Anything related to the court system, sentencing of offenders, or incarceration issues
Khaled Hussein, 28, of Edmonton, was charged today under British terrorism legislation along with Anjem Choudary, 56, whom Crown prosecutors is a radical preacher previously convicted of aiding the Islamic State. Arrested last week on arrival at Heathrow Airport, Hussein is charged with membership in a proscribed organization. [node:read-more:link]
Despite historically large public protests, Israel’s parliament today approved legislation which will prevent the Supreme Court from overruling the government. The 64-0 vote was boycotted by the opposition, which calls the measure “a takeover by an extreme minority over the Israeli majority.” [node:read-more:link]
The RCMP announced today that a retired member of the force has been charged with foreign interference on behalf of China. William Majcher, who has been living and working in Hong Kong, allegedly “used his knowledge and his extensive network of contacts in Canada to obtain intelligence or services to benefit the People’s Republic of China” and help to bully an individual “on Canadian territory.” [node:read-more:link]
Two Montreal men extradited to the U.S. in 2021 have been sent to prison for their involvement in an international scheme to distribute fentanyl and other synthetic opioids throughout the U.S., all orchestrated from inside a Quebec prison. The pair, Xuan Cahn Nguyen, 43, and Marie Um, 42, pleaded guilty in 2022. [node:read-more:link]
An Ottawa man identified as Alaa Hattab, 34, is one of five men charged in U.S. Federal Court in New Jersey with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and obstruct justice in connection with a “Ponzi-like scheme” run by Eliyahu Weinstein, who was pardoned two years ago by President Donald Trump after being convicted of similar offences. Two others are New Jersey residents and the fifth lives in Israel. [node:read-more:link]
Russian President Vladimir Putin, the target of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant, will “by mutual agreement” not attend an economic summit in South Africa in August. A spokesman for President Cyril Ramaphosa, whose government could be required to arrest Putin, said today that Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov would represent Russia. [node:read-more:link]
Spain’s highest court, today ordered that Hugo Carvajal, a former head of Venezuelan military intelligence, be extradited to the U.S. to face drug trafficking charges dating to 2011. Carjaval fled to Spain via the Dominican Republic in March 2019 after he was fired by President Nicolás Maduro for supporting a political opponent. [node:read-more:link]
An alleged Russian intelligence officer extradited from Estonia to the U.S. has been detained as a flight risk in New York after pleading not guilty to charges related to smuggling electronics and ammunition to his homeland. [node:read-more:link]
Turkey’s request for the extradition of two refugees it calls terrorists was rejected today by the Supreme Court of Sweden. Turkey says the two men joined an online network headed by a U.S. Muslim cleric but the court said that “downloading and using a mobile application cannot in itself be considered to constitute such participation as is required for criminality under the Terrorist Crimes Act.” [node:read-more:link]
The RCMP have secured terrorism peace bonds for two women recently repatriated from Syria along with three teenage girls. Arrested on their arrival in Montreal and then transported to Edmonton for a bail hearing, the women have been released pending further investigation. [node:read-more:link]
As NATO still wrestles with Sweden’s membership application due to Turkish resistance, a Swedish district court today sentenced a Turkish Kurd to for crimes including attempting to finance terrorism. Judge Mans Wigen insisted that the ruling was not influenced by the NATO situation. [node:read-more:link]
A Court of King’s Bench judge in Saskatchewan has ruled that emojis can amount to a contractual agreement. Accordingly, he ordered a farmer to pay more than $82,000 for not delivering 86 tonnes of flaxseed to a buyer in 2021 after responding to a text message with a thumbs-up image. [node:read-more:link]
Patrick Gordon Macdonald, 26, of Ottawa is the first in Canada to be charged with terrorism and hate propaganda offences for advocating violent neo-Nazi ideology. RCMP announced today that they had arrested him because he had helped to develop material for the U.S.-based but international Atomwaffen Division. [node:read-more:link]
The International Court of Justice was asked today by Canada, Britain, Sweden and Ukraine to issue a ruling against Iran for shooting down a Ukrainian airliner in January 2020 shortly after it took off from Tehran airport. The 176 passengers and crew included 55 Canadian citizens and 30 permanent residents. [node:read-more:link]
A U.S. district judge appointed by former President Donald Trump in 2018 has ordered some federal agencies and officials to stop contact social media companies about certain content. His July 4 injunction was in response to a lawsuit which claimed the Democrat administration had overstepped its mandate to combat disinformation on the coronavirus pandemic. [node:read-more:link]
