Former Tunisian president sentenced in absentia to 35 years in prison

Former Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and his wife Leila Trabelsi were sentenced in absentia to 35 years each in prison, Tunisian television said Monday evening.

http://shop.ebay.co.uk/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p5197.m570.l1313&_nkw=dvd+with+media+on+it&_sacat=See-All-CategoriesThe conviction was made by a court in Tunis, which also ruled to fine the couple 91 million dinars (about 66 million U.S. dollars).

The trial, which started Monday, examined the charges of theft, corruption and drug smuggling against the couple. Other charges included money laundering, possession of arms and archeological artifacts.

After hearing the charges, Ben Ali's five court-appointed lawyers asked for a postponement of the trial, arguing that they needed more time to prepare for the defense.

Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia on January 14 amid popular protests against his 23-year rule.

Akram Azouri, the president's Lebanese lawyer, said in a statement Monday that Ben Ali denied the charges that he had issued orders to shoot protestors. He also denied having fled the country, saying he was tricked into leaving for Saudi Arabia by his former security chief Ali Seriaty.

Ben Ali also faces 182 charges in a military court, including voluntary manslaughter that may lead to death penalty under the Tunisian laws.

Both his Lebanese and French lawyers were not authorized to defend him, because under the Tunisian jurisdiction, foreign lawyers are not entitled to defend an indicted Tunisian national in absentia.

Following the sentence, Tunisian judicial authorities will send another extradition request against the former president to the Saudi authorities, a spokesman of the ministry of justice said.

Source: Xinhua

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Former Tunisian president sentenced in absentia to 35 years in prison

Former Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and his wife Leila Trabelsi were sentenced in absentia to 35 years each in prison, Tunisian television said Monday evening.

http://shop.ebay.co.uk/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p5197.m570.l1313&_nkw=dvd+with+media+on+it&_sacat=See-All-CategoriesThe conviction was made by a court in Tunis, which also ruled to fine the couple 91 million dinars (about 66 million U.S. dollars).

The trial, which started Monday, examined the charges of theft, corruption and drug smuggling against the couple. Other charges included money laundering, possession of arms and archeological artifacts.

After hearing the charges, Ben Ali's five court-appointed lawyers asked for a postponement of the trial, arguing that they needed more time to prepare for the defense.

Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia on January 14 amid popular protests against his 23-year rule.

Akram Azouri, the president's Lebanese lawyer, said in a statement Monday that Ben Ali denied the charges that he had issued orders to shoot protestors. He also denied having fled the country, saying he was tricked into leaving for Saudi Arabia by his former security chief Ali Seriaty.

Ben Ali also faces 182 charges in a military court, including voluntary manslaughter that may lead to death penalty under the Tunisian laws.

Both his Lebanese and French lawyers were not authorized to defend him, because under the Tunisian jurisdiction, foreign lawyers are not entitled to defend an indicted Tunisian national in absentia.

Following the sentence, Tunisian judicial authorities will send another extradition request against the former president to the Saudi authorities, a spokesman of the ministry of justice said.

Source: Xinhua

View the original article here

Tunisian ex-president sentenced to 35 years in jail

Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali (R) and his wife Leila Trabelsi, cast their votes at a polling station during the presidential and parliamentary elections, in Carthage in this October 24, 1999 file photo. A Tunisian court sentenced former president Ben Ali in absentia on June 20, 2011 to 35 years in jail.   (Xinhua/Reuters File Photo)

TUNIS, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Former Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and his wife Leila Trabelsi were sentenced in absentia to 35 years each in prison, Tunisian television said Monday evening.

The conviction was made by a court in Tunis, which also ruled to fine the couple 91 million dinars (about 66 million U.S. dollars).

The trial, which started Monday, examined the charges of theft, corruption and drug smuggling against the couple. Other charges included money laundering, possession of arms and archeological artifacts.

After hearing the charges, Ben Ali's five court-appointed lawyers asked for a postponement of the trial, arguing that they needed more time to prepare for the defense.

Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia on January 14 amid popular protests against his 23-year rule.

Akram Azouri, the president's Lebanese lawyer, said in a statement Monday that Ben Ali denied the charges that he had issued orders to shoot protestors. He also denied having fled the country, saying he was tricked into leaving for Saudi Arabia by his former security chief Ali Seriaty.

Ben Ali also faces 182 charges in a military court, including voluntary manslaughter that may lead to death penalty under the Tunisian laws.

Both his Lebanese and French lawyers were not authorized to defend him, because under the Tunisian jurisdiction, foreign lawyers are not entitled to defend an indicted Tunisian national in absentia.

Following the sentence, Tunisian judicial authorities will send another extradition request against the former president to the Saudi authorities, a spokesman of the ministry of justice said.

View the original article here http://shop.ebay.co.uk/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p5197.m570.l1313&_nkw=dvd+with+media+on+it&_sacat=See-All-Categories

Model's ex-PA sentenced for fraud

3 May 2011 Last updated at 15:14 Erin O'Connor's bank card Pin number was used by her personal assistant A personal assistant to model Erin O'Connor who stole money from her employer to pay for shopping and holidays has been spared jail.

Michelle Knox-Brown, 46, admitted two counts of fraud, including stealing £10,251, over three years.

Knox-Brown, of east London, who was paid £45,000 a year for working three-and-a-half-days-a-week, was ordered to do 200 hours' of unpaid community work.

Kingston Crown Court heard the fraud left the model "doubting herself".

Knox-Brown was given a 40-week suspended sentence and ordered not to contact her former employer.

'Sheer greed'

Judge Andrew Campbell told the former PA, of Glyn Road, Clapton: "You were in a position of trust, indeed a relatively high position of trust.

"The goods and the money you obtained were not obtained because you were short of money, but out of sheer greed.

"You have let Miss O'Connor down quite badly, and as she explains, what you have done has affected not only her work but the trust she puts in other people."

Knox-Brown, who was hired in 2007, had access to O'Connor's personal information and bank accounts, including the Pin number to the 33-year-old Marks & Spencer model's bank card.

She made hundreds of transactions, even while on holidays to Morocco, India, Spain and America, the court heard.

She ran up a £1,607 taxi-bill and hundreds of pounds in parking fines, even though the model did not drive.

Model turned 'detective'

She also went on a spending spree in London's West End and withdrew £1,500 cash over a two-week period.

Knox-Brown used her employer's money to pay for a friend's hen night party in Brighton and VIP tickets and £400 spending money to the Isle of Wight music event, Bestival.

Knox-Brown was caught in February 2010 when Miss O'Connor became suspicious of the taxi bills.

"Miss O'Connor and her partner spent days and days and days trying to piece together the fraud that had been perpetrated on her," prosecutor Jonathan Polnay said.

"Effectively Miss O'Connor turned detective."

Julian Winship, defending, said his client was "ashamed" and "properly remorseful".

Knox-Brown was also ordered to pay back £2,000 to the model within a month and return another £6,000 over two years.

4 Bahrainis sentenced to death in police killings

MANAMA, Bahrain — A military court in Bahrain on Thursday convicted four Shiite protesters and sentenced them to death for killing two policemen during anti-government demonstrations last month in the Gulf kingdom, state media said.

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Three other Shiite activists, who were also on trial, were sentenced to life in prison for their role in the police officers' deaths.

The ruling came as tensions between Bahrain's Sunni Muslim ruling family and its Shiite majority continued to rise in the aftermath of pro-democracy protests that the kingdom crushed last month with military help from its Gulf Arab neighbors.

Government officials have said that a total of four policemen were killed during the unrest that gripped the country in February and March, at least three of whom were run over by cars around March 16.

The verdicts were the first related to Bahrain's uprising, which was inspired by revolts in the Arab world.

The kingdom's Shiite majority has long complained of discrimination and is campaigning for greater freedoms and equal rights in the tiny Sunni-ruled island nation.

Faced with an unprecedented political unrest, Bahrain's king declared martial law and invited troops from Saudi Arabia and other Sunni-ruled Gulf countries to help quell dissent after weeks of street marches and sit-ins in the kingdom's capital, Manama.

The seven opposition supporters sentenced Thursday were tried behind closed doors on charges of premeditated murder of government employees.

In an earlier hearing this week, Bahrain state media said the military prosecutor presented evidence that showed the defendants killed the policemen "on purpose" by running them over with a car.

Their lawyers denied the charges.

Hundreds detained
Hundreds of protesters, opposition leaders and human rights activists have been detained since emergency rule was declared March 15.

Earlier this month, the authorities banned media from covering legal proceedings in the country's military courts.

Among those detained are also dozens of Shiite professionals, such as doctors and lawyers, including a lawyer who was to defend some of the seven opposition supporters in the military court.

The attorney, Mohammed al-Tajer, is one of Bahrain's most prominent human rights lawyers.

He has represented hundreds of clients against the state, including Shiite activists accused of plotting against the Sunni monarchy that has ruled Bahrain for more than 200 years.

At least 30 people have died since Feb. 15, when anti-government protests erupted in Bahrain. Four opposition supporters have also died in police custody.

Bahrain is the home of the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet.

Bahrain last issued a death sentence in 2007, and prior to that had condemned only one person die over the preceding three decades.

That verdict came in the mid-1990s, during the greatest unrest Bahrain had seen before this year's protests.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

INDONESIA:FILIPINA SENTENCED 18 YEARS IN PRISON FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING

A filipina, EvangelineEvangeline Soneta,29, was sentenced 18 years

imprisonment for smuggling 1.5 kilograms of methamphetamine

into th country. She was caught with drugs upon her arrival at

the Surabaya airport from Kuala Lumpur Malaysia in September

2009.

Judge Sariyana said that she was sentenced 18 years in jail and

that sentence was less than the prosecutors recommendation of

life in jail. Indonesia is strict with penalties,for drug trafficking

death penalty is included.

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