Nikunja, Kalabagan and Bongshal, from 2:30 pm Friday to 4:30 am early Saturday and arrested the 16 people.

Contacted, Additional Deputy Commissioner Mashiur Rahman confirmed UNB about the arrest.

He said eight hand bombs, Indian rupees 1.29 crore and several passports were recovered from their possessions.

A Bangladeshi eye specialist was among the arrestees, said a DB official.

He suspected that all the detainees might be the members of an organised outfit who tried to conduct sabotage either in the capital or elsewhere in the country.

Courtesy: UNB Connect

End violence, UN experts appeal

A group of United Nations independent human rights experts on Friday called for an immediate stop to violence in Bangladesh and a return to peaceful demonstrations following large-scale protests since early February.

The demonstrations are largely linked to the decisions of the International Crimes Tribunal established in 2010 to try people accused of atrocities, including genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, during the country’s 1971 independence war.

Clashes in recent weeks between security forces and activists have reportedly killed at least 88 people and injured hundreds of others, according to a press release from UN News Centre.

“I call upon the authorities in Bangladesh to ensure prompt, impartial and effective investigations of all killings irrespective of whether they were committed by a State or a non-State actor,” said the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, Christof Heyns.

According to a news release from the UN human rights office (OHCHR), there have also been “worrying reports on attacks against members of the Hindu community, their homes and places of worship, as well as against journalists”.

The Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression, Frank La Rue, warned against such attacks on journalists and other media workers.

“The ongoing violence has threatened the safety of journalists in the country and led to the killing of at least one blogger, and injury of a large number of media workers. Twelve websites have also been shut down by the Bangladeshi authorities,” he noted, calling of all parties to refrain from inciting violence.

Courtesy: The Daily Star

Pakistan supports India's stand on UN Arms Trade Treaty

Pakistan has supported India's stand on the UN Arms Trade Treaty that would regulate the USD 70 billion conventional arms trade around the world, saying it favours the arms exporting countries and does not protects the interests of importers.

"The treaty may be seen by many as essentially a product of and by the exporters only. It falls short of striking an appropriate balance of interests and obligations among the exporters and importers as well as the affected states," said Pakistani Ambassador to the UN Masood Khan.

In his remarks to the Arms Trade Treaty Conference at the UN headquarters in New York - which concluded Thursday – Khan said the call for balance was echoed by an overwhelming majority.

"Some treaty provisions, however, legitimise in a global legal instrument what the existing national and plurilateral export control systems cover. The interests of exporting countries have been accommodated in the form of special exemptions, exceptions and protections," he has said.

The Treaty fell apart due to lack of consensus among the 193 member countries because of opposition from North Korea, Iran and Syria.

India said the treaty in its present form would compromise with its national interest mainly it does it favours the arms exporting nations and is weak on arms supply to non-State actors. Pakistan, however, remained silent on the second concerns raised by India.

Proponents of the Treaty have now decided to put it to vote at the UN General Assembly as early as Tuesday. While the final decision by India is yet to be taken, New Delhi is most likely to end up abstaining, if not voting against the draft treaty.

The US on Thursday, however, tried to ally Indian fears by arguing that it "does not harm" India's national interest. "My own view is that this treaty will not be harmful to

India's security and certainly not in any way harm the very strong bilateral relationship between India and the United States," Tom Countryman, head of the US delegation to the Arms Trade Treaty Conference told reporters during a conference late Thursday night.

In her intervention during the closing arguments at the UN headquarters in New York, India's Permanent Representative to Conference on Disarmament, Geneva and Head of the Indian Delegation to the Arms Trade Treaty Conference, Sujata Mehta,

said that the final version fell short of India's expectations and that of other like minded countries.

"At the commencement of this Conference India had made clear that the ATT should make a real impact on illicit trafficking in conventional arms and their illicit use especially by terrorists and other unauthorised and unlawful non-State actors.

The provisions in the final draft on terrorism and non-state actors are weak and diffused and find no mention in the specific prohibitions of the Treaty," Mehta said in her intervention.

India, she said, has stressed consistently that the ATT should ensure a balance of obligations between exporting and importing states. "India cannot accept that the Treaty be used as an instrument in the hands of exporting states to take unilateral

force majeure measures against importing states parties without consequences," she said.

"The relevant provisions in the final draft do not meet our requirements. There is a fundamental imbalance in the text which is flawed as the weight of obligations is tilted against importing States.

As an importing state we will take measures to ensure that the treaty does not affect the stability and predictability of defense cooperation agreements and contracts

entered into by India," Mehta argued. The draft text came up for approval on Thursday after the UN members failed to adopt it in July last year even after month-long negotiations.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expressed disappointment on the failure of the United Nations Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty to reach an agreement on the text, which for the first time would have regulated the international arms trade.

Courtesy: Indian Express

Oklahoma Governor Signs Horse Slaughter Legislation

~~By TIM TALLEY 

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Oklahoma's 50-year-old ban on horse slaughtering was lifted Friday when the governor signed a new law that will allow facilities to process and export horse meat, despite bitter opposition by animal rights activists.

Supporters argue that a horse slaughtering facility in Oklahoma will provide a humane alternative for aging or starving horses, many of which are abandoned in rural parts of the state by owners who can no longer afford to care for them. Gov. Mary Fallin also noted that horses are already being shipped out of the country, including to facilities in Mexico, where they are processed in potentially inhumane conditions.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, more than 166,000 horses were sent to Canada and Mexico last year alone.

"In Oklahoma, as in other states, abuse is tragically common among horses that are reaching the end of their natural lives," the Republican governor said. "Those of us who care about the wellbeing of horses – and we all should – cannot be satisfied with a status quo that encourages abuse and neglect, or that rewards the potentially inhumane slaughter of animals in foreign countries."

She noted that law strictly prohibits the selling of horse meat for human consumption in the U.S.

Similar efforts are under way in other states, but not without controversy. In New Mexico, a processing plant has been fighting the U.S. Department of Agriculture for more than a year for approval to convert its former cattle slaughter operation into a horse slaughterhouse. In Nevada, state agriculture officials have discussed ways to muster support for the slaughter of free-roaming horses, stirring protests.

The Oklahoma legislation received bipartisan support and was approved by wide margins in both the state House and Senate. It also was backed by several agriculture organizations including the Oklahoma Farm Bureau, the Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association and American Farmers.

But animal rights groups fought hard against the plan, including the Humane Society of the United States. Cynthia Armstrong, the organization's Oklahoma state director, said she was disappointed.

"It's a very sad day for Oklahoma and the welfare of the horses that will be exposed to a facility like this," Armstrong said. "It's very regrettable."

In addition to animal welfare concerns, opponents have said slaughtering horses for human consumption could pose a threat to human health and safety. American horses are often treated with drugs and medications that are not approved for use in animals intended for food.

Horse slaughter opponents are pushing legislation in Congress to ban domestic slaughter, as well as the export of horses to other countries for slaughter. Many animal humane groups and public officials are outraged at the idea of resuming domestic slaughter. But others – including some horse rescuers, livestock associations and the American Quarter Horse Association – support the plans.

They point to a 2011 report from the federal Government Accountability Office that shows horse abuse and abandonment have been increasing since Congress effectively banned horse slaughter by cutting funding for federal inspection programs in 2006. They say the ban on domestic slaughter has led to tens of thousands of horses being shipped to inhumane slaughterhouses in Mexico.

Although there are no horse slaughtering facilities in Oklahoma, the Humane Society said the USDA has received an application for horse slaughter inspection permits from a meat company in Washington, Okla., about 40 miles south of Oklahoma City.

Fallin said her administration will work with the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture to ensure that any horse meat processing plant in the state is run appropriately, follows state and local laws, and does not pose a hazard to the community. The law takes effect Nov. 1.

"It's important to note cities, counties and municipalities still have the ability to express their opposition to processing facilities by blocking their construction and operation at the local level," the governor said.

Courtesy: Huff Post Green

Former Odisha law minister, wife arrested in dowry torture case

[Editor: When some high profile Politicians like this Law Minister gets trapped in DRACONIAN laws of the IPC, the whole political class might understand the pitfalls of having such fiats. This time two ladies  (the wife of Mr.Mohanty and his daughter) have also been placed under the sword of these kinds of anti--Human laws, apart from two men. When a gun/rifle is  placed on the hands of a lady-criminal, what is she expected to do or what will she normally do? Just think.....!!]

Former Odisha minister Raghunath Mohanty and his wife were arrested from neighbouring West Bengal in a dowry torture case slapped by their daughter-in-law, police said on Saturday.

"Mohanty and his wife Pritilata Mohanty were arrested from a place in Howrah district of West Bengal by a team of Human Rights Protection Cell of Odisha police," highly placed police sources said in Bhubaneswar.


Acting on a specific information, a "crack" team of HRPC was sent to West Bengal which caught the Mohanty couple from Shalimar in Howrah district this morning, they said, adding further details were awaited.

The arrest came a fortnight after their daughter-in-law Barsa Swony Choudhury filed an FIR at Balasore Town Police station on March 14 accusing the then law and urban development minister and four family members, including her husband of physically and mentally torturing her for dowry.

While Mohanty had to resign from Naveen Patnaik Minister on March 15 following the dowry torture case, his son Raja Shree Mohanty was arrested near Cuttack and sent to jail.

Besides the Mohanty couple and their son, the FIR also named their daughter Rupashree and son-in-law Suvendu Madhual, police sources said, adding Barsa in her FIR alleged that Mohanty's family tortured her demanding among other things Rs. 25 lakh and a luxury vehicle. She also accused her husband of having extra-marital relations.

After resigning as minister, Mohanty as well as his family members remained incommunicado.

As the issue triggered a major controversy in the state and rocked the assembly amid demands for the arrest of the former minister, ruling BJD leaders, who initially described the case as a family affair, subsequently appealed to Mohanty to surrender.

Unable to persuade Mohanty to surrender, ruling BJD on Friday issued a veiled threat asking him to respect law or face consequences.

"Through media, I will like to request Raghunath Mohanty to cooperate with the law before the matter gets further complicated," government deputy whip Sanjay Dasburma told reporters yesterday

As Mohanty was on the run, BJD chief whip Pravat Tripathy had also appealed the ex-minister to surrender four days ago. Tripathy had also said Mohanty should surrender immediately in the interest of BJD.

Mohanty, who has been MLA from Basta for five consecutive terms since 1990, had also moved Orissa High Court seeking quashing of the FIR and also legal protection which were turned down.

Barsa had alleged that she was tortured physically and mentally at the house of Mohanty for dowry. "My father-in-law (Mohanty) was instrumental in torturing me," she has said.

Besides being a long time MLA and a minister, Mohanty was also a vice-president of BJD.

Congress and BJP had been targeting Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik holding him responsible for the "escape" of Mohanty.

Soon after the arrest of Mohanty and his wife, Dasburma said, "It proves the BJD government never shields anyone. Law has taken its own course. Nobody is above the law in which people should have faith."

Courtesy: Hindustan Times

Mona Singh files police complaint as MMS goes viral

Television actor Mona Singh has filed a complaint with the cyber crime branch of Mumbai Police after an MMS clip that allegedly shows her naked went viral on the internet on March 28. Singh, who plays the lead in the serial Kya Hua Tera Vaada, was shooting on Thursday evening
when she heard about the clip and immediately left the sets to file the complaint. “All I can say is that this is a morphed video,” Singh told HT on Friday. “I have taken relevant action and filed a complaint and investigations are on.”

Back on the sets on Friday, Singh said she is determined to fight the incident to its logical end. “It is a shameful and very serious matter,” she said.

Himanshu Roy, Mumbai’s joint commissioner of police, crime, confirmed that police had received a complaint and are probing the matter.  

Courtesy: Hindustan Times

RBI freedom under threat
Panel wants governor’s powers curbed 

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The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) stands in real danger of losing its independence and its governor could be stripped of his exclusive prerogative to frame monetary policy if the government accepts the report of Justice B.N. Srikrishna committee, which has recommended a raft of regulatory reforms in the financial sector.

The Srikrishna report, which was placed in the public domain today, seeks to severely hem in the country’s oldest regulator — the RBI — which was set up under a statute in 1935.

Until now, the RBI has operated within a sphere of relative independence but in consultation with the finance ministry, often adopting monetary measures that were completely at odds with the views of the finance ministry and other mandarins on Raisina Hill. Governor Duvvuri Subbarao, for instance, didn’t cave into the growing clamour for interest rate cuts last year and adopted a hawkish line that set him apart from other central bankers around the world.

Under the new framework, the report says the finance ministry should kick-start the process by “defining the objective of monetary policy”. It will do this by putting out a statement defining a quantitative monitorable “predominant” target. Subsidiary targets will then be tacked on “which will be pursued when there are no difficulties in meeting the predominant target”. The ministry usually holds discussions with the RBI governor before every quarterly review of monetary policy, but it has never explicitly set numerical targets for the central bank.

The role of the RBI governor will be severely circumscribed with the report suggesting that an executive monetary policy committee (MPC) will be formed to vote on policy decisions — borrowing an idea from the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of England.

“The MPC would meet regularly, and vote on the exercise of these powers, based on forecasts about the economy and the extent to which the objectives are likely to be met,” the report said.

RBI governor Duvvuri Subbarao appears to have had some inkling of the momentous change that had been suggested. On Monday, he had told reporters while on a visit to Port Louis in Mauritius that the central bank needed greater independence before it could adopt a monetary policy committee structure.

“India needs to move towards a monetary policy committee structure,” Subbarao had said. “For that to happen…. one of the necessary conditions must be more independence of the central bank.”

“The MPC would operate under conditions of high transparency, thus ensuring that the economy at large has a good sense about how the central bank responds to future events,” the report said.

In a speech at Basel in 2011, Subbarao had explained how monetary policy decisions have been taken in India. “Monetary policy decisions are made by the governor, There is no formal committee structure like the FOMC of the Fed or the MPC of the Bank of England. The governor holds structured consultations with the four deputy governors and they constitute an informal MPC... By its very nature there is no voting in this committee and the final call is that of the governor.”

This is likely to change and could even lead to a situation where the governor is outvoted. Last month, Bank of England governor Sir Mervyn King wanted to pump more money into the British economy by buying more bonds, but was outvoted by his colleagues on the MPC.

That’s not all: the RBI will no longer have complete oversight over capital flows. The report says the finance ministry will “make rules that control inbound capital flows (and their repatriation)”. The RBI will merely confine itself to framing “regulations” about out-bound capital flows (and their repatriation). It also suggested the need for a framework for imposition of controls in emergency situations.

The recommendations have already drawn flak with as many as four of the eight members of the committee filing dissent notes.

Former central banker K.K. Udeshi had serious reservations about the way capital controls regulations were going to be framed.

“Forex reserves accretion is invariably on account of a capital account surplus … there is widespread concern among several central banks in emerging market economies about the added pressures on monetary management due to the prevailing extraordinarily strong and volatile cross-border capital flows.

“If the RBI has no say in initiating policy relating to these volatile flows, it would be constrained to take monetary policy measures… to deal with the consequences of such flows; such measures may not be what the government or industry and the business community seek, leading to overall dissatisfaction,” Udeshi added.

The Commission recommended combining regulation of all investment vehicles and individuals into a single, unified framework: the qualified financial investor (QFI). “Creating a single investor class for foreign investments would considerably reduce uncertainty, compliance costs and the time taken to make investments without in any way altering the domestic investment framework,” the report said.

The RBI will also lose all say in the management of public debt. The commission trotted out the familiar “conflict of interest” argument to explain why it should be taken out of the RBI’s ambit. “The central bank that sells government bonds faces conflicting objectives. When the RBI is given the objective of obtaining low cost financing for the Government, this may give RBI a bias in favour of low interest rates which could interfere with the goal of price stability.” This is a line that Subbarao has always challenged, terming it a huge fallacy especially in the Indian context where massive government borrowings impinges on the framing of monetary policy.

The government is currently framing legislation to create an independent debt management office.

The RBI’s role will be restricted to three functions: monetary policy, regulation and supervision of banking in enforcing the proposed consumer protection law and the proposed micro-prudential law, and regulation and supervision of payment systems in enforcing these two laws.

Cooperatives:
One of the recommendations that is bound to raise the hackles of state governments is over the regulation of cooperatives. The commission said cooperatives carrying on financial services should be subject to the same prudential regulations as other entities carrying on the same activities.

It said state governments should accept the authority of parliament to legislate on matters relating to the regulation and supervision of co-operative societies carrying on financial services. The regulator may impose restrictions on cooperatives that will restrict them from offering special financial services in states whose governments do not accept the authority of parliament to legislate on the regulation of these entities.

Courtesy: The Telegraph

2 persons killed, 6 others injured in Holi revelry

SHEIKHPURA, 29 MARCH: Two persons were killed and six others injured in revelry during Holi in Bihar's Sheikhpura district, a police officer said today.

A man was killed and six others injured in firing between rival groups in Dhevsadih village under Town police station area in the district last night following a clash between them over noise being created by music blaring from loudspeaker, sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) Santosh Kumar said.

The deceased has been identified as Santosh Kumar (28), he said, adding the body have been sent for post-mortem.

The injured persons were admitted to the Sadar hospital where the attending doctors referred one of the seriously injured person to the Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH), Mr Kumar said.

An FIR has been lodged against 17 persons and raids were being carried out to nab them, the SDPO said.

A Homeguard Ramashraya Paswan (42) was beaten to death by assailant in Premchand Bigaha village under Shekhopur Sarai police station area in another Holi-related incident yesterday, he said.

The assailant Gariban Paswan has been arrested and charged with the murder of the Homeguard, the SDPO said. 

Bihar's Sheikhpura district, a police officer said today.

Courtesy: The Statesman