They just don't believe it. There isn't another explanation!
Religion of Peace
- Thread starter B00Mer
- Start date
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, accused as main plotter of 9/11 attacks, agrees to plead guilty
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Ellen Knickmeyer, Larry Neumeister And Michael R. Sisak
Published Jul 31, 2024 • 4 minute read
WASHINGTON — Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, accused as the mastermind of al-Qaida’s Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, has agreed to plead guilty, the Defense Department said Wednesday. The development points to a long-delayed resolution in an attack that killed thousands and altered the course of the United States and much of the Middle East.
Mohammed and two accomplices, Walid Bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi, are expected to enter the pleas at the military commission at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as soon as next week.
Defence lawyers have requested the men receive life sentences in exchange for the guilty pleas, according to letters from the federal government received by relatives of some of the nearly 3,000 people killed outright on the morning of Sept. 11.
Terry Strada, the head of one group of families of the nearly 3,000 direct victims of the 9/11 attacks, invoked the dozens of relatives who have died while awaiting justice for the killings when she heard news of the plea agreement.
“They were cowards when they planned the attack,” she said of the defendants. “And they’re cowards today.”
Pentagon officials declined to immediately release the full terms of the plea bargains.
The U.S. agreement with the men comes more than 16 years after their prosecution began for al-Qaida’s attack. It comes more than 20 years after militants commandeered four commercial airliners to use as fuel-filled missiles, flying them into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon.
Al-Qaida hijackers headed a fourth plane to Washington, but crew members and passengers tried to storm the cockpit, and the plane crashed into a Pennsylvania field.
The attack triggered what President George W. Bush’s administration called its war on terror, prompting the U.S. military invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq and years of U.S. operations against armed extremist groups elsewhere in the Middle East.
The attack and U.S. retaliation brought the overthrow of two governments outright, devastated communities and countries caught in the battle, and played a role in inspiring the 2011 Arab Spring popular uprisings against authoritarian Middle East governments.
At home, the attacks inspired a sharply more militaristic and nationalist turn to American society and culture.
U.S. authorities point to Mohammed as the source of the idea to use planes as weapons. He allegedly received approval from al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, whom U.S. forces killed in 2011, to craft what became the 9/11 hijackings and killings.
Authorities captured Mohammed in 2003. Mohammed was subjected to waterboarding 183 times while in CIA custody before coming to Guantanamo, and targeted by other forms of torture and coercive questioning.
The use of torture has proven one of the most formidable obstacles in U.S. efforts to try the men in the military commission at Guantanamo, owing to the inadmissibility of evidence linked to abuse. Torture has accounted for much of the delay of the proceedings, along with the courtroom’s location a plane ride away from the United States.
Daphne Eviatar, a director at the Amnesty International USA rights group, said Wednesday she welcomed news of some accountability in the attacks.
She urged the Biden administration to close the Guantanamo Bay detention centre, which holds people taken into custody in the so-called war on terror. Many have since been cleared, but are awaiting approval to leave for other countries.
Additionally, Eviatar said, “the Biden administration must also take all necessary measures to ensure that a program of state-sanctioned enforced disappearance, torture and other ill-treatment will never be perpetrated by the United States again.”
Strada, national chairperson of a group of families of victims called 9/11 Families United, had been at Manhattan federal court for a hearing on one of many civil lawsuits when she heard news of the plea agreement.
Strada said many families have just wanted to see the men admit guilt.
“For me personally, I wanted to see a trial,” she said. “And they just took away the justice I was expecting, a trial and the punishment.”
Michael Burke, one of the family members receiving the government notice of the plea bargain, condemned the long wait for justice, and the outcome.
“It took months or a year at the Nuremberg trials,” said Burke, whose fire captain brother Billy died in the collapse of the World Trade Center’s North Tower. “To me, it always been disgraceful that these guys, 23 years later, have not been convicted and punished for their attacks, or the crime. I never understood how it took so long.”
“I think people would be shocked if you could go back in time and tell the people who just watched the towers go down, ‘Oh, hey, in 23 years, these guys who are responsible for this crime we just witnessed are going to be getting plea deals so they can avoid death and serve life in prison,” he said.
Burke’s brother, New York City fire captain Billy Burke, ordered his men out but remained on the 27th floor of the North Tower with two men who’d stayed behind: a quadriplegic who, because the elevators had gone out, was essentially stuck there in his wheelchair and that man’s friend.
— Neumeister and Sisak reported from New York.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Ellen Knickmeyer, Larry Neumeister And Michael R. Sisak
Published Jul 31, 2024 • 4 minute read
WASHINGTON — Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, accused as the mastermind of al-Qaida’s Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, has agreed to plead guilty, the Defense Department said Wednesday. The development points to a long-delayed resolution in an attack that killed thousands and altered the course of the United States and much of the Middle East.
Mohammed and two accomplices, Walid Bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi, are expected to enter the pleas at the military commission at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as soon as next week.
Defence lawyers have requested the men receive life sentences in exchange for the guilty pleas, according to letters from the federal government received by relatives of some of the nearly 3,000 people killed outright on the morning of Sept. 11.
Terry Strada, the head of one group of families of the nearly 3,000 direct victims of the 9/11 attacks, invoked the dozens of relatives who have died while awaiting justice for the killings when she heard news of the plea agreement.
“They were cowards when they planned the attack,” she said of the defendants. “And they’re cowards today.”
Pentagon officials declined to immediately release the full terms of the plea bargains.
The U.S. agreement with the men comes more than 16 years after their prosecution began for al-Qaida’s attack. It comes more than 20 years after militants commandeered four commercial airliners to use as fuel-filled missiles, flying them into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon.
Al-Qaida hijackers headed a fourth plane to Washington, but crew members and passengers tried to storm the cockpit, and the plane crashed into a Pennsylvania field.
The attack triggered what President George W. Bush’s administration called its war on terror, prompting the U.S. military invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq and years of U.S. operations against armed extremist groups elsewhere in the Middle East.
The attack and U.S. retaliation brought the overthrow of two governments outright, devastated communities and countries caught in the battle, and played a role in inspiring the 2011 Arab Spring popular uprisings against authoritarian Middle East governments.
At home, the attacks inspired a sharply more militaristic and nationalist turn to American society and culture.
U.S. authorities point to Mohammed as the source of the idea to use planes as weapons. He allegedly received approval from al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, whom U.S. forces killed in 2011, to craft what became the 9/11 hijackings and killings.
Authorities captured Mohammed in 2003. Mohammed was subjected to waterboarding 183 times while in CIA custody before coming to Guantanamo, and targeted by other forms of torture and coercive questioning.
The use of torture has proven one of the most formidable obstacles in U.S. efforts to try the men in the military commission at Guantanamo, owing to the inadmissibility of evidence linked to abuse. Torture has accounted for much of the delay of the proceedings, along with the courtroom’s location a plane ride away from the United States.
Daphne Eviatar, a director at the Amnesty International USA rights group, said Wednesday she welcomed news of some accountability in the attacks.
She urged the Biden administration to close the Guantanamo Bay detention centre, which holds people taken into custody in the so-called war on terror. Many have since been cleared, but are awaiting approval to leave for other countries.
Additionally, Eviatar said, “the Biden administration must also take all necessary measures to ensure that a program of state-sanctioned enforced disappearance, torture and other ill-treatment will never be perpetrated by the United States again.”
Strada, national chairperson of a group of families of victims called 9/11 Families United, had been at Manhattan federal court for a hearing on one of many civil lawsuits when she heard news of the plea agreement.
Strada said many families have just wanted to see the men admit guilt.
“For me personally, I wanted to see a trial,” she said. “And they just took away the justice I was expecting, a trial and the punishment.”
Michael Burke, one of the family members receiving the government notice of the plea bargain, condemned the long wait for justice, and the outcome.
“It took months or a year at the Nuremberg trials,” said Burke, whose fire captain brother Billy died in the collapse of the World Trade Center’s North Tower. “To me, it always been disgraceful that these guys, 23 years later, have not been convicted and punished for their attacks, or the crime. I never understood how it took so long.”
“I think people would be shocked if you could go back in time and tell the people who just watched the towers go down, ‘Oh, hey, in 23 years, these guys who are responsible for this crime we just witnessed are going to be getting plea deals so they can avoid death and serve life in prison,” he said.
Burke’s brother, New York City fire captain Billy Burke, ordered his men out but remained on the 27th floor of the North Tower with two men who’d stayed behind: a quadriplegic who, because the elevators had gone out, was essentially stuck there in his wheelchair and that man’s friend.
— Neumeister and Sisak reported from New York.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, accused as main plotter of 9/11 attacks, agrees to plead guilty
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, accused as the mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, has agreed to plead guilty, the Defense Department said.
Defense Secretary overrides plea agreement for accused 9/11 mastermind and two other defendants
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Ellen Knickmeyer
Published Aug 02, 2024 • Last updated 13 hours ago • 2 minute read
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Friday overrode a plea agreement reached earlier this week for the accused mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and two other defendants, reinstating them as death penalty cases.
The move comes two days after the military commission at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, announced it had reached plea deals with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two accused accomplices, Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi, in the attacks.
Letters sent to families of the nearly 3,000 people killed in the al-Qaida attacks said the plea agreement stipulated the three would serve life sentences at most.
Austin wrote in an order released Friday night that “in light of the significance of the decision,” he had decided that the authority to make a decision on accepting the plea agreements was his. He nullified Escallier’s approval.
Some families of the attack’s victims condemned the deal for cutting off any possibility of full trials and possible death penalties. Republicans were quick to fault the Biden administration for the deal, although the White House said after it was announced it had no knowledge of it.
Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, a member of the Armed Services Committee, earlier Friday had condemned the plea deal on social media as “disgraceful.” Cotton said he had introduced legislation that would mandate the 9/11 defendants face trial and the possibility of the death penalty.
Mohammed, whom the U.S. describes as the main plotter of the attack that crashed hijacked passenger planes into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field, and the other two defendants had been expected to formally enter their pleas under the deal as soon as next week.
The U.S. military commission overseeing the cases of five defendants in the Sept. 11 attacks has been stuck in pre-trial hearings and other preliminary court action since 2008. The torture that the defendants underwent while in CIA custody has been among the challenges slowing the cases, and left the prospect of full trials and verdicts still uncertain, in part because of the inadmissibility of evidence linked to the torture.
J. Wells Dixon, a staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights who has represented defendants at Guantanamo as well as other detainees there who have been cleared of any wrongdoing, had welcomed the plea bargains as the only feasible way to resolve the long-stalled and legally fraught 9/11 cases.
Dixon accused Austin on Friday of “bowing to political pressure and pushing some victim family members over an emotional cliff” by rescinding the plea deals.
Lawyers for the two sides have been exploring a negotiated resolution to the case for about 1 1/2 years. President Joe Biden blocked an earlier proposed plea bargain in the case last year, when he refused to offer requested presidential guarantees that the men would be spared solitary confinement and provided trauma care for the torture they underwent while in CIA custody.
A fourth Sept. 11 defendant at Guantanamo had been still negotiating on a possible plea agreement.
The military commission last year ruled the fifth defendant mentally unfit to stand trial. A military medical panel cited post-traumatic stress disorder and psychosis, and linked it to torture and solitary confinement in four years in CIA custody before transfer to Guantanamo.
— Associated Press writer Tara Copp contributed.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Ellen Knickmeyer
Published Aug 02, 2024 • Last updated 13 hours ago • 2 minute read
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Friday overrode a plea agreement reached earlier this week for the accused mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and two other defendants, reinstating them as death penalty cases.
The move comes two days after the military commission at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, announced it had reached plea deals with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two accused accomplices, Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi, in the attacks.
Letters sent to families of the nearly 3,000 people killed in the al-Qaida attacks said the plea agreement stipulated the three would serve life sentences at most.
Austin wrote in an order released Friday night that “in light of the significance of the decision,” he had decided that the authority to make a decision on accepting the plea agreements was his. He nullified Escallier’s approval.
Some families of the attack’s victims condemned the deal for cutting off any possibility of full trials and possible death penalties. Republicans were quick to fault the Biden administration for the deal, although the White House said after it was announced it had no knowledge of it.
Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, a member of the Armed Services Committee, earlier Friday had condemned the plea deal on social media as “disgraceful.” Cotton said he had introduced legislation that would mandate the 9/11 defendants face trial and the possibility of the death penalty.
Mohammed, whom the U.S. describes as the main plotter of the attack that crashed hijacked passenger planes into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field, and the other two defendants had been expected to formally enter their pleas under the deal as soon as next week.
The U.S. military commission overseeing the cases of five defendants in the Sept. 11 attacks has been stuck in pre-trial hearings and other preliminary court action since 2008. The torture that the defendants underwent while in CIA custody has been among the challenges slowing the cases, and left the prospect of full trials and verdicts still uncertain, in part because of the inadmissibility of evidence linked to the torture.
J. Wells Dixon, a staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights who has represented defendants at Guantanamo as well as other detainees there who have been cleared of any wrongdoing, had welcomed the plea bargains as the only feasible way to resolve the long-stalled and legally fraught 9/11 cases.
Dixon accused Austin on Friday of “bowing to political pressure and pushing some victim family members over an emotional cliff” by rescinding the plea deals.
Lawyers for the two sides have been exploring a negotiated resolution to the case for about 1 1/2 years. President Joe Biden blocked an earlier proposed plea bargain in the case last year, when he refused to offer requested presidential guarantees that the men would be spared solitary confinement and provided trauma care for the torture they underwent while in CIA custody.
A fourth Sept. 11 defendant at Guantanamo had been still negotiating on a possible plea agreement.
The military commission last year ruled the fifth defendant mentally unfit to stand trial. A military medical panel cited post-traumatic stress disorder and psychosis, and linked it to torture and solitary confinement in four years in CIA custody before transfer to Guantanamo.
— Associated Press writer Tara Copp contributed.
Defense Secretary overrides plea agreement for accused 9/11 mastermind and two other defendants
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin overrode a plea agreement reached earlier this week for the accused mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks.
Apparently, the agreement has been reversed.Defense Secretary overrides plea agreement for accused 9/11 mastermind and two other defendants
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Ellen Knickmeyer
Published Aug 02, 2024 • Last updated 13 hours ago • 2 minute read
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Friday overrode a plea agreement reached earlier this week for the accused mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and two other defendants, reinstating them as death penalty cases.
The move comes two days after the military commission at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, announced it had reached plea deals with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two accused accomplices, Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi, in the attacks.
Letters sent to families of the nearly 3,000 people killed in the al-Qaida attacks said the plea agreement stipulated the three would serve life sentences at most.
Austin wrote in an order released Friday night that “in light of the significance of the decision,” he had decided that the authority to make a decision on accepting the plea agreements was his. He nullified Escallier’s approval.
Some families of the attack’s victims condemned the deal for cutting off any possibility of full trials and possible death penalties. Republicans were quick to fault the Biden administration for the deal, although the White House said after it was announced it had no knowledge of it.
Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, a member of the Armed Services Committee, earlier Friday had condemned the plea deal on social media as “disgraceful.” Cotton said he had introduced legislation that would mandate the 9/11 defendants face trial and the possibility of the death penalty.
Mohammed, whom the U.S. describes as the main plotter of the attack that crashed hijacked passenger planes into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field, and the other two defendants had been expected to formally enter their pleas under the deal as soon as next week.
The U.S. military commission overseeing the cases of five defendants in the Sept. 11 attacks has been stuck in pre-trial hearings and other preliminary court action since 2008. The torture that the defendants underwent while in CIA custody has been among the challenges slowing the cases, and left the prospect of full trials and verdicts still uncertain, in part because of the inadmissibility of evidence linked to the torture.
J. Wells Dixon, a staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights who has represented defendants at Guantanamo as well as other detainees there who have been cleared of any wrongdoing, had welcomed the plea bargains as the only feasible way to resolve the long-stalled and legally fraught 9/11 cases.
Dixon accused Austin on Friday of “bowing to political pressure and pushing some victim family members over an emotional cliff” by rescinding the plea deals.
Lawyers for the two sides have been exploring a negotiated resolution to the case for about 1 1/2 years. President Joe Biden blocked an earlier proposed plea bargain in the case last year, when he refused to offer requested presidential guarantees that the men would be spared solitary confinement and provided trauma care for the torture they underwent while in CIA custody.
A fourth Sept. 11 defendant at Guantanamo had been still negotiating on a possible plea agreement.
The military commission last year ruled the fifth defendant mentally unfit to stand trial. A military medical panel cited post-traumatic stress disorder and psychosis, and linked it to torture and solitary confinement in four years in CIA custody before transfer to Guantanamo.
— Associated Press writer Tara Copp contributed.
Defense Secretary overrides plea agreement for accused 9/11 mastermind and two other defendants
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin overrode a plea agreement reached earlier this week for the accused mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks.
Life in prison is no guarantee of longevity or quality. Picton finally got what was coming to him in prison, and it wasn't pretty. More importantly, he knew it would happen sometime.
Protests grow in India over rape and killing of doctor at state-run hospital
The family of the 31-year-old victim alleged it was a case of a gang rape and more were involved
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Piyush Nagpal
Published Aug 16, 2024 • 3 minute read
Medical professionals and students shout slogans as they condemn the rape and murder of a doctor in India's West Bengal state, in New Delhi on August 16, 2024.
Medical professionals and students shout slogans as they condemn the rape and murder of a doctor in India's West Bengal state, in New Delhi on August 16, 2024.
NEW DELHI — Thousands of people marched through various Indian cities Friday to protest the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at a government hospital, demanding justice and better security at medical campuses and hospitals.
Demonstrators held signs calling for accountability for the woman’s rape and killing as they gathered near Parliament in New Delhi. Similar protests were held in the eastern city of Kolkata _ the capital of West Bengal state where the killing took place — and other Indian cities like Mumbai and Hyderabad.
The protests, which have generally been peaceful, began Aug. 9 when police discovered the bloodied body of the 31-year-old trainee doctor at the state-run R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital’s seminar hall in Kolkata.
An autopsy later confirmed sexual assault, and a police volunteer was detained in connection with the crime. The family of the victim alleged it was a case of a gang rape and more were involved.
State government officers who first began investigating the case have been accused of mishandling it. Police later handed the case to federal investigators following a court order.
In the days since, mounting anger has boiled over into nationwide outrage and stirred protests over violence against women. The protests have also led thousands of doctors and paramedics to walk out of some public hospitals across India and demand a safer working environment.
Sexual violence against women is a widespread problem in India. In 2022, police recorded 31,516 reports of rape — a 20% increase from 2021, according to the National Crime Records Bureau.
Many cases of crimes against women go unreported in India due to stigma surrounding sexual violence, as well as a lack of faith in the police. Women’s rights activists say the problem is particularly acute in rural areas, where the community sometimes shames victims of sexual assault and families worry about their social standing.
Richa Garg, a doctor who was part of the protests Friday in New Delhi, said she no longer felt safe at her workplace.
“As a woman, it boils my blood. The culprits of this crime should be found immediately … and our workplaces should be made safer,” she said.
On Wednesday night, the hospital where the trainee doctor was killed was attacked. Police did not identify who was behind the rampage, but said they have arrested 19 so far.
The Indian Medical Association, the country’s largest grouping of medics, called late Thursday for a “nationwide withdrawal of services,” except essential services, for 24 hours starting Saturday.
“Doctors, especially women are vulnerable to violence because of the nature of the profession. It is for the authorities to provide for the safety of doctors inside hospitals and campuses,” the IMA said in a statement issued on the social media platform X.
Political parties, Bollywood actors and other high profile celebrities have also voiced shock at the crime and called for stricter punishments for those who commit them.
“Monstrous behavior against women should be severely and promptly punished,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Thursday in an address to the nation on its 78th Independence Day.
For many, the gruesome nature of the attack has invoked comparisons with the horrific 2012 gang rape and killing of a 23-year-old student on a New Delhi bus. The attack galvanized massive protests, sometimes violent, and inspired lawmakers to order harsher penalties for such crimes, as well as the creation of fast-track courts dedicated to rape cases. Under pressure, the government also introduced the death penalty for repeat offenders.
The rape law amended in 2013 also criminalized stalking and voyeurism and lowered the age at which a person can be tried as an adult from 18 to 16.
torontosun.com
The family of the 31-year-old victim alleged it was a case of a gang rape and more were involved
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Piyush Nagpal
Published Aug 16, 2024 • 3 minute read
Medical professionals and students shout slogans as they condemn the rape and murder of a doctor in India's West Bengal state, in New Delhi on August 16, 2024.
Medical professionals and students shout slogans as they condemn the rape and murder of a doctor in India's West Bengal state, in New Delhi on August 16, 2024.
NEW DELHI — Thousands of people marched through various Indian cities Friday to protest the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at a government hospital, demanding justice and better security at medical campuses and hospitals.
Demonstrators held signs calling for accountability for the woman’s rape and killing as they gathered near Parliament in New Delhi. Similar protests were held in the eastern city of Kolkata _ the capital of West Bengal state where the killing took place — and other Indian cities like Mumbai and Hyderabad.
The protests, which have generally been peaceful, began Aug. 9 when police discovered the bloodied body of the 31-year-old trainee doctor at the state-run R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital’s seminar hall in Kolkata.
An autopsy later confirmed sexual assault, and a police volunteer was detained in connection with the crime. The family of the victim alleged it was a case of a gang rape and more were involved.
State government officers who first began investigating the case have been accused of mishandling it. Police later handed the case to federal investigators following a court order.
In the days since, mounting anger has boiled over into nationwide outrage and stirred protests over violence against women. The protests have also led thousands of doctors and paramedics to walk out of some public hospitals across India and demand a safer working environment.
Sexual violence against women is a widespread problem in India. In 2022, police recorded 31,516 reports of rape — a 20% increase from 2021, according to the National Crime Records Bureau.
Many cases of crimes against women go unreported in India due to stigma surrounding sexual violence, as well as a lack of faith in the police. Women’s rights activists say the problem is particularly acute in rural areas, where the community sometimes shames victims of sexual assault and families worry about their social standing.
Richa Garg, a doctor who was part of the protests Friday in New Delhi, said she no longer felt safe at her workplace.
“As a woman, it boils my blood. The culprits of this crime should be found immediately … and our workplaces should be made safer,” she said.
On Wednesday night, the hospital where the trainee doctor was killed was attacked. Police did not identify who was behind the rampage, but said they have arrested 19 so far.
The Indian Medical Association, the country’s largest grouping of medics, called late Thursday for a “nationwide withdrawal of services,” except essential services, for 24 hours starting Saturday.
“Doctors, especially women are vulnerable to violence because of the nature of the profession. It is for the authorities to provide for the safety of doctors inside hospitals and campuses,” the IMA said in a statement issued on the social media platform X.
Political parties, Bollywood actors and other high profile celebrities have also voiced shock at the crime and called for stricter punishments for those who commit them.
“Monstrous behavior against women should be severely and promptly punished,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Thursday in an address to the nation on its 78th Independence Day.
For many, the gruesome nature of the attack has invoked comparisons with the horrific 2012 gang rape and killing of a 23-year-old student on a New Delhi bus. The attack galvanized massive protests, sometimes violent, and inspired lawmakers to order harsher penalties for such crimes, as well as the creation of fast-track courts dedicated to rape cases. Under pressure, the government also introduced the death penalty for repeat offenders.
The rape law amended in 2013 also criminalized stalking and voyeurism and lowered the age at which a person can be tried as an adult from 18 to 16.
Protests grow in India over rape and killing of doctor at state-run hospital
The family of the 31-year-old trainee doctor alleged it was a case of a gang rape and more were involved.
Islamic hate preacher now on tour across Canada
The Saudi-based Imam holds fundamentalist views of women, Jews and homosexuals
Author of the article:Brian Lilley
Published Aug 23, 2024 • Last updated 22 hours ago • 3 minute read
Assim Al-Hakeem, an Imam based in Saudi Arabia who holds fundamentalist views of women, Jews and homosexuals, is currently on a speaking tour of Canada.
Assim Al-Hakeem, an Imam based in Saudi Arabia who holds fundamentalist views of women, Jews and homosexuals, is currently on a speaking tour of Canada.
Imagine a controversial Christian preacher from the U.S. who tells his followers that Muslims are our enemy being allowed to tour this country.
Would the Trudeau government allow such a preacher to conduct a lecture tour if he taught that all Muslims are liars who cheat, and that homosexuals are animals?
It’s doubtful — but if it did happen, there would be outrage and demonstrations outside of the tour locations.
Right now, though, there is a Muslim preacher who holds these very views, except about Jews, touring Canada. Assim Al-Hakeem, an Imam based in Saudi Arabia, has already visited Calgary, Milton, Mississauga and Hamilton, and will be in London on Saturday, Montreal on Sunday and Vancouver next Tuesday.
There haven’t been any protests but it’s not clear if that is because Imam Al-Hakeem says protests are banned in Islam, one of many bizarre views this preacher holds. He also believes women should not share workplaces with men and that they should always be covered.
He’s now spreading his message of hate across Canada, a place he calls a “Kafir” country — meaning infidel.
“May Allah liberate it from the oppressors and our enemies, the Jews,” Al-Hakeem said in a recent broadcast discussing the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
Though based in Saudi Arabia, Al-Hakeem broadcasts online worldwide to a mostly English-speaking audience. When it comes to Jews, he sees them not only as enemies of Islam but as constantly conspiring against Islam.
“We acknowledge that through history the Jews collaborating with the hypocrites had many conspiracies against Islam,” Al-Hakeem said while discussing the Illuminati and Freemasons. “The collaboration and the fingerprints of the Jews, the hypocrites, and the Rafidah is evident.”
Is this the language and thinking we want being spread in Canada at a time when anti-Semitic attacks against Jews have skyrocketed? Is this what we want being preached in the same week that more than 100 Jewish schools, hospitals, community centres and synagogues were targeted with bomb threats?
Watching Al-Hakeem’s videos and reading his writings, it is clear that this man is an Islamic supremacist. He says that Muslims cannot take up the citizenship of Kafir countries, he was specifically talking about Canada, and that the laws of Kafir countries aren’t to be followed.
In another video, he describes how when Islam comes to your country you have two options, submit to Islam or pay the jizyah tax, and if you won’t accept either of those, then Muslims will fight you. As he says Muslims will fight you, he makes a knife across the throat motion with his hand.
The Trudeau government has done plenty to keep out people with less offensive views than this man, but Imam Al-Hakeem gets to enter freely, tour the country and not be harassed.
It was just a couple of weeks ago that Tommy Robinson, a British national, was arrested and had his passport confiscated while on a speaking tour of Canada. He was essentially harassed over his views, which are often described as anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant.
With Al-Hakeem, we have a man who calls Canada a Kafir country, teaches that Muslims don’t need to obey Canadian laws, and has said vile things about Jews, homosexuals and women, yet he is free to tour and preach his hatred.
At least his Montreal tour date will need to be moved after Théâtre Rialto cancelled his appearance following advocacy from the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs.
“As a result of CIJA’s awareness-raising work and several people who reported the event, Théâtre Rialto has informed us that they have canceled host Sheikh Assim Al-Hakeem’s event this weekend and will not host his tour stop,” CIJA said in a statement.
CIJA calls the “anti-Semitic and homophobic rhetoric spread by the Islamist hate preacher” a threat to Canada.
Al-Hakeem doesn’t belong in Canada, neither do his views – but given the Trudeau government’s track record, it’s no surprise that they’ve given him a free pass.
blilley@postmedia.com
memri.org
torontosun.com
The Saudi-based Imam holds fundamentalist views of women, Jews and homosexuals
Author of the article:Brian Lilley
Published Aug 23, 2024 • Last updated 22 hours ago • 3 minute read
Assim Al-Hakeem, an Imam based in Saudi Arabia who holds fundamentalist views of women, Jews and homosexuals, is currently on a speaking tour of Canada.
Assim Al-Hakeem, an Imam based in Saudi Arabia who holds fundamentalist views of women, Jews and homosexuals, is currently on a speaking tour of Canada.
Imagine a controversial Christian preacher from the U.S. who tells his followers that Muslims are our enemy being allowed to tour this country.
Would the Trudeau government allow such a preacher to conduct a lecture tour if he taught that all Muslims are liars who cheat, and that homosexuals are animals?
It’s doubtful — but if it did happen, there would be outrage and demonstrations outside of the tour locations.
Right now, though, there is a Muslim preacher who holds these very views, except about Jews, touring Canada. Assim Al-Hakeem, an Imam based in Saudi Arabia, has already visited Calgary, Milton, Mississauga and Hamilton, and will be in London on Saturday, Montreal on Sunday and Vancouver next Tuesday.
There haven’t been any protests but it’s not clear if that is because Imam Al-Hakeem says protests are banned in Islam, one of many bizarre views this preacher holds. He also believes women should not share workplaces with men and that they should always be covered.
He’s now spreading his message of hate across Canada, a place he calls a “Kafir” country — meaning infidel.
“May Allah liberate it from the oppressors and our enemies, the Jews,” Al-Hakeem said in a recent broadcast discussing the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
Though based in Saudi Arabia, Al-Hakeem broadcasts online worldwide to a mostly English-speaking audience. When it comes to Jews, he sees them not only as enemies of Islam but as constantly conspiring against Islam.
“We acknowledge that through history the Jews collaborating with the hypocrites had many conspiracies against Islam,” Al-Hakeem said while discussing the Illuminati and Freemasons. “The collaboration and the fingerprints of the Jews, the hypocrites, and the Rafidah is evident.”
Is this the language and thinking we want being spread in Canada at a time when anti-Semitic attacks against Jews have skyrocketed? Is this what we want being preached in the same week that more than 100 Jewish schools, hospitals, community centres and synagogues were targeted with bomb threats?
Watching Al-Hakeem’s videos and reading his writings, it is clear that this man is an Islamic supremacist. He says that Muslims cannot take up the citizenship of Kafir countries, he was specifically talking about Canada, and that the laws of Kafir countries aren’t to be followed.
In another video, he describes how when Islam comes to your country you have two options, submit to Islam or pay the jizyah tax, and if you won’t accept either of those, then Muslims will fight you. As he says Muslims will fight you, he makes a knife across the throat motion with his hand.
The Trudeau government has done plenty to keep out people with less offensive views than this man, but Imam Al-Hakeem gets to enter freely, tour the country and not be harassed.
It was just a couple of weeks ago that Tommy Robinson, a British national, was arrested and had his passport confiscated while on a speaking tour of Canada. He was essentially harassed over his views, which are often described as anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant.
With Al-Hakeem, we have a man who calls Canada a Kafir country, teaches that Muslims don’t need to obey Canadian laws, and has said vile things about Jews, homosexuals and women, yet he is free to tour and preach his hatred.
At least his Montreal tour date will need to be moved after Théâtre Rialto cancelled his appearance following advocacy from the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs.
“As a result of CIJA’s awareness-raising work and several people who reported the event, Théâtre Rialto has informed us that they have canceled host Sheikh Assim Al-Hakeem’s event this weekend and will not host his tour stop,” CIJA said in a statement.
CIJA calls the “anti-Semitic and homophobic rhetoric spread by the Islamist hate preacher” a threat to Canada.
Al-Hakeem doesn’t belong in Canada, neither do his views – but given the Trudeau government’s track record, it’s no surprise that they’ve given him a free pass.
blilley@postmedia.com
Saudi Islamic Scholar Sheikh Aseem Al-Hakeem: The Purpose Of Jihad Is To Spread Islam, Shari'a Law To Other Countries; Muslims Are Weak Now, But Will Grow Stronger In 50 Years (Archival)
Saudi Islamic scholar Sheikh Aseem Al-Hakeem said in a March 25, 2016 Q&A session at the Islamic Learning Centre in ...
LILLEY: Islamic hate preacher now on tour across Canada
Imagine a Christian preacher from the U.S. who tells his followers Muslims are our enemy being allowed to tour Canada.
Islamic hate preacher now on tour across Canada
The Saudi-based Imam holds fundamentalist views of women, Jews and homosexuals
Author of the article:Brian Lilley
Published Aug 23, 2024 • Last updated 22 hours ago • 3 minute read
Assim Al-Hakeem, an Imam based in Saudi Arabia who holds fundamentalist views of women, Jews and homosexuals, is currently on a speaking tour of Canada.
Assim Al-Hakeem, an Imam based in Saudi Arabia who holds fundamentalist views of women, Jews and homosexuals, is currently on a speaking tour of Canada.
Imagine a controversial Christian preacher from the U.S. who tells his followers that Muslims are our enemy being allowed to tour this country.
Would the Trudeau government allow such a preacher to conduct a lecture tour if he taught that all Muslims are liars who cheat, and that homosexuals are animals?
It’s doubtful — but if it did happen, there would be outrage and demonstrations outside of the tour locations.
Right now, though, there is a Muslim preacher who holds these very views, except about Jews, touring Canada. Assim Al-Hakeem, an Imam based in Saudi Arabia, has already visited Calgary, Milton, Mississauga and Hamilton, and will be in London on Saturday, Montreal on Sunday and Vancouver next Tuesday.
There haven’t been any protests but it’s not clear if that is because Imam Al-Hakeem says protests are banned in Islam, one of many bizarre views this preacher holds. He also believes women should not share workplaces with men and that they should always be covered.
He’s now spreading his message of hate across Canada, a place he calls a “Kafir” country — meaning infidel.
“May Allah liberate it from the oppressors and our enemies, the Jews,” Al-Hakeem said in a recent broadcast discussing the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
Though based in Saudi Arabia, Al-Hakeem broadcasts online worldwide to a mostly English-speaking audience. When it comes to Jews, he sees them not only as enemies of Islam but as constantly conspiring against Islam.
“We acknowledge that through history the Jews collaborating with the hypocrites had many conspiracies against Islam,” Al-Hakeem said while discussing the Illuminati and Freemasons. “The collaboration and the fingerprints of the Jews, the hypocrites, and the Rafidah is evident.”
Is this the language and thinking we want being spread in Canada at a time when anti-Semitic attacks against Jews have skyrocketed? Is this what we want being preached in the same week that more than 100 Jewish schools, hospitals, community centres and synagogues were targeted with bomb threats?
Watching Al-Hakeem’s videos and reading his writings, it is clear that this man is an Islamic supremacist. He says that Muslims cannot take up the citizenship of Kafir countries, he was specifically talking about Canada, and that the laws of Kafir countries aren’t to be followed.
In another video, he describes how when Islam comes to your country you have two options, submit to Islam or pay the jizyah tax, and if you won’t accept either of those, then Muslims will fight you. As he says Muslims will fight you, he makes a knife across the throat motion with his hand.
The Trudeau government has done plenty to keep out people with less offensive views than this man, but Imam Al-Hakeem gets to enter freely, tour the country and not be harassed.
It was just a couple of weeks ago that Tommy Robinson, a British national, was arrested and had his passport confiscated while on a speaking tour of Canada. He was essentially harassed over his views, which are often described as anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant.
With Al-Hakeem, we have a man who calls Canada a Kafir country, teaches that Muslims don’t need to obey Canadian laws, and has said vile things about Jews, homosexuals and women, yet he is free to tour and preach his hatred.
At least his Montreal tour date will need to be moved after Théâtre Rialto cancelled his appearance following advocacy from the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs.
“As a result of CIJA’s awareness-raising work and several people who reported the event, Théâtre Rialto has informed us that they have canceled host Sheikh Assim Al-Hakeem’s event this weekend and will not host his tour stop,” CIJA said in a statement.
CIJA calls the “anti-Semitic and homophobic rhetoric spread by the Islamist hate preacher” a threat to Canada.
Al-Hakeem doesn’t belong in Canada, neither do his views – but given the Trudeau government’s track record, it’s no surprise that they’ve given him a free pass.
blilley@postmedia.com
Saudi Islamic Scholar Sheikh Aseem Al-Hakeem: The Purpose Of Jihad Is To Spread Islam, Shari'a Law To Other Countries; Muslims Are Weak Now, But Will Grow Stronger In 50 Years (Archival)
Saudi Islamic scholar Sheikh Aseem Al-Hakeem said in a March 25, 2016 Q&A session at the Islamic Learning Centre in ...LILLEY: Islamic hate preacher now on tour across Canada
Imagine a Christian preacher from the U.S. who tells his followers Muslims are our enemy being allowed to tour Canada.
Meh, fuck this guy with a rusty pipe.
Well I did see a Muslim state categorically to one of the reporters at Rebel News that by 2060, Canada will be an Islamic country because Muslims are having more children & Canadians are not so they'll be taking over & instilling Sharia Law by then. I'm glad I won't be around but I don't envy our children's children if that actually happens.Islamic hate preacher now on tour across Canada
The Saudi-based Imam holds fundamentalist views of women, Jews and homosexuals
Author of the article:Brian Lilley
Published Aug 23, 2024 • Last updated 22 hours ago • 3 minute read
Assim Al-Hakeem, an Imam based in Saudi Arabia who holds fundamentalist views of women, Jews and homosexuals, is currently on a speaking tour of Canada.
Assim Al-Hakeem, an Imam based in Saudi Arabia who holds fundamentalist views of women, Jews and homosexuals, is currently on a speaking tour of Canada.
Imagine a controversial Christian preacher from the U.S. who tells his followers that Muslims are our enemy being allowed to tour this country.
Would the Trudeau government allow such a preacher to conduct a lecture tour if he taught that all Muslims are liars who cheat, and that homosexuals are animals?
It’s doubtful — but if it did happen, there would be outrage and demonstrations outside of the tour locations.
Right now, though, there is a Muslim preacher who holds these very views, except about Jews, touring Canada. Assim Al-Hakeem, an Imam based in Saudi Arabia, has already visited Calgary, Milton, Mississauga and Hamilton, and will be in London on Saturday, Montreal on Sunday and Vancouver next Tuesday.
There haven’t been any protests but it’s not clear if that is because Imam Al-Hakeem says protests are banned in Islam, one of many bizarre views this preacher holds. He also believes women should not share workplaces with men and that they should always be covered.
He’s now spreading his message of hate across Canada, a place he calls a “Kafir” country — meaning infidel.
“May Allah liberate it from the oppressors and our enemies, the Jews,” Al-Hakeem said in a recent broadcast discussing the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
Though based in Saudi Arabia, Al-Hakeem broadcasts online worldwide to a mostly English-speaking audience. When it comes to Jews, he sees them not only as enemies of Islam but as constantly conspiring against Islam.
“We acknowledge that through history the Jews collaborating with the hypocrites had many conspiracies against Islam,” Al-Hakeem said while discussing the Illuminati and Freemasons. “The collaboration and the fingerprints of the Jews, the hypocrites, and the Rafidah is evident.”
Is this the language and thinking we want being spread in Canada at a time when anti-Semitic attacks against Jews have skyrocketed? Is this what we want being preached in the same week that more than 100 Jewish schools, hospitals, community centres and synagogues were targeted with bomb threats?
Watching Al-Hakeem’s videos and reading his writings, it is clear that this man is an Islamic supremacist. He says that Muslims cannot take up the citizenship of Kafir countries, he was specifically talking about Canada, and that the laws of Kafir countries aren’t to be followed.
In another video, he describes how when Islam comes to your country you have two options, submit to Islam or pay the jizyah tax, and if you won’t accept either of those, then Muslims will fight you. As he says Muslims will fight you, he makes a knife across the throat motion with his hand.
The Trudeau government has done plenty to keep out people with less offensive views than this man, but Imam Al-Hakeem gets to enter freely, tour the country and not be harassed.
It was just a couple of weeks ago that Tommy Robinson, a British national, was arrested and had his passport confiscated while on a speaking tour of Canada. He was essentially harassed over his views, which are often described as anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant.
With Al-Hakeem, we have a man who calls Canada a Kafir country, teaches that Muslims don’t need to obey Canadian laws, and has said vile things about Jews, homosexuals and women, yet he is free to tour and preach his hatred.
At least his Montreal tour date will need to be moved after Théâtre Rialto cancelled his appearance following advocacy from the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs.
“As a result of CIJA’s awareness-raising work and several people who reported the event, Théâtre Rialto has informed us that they have canceled host Sheikh Assim Al-Hakeem’s event this weekend and will not host his tour stop,” CIJA said in a statement.
CIJA calls the “anti-Semitic and homophobic rhetoric spread by the Islamist hate preacher” a threat to Canada.
Al-Hakeem doesn’t belong in Canada, neither do his views – but given the Trudeau government’s track record, it’s no surprise that they’ve given him a free pass.
blilley@postmedia.com
Saudi Islamic Scholar Sheikh Aseem Al-Hakeem: The Purpose Of Jihad Is To Spread Islam, Shari'a Law To Other Countries; Muslims Are Weak Now, But Will Grow Stronger In 50 Years (Archival)
Saudi Islamic scholar Sheikh Aseem Al-Hakeem said in a March 25, 2016 Q&A session at the Islamic Learning Centre in ...LILLEY: Islamic hate preacher now on tour across Canada
Imagine a Christian preacher from the U.S. who tells his followers Muslims are our enemy being allowed to tour Canada.
Maybe the problem is Canadians abandoning their non-born yesterday Christian roots?
Go to Church...before you need to drive around town to find one.
Pakistan police arrest key suspect in gang rape of a woman polio worker
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Asim Tanveer
Published Sep 18, 2024 • 2 minute read
MULTAN, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistani police arrested the key suspect in the gang rape of a woman polio worker who was assaulted by three men during last week’s vaccination campaign, officials said Wednesday. Two other suspects are still at large.
The assault on Thursday in Jacobabad, a district in the southern Sindh province, was one in a spate of attacks targeting polio vaccination teams going door to door in the campaign across Pakistan.
The woman who was attacked had alerted the authorities, saying she was raped by three men after going into a house in Jacobabad to administer polio drops to the children there, local police official Mohammad Saifal said.
The suspect, identified as Ahmad Jakhrani, was arrested overnight, Saifal added.
Police are still seeking the arrest of the two other men, accused of taking turns to assault the woman, Saifal said. A local police chief was fired for negligence following the attack, for failing to provide the polio worker with adequate security.
The attack shocked many Pakistanis as such sexual assaults are rare, though women polio workers have complained of harassment in the past during the campaigns. The provincial government in Sindh has said it would fully investigate the case.
Police also detained the husband of the attacked woman for kicking her out of their home and threatening to kill her after the assault over allegedly tarnishing the family’s honour by being raped.
So-called honour killings, in which women and girls are slain by their own relatives for allegedly dishonouring the family’s reputation, are still common in Pakistan.
Saifal also said police have been deployed to the house where the woman was now staying with her relatives for her protection.
Anti-polio campaigns in Pakistan are regularly marred by violence. Militants often target polio vaccination teams and police assigned to protect them, falsely claiming that the campaigns are a Western conspiracy to sterilize children.
Since January, Pakistan has reported 17 new cases of polio, jeopardizing decades of efforts to eliminate the potentially fatal, paralyzing disease from the country. Polio often strikes children under age 5 and typically spreads through contaminated water.
Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only countries in which the spread of polio has never been stopped. Pakistan’s government is planning another polio vaccination drive in October.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Asim Tanveer
Published Sep 18, 2024 • 2 minute read
MULTAN, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistani police arrested the key suspect in the gang rape of a woman polio worker who was assaulted by three men during last week’s vaccination campaign, officials said Wednesday. Two other suspects are still at large.
The assault on Thursday in Jacobabad, a district in the southern Sindh province, was one in a spate of attacks targeting polio vaccination teams going door to door in the campaign across Pakistan.
The woman who was attacked had alerted the authorities, saying she was raped by three men after going into a house in Jacobabad to administer polio drops to the children there, local police official Mohammad Saifal said.
The suspect, identified as Ahmad Jakhrani, was arrested overnight, Saifal added.
Police are still seeking the arrest of the two other men, accused of taking turns to assault the woman, Saifal said. A local police chief was fired for negligence following the attack, for failing to provide the polio worker with adequate security.
The attack shocked many Pakistanis as such sexual assaults are rare, though women polio workers have complained of harassment in the past during the campaigns. The provincial government in Sindh has said it would fully investigate the case.
Police also detained the husband of the attacked woman for kicking her out of their home and threatening to kill her after the assault over allegedly tarnishing the family’s honour by being raped.
So-called honour killings, in which women and girls are slain by their own relatives for allegedly dishonouring the family’s reputation, are still common in Pakistan.
Saifal also said police have been deployed to the house where the woman was now staying with her relatives for her protection.
Anti-polio campaigns in Pakistan are regularly marred by violence. Militants often target polio vaccination teams and police assigned to protect them, falsely claiming that the campaigns are a Western conspiracy to sterilize children.
Since January, Pakistan has reported 17 new cases of polio, jeopardizing decades of efforts to eliminate the potentially fatal, paralyzing disease from the country. Polio often strikes children under age 5 and typically spreads through contaminated water.
Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only countries in which the spread of polio has never been stopped. Pakistan’s government is planning another polio vaccination drive in October.
Pakistan police arrest key suspect in gang rape of a woman polio worker
The suspect, identified as Ahmad Jakhrani, was arrested overnight, Saifal added.