Abu Qatada Allowed to Appeal Deportation as Home Office Accused of Arrest Blunder

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The deportation of Abu Qatada descended into chaos today as it emerged the Home Office may have ordered his arrest too early meaning he still has time to appeal.

The Home Office believed that the three month deadline for Qatada to appeal had run out at midnight on Monday, and arrested him at his home ahead of his deportation.

However today his lawyers launched an appeal with the European Court of Human Rights arguing he still had a further 24 hours in which to launch his bid.

It could pave the way for a lengthy legal dispute and allow Qatada's lawyers to argue for him to be released again on bail.

Qatada's legal team claims that judges at the European Court of Human Rights were wrong three months ago when they ruled that he would not be at risk of torture if returned to Jordan, a court spokeswoman said.

The court's Grand Chamber will decide whether to hear his appeal, but the radical cleric, once described by a judge as Osama bin Laden's right hand man in Europe, cannot be deported until the court has reached a decision. » | Tom Whitehead, Security Editor | Wednesday, April 18, 2012

ICC Confirms that Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi Has Been Arrested in Libya
THE HAGUE JUSTICE PORTAL: The International Criminal Court and the Libyan transitional government are currently discussing the transfer of Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi to the Hague following his capture by Libyan rebels.

The ICC’s Spokesperson, Fadi El-Abdallah, has confirmed that the ICC and the Libyan transitional government are discussing the surrender of Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi (right) following his arrest, but as of yet does not have any clear information on when he would be transferred. Mr El-Abdallah added that this was an important step for international justice in the interest of the victims in Libya. The ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo also confirmed that Saif had been detained by "rebel special forces". He made it clear there is an obligation to surrender Saif to the ICC in accordance with Security Council resolution 1970. » | Monday, August 22, 2011

Dominique Strauss-Kahn risque 26 ans de prison
LE POINT: Tentative de viol, agression sexuelle et séquestration, les chefs d'inculpation visant DSK mèneront-ils à un procès ?

C'est dix minutes avant le décollage de l'avion qui devait le conduire à Paris que Dominique Strauss-Kahn a été interpellé par les autorités portuaires de l'aéroport JFK de New York. Il a été remis aux officiers de police de Manhattan. Direction un commissariat de Harlem, spécialisé dans les affaires de délinquance sexuelle, où DSK a été interrogé. La "victime", une femme de chambre de 32 ans travaillant à l'hôtel Sofitel où DSK résidait, a porté plainte contre lui pour agression sexuelle. Strauss-Kahn devait être présenté dimanche à un juge (l'équivalent du juge de la liberté et de la détention français). Ce dernier devait décider de son placement en détention provisoire ou de sa libération sous caution.

Le patron du FMI a été inculpé de tentative de viol, une infraction punie de 15 à 20 ans de prison, de séquestration, punie de 3 à 5 ans, et d'agression sexuelle, passible d'un an. Cela peut donc aboutir théoriquement à un total de 26 ans si le juge décide d'additionner les peines. "La procédure pénale américaine permet, contrairement à la procédure française, de cumuler les délits ; en fait, tout dépend de ce que décideront le parquet et le juge new-yorkais", précise Ron Soffer, avocat aux barreaux de Paris et de New York. DSK est en outre privé de son immunité diplomatique, limitée aux "actes accomplis par les fonctionnaires ou employés du FMI dans l'exercice officiel de leurs fonctions", précise l'article 9 des statuts du FMI. » | Par Laurence Neuer | Dimanche 15 Mai 2011

IMF Chief Arrested in NY
Dominique Strauss-Kahn, head of the International Monetary Fund, is questioned in the U.S. over an alleged sex assault on a hotel maid. Paul Chapman reports

IMF Chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn Arrested in New York over Alleged Sex Attack on Manhattan Hotel Maid
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the head of the International Monetary Fund, is being questioned by police in New York over an alleged sex attack on a hotel maid, after he was arrested and removed from a plane on the tarmac of John F. Kennedy airport.

Mr Strauss-Kahn, a prominent French Socialist politician who was expected to challenge Nicolas Sarkozy for the country's presidency next year, allegedly attacked the 32-year-old maid in his room at the Sofitel, near Times Square.

The 62-year-old is said to have emerged naked from his bathroom and forced himself on the woman, who had entered to clean his room at about 1pm on Saturday. He then "attempted to sexually assault her", Paul Browne, a New York Police Department spokesman, said on Saturday night.

Unconfirmed reports alleged that Mr Strauss-Kahn had forced the maid to perform oral sex on him, before she left the room and alerted colleagues, who called 911. Mr Strauss-Kahn then departed for JFK airport, leaving his mobile phone in the hotel room.

He was apprehended in the First Class cabin of Air France Flight 23, which was 10 minutes away from taking off for Paris, at about 4.40 on Saturday afternoon. He was escorted off the plane by two plainclothes detectives, who did not need to use handcuffs. » | Jon Swaine, New York | Sunday, May 15, 2011

NEW YORK POST: IMF Head Strauss-Kahn Pulled Off Plane, Arrested in Alleged Sodomy of Hotel Maid: The French political bigshot who heads the International Monetary Fund was arrested for allegedly sodomizing a Manhattan hotel maid today — hauled off an Air France flight just moments before takeoff from Kennedy Airport, police sources said. » | Philip Messing, Jamie Schram, Larry Celona and Bill Sanderson | Saturday, May 14, 2011

LE FIGARO: DSK arrêté à New York pour agression sexuelle : Le directeur du FMI devrait être inculpé d'«agression sexuelle et de tentative de viol» après la plainte d'une femme de chambre d'un hôtel de Manhattan. Il a été interpellé alors qu'il s'apprêtait à s'envoler pour Paris. » | Par lefigaro.fr | Dimanche 15 Mai 2011

leJDD.fr: DSK arrêté dans une affaire d’agression sexuelle : Dominique Strauss-Kahn a été arrêté et accusé d'agression sexuelle ce samedi. Le patron du FMI et potentiel candidat socialiste pour 2012 a été appréhendé par les forces de l'ordre américaines à l'aéroport JFK de New York. Il est en garde à vue et "va être inculpé d'agression sexuelle, de séquestration de personne et de tentative de viol", a affirmé samedi soir à la presse un responsable de la police de New York. » | Vivien Vergnaud - leJDD.fr | Dimanche 15 Mai 2011

FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE: IWF-Chef Strauss-Kahn festgenommen: Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Direktor des Internationalen Währungsfonds, ist auf dem New Yorker Flughafen festgenommen worden. Die Behörden gehen Vorwürfen nach, er solle versucht haben, ein Zimmermädchen zum Oralsex zu zwingen. » | dapd | Sonntag, 15. Mai 2011

Britain Arrests WikiLeaks Founder in Sex Inquiry
THE NEW YORK TIMES: LONDON — Police in Britain arrested Julian Assange on Tuesday on a warrant issued in Sweden in connection with alleged sex offenses, British police officials said, the latest twist in the drama swirling around the anti-secrecy group and its beleaguered founder.

Mr. Assange, a 39-year-old Australian, was arrested by officers from Scotland Yard’s extradition unit when he went to a central London police station by prior agreement with the authorities, the police said. A court hearing was expected later in the day.

In a statement, the police said: “Officers from the Metropolitan Police extradition unit have this morning arrested Julian Assange on behalf of the Swedish authorities on suspicion of rape.”

Mr. Assange denies the charges of sexual misconduct said to have been committed while he was in Sweden in August. It was not immediately clear if Mr. Assange would resist extradition to Sweden for questioning by prosecutors there. >>> Alan Cowell and John F. Burns | Tuesday, December 07, 2010

Richard Dawkins: I Will Arrest Pope Benedict XVI
THE SUNDAY TIMES: RICHARD DAWKINS, the atheist campaigner, is planning a legal ambush to have the Pope arrested during his state visit to Britain “for crimes against humanity”.

Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens, the atheist author, have asked human rights lawyers to produce a case for charging Pope Benedict XVI over his alleged cover-up of sexual abuse in the Catholic church.

The pair believe they can exploit the same legal principle used to arrest Augusto Pinochet, the late Chilean dictator, when he visited Britain in 1998.

The Pope was embroiled in new controversy this weekend over a letter he signed arguing that the “good of the universal church” should be considered against the defrocking of an American priest who committed sex offences against two boys. It was dated 1985, when he was in charge of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which deals with sex abuse cases.

Benedict will be in Britain between September 16 and 19, visiting London, Glasgow and Coventry, where he will beatify Cardinal John Henry Newman, the 19th-century theologian.

Dawkins and Hitchens believe the Pope would be unable to claim diplomatic immunity from arrest because, although his tour is categorised as a state visit, he is not the head of a state recognised by the United Nations. >>> Marc Horne | Sunday, April 11, 2010

Detroit Bomber 'Singing Like a Canary' Before Arrest
Obama must be a complete fool to insist on treating this disgusting character as an ordinary criminal; further, Americans have done themselves a complete disservice to elect this greenhorn President into office. – © Mark

THE TELEGRAPH: President Barack Obama is under fire over claims that the Christmas Day underwear bomber was "singing like a canary" until he was treated as an ordinary criminal and advised of his right to silence.

The chance to secure crucial information about al-Qaeda operations in Yemen was lost because the Obama administration decided to charge and prosecute Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab as an ordinary criminal, critics say. He is said to have reduced his co-operation with FBI interrogators on the advice of his government-appointed defence counsel.

The potential significance became chillingly clear this weekend when it was reported that shortly after his detention, he boasted that 20 more young Muslim men were being prepared for similar murderous missions in the Yemen.

The lawyer for the 23-year-old Nigerian entered a formal not guilty plea on Friday to charges that he tried to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner on December 25 – even though he reportedly admitted earlier that he was trained and supplied with the explosives sewn into his underwear by al-Qaeda in the Arab state.

"He was singing like a canary, then we charged him in civilian proceedings, he got a lawyer and shut up," Slade Gorton, a member of the 9/11 Commission that investigated the Sept 2001 terror attacks on the US, told The Sunday Telegraph.

"I find it incomprehensible that this administration is treating terrorism as a law enforcement issue. The president has finally said that we are at war with al-Qaeda. Well, if this is a war, then Abdulmutallab should be treated as a combatant not a criminal." >>> Philip Sherwell in New York | Saturday, January 09, 2010

British Woman 'Arrested in Dubai after Being Raped'
THE TELEGRAPH: A 23-year-old British woman on holiday in Dubai told police she had been raped, only to be arrested herself for having illegal sexual intercourse.

The woman, a Muslim of Pakistani descent, was celebrating her engagement to her 44-year-old boyfriend, and was allegedly attacked when she passed out in a hotel lavatory.

Despite approaching police about the attack, she was arrested after admitting to "illegal drinking" outside licensed premises as well as having sexual intercourse outside marriage. Her fiancé was also charged with the same offences.

The couple from London are now reportedly on bail and understood to be awaiting trial after having their passports confiscated. Should they be found guilty, they could face up to six years in jail.

The woman, who is said to have accepted her boyfriend's marriage proposal during a three-day break, admitted drinking too much alcohol as they celebrated at Dubai Marina's Address Hotel. The waiter, believed to be Syrian, is then said to have followed her into the toilets and raped her while she was in a state of semi-consciousness.

After her fiancé found out about the attack, they contacted police, but they were questioned about breaking the country's strict rules, which contain elements of Sharia law. >>> Chris Irvine | Friday, January 08, 2010

Sarkozy Blasts Swiss Justice Over Polanski Arrest
DAILY EXPRESS: French leader NICOLAS SARKOZY has offered his support to detained sex offender ROMAN POLANSKI, insisting a 76-year-old man should not have been arrested for crimes he committed 32 years ago. >>> | Saturday, October 17, 2009

Turkey 'Seeks Duchess of York for Questioning over TV Documentary'
TIMES ONLINE: The Duchess of York faces questioning, and possible arrest and extradition to Turkey over allegations that she and her daughter Eugenie broke privacy laws by filming undercover in Turkish institutions for the disabled.

The Turkish government is believed to have lodged an official request for the British police to help it to secure evidence that the Duchess broke the country's strict privacy laws.

The Metropolitan Police and the Home Office are thought to be discussing the request, which arrived through the formal procedure for Mutual Legal Assistance between different countries.

Under the arrangement, British detectives would question the Duchess and relay their findings to their Turkish counterparts, who could then request further action such as her arrest and extradition.

Neither the Home Office nor the Met would comment on the record about Turkey's request this morning. But a Home Office source told The Sun newspaper last night: "We have received a request from the Turkish government for an MLA in relation to the Duchess of York. We are now awaiting the necessary paperwork but it seems likely the request will be granted."

The row concerns an episode of ITV1's Tonight programme, filmed last September and broadcast two months later, in which the Duchess and her younger daughter donned wigs and headscarves to film the cruel and spartan conditions endured by disabled women and children in two state institutions.

Eugenie wept after she saw children left tied to their beds in Istanbul's Zeytinburnu Centre for the Care of Disabled Children, where 700 youngsters are housed. The Duchess reported seeing faeces left uncleared near a bed holding two women at the Saray Rehabilitation Centre in Ankara.

Chris Rogers, an ITN correspondent who accompanied the Duchess, described what they had seen as "profoundly shocking". He reported seeing children "dressed in bedclothes and rags, some had shaven heads - which gave them the appearance of convicts rather than patients. In every corner, a child showed signs of distress, with many exhibiting the awful violent rocking of the institutionalised." >>> Jenny Booth | Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Cambridge Police Demand Apology from Barack Obama Over 'Stupid' Comments
THE TELEGRAPH: American police unions have demanded an apology from Barack Obama after he accused an officer of "acting stupidly" by arresting leading black scholar, Prof Henry Louis Gates.

Police representatives queued up at a press conference to insist race had played no part in the incident and the president should retract his "disgraceful" comments and apologise to Sgt James Crowley.

However Mr Obama refused to apologise at a hastily arranged White House press conference where he said: "In my choice of words, I unfortunately gave the impression that I was maligning the Cambridge Police Department or Sergeant Crowley specifically."

"My words didn't illuminate they only added to the media attention," he added.

He also revealed that he had telephoned Sgt Crowley.

Mr Obama criticised police earlier this week after the incident involving Prof Henry Louis Gates who was arrested after trying to force a jammed front door at his home near Harvard University. >>> Alex Spillius in Washington | Friday, July 24, 2009

Nehru's Great-grandson Arrested in India
Photo of Varun Gandhi courtesy of Google Images
THE INDEPENDENT: The great-grandson of India's first prime minister was arrested today as police investigated charges against him of making hate speeches and inciting violence against Muslims ahead of national elections, a court official said.

A political furor erupted after Varun Gandhi, 29, was filmed comparing a rival Muslim politician to Osama bin Laden and threatening to cut the throats of Muslims at two political rallies earlier this month.

Gandhi belongs to the powerful Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, which has produced three prime ministers over six decades and has long promoted a secular government and tolerance for religious minorities. However, he is a member of the opposition Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party.

Gandhi drove through the streets of Pilibhit, a town in the state of Uttar Pradesh where he is seeking a parliamentary seat, accompanied by thousands of supporters waving saffron Hindu flags. Pilibhit is about 135 miles east of New Delhi.

He then turned himself in at the court, said Chief Judicial Magistrate Nitin Kumar. He will be jailed until Monday, when he can seek release on bail, Kumar said.

If convicted, Gandhi could be disqualified from running for office and imprisoned for up to three years. >>> By Biswajeet Banergee, Associated Press | Saturday, March 28, 2009

Horror of Horrors! Woman Takes to the Wheel in Saudi Arabia! And in Mecca! Just Imagine!
BBC: A woman has been arrested in Mecca in Saudi Arabia for driving a car.

Police gave chase after she was spotted at the wheel of a 4x4 car, the English daily Arab News reported. She was arrested after hitting another car.

Women are prohibited from driving on all public roads in Saudi Arabia, a ban that has triggered several high-profile protests by women's rights activists.

The woman's name and nationality have not been announced.
Only Muslims are permitted in the holy city of Mecca. >>> | Thursday, March 5, 2009

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Saudi Arabia: Authorities Arrest Christian Convert
COMPASS DIRECT NEWS: Blogger incarcerated after writing about conversion, criticizing Islamic judiciary.

LOS ANGELES – Five months after the daughter of a member of Saudi Arabia’s religious police was killed for writing online about her faith in Christ, Saudi authorities have reportedly arrested a 28-year-old Christian man for describing his conversion and criticizing the kingdom’s judiciary on his Web site.

Saudi police arrested Hamoud Bin Saleh on Jan. 13 “because of his opinions and his testimony that he had converted from Islam to Christianity,” according to the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI). Bin Saleh, who had been detained for nine months in 2004 and again for a month last November, was reportedly being held in Riyadh’s Eleisha prison.

On his web site, which Saudi authorities have blocked, Bin Saleh wrote that his journey to Christ began after witnessing the public beheading of three Pakistanis convicted of drug charges. Shaken, he began an extensive study of Islamic history and law, as well as Saudi justice. He became disillusioned with sharia (Islamic law) and dismayed that kingdom authorities only prosecuted poor Saudis and foreigners.

“I was convinced that the wretched Pakistanis were executed in accordance with the Muhammadan laws just because they are poor and have no money or favored positions, which they had no control or power over,” he wrote in Arabic in his Dec. 22 posting, referring to “this terrible prejudice in the application of justice in Saudi Arabia.” >>> | Wednesday, January 28, 2009

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