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Senior cardinal convicted in Vatican corruption trial

Senior cardinal convicted in Vatican corruption trial

CARDINAL Angelo Becciu, the most senior Catholic Church official ever to stand trial before a Vatican criminal court, was convicted on Saturday of embezzlement and fraud and sentenced to five-and-a-half years in jail. The Italian prelate's lawyer, Fabio Viglione, told reporters in the courtroom he would appeal, saying his client was innocent. Becciu, who lives in the Vatican, was expected to remain free for the time being. In all, 10 defendants were accused of crimes including fraud, abuse of office and money laundering. All denied wrongdoing. It took Court President Giuseppe Pignatone 25 minutes to read all the verdicts and…
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Swiss court confirms historic war crimes ruling against Liberia warlord

Swiss court confirms historic war crimes ruling against Liberia warlord

A Swiss court upheld a guilty verdict for war crimes in the case of a former Liberian rebel commander and convicted him of crimes against humanity in a landmark case. Alieu Kosiah, who fought in the 1990s against then-President Charles Taylor's army, was sentenced to 20 years in prison in June 2021 for rape, murder and cannibalism in Switzerland's first ever war crimes trial. Those charges and others were upheld by the court although he was acquitted of ordering and inflicting cruel treatment, the Swiss Federal Court's appeal bench said in a statement. Four of his acts were deemed crimes…
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Former Indian lawmaker slain live on TV while in police custody

Former Indian lawmaker slain live on TV while in police custody

A former lawmaker in India's parliament, convicted of kidnapping, was shot dead along with his brother while police were escorting them for a medical check-up in a slaying caught on live television. The dramatic footage of the men being killed was shared across broadcast channels and social media. A gunman is seen reaching over the shoulders of police to point a pistol at the temple of the former lawmaker, Atiq Ahmed, whose turban is blown off as the gun discharges. His brother, Ashraf Ahmed, was shot a split second later. In other footage, filmed by Reuters partner ANI, one gunman…
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Nigerian senator guilty of human trafficking

Nigerian senator guilty of human trafficking

WILLIAM JAMES A wealthy Nigerian politician and his wife were convicted of trafficking a street trader from Lagos to Britain to illegally harvest his kidney for a transplant for their seriously-ill daughter. Prosecutors said Ike Ekweremadu, 60, and his wife Beatrice, 56, had brought the man to London in February last year with the offer of a few thousand dollars for his organ and the promise of work in Britain. Ekweremadu, an opposition senator in the southern Nigerian state of Enugu and also a former deputy senate president, and his wife were significant figures in Nigerian society with power, influence,…
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Islamic State ‘Beatles’ cell member convicted in U.S. of beheading hostages

Islamic State ‘Beatles’ cell member convicted in U.S. of beheading hostages

JAN WOLFE A U.S. jury convicted a former British citizen for his role in a notorious Islamic State hostage-taking plot that led to the beheading of American journalists and aid workers. After a six-week trial and four hours of deliberations, a federal jury in Alexandria, Virginia, found El Shafee Elsheikh, 33, guilty on charges including lethal hostage-taking and conspiracy to commit murder. In convicting Elsheikh, the jury concluded that he was part of an Islamic State terrorist cell, nicknamed "The Beatles" for their British accents, that beheaded American hostages in Iraq and Syria. Some former hostages, released by the "Beatles"…
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TV presenter convicted of glorifying rape

TV presenter convicted of glorifying rape

A television presenter in Ivory Coast was convicted of glorifying rape and given a one-year suspended prison sentence for asking a convicted rapist he invited onto his prime-time show to simulate a sexual assault using a mannequin. The court also fined the presenter, Yves de Mbella, 2 million CFA francs ($3,619.91) and banned him from leaving Abidjan, the country's commercial capital, for one year, a spokesperson for Ivory Coast's justice system told Reuters. The man who appeared on the show was sentenced to two years in prison, the spokesperson said. De Mbella has apologised for the segment in which he…
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GUILTY! GUILTY! GUILTY! Chauvin convicted 3 times

GUILTY! GUILTY! GUILTY! Chauvin convicted 3 times

JONATHAN ALLEN, NATHAN LAYNE and GABRIELLA BORTER FORMER Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin has been convicted of murdering George Floyd, a milestone in the fraught racial history of the United States and a rebuke of law enforcement's treatment of Black Americans. A 12-member jury found Chauvin, 45, guilty of all three charges of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and manslaughter after considering three weeks of testimony from 45 witnesses, including bystanders, police officials and medical experts. Deliberations began on Monday and lasted just over 10 hours. In a confrontation captured on video, Chauvin, a white veteran of the police force, pushed…
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Saudi woman convicted of murdering Bangladeshi maid in rare verdict

Saudi woman convicted of murdering Bangladeshi maid in rare verdict

NAIMUL KARIM A Saudi woman has been convicted of murdering her Bangladeshi maid by a criminal court in Saudi Arabia, in a ruling rights groups in the South Asian nation said was a rare example of an employer being found guilty of abusing a migrant worker. Ayesha Al Jizani was sentenced on Sunday to death by the court for killing Abiron Begum in March 2019, some two years after Begum went to the Gulf state in search of better paid work, a Bangladeshi government official said. Begum's relatives urged the Bangladeshi government to take action against the brokers who "tricked"…
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