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Activist Perseveres to Defend the Rights of the Cuban People (update on Iris)
Placetas. Cuban Democratic Directorate. August 20, 2008. Cuban opposition activist Iris Tamara Pérez Aguilera reported today that she intends to appeal a decision reached today by the People’s Municipal Tribunal of Placetas concerning an incident ocurred on August 6, 2008.
“I have no reason to pay a fine if I have committed no crime… My only crime, according to them, was to have defended Melquíades Hernández, a young man who was bleeding profusely, and on top of that, they were beating him,” stated Pérez Aguilera today by telephone to the Cuban Democratic Directorate.
Pérez Aguilera is maintaining her complete innocence of the charges of “resistance” and “contempt” with which she the National Revolutionary Police (NRP) intends to punish her for having interceded to defend the rights of Melquíades Hernández, the young victim of a brutal beating by the NRP on the streets of Placetas on August 6.
During a trial held this morning at the People’s Municipal Tribunal of Placetas in Villa Clara province, the activist was supported by Yaité Diaznegui Cruz Sosa, a resident of Placetas and eyewitness to the events of August 6. Cruz Sosa, who is not a member of any opposition organization, testified that Pérez Aguilera had been the victim of repression, and had not committed any crime.
According to the sentence imposed by the tribunal today, Iris will be forced to pay a total of 500 Cuban pesos or serve 250 days in prison (8 months and 10 days) under articles 143.1 and 144.1 of the penal code*. The tribunal that handed down the sentence was presided over by Hugo Benavides Díaz. The day of the incident, Major Vilmariño of the NRP responded to Pérez Aguilera’s humanitarian effort with physical attacks, racist insults, arbitrary detention, and the leveling of these charges.
The opposition activist also enjoyed the support of about forty human rights activists from several parts of Cuba who managed to gather in Placetas to hold a peaceful march to the tribunal and to attend the trial.
The day of the incident, PNR officers slammed Pérez Aguilera against a police vehicle, calling her a “f------ black,” a “black monkey,” and later told her that what they needed was "an order to kill all these f------ blacks who stick their noses into everything," according to Pérez Aguilera’s husband, former political prisoner Jorge Luis García Pérez “Antúnez.”
*Editor’s note (unofficial translation from Law 62, Cuban penal code):
Resistance- ARTICLE 143.1. One who offers resistance to an authority, a public functionary or their agents or auxiliaries in the course of the exercise of their functions incurs the penalty of imprisonment for three months to one year or a fine of 100 to 300 installments [of 2 Cuban pesos].
Contempt- ARTICLE 144.1. One who threatens, libels, defames, insults, slanders or in any other way outrages or offends, whether verbally or written, the dignity or decorum of an authority, a public functionary, or their agents or auxiliaries in the course of the exercise of their functions, or on occasion or by cause of them, incurs the penalty of imprisonment for three months to one year or a fine of 100 to 300 installments [of 2 Cuban pesos] or both. Placetas. Cuban Democratic Directorate. August 20, 2008. Cuban opposition activist Iris Tamara Pérez Aguilera reported today that she ... more -
U.S. court says Cuban exile should stand trial
HOUSTON (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court has ruled that an anti-Castro Cuban exile and former CIA operative accused in Cuba of a 1976 plane bombing that killed 73 people should stand trial for an immigration violation, court records showed on Friday.
The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans on Thursday said a lower court erred in dismissing an indictment against Luis Posada Carriles days before he was to stand trial in El Paso, Texas, for allegedly lying during 2006 efforts to become a naturalized U.S. citizen.
The court sent the case back to U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone, who threw the charges out last year on grounds of government misconduct.
Posada Carriles, 80, who lives in Miami, has been sought for trial in Cuba and Venezuela for masterminding the bombing of a Cubana Airlines jet.
He has denied involvement in the incident but Cuba and Venezuela, which are close allies, have accused the Bush administration of hypocrisy in its "war on terrorism" for not prosecuting Posada Carriles.
In the U.S. Cuban exile community, he has been feted as a freedom fighter for his long fight against Fidel Castro, who took power in Cuba in a 1959 revolution and ruled until February, when his brother Raul Castro became president.
Lawyers for the U.S. Department of Justice and for Posada Carriles could not be reached. HOUSTON (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court has ruled that an anti-Castro Cuban exile and former CIA operative accused in Cuba of a 1976 ... more -
The next Guantanamo tribunals
The US military is set to press forward with the trials of at least 20 more detainees at Guantanamo Bay despite military jurors acquitting Osama bin Laden's former driver of many of the charges he faced.
The Salim Hamdan trial was the first test of controversial military commissions created to try "war on terror" suspects captured outside the US and held at the prison at a US naval base in Cuba.
The next trial set to take place is that of Omar Khadr, a 21-year-old Canadian who was 15 when he was captured during a firefight at a suspected al-Qaeda compound in Afghanistan.
Khadr, who is the only Westerner among the 265 prisoners still held at Guantanamo, is charged with the murder of a US soldier in a grenade attack.
Two prisoners have been convicted at Guantanamo, including Hamdan, who was the first to undergo a complete trial, and David Hicks, an Australian.
Hicks avoided trial by admitting he trained with al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and pleading guilty in March 2007 to providing material support for terrorism.
He finished his nine-month sentence in Australia in December 2007.
More at the link. The US military is set to press forward with the trials of at least 20 more detainees at Guantanamo Bay despite military jurors acquit... more -
'Could the TorrentSpy vs MPAA Case 'Redefine Online Privacy?'
MPAA argues that e-mails it obtained for its case were technically not "intercepted" in violation of federal wiretapping law since the hacked server from which they were sent stored them for several milliseconds before transmission.
Though TorrentSpy, once one of the more popular BitTorrent tracker sites around, is long gone, the case still reverberates throughout the online community for it may have disastrous implications for online privacy as we know it.
If you recall, back in 2005 a hacker broke into TorrentSpy's server and configured it to copy and forward all incoming and outgoing email to his personal account which he later sold to the MPAA for $15,000 USD for use in building its copyright infringement case against the site.
When the e-mails were presented in court Judge Florence-Marie Cooper ruled that they had not been intercepted in violation of the 1968 Wiretap Act because because the e-mails were stored on the mail server for several milliseconds during transmission, they were not technically "intercepted."
"Anderson did not stop or seize any of the messages that were forwarded to him," wrote Judge Cooper in her decision. "Anderson's actions did not halt the transmission of the messages to their intended recipients. As such, under well-settled case law, as well as a reading of the statute and the ordinary meaning of the word 'intercept,' Anderson's acquisitions of the e-mails did not violate the Wiretap Act."
However, many have pointed out that the ruling has severe implications for online privacy for it means that so long as you have access to any server that handles an e-mail as it flows across the internet it's technically not being "intercepted." Government go thus simply circumvent wiretapping laws by routing e-mails through its servers.
"It could really gut the wiretapping laws," said Orin S. Kerr, a George Washington University law professor and expert on surveillance law. "The government could go to your Internet service provider and say, 'Copy all of your e-mail, but make the copy a millisecond after the email arrives,' and it would not be a wiretap."
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has filed an amicus (friend-of-the-court) brief pointing out that the "ruling is incorrect as a matter of law and must be overturned in order to prevent the government from engaging in similar surveillance without a court order."
From the brief:
Most worrisome is that under the district court’s holding, law enforcement officers could engage in the contemporaneous acquisition of emails just as Anderson did, without having to comply with the Wiretap Act’s requirements. For example, if the FBI installed a network wiretapping device at a point where electronic communications are stored for milliseconds before continuing to their destination, the Bureau would not have to obtain an intercept order under the Wiretap Act, but could instead proceed under the SCA’s less stringent requirements, even though such surveillance represents “a series [of intrusions] or a continuous surveillance”
388 U.S. at 57.
Once again we have a case involving illegal file-sharing that is about much, much, more. It's not about copyright infringement, but rather about the rule of law and the lengths to which copyright holders are allowed to go in order to target suspected file-sharers. Just as we would never allow the govt to invade our homes and our privacy without first legally acquiring the necessary warrants to obtain evidence, so too must we never allow private business interests to do the same. MPAA argues that e-mails it obtained for its case were technically not "intercepted" in violation of federal wiretapping law... more -
Final verdict in first Guantanamo trial
In what has been the first Guantanamo trial to take place, the military jury has reportedly reached their final verdict in the trial of Osama bin Laden's driver, with them finding him guilty of terrorism charges.
He has been reportedly been charged with 'conspiring with al Qaeda and providing material support for terrorism,' in what is the first US war crimes trial since WWII. In what has been the first Guantanamo trial to take place, the military jury has reportedly reached their final verdict in the trial o... more -
Bin Laden's Driver Convicted in Guantanamo Bay War Crimes Trial
A jury of six military officers at Guantanamo Bay reached a split verdict Wednesday in the war crimes trial of a former driver for Osama bin Laden, clearing him of some charges but convicting him of others that could send him to prison for life. A jury of six military officers at Guantanamo Bay reached a split verdict Wednesday in the war crimes trial of a former driver for Osa... more
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Osama Bin Laden driver trial jury out
A US military jury has retired to consider its verdict after the trial of Osama Bin Laden's former driver at Guantanamo Bay.
Yemeni Salim Hamdan faces life in prison if convicted of conspiracy and supporting terrorism. In closing arguments, the prosecution said he played a "vital role" in the conspiracy behind the 9/11 attacks. But defence lawyers said he was a low-level employee, who was "not even an al-Qaeda member".
Mr Hamdan, who was captured in Afghanistan in November 2001, has pleaded not guilty and his defence team say he worked for wages, not to wage war on America. Mr Hamdan has acknowledged working for Bin Laden in Afghanistan from 1997 to 2001 for $200 (£99) a month, but denies being part of al-Qaeda or taking part in any attacks.
***He is the first prisoner to be tried by the US for war crimes since World War II.***
Read more... A US military jury has retired to consider its verdict after the trial of Osama Bin Laden's former driver at Guantanamo Bay. ... more -
Closing arguments of Bin Laden's driver's trial
" Closing arguments began Monday in the trial of Osama bin Laden's former driver, Salim Hamdan, the first inmate at the Guantanamo jail to face a full-scale trial before the special tribunals created by President George W. Bush.
Hamdan, a Yemeni national about 40 years old, is accused of conspiracy and material support to terrorism, and faces a possible sentence of life in prison if a jury of six military officers finds him guilty.
A verdict could be handed down as early as Monday afternoon in the trial, underway at the prison camp on a US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba since July 21.
"He was an Al-Qaeda warrior," said John Murphy, a Justice Department prosecutor. "He pledged bayat to Osama bin Laden," Murphy said, using the Arabic word for a pledge of allegiance.
Lawyers for Hamdan, who has already spent six years behind bars at Guantanamo, have questioned the fairness of the proceedings and argued that Hamdan was an insignificant figure while employed by bin Laden from 1998 to 2001, saying he was not involved in any way in Al-Qaeda operations.
"This is a classic case of guilt by association," said Lieutenant Commander Brian Mizer, an assigned military defense lawyer for Hamdan. Mizer described Hamdan as a driver with a fourth-grade education, motivated by financial gain not ideological passion.
"Mr Hamdan is not an Al-Qaeda warrior, he is not Al-Qaeda's last line of defense," Mizer said. "He's not even an Al-Qaeda member."
"You should not punish the general's driver today with the crimes of the general."
Once closing arguments wrap up, military jurors will immediately begin their deliberations amid predictions from human rights groups that Hamdan will likely be found guilty on at least some of the charges. " " Closing arguments began Monday in the trial of Osama bin Laden's former driver, Salim Hamdan, the first inmate at the Guan... more -
Taser death case heads to grand jury
A Louisiana grand jury will decide whether a fired police officer should face criminal charges in the January death of a man who was Tasered nine times while handcuffed, the parish's district attorney announced Monday. A Louisiana grand jury will decide whether a fired police officer should face criminal charges in the January death of a man who was T... more
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Karadzic extradited to The Hague
The former Bosnian Serb leader, Radovan Karadzic, has been flown from the Serbian capital Belgrade to the war-crimes tribunal in The Hague.
He was moved from a court building where he had been held since his arrest last week, after 13 years on the run.
He has been indicted for crimes against humanity and genocide relating to the Bosnian conflict of the 1990s.
His transfer comes hours after a rally attended by at least 10,000 supporters to protest at his arrest.
Clashes broke out between police and several hundred protesters during the final speeches at the rally organised by the hardline nationalist Radical Party.
Several people were injured as riot police fired tear gas at protesters armed with rocks and burning flares.
* * * * *
More at link. The former Bosnian Serb leader, Radovan Karadzic, has been flown from the Serbian capital Belgrade to the war-crimes tribunal in The H... more -
Bin Laden's Driver Pleads Not Guilty
The first Guantanamo war crimes trial began Monday with a not guilty plea from a former driver and alleged bodyguard for Osama bin Laden. The first Guantanamo war crimes trial began Monday with a not guilty plea from a former driver and alleged bodyguard for Osama bin Lad... more
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British businesswoman facing jail in Dubai 'after having sex on the beach...
30-year-old British woman Michelle Palmer has lost her job and faces a jail sentence of between 3 months and 6 years for breaking decency laws in Dubai after having sex on a beach, according to the Daily Mail.
Now, we all know the Daily Mail isn't the best source of reliable and balanced news, but if this is
really the case this woman *should* be scared, and feeling more than a little stupid. Dubai doesn't go easy on its own population, let alone foreigners who refuse to tow the line. Sex outside marriage, cohabitation, adultery and homosexuality are all illegal and punishable by very severe sentences.
Why you'd want to go to such restrictive and extreme country in the first place I don't know, especially as a woman (well, I hear the money helps), but was this woman standing up to a repressive regime in some way by getting jiggy in the sand, or should she simply have obeyed the laws of the country she chose to work in... and, um, just gone home to bed? 30-year-old British woman Michelle Palmer has lost her job and faces a jail sentence of between 3 months and 6 years for breaking dece... more -
Two days before sentencing, Reiser leads police to wife's body
Reiser's sentencing is scheduled for Wednesday, and he's facing 25 years to life.
"The body was down a steep hillside that runs next to a hiking trail in the 8200 block of Skyline Boulevard. That location is just a few miles from where Reiser lived."
What a jerk. Reiser's sentencing is scheduled for Wednesday, and he's facing 25 years to life. ... more -
Continental Airlines Ordered to Stand Trial in Deadly Concorde Crash
A French judge has ordered Continental Airlines and five people to stand trial for manslaughter in connection with the 2000 crash of a Concorde jet that killed 113 people. A French judge has ordered Continental Airlines and five people to stand trial for manslaughter in connection with the 2000 crash of a... more
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Christie Brinkley Divorce Trial Starts Today (w/ Photo Gallery)
Christie Brinkley's messy divorce from her cheating husband is about to get aired in full public view. Check out the article for a preview of the trial and a photo gallery of the beautiful Christie Brinkley. Christie Brinkley's messy divorce from her cheating husband is about to get aired in full public view. Check out the article for ... more
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Killer of Curious George writer convicted
A jury convicted a man Tuesday of killing Alan Shalleck, who collaborated with the co-creator of "Curious George" to bring the mischievous monkey to TV and a series of book sequels.
Shalleck was the writer and director of more than 100 episodes of "Curious George" for the Disney Channel.
The jury deliberated for about 90 minutes before convicting Vincent Puglisi of first-degree murder and robbery with a deadly weapon. He is scheduled to be sentenced in July.
Puglisi's co-defendant, Rex Ditto, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and robbery with a weapon in 2007. He was sentenced to life in prison.
A message left for Assistant State Attorney Andy Slater was not immediately returned Tuesday evening. The phone at Assistant Public Defender Shari Vrod's office rang unanswered.
Shalleck had 83 blunt force injuries and more than three dozen stab wounds, including to the abdomen, neck and groin, an autopsy revealed.
Ditto and Puglisi went to Shalleck's Boynton Beach home on Super Bowl Sunday in February 2006 intending to rob him. After the killing, Ditto and Puglisi stole jewelry from Shalleck and pilfered funds from his checking account, authorities said.
Shalleck was the writer and director of more than 100 short episodes of "Curious George," which aired on the Disney Channel, and co-wrote a series of books with Margret Rey, who created the mischievous monkey with her husband more than 60 years ago. Houghton Mifflin publishes "Curious George" books A jury convicted a man Tuesday of killing Alan Shalleck, who collaborated with the co-creator of "Curious George" to bring t... more -
Jury convicts Entwistle of double murder
A jury took less than two days to convict Neil Entwistle of murdering his wife and infant daughter, rejecting the defense's theory that the young mother shot her 9-month-old before committing suicide.
The Entwistle murder case concerns an English-born man, Neil Entwistle, convicted of murdering his American wife, Rachel, and their infant daughter Lillian on January 20, 2006 in the United States.
The bodies of 27-year-old Rachel and 9-month-old Lillian were found on January 22, in the master bedroom of the couple's rented Hopkinton, Massachusetts home where the Entwistles had been living for only ten days. Autopsy results showed that Rachel died of a gunshot wound to the head, and the baby died of a gunshot wound to the stomach.
His trial for murder began on June 2, 2008 in Woburn, MA.
He was found guilty on all 4 charges on June 25, 2008. A jury took less than two days to convict Neil Entwistle of murdering his wife and infant daughter, rejecting the defense's theor... more -
Should popularity of orgies vs. apple pie adjust community standards?
This is an interesting story involving pornography, community standards, and Google Trends data. Basically, a defense attorney who has attempted to use proliferation and availability of pornographic material on the Internet in contrast to more broadly decent content is switching the focus instead to "intent" on a local level using Google search trend data.
Here's a snippet:
"In the trial of a pornographic Web site operator, the defense plans to show that residents of Pensacola are more likely to use Google to search for terms like “orgy” than for “apple pie” or “watermelon.” The publicly accessible data is vague in that it does not specify how many people are searching for the terms, just their relative popularity over time. But the defense lawyer, Lawrence Walters, is arguing that the evidence is sufficient to demonstrate that interest in the sexual subjects exceeds that of more mainstream topics — and that by extension, the sexual material distributed by his client is not outside the norm.
It is not clear that the approach will succeed. The Florida state prosecutor in the case, which is scheduled for trial July 1, said the search data may not be relevant because the volume of Internet searches is not necessarily an indication of, or proxy for, a community’s values.
But the tactic is another example of the value of data collected by Internet companies like Google, both from a commercial standpoint and as a window into the thoughts, interests and desires of their users.
“Time and time again you’ll have jurors sitting on a jury panel who will condemn material that they routinely consume in private,” said Mr. Walters, the defense lawyer. Using the Internet data, “we can show how people really think and feel and act in their own homes, which, parenthetically, is where this material was intended to be viewed,” he added."
So, by focusing on Pensacola search trend data, Walters is suggesting that residents in Pensacola are at least as interested in "orgies" as they are in the term "apple pie." It's noted that "Nascar," "Nintendo," and "surfing" all ranked higher than "orgy."
However, this raises all sorts of concerns regarding Internet privacy, specifically in regards to the group of people who reside in Pensacola and happen to use Google to search for race cars, video games, and your run-of-the-mill orgy.
So, what say you Current? Should the laws regarding obscenity be adjusted based on the personal likes and dislikes of the local community? Or is using data to discern local interest a violation of privacy?
Graph image found at: http://www.reason.com/blog/show/127164.html This is an interesting story involving pornography, community standards, and Google Trends data. Basically, a defense attorney who has... more -
Briton Simon Mann goes on trial in Equatorial Guinea
This article sets out all the background in the trial of Old Etonian mercenary Simon Mann.
He's accused of plotting to overthrow Equatorial Guinea and then profit from its oil wealth.
The prosecution says it won't seek the death penalty for the 32 year old but he is sure to face a tough and very public trial. This article sets out all the background in the trial of Old Etonian mercenary Simon Mann. ... more -
IRS was defeated by the use of the true money
On September 17, the jury returned its verdict refusing to convict all nine defendants of any of the 161 federal tax crimes they had been charged with. One would think, “we the tax payers would want to hear that the IRS was defeated by the use of the true money.” To my knowledge, the results of this trial were never printed or broadcast by any of the major news media. Three days after the trial’s conclusion, the Las Vegas Review Journal ran its first and last story about the outcome and then only because of public pressure from interested parties who attended the trial.
Robert Kahre owns a family business and instead of using paper money he paid his workers with gold and silver coins minted by the United States government. He paid them based on the “face value” of the coins. If he paid a worker a dollar an hour he paid with a silver dollar, which states on the coin that it is “one dollar” regardless of today’s value. His wages were so low that he didn’t have to file W-2 income tax forms or withhold taxes or pay workman’s comp. This upset the IRS, which charged him and his family with 161 federal tax crimes.
Thank God we still have justice in this country. Let's hold onto it. It's worth more than money. Justice! On September 17, the jury returned its verdict refusing to convict all nine defendants of any of the 161 federal tax crimes they had b... more
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