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Michigan anti-Israel activists indicted for threats, vandalism against UMich officials, Jewish site

The activists face a maximum penalty of five years' imprisonment for conspiracy to transmit threats.

SC overturns convictions of two MQM workers in Karachi’s Baldia factory fire case

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Wednesday overturned the convictions of two Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) workers — Abdul Rehman alias Bhola and Zubair alias Chariya — for their alleged involvement in the deadly 2012 Baldia factory fire in Karachi. Over 260 workers, including 16 who could not be identified, were burnt alive when the multi-storey Ali Enterprises garment factory was set on fire in Baldia Town on Sept 11, 2012, in what became the deadliest industrial blaze in Pakistan’s history. On Wednesday, a three-judge SC bench, headed by Justice Malik Shahzad Ahmed and including Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi and Justice Shakeel Ahmad, set aside the death sentences awarded to the two accused by an anti-terrorism court (ATC) on charges of murder, extortion, arson and terrorism, granting them the benefit of the doubt. Abdul Rehman alias Bhola, a former sector in-charge in the party’s organisational structure, and Zubair alias Chariya were sentenced to death in September 2020 for allegedly setting the multi-storey Ali Enterprises garment factory on fire in Baldia Town. It should be mentioned that in 2023, the Sindh High Court (SHC) had upheld the death penalty handed down to the two workers and also set aside the life term of four employees of the factory. Later, both the convicts had challenged the verdict in the SC. The SHC had also dismissed an appeal filed by the state challenging the acquittal of then provincial minister for commerce and industries Rauf Siddiqui and three others by the ATC in the same case. While accepting the appeals of the two accused on Wednesday, the SC indicated that a detailed judgment will be issued later and rejected a request to implead relatives of the deceased as parties in the case, remarking that if the court makes them parties in the matter, 200 more applications may come tomorrow. Justice Shahzad also ruled that the application to expunge the remarks made by the lower courts related to MQM had become ineffective since their decisions had been declared null and void. During the hearing, Justice Shahzad said that there was a confessional statement from Zubair alias Chariya but not from the co-accused Abdul Rehman alias Bhola. “Had there been a demand of extortion by MQM, why was the acquittal of other co-accused (in the case) not challenged?” he inquired. Appearing on behalf of the petitioners, senior counsel Farogh Naseem argued that the petitioners were innocent and falsely implicated by the police in the case, since the two were never named in the FIR but implicated based on a 2015 Joint Investigation Team (JIT) constituted by the Sindh government — a report which he argued was neither legally admissible as evidence nor can be relied for awarding a death sentence or even life imprisonment. The counsel reminded that it was a settled law that the benefit of doubt has to be resolved in favour of the accused, when the SHC had already extended the benefit of the doubt to other co-accused. He further argued that the accused were implicated more than two and a half years after the incident, which he said otherwise proved that the prosecution witnesses were concocted. The counsel also recalled that three gates of the Ali Enterprises Garment Factory were locked on the alleged orders of the factory owner, Abdul Aziz Bhaila, sometime before the incident. He further argued that the sons of the owner, namely Arshad Bhaila and Shahid Bhaila, as well as the administration of the three-storey factory building, had not made adequate arrangements for emergency exits for the factory workers. The counsel said that the iron grills were fixed on the windows due to which workers failed to escape. The counsel further contended that the JIT was constituted by the Sindh government based on information provided by one Mohammad Rizwan Qureshi. The appeals contended that Qureshi was never produced or cited as a witness nor made an accused by the prosecution to prove the contents of the JIT, which was recorded nine months after the incident. It was claimed in the appeals that there was no evidence against the petitioners for the demand of “bhattaa” (extortion), which according to the prosecution was made in July, 2012, while the incident happened in September that year. Neither were CCTV recordings produced, nor was the specific witness examined to corroborate the allegation of bhattaa from the factory owners, the appeals argued, adding the prosecution had been silent in this respect till 2013 when Qureshi was arrested. The appeals contended that from the date of occurrence till 2015, the police/factory owners made no complaint nor registered a case for the alleged bhattaa. The petitions also pleaded that the prosecution had failed to bring on record a report issued by Karachi University’s Science Laboratory to establish that the blaze resulted from a chemical substance.

NSW admits pro-Palestine protester Hannah Thomas was assaulted by police officers and falsely imprisoned

State admits former Greens candidate entitled to damages and agrees to pay medical costs, but denies malicious prosecution and malfeasance in public office Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast The state of New South Wales has admitted that a police officer punched Hannah Thomas in the eye while holding a torch at a pro-Palestine protest – and it’s offered to pay her medical costs. Court documents seen by Guardian Australia reveal that the state has admitted to false imprisonment and battery in its defence to a civil action launched by the former Greens candidate in October. Continue reading...

Taliban leader who took US journalist hostage sentenced to 42 years’ imprisonment

The judge said Haji Najibullah had done it with “casual brutality” and “psychological torture”.

Bord na Móna seeks imprisonment of individuals over alleged interference at bog

Semi-State company tells High Court that individuals were allegedly trespassing in contempt of court orders

Family pay tribute to ‘altruistic’ London woman as her killer is jailed for life

Father and mother of Annabel Rook praised her dedication to helping others and want to focus on her legacy A retired Old Bailey judge has paid tribute to his daughter after her killer was jailed for life. Today at Snaresbrook crown court, Clifton George, 45, was sentenced to life imprisonment after being found guilty of the murder of Annabel Rook, 46, whom he stabbed in the living room of her own home in Stoke Newington, north London. Continue reading...

Cannot jail cheque bounce convict beyond six months for default in payment of fine: Karnataka High Court

The High Court held that the default imprisonment imposed on the petitioner could not exceed one-fourth of the maximum punishment prescribed for the offence

Filmmaker sentenced to five months in prison

A veteran filmmaker on Tuesday was sentenced to five months imprisonment for insider trading. Raymond Wong was found guilty in May for obtaining price-sensitive information — at a company he chaired in 2017 — that was supposed to have been kept confidential due to the signing of a memorandum of understanding and receiving a good faith deposit of HK$10 million from a third party. Wong subsequently transferred HK$2 million to his younger sister, who began purchasing shares of Pegasus Entertainment Holdings Limited the same day. He also sent his sister multiple messages on when, and at what price, to purchase shares of the company. His sister ultimately purchased over nine million shares at prices significantly below market value, with most of the purchases funded by money from Wong. In sentencing, magistrate Ko Wai-hung said Wong's conduct had undermined public confidence in the Hong Kong securities market. The magistrate added that even though Wong's reputation had been severely damaged by this case, it did not mean he was entitled to special circumstances despite his extraordinary contributions to the local film scene. But Ko noted the likelihood of Wong committing the same offence again was low due to his age and relatively simple nature of the offence. Compared to similar cases, Ko said, the actual financial gain Wong's sister derived from the transactions was not particularly substantial. In addition to the five-month prison term, Wong was ordered to pay a fine of about HK$100,000, and another HK$370,000 to the Securities and Futures Commission to cover their investigation and legal costs. Wong has been released on bail pending appeal. Edited by Tony Sabine

Uganda: The Signs We Refuse to See - Why Uganda's Sovereignty Act Cannot Cure Our National Despair

[African Arguments] The passage and lightning-fast presidential signing of the Protection of Sovereignty Act, 2026 represents a defining crossroads in our nation's governance. Tabled by State Minister for Internal Affairs General David Muhoozi and defended by President Yoweri Museveni, the Act introduces state surveillance, aggressive disclosure mandates, and up to ten years of imprisonment for individuals and civil society organizations labeled as "agents of foreign influence."

Hong Kong basketball coach arrested over viral video of him slapping student

A veteran Hong Kong basketball coach has been arrested on suspicion of common assault after he was seen in a video slapping a young player, the South China Morning Post has learned. A source told the SCMP that Yung Kam-wah was arrested on Monday and released on bail early on Tuesday, adding that he must report to police in July. Under the law, a person convicted of common assault is guilty of an offence triable either summarily or on indictment and is liable to imprisonment for up to one...

Speaker hesitant to convene KP Assembly amid PTI lawmakers’ dissent

PESHAWAR/MANSEHRA: Following the emergence of a dissident group of lawmakers within the ruling PTI, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Speaker Babar Saleem Swati seems reluctant to hold an assembly session, apparently fearing criticism against the provincial government by the party’s own MPAs over the question of Imran Khan’s continued imprisonment. Reports of rifts within the PTI emerged soon after the induction of new ministers, advisers and special assistants – who took oath on May 22. It is understood that some of the MPAs in question are unhappy after not being included in the provincial cabinet. The last sitting of the KP Assembly was held on May 18, which was adjourned by the chair till June 1. However, the house did not meet on the scheduled date, as the speaker first postponed it to June 8. The latest notification issued by the assembly secretariat on Sunday said that the sitting would now be held on Monday, June 15 at 2pm. One of the dissidents told Dawn that there were initially 25 of them, but the number had now risen to 30 over the past couple of days. The lawmaker was unwilling to name them, as that would expose them to pressure from the party and the chief minister to withdraw from their stance. “The four to five dissident lawmakers who can tolerate the pressure are known to everyone,” he said. MPA Mushtaq Ahmed Ghani, who is also among the dissidents, told Dawn that they have their own grievances and political stance, which would be presented on the floor of the house. He said that during a recent meeting, he had informed Speaker Swati that they were not a dissident group; they wanted a clear-cut announcement by the chief minister on plans for Imran Khan’s release. “We don’t need any incentives; our one-point agenda is the decisive movement for the release of Imran Khan,” Ghani told Dawn. He said that their other demands included arranging a meeting of party leaders and relatives with Imran Khan, providing him medical treatment through doctors of his choice at Shifa International Hospital, and expediting the court proceedings of his cases. Ghani noted that sporadic protesters outside Adiala Jail had proven to be ineffective, adding that they wanted to move towards “a permanent sit-in that continues until a logical conclusion”. When asked whether former chief minister Ali Amin Gandapur was leading the dissidents, he said that there was no one person leading the group; the lawmakers had come together on a single-point agenda, i.e., securing the release of the party’s founder. Another dissident legislator told Dawn on condition of anonymity that Chief Minister Sohail Afridi was perturbed by the rise of the dissident group. “The chief minister is trying to make the dissidents happy by including their development schemes in the Annual Development Program,” he claimed. When contacted, Speaker Babar Saleem Swati told Dawn that the assembly session would be convened after presentation of the federal budget in the National Assembly. However, it is worth noting that the KP Assembly has been in session for the last couple of months. On June 1, when the chief minister convened a parliamentary party meeting, only 57 out of the 92 lawmakers attended the meeting. This was where many MPAs complained to CM Afridi about corruption in government departments, poor law and order in the province and indifference to police, district administration and bureaucracy to their legitimate demands related to people’s issues. The next day, a group of dissidents wrote to interim party chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, expressing concern over the “lack of efforts” by the leadership to secure Imran Khan’s release. Efforts to win dissidents over In the interim, the KP speaker and other party leaders are engaged in hectic politicking in a bid to win over the dissident lawmakers. Speaker Swati recently met with Ghani to defuse tensions, the latter told journalists in Mansehra. “Swati was here to defuse tensions with our group. We made it clear to him that we do not have any personal vendetta against the chief minister or any other in the government and firmly stand with PTI founding chairman Imran Khan,” Ghani said. One of the group’s leaders, privy to the meeting between Swati and Ghani, claimed that the former had offered the latter the position of senior provincial minister in the cabinet, which Ghani had declined. Ghani said that more than 30 MPAs were active members of their group. “We, all like-minded MPAs, whose number exceeds 30, have made it clear to the chief minister that if he stages a sit-in outside the National Assembly on June 10, we all will not return until the desired results are achieved,” he said. He said that if the government presented the budget in the assembly without a prior meeting between CM Afridi and Imran Khan, the group would boycott proceedings and would not help in its passage.

KP assembly session put off amid fears of dissident backlash

PESHAWAR/MANSEHRA: Following the emergence of a dissident group of lawmakers within the ruling PTI, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Speaker Babar Saleem Swati seems reluctant to hold an assembly session, apparently fearing criticism against the provincial government by the party’s own MPAs over the question of Imran Khan’s continued imprisonment. Reports of rifts within the PTI emerged soon after the induction of new ministers, advisers and special assistants – who took oath on May 22. It is understood that some of the MPAs in question are unhappy after not being included in the provincial cabinet. The last sitting of the KP Assembly was held on May 18, which was adjourned by the chair till June 1. However, the house did not meet on the scheduled date, as the speaker first postponed it to June 8. The latest notification issued by the assembly secretariat on Sunday said that the sitting would now be held on Monday, June 15 at 2pm. One of the dissidents told Dawn that there were initially 25 of them, but the number had now risen to 30 over the past couple of days. The lawmaker was unwilling to name them, as that would expose them to pressure from the party and the chief minister to withdraw from their stance. “The four to five dissident lawmakers who can tolerate the pressure are known to everyone,” he said. MPA Mushtaq Ahmed Ghani, who is also among the dissidents, told Dawn that they have their own grievances and political stance, which would be presented on the floor of the house. He said that during a recent meeting, he had informed Speaker Swati that they were not a dissident group; they wanted a clear-cut announcement by the chief minister on plans for Imran Khan’s release. “We don’t need any incentives; our one-point agenda is the decisive movement for the release of Imran Khan,” Ghani told Dawn. He said that their other demands included arranging a meeting of party leaders and relatives with Imran Khan, providing him medical treatment through doctors of his choice at Shifa International Hospital, and expediting the court proceedings of his cases. Ghani noted that sporadic protesters outside Adiala Jail had proven to be ineffective, adding that they wanted to move towards “a permanent sit-in that continues until a logical conclusion”. When asked whether former chief minister Ali Amin Gandapur was leading the dissidents, he said that there was no one person leading the group; the lawmakers had come together on a single-point agenda, i.e., securing the release of the party’s founder. Another dissident legislator told Dawn on condition of anonymity that Chief Minister Sohail Afridi was perturbed by the rise of the dissident group. “The chief minister is trying to make the dissidents happy by including their development schemes in the Annual Development Program,” he claimed. When contacted, Speaker Babar Saleem Swati told Dawn that the assembly session would be convened after presentation of the federal budget in the National Assembly. However, it is worth noting that the KP Assembly has been in session for the last couple of months. On June 1, when the chief minister convened a parliamentary party meeting, only 57 out of the 92 lawmakers attended the meeting. This was where many MPAs complained to CM Afridi about corruption in government departments, poor law and order in the province and indifference to police, district administration and bureaucracy to their legitimate demands related to people’s issues. The next day, a group of dissidents wrote to interim party chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, expressing concern over the “lack of efforts” by the leadership to secure Imran Khan’s release. Efforts to win dissidents over In the interim, the KP speaker and other party leaders are engaged in hectic politicking in a bid to win over the dissident lawmakers. Speaker Swati recently met with Ghani to defuse tensions, the latter told journalists in Mansehra. “Swati was here to defuse tensions with our group. We made it clear to him that we do not have any personal vendetta against the chief minister or any other in the government and firmly stand with PTI founding chairman Imran Khan,” Ghani said. One of the group’s leaders, privy to the meeting between Swati and Ghani, claimed that the former had offered the latter the position of senior provincial minister in the cabinet, which Ghani had declined. Ghani said that more than 30 MPAs were active members of their group. “We, all like-minded MPAs, whose number exceeds 30, have made it clear to the chief minister that if he stages a sit-in outside the National Assembly on June 10, we all will not return until the desired results are achieved,” he said. He said that if the government presented the budget in the assembly without a prior meeting between CM Afridi and Imran Khan, the group would boycott proceedings and would not help in its passage.

Acid attack more heinous than homicide, tool of patriarchal violence: SC

ISLAMABAD: In a landmark judgment, the Supreme Court ruled on Monday that “vitriolage” (acid attack) is an offence more heinous than homicide. The ruling came after Abdul Manan, convicted for throwing acid on a young woman in Faisalabad, appealed against a 2022 Lahore High Court (LHC) order. The LHC had upheld an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) verdict sentencing him to life imprisonment along with a fine of Rs1 million. Justice Muhammad Hashim Khan Kakar, heading a three-judge bench consisting of Justice Salahuddin Panhwar and Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim, upheld the LHC order. The ruling comes only days after an acid attack on a female doctor in Quetta’s Civil Hospital. Following the attack on 29-year-old Mahnoor Nasir, doctors in Quetta went on strike, demanding a thorough investigation. “Unlike death, which consumes its victim only once, the victim of an acid assault is relegated to a living death, where they are compelled to endure the agony of their trauma and the degradation of their physical self on a daily basis,” observed Justice Kakar in a 14-page strongly worded judgment he authored. In the court ruling, federal and provincial governments were also recommended to consider accommodating acid attack victims under disability quotas along with enactment and enforcement of specialised legislation for establishment of a National Acid Survivors’ Rehabilitation Fund. The ruling added that such a statutory fund should provide comprehensive medical coverage for extensive reconstructive surgeries and specialised physical therapy. The fund should also provide mandatory access to professional trauma counselling, psychotherapy and psychiatric care for psychological and social rehabilitation. “The perpetrator’s objective is not merely to kill, but to extinguish the victim’s soul, leaving the living corpse as a permanent reminder of their depravity,” Justice Kakar said. The apex court also recommended a mandatory monthly stipend for survivors who, due to the nature of their injuries or ongoing medical conditions, are rendered incapable of financial self-support. Justice Kakar also suggested the formulation of national rehabilitation guidelines as a standardised framework ensuring gratuitous, lifelong medical and mental health treatment across all state-mandated and private medical facilities through the fund. He further observed that acid violence is a tool of patriarchal dominance. “In the past, such incidents have occurred following rejection of marriage proposals or sexual advances, as well as dowry disputes.” The ruling added that acid violence is used to inflict a social death upon women by destroying their physical identity. The primary deterrent against such depravity lies in a dual strategy of rigorous criminalisation followed by stringent regulation of corrosive substances, Justice Kakar observed, citing a number of examples from foreign jurisdictions such as Bangladesh and Cambodia. The first essential step towards eradication is the categorical criminalisation of the act itself, he added. The judgment also highlighted that the eradication of acid violence was inextricably linked to restrictions on access to corrosive substances. While the legislative amendments of 2011 served to criminalise acid violence with the severity it warrants, the persistence of such atrocities reveals that penal sanctions alone are insufficient to address the root of the problem, Justice Kakar observed. “As long as corrosive substances remain easily available, the deterrent effect of penal consequences will be perpetually undermined.” In this context, the Punjab Acid Control Act 2025 represents a watershed moment in provincial jurisprudence. Justice Kakar cited it as an example of a shift from post-occurrence punishment to pre-emptive regulation, noting that the Act mandates a rigorous licensing regime and categorically prohibits the sale of acid to individuals under the age of 18. “It is our sanguine expectation that the rigorous enforcement of such specialised regulatory regimes will effectively dismantle the accessibility of these lethal instruments, thereby serving as a robust bulwark to curb and eventually eradicate this heinous offence from our social fabric,” Justice Kakar emphasised. He added that the ordeal of an acid attack survivor does not end with the conclusion of the criminal trial. Instead, it marks the beginning of a gruelling, lifelong journey of medical intervention. Survivors are frequently subjected to an exhaustive series of reconstructive surgeries and specialised procedures that are not only physically agonising but also financially prohibitive, rendering essential healthcare inaccessible to the majority of victims, the judgment noted. Citing the Asian Human Rights Commission, the judgment said the devastating impact of acid violence in Pakistan was exemplified by survivors such as Irum Saeed and Memuna Khan, who underwent 25 and 21 reconstructive surgeries respectively following attacks triggered by marital rejection and inter-family disputes. Justice Kakar added that despite existing laws, their purpose was defeated if implementation and enforcement remained weak, as evidenced by recurring incidents across the country. The SC also strongly recommended that the high courts actively monitor and ensure that, in cases of vitriolage, statutory timelines provided under relevant laws for the completion of trials are strictly adhered to. The prime intent of the legislature is to ensure swift adjudication and prevent secondary victimisation, the judgment added. Vitriolage is an offence deeply rooted in gender-based violence, deep-seated misogyny and patriarchal aggression, the judgment said. The Supreme Court also recommended that the federal and all provincial governments impose a complete ban on the sale of acid to private individuals. For legal acid sales, the court suggested a centralised digital system governed and monitored by the relevant authorities in real time. Under this system, entities intending to purchase acid must apply through prescribed electronic forms, disclosing the purpose of purchase and the name and details of the purchaser, along with a photograph and biometric thumb impression. Such a real-time system will completely eradicate manual record-keeping and enable the trade to be managed with absolute transparency, the ruling added. The apex court judgment was forwarded to all High Courts and relevant departments of the federal and provincial governments. Case history On September 4, 2019, the accused threw sulfuric acid on the victim’s face while she was cooking in the kitchen of her home. The victim sustained extensive burns on her face, chest, back, left leg and foot, as well as “complete destruction of the left ear”, court documents state. The victim was examined on January 16, 2020, during trial proceedings. At the time, “she was unable to recline, move or walk”, according to court documents. The victim has been bedridden since the incident. Abdul Manan denied the allegations but failed to provide evidence in his defence. At the time of the incident, he was a minor, with court documents stating his age as 17–18. The petitioner’s lawyer requested leniency owing to his young age, while the prosecutor argued that “age cannot be a shield for such barbaric acts”. On February 1, 2020, the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) Faisalabad sentenced the accused to life imprisonment along with a fine of Rs1 million to be paid to the victim. Following an appeal, the Lahore High Court (LHC) upheld the ATC’s ruling on November 21, 2022.

Life sentences for Hong Kong pair who suffocated man with tape in village temple

Two Hongkongers have been sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering a man by suffocating him with tape in a village temple and burying his body under concrete outside, with a judge describing the killing as hideous “beyond words”. High Court Judge Anthony Kwok Kai-on handed down the mandatory sentences to Chan Wah-hing, 67, and Chan Yiu-lung, 33, on Monday after they were earlier convicted of murdering a 51-year-old man over a financial dispute in September 2022 and disposing of his body near...

Nigerian-born Catholic priest gets life imprisonment in US for sexual assault

The jailed priest, a naturalised US citizen, was ordained in Nigeria in 1993 and later served in Catholic parishes in Texas and Louisiana, two neighbouring US states. The post Nigerian-born Catholic priest gets life imprisonment in US for sexual assault appeared first on Premium Times Nigeria.

Xi’s war on the Uyghurs: The battle for identity in China's far West

When Chinese authorities detained Uyghur economist Ilham Tohti in January 2014, his daughter Jewher Ilham was preparing for a future she believed would include both her family and her father's work promoting dialogue between Uyghurs and Han Chinese. ​Instead, Tohti was sentenced later that year to life imprisonment on separatism-related charges.

Illegal rave in France tests local ban and new government bill

The bill, which is currently before the French parliament, calls for €30,000 fines and two years' imprisonment for organizers of such events, and €7,500 fines for participants.

Nigerian man jailed for life over fatal stabbing in London

A London court has sentenced a 36-year-old Nigerian man, Fawaz Abdulkareem to life imprisonment for the fatal stabbing of a man following a dispute at a flat in Vauxhall. The post Nigerian man jailed for life over fatal stabbing in London appeared first on Vanguard News.

Man sentenced to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment for rape

Louisiana church remembers abuse victims after reversal over prayers for convicted priest

St Anthony of Padua asks for prayers for survivors after removing Anthony Odiong’s name from list of intentions A Louisiana Catholic church that solicited prayers for a former pastor recently sentenced to life imprisonment for criminal clerical sexual assault, then backed off having offended his victims, is asking its community to pray for survivors of clergy abuse. The shift took place in an updated 7 June parochial bulletin published by St Anthony of Padua church in the New Orleans suburb of Luling, Louisiana, where priest Anthony Odiong was pastor from 2015 to late 2023. Continue reading...