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Thursday, July 11, 2019
Amal Clooney to join legal team of Philippine journalist Ressa MANILA - Prominent rights lawyer Amal Clooney says she will join the legal team defending Philippine journalist Maria Ressa, whose news site has repeatedly clashed with President Rodrigo Duterte. Ressa, who was named a Time Magazine “Person of the Year” in 2018 for her journalism, faces several criminal charges along with her website Rappler, in what press freedom advocates have branded an act of “persecution”. “Maria Ressa is a courageous journalist who is being persecuted for reporting the news and standing up to human rights abuses,” Clooney said in a statement issued Monday by London’s Doughty Street Chambers, where she works. “We will pursue all available legal remedies to vindicate her rights and defend press freedom and the rule of law in the Philippines,” added the British-Lebanese lawyer. Clooney will work with a team of international lawyers based in the US and Britain as counsel to Ressa and coordinate with attorneys in Manila, the statement said. Ressa was arrested twice this year and has accused Duterte of using prosecutions against her -including ongoing cases of alleged tax evasion and libel -- to silence critics and intimidate the press. Duterte has branded Rappler a “fake news outlet” and his government insists it is simply enforcing the law as cases pile up against the website, which frequently publishes reports critical of the president’s deadly anti-drug crackdown. “I am delighted that Amal Clooney and her team will be representing me at the international level to challenge the violations of my rights and those of the media organisation I represent,” Ressa said in the statement. Ressa said on Tuesday she faced at least 11 cases which required her to post bail eight times and pay a
Sexual assault case against Kevin Spacey on shaky ground
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Thursday, July 11, 2019
NANTUCKET - Kevin Spacey may avoid trial for sexual assault, as the case against him suffered a serious blow Monday when his accuser declined to testify due to fear of self-incrimination. William Little accused the actor of groping him in a Massachusetts bar in July 2016. The actor, 59, was charged in January with indecent assault and battery.
Amal Clooney
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bond to travel overseas. “Rappler should not have to face tactics of harassment, intimidation. We are trying to find the best way forward to make sure our rights are protected,” Ressa told AFP. Responding to the announcement, Duterte’s spokesman said Clooney could not practise law in the Philippines but added he was “excited” to debate with the lawyer whom he described as “beautiful and sexy”. “Attorney Amal is misinformed. Maybe when we see each other, I can, to use the word of the president, educate her,” Salvador Panelo told reporters. Clooney, appointed special envoy for media freedom by the British government, also defended two Reuters journalists jailed for more than 16 months in Myanmar and freed in May. Clooney’s taking on Ressa’s case will increase international attention on the journalist and her website, which have received a series of global awards from press freedom advocates. (afp)
The Massachusetts District Court judge for Nantucket, the posh island community where the alleged aggression took place, called on Little Monday to testify. Spacey was not present in the court. But Little chose to plead the Fifth Amendment, which allows citizens not to testify so as not to incriminate themselves, after it was revealed his cell phone -- a key piece of evidence in the case -- may have been compromised. Little has said he took a smartphone video of the incident, which he says took place when he was an 18-year-old busboy in a Nantucket bar and restaurant. The smartphone images, which Little said he shared with a thengirlfriend and a group of friends, allegedly show Spacey shoving his hand into the teen’s pants and fondling him. But the phone -- which the defense wanted to examine -- has disappeared, as confirmed by Little and his parents, who were also called upon to testify Monday. A police officer said he returned the phone to the family after extracting all the information but admitted he neglected to ask for a receipt upon return. The family said they never received the phone. Interrogated at length about what he did with the phone and the messages on it, Little insisted that he had not deleted anything. But when warned that manipulating the information on the phone could result in charges being brought against him, Little pled
the fifth. Little’s mother Heather Unruh, a television news anchor known in the Boston area, admitted she had deleted some potentially embarrassing photos before giving the phone to the police but said she had not erased anything related to the alleged assault. Spacey’s lawyer Alan Jackson insinuated that text messages from Little -- who was a fan of the actor -- that implied his consent in the situation had been deleted. “This entire case is completely compromised,” said Jackson. “This case needs to be dismissed and it needs to be dismissed today.” Although the judge did not make a decision, Spacey’s defense team added it would promptly request that the case be dropped. T h e prosecution did not rule dropping the case, but asked the judge for a week to
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decide. Spacey has insisted on his innocence in the matter. The charges carry a penalty of up to five years in prison. The allegation of sexual misconduct against the two-time Oscar winner was one of more than a dozen to emerge since 2017 in the wake of the #MeToo movement -- in both the United States and Britain -- with devastating effect on his acting career. (afp)
Handout / DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, HELA PROVINCE/afp
This handout photo taken on July 9, 2019 and obtained from the Department Of Health, Hela Province in Papua New Guinea shows dead bodies lined up on a road in Hela province. At least 24 people, including two pregnant women and their unborn children, were killed in a three-day spasm of tribal violence in Papua New Guinea’s lawless highlands, prompting the prime minister on July 10 to promise swift justice.
At least 24 killed in brutal Papua New Guinea tribal massacres
At least 24 people, including two pregnant women and their unborn children, were killed in a three-day spasm of tribal violence in Papua New Guinea’s lawless highlands, prompting the prime minister on Wednesday to promise swift justice. Officials said the deaths occurred in Hela province -- a rugged region in the west of the country -- when rival tribes apparently clashed over control of local gold deposits in the mineral-rich soil. Highland clans have fought each other in Papua New Guinea for centuries, but an influx of automatic weapons has made clashes more deadly and escalated the cycle of violence. Hela provincial administrator William Bando told AFP on Wednesday that the death toll could rise. “We are still waiting for today’s brief from our officials on the ground,” he said, calling for at least 100 police to be deployed to rein-
force some 40 local officers. The incident has shocked both the country and recently appointed Prime Minister James Marape, whose constituency includes the district where the killings occurred. He vowed more security deployments and warned the perpetrators “your time is up”. “Today is one of the saddest day of my life,” he said in a statement. “Many children and mothers innocently murdered in Munima and Karida villages of my electorate.” In the Karida attack, six women and eight children -- as well as two pregnant women and their unborn children -- were hacked and shot to
death in a 30-minute rampage. Local health worker Pills Kolo said it was hard to recognise some of the body parts, and posted images of remains bundled together with mosquito nets used as makeshift body bags. Images provided by local police showed the corpses of two children of school age, one with severe head injuries. Local media reported the attack appeared to related to the ambush and murder of six people the day before. Marape blamed the violence on three related warlords who have been fighting against the Tagali tribe over local gold deposits. “Gun-toting criminals, your time is up,” Marape said. “Learn from what I will do to criminals who killed innocent people, I am not afraid to use strongest measures in law on you.” He noted that the death penalty was
“already a law”. Tribal clashes are a frequent occurrence in Papua New Guinea’s highlands, where old rivalries prompted by rape or theft, or disputes over tribal boundaries or resources, often prompt violence. But this is the most serious incident in years and the government -- which has only 40 police and 16 soldiers in the area according to Bando -- is struggling to respond. In nearby Enga province, a similar surge in violence prompted the establishment of a makeshift military garrison and the deployment of a company of around 100 government soldiers under the command of a Sandhurst-trained major. But even those forces lack the resources to tackle difficult terrain. Bando said 35 officers currently providing security for a nearby Exx-
onMobil gas project “should be released to assist those on the ground to ensure safety for the families”. Marape has not yet provided details of planned security deployments to the area, but appeared exasperated by the current resources available. “How can a province of 400,000 people function with policing law and order with under 60 policemen, and occasional operational military and police that does no more than band-aid maintenance,” he said. (afp) News can also be heard in “Bali Image” at Global Radio FM 96.5 from 9.30 until 10.00 am. Listen to Global Radio FM at http:// globalfmbali.listen2myradio.com or live video streaming at http:// radioglobalfmbali.com and http:// ustream.tv/channel/global-fm-bali.