A roundup of today's other world news in brief
Opposition bloggers on trial in Azerbaijan
BAKU – Two opposition bloggers went on trial in Azerbaijan yesterday in what rights groups say is part of an attempt to silence dissent and serve warning to emerging online media in the oil-producing state.
Adnan Hajizade (26) and Emin Milli (30) were arrested in July after an incident in a cafe in Baku. They say they were victims of an unprovoked attack, while police have charged them with hooliganism and inflicting minor bodily harm.
They face up to five years in prison if convicted.
Their arrest came shortly after Hajizade posted his latest tongue-in-cheek swipe at authorities under President Ilham Aliyev in which he held a news conference dressed as a donkey. Milli, a member of the youth opposition group Alumni Network, said the trial was a “political process” motivated by their online work.
The judge refused bail and adjourned the trial until September 16th.
The European Union has expressed concern over the case. – (Reuters)
Former US soldier gets life for Iraq murder
LOUISVILLE – A federal judge sentenced a former US army soldier to life in prison without parole yesterday for the gang rape and murder of an Iraqi girl and the slaying of her family in 2006.
Steven Green (24) was tried and convicted in April as a civilian on murder, rape and obstruction of justice charges because his arrest came after he was discharged from the army for a “personality disorder”.
The former army private escaped a death sentence when jurors could not agree on his punishment. Judge Thomas Russell of the US District Court in Paducah, Kentucky, handed down the life sentence.
Green led a gang of five US soldiers who invaded the Iraqi family’s home in Mahmudiya, 30km (20 miles) south of Baghdad, on March 12th, 2006, intending to rape the girl, 14-year-old Abeer Kassem al-Janabi.
While two fellow soldiers assaulted the girl, Green shot and killed the girl’s mother, father and six-year-old sister in a bedroom before taking his turn in the gang rape, according to trial testimony. He then shot the girl three times. – (Reuters)
Singapore power struggle turns to brawl
SINGAPORE - A power struggle in a Singapore opposition party descended into a street brawl with people using hammers and screwdrivers, leading to 21 arrests in a city-state known for being safe and politically stable.
Singapore police said yesterday they arrested 19 men and two women, aged up to 69, after a fight broke out on Thursday among members of the Singapore Malay National Organisation, one of various small political parties that have never won a seat in parliament.
The party, formed in 1951 as the Singapore arm of Malaysias ruling United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), left UMNO in 1965 when Singapore became independent.
Police said the group’s members could face up to 10 years in jail and caning if found guilty of rioting and being armed with deadly weapons.
Singapore’s ruling People’s Action Party has won nearly all parliaments seats.
– (Reuters)