Algeria jails French businessman, 4 nationals for running porn ring

The accused were tried on 11 separate charges, including indecent assault, producing and publishing pornography, inciting debauchery and possession of drugs. (Al Arabiya)

An Algerian court jailed a French businessman and four Algerians on Friday on charges including rape, running a pornography ring and inciting debauchery, in a case that had gripped the country.

The main suspect, Jean-Michel Baroche, 67, who was imprisoned last year along with four others, was handed a seven year sentence and a 200,000 dinar (20,000 euro) fine after he was found guilty of rape and forced abortions.

His business associate and driver, Reda Briki, got a six year sentence, while Saadni Abdenacer, the former vice president of Annaba municipality where the trial took place, was given four years.

Two others, a gynecologist and a communications officer in the same region, were both jailed for a year and another three Algerians, who had been released on bail, were acquitted.

Baroche set up a modeling agency, Glamour Arabian Talent, in the northeastern town of Annaba, after leaving Tunisia in the wake of the January 2011 uprising, where he claimed to have set up a luxury car rental agency and managed hotels.

The Algerian press reported that he took would-be models to a luxury villa where he held sex parties that were filmed and the videos sold on the Internet.

He was charged after a young woman accused him of rape.

The accused were tried on 11 separate charges, including indecent assault, producing and publishing pornography, inciting debauchery and possession of drugs.

The prosecution had sought 10 year jail sentences for Baroche, Reda and Abdenacer, and five years for the local government official for complicity.

20 Apr, 2013

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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/africa/2013/04/20/Algeria-jails-French-businessman-4-nationals-for-running-porn-ring.html
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U.N. chief says Hezbollah poses ‘serious challenge’ to Lebanese sovereignty

U.N. chief says Hezbollah poses 'serious challenge' to Lebanese sovereignty

A supporter of Lebanon's Hezbollah group holds pictures of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah (L), Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (R) and slain Hezbollah commander Imad Mughnieh (bottom-C) during a rally in southern Beirut to denounce a film mocking Islam on Sept. 17, 2012. (AFP)

The Shiite Hezbollah militia continues to operate outside of the control of the Lebanese government and poses "serious challenge to the State's ability to exercise full sovereignty and authority over its territory," U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has said in his latest report on the situation in Lebanon.

The U.N. secretary general provides semi-annual reports to the Security Council on the implementation of the 2004 Security Council resolution 1559, which demanded the withdrawal of foreign forces from Lebanon so that the country enjoys its sovereignty.

"Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias within the country continue to operate outside of the control of the government in serious violation of resolution 1559 (2004)," the U.N. chief said.

He added that while several groups in Lebanon possess weapons outside government control, Hezbollah's armed wing "is the most significant and most heavily armed Lebanese militia in the country."

"Over the reporting period, there has been yet again no tangible progress towards the disbanding and disarming of Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias as called for in the Taif Agreement and resolution 1559 (2004)," Ki-Moon said.

The U.N. chief called on the Lebanese government and the Lebanese Armed Forces to intensify their "efforts to reach a full monopoly on the possession of weapons and the use of force throughout Lebanon."

The U.N. chief also pointed to "credible reports" suggesting that Hezbollah and other Lebanese forces' are involved in the Syrian crisis.

"This has added a dangerous element to the situation in Lebanon," he said, pointing in specific to an incident in Tal Kalakh, southern Syria, in which several young Lebanese men were killed in early December 2012.

20 Apr, 2013

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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/04/20/U-N-chief-says-Hezbollah-poses-serious-challenge-to-Lebanese-sovereignty.html
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Musharraf vows to fight back after arrest on terrorism charges

Former Pakistani military ruler Pervez Musharraf vowed on Friday to fight what he called politically motivated allegations against him. (Reuters)

Former Pakistani military ruler Pervez Musharraf vowed on Friday to fight what he called politically motivated allegations against him, after he was arrested following a judge's ruling he should be tried on terrorism charges.

Judge Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui said on Thursday that Musharraf's attempt to sack senior judges while he was in power was an "act of terrorism," thus he should be arrested.

Ahmed Raza Qasoori, Musharraf's lawyer, told Al Arabiya, "The judge does not have the right to include a terrorism article in this case. What sort of terrorism they are talking about? Now after Musharraf's arrest, we will appeal for Musharraf's release on bail."

Lawyers have also petitioned Pakistan's top court to try him for treason for imposing emergency law, punishable by death or life in prison, although it will have to be the state that initiates any trial, according to AFP.

He also faces charges of conspiracy to murder opposition leader Benazir Bhutto in 2007 and over the death of a rebel leader during a 2006 military operation.

Musharraf's arrest is a significant act in a country where senior army officers have long seemed untouchable. The army is still considered the most powerful institution in Pakistan, but it's aura of impunity has declined in recent years, especially in the face of an activist judiciary, reported AP.

Retired army Major General Jamshed Ayaz Khan told Al Arabiya that the army is being neutral and seeks "to contain the situation."

"But based on my expertise dealing with army generals and soldiers, the continued to arrest of Musharraf and his trial will increase frustration among army ranks. Officers then will press the Army chief to interfere and save Musharraf not for his personal character, but because he used to be army chief," General Khan said.

There were conflicting reports on Friday about how Musharraf was arrested. Police said he was taken into custody overnight at his home and brought before a magistrate in Islamabad in the morning. But the secretary general of Musharraf's party, Mohammed Amjad, claimed the former military ruler surrendered himself before the magistrate, AP said.

Musharraf seized control of Pakistan in a coup in 1999 when he was army chief and spent nearly a decade in power before being forced to step down in 2008.

He returned to Pakistan last month after four years in self-imposed exile to make a political comeback despite Taliban death threats and a raft of legal challenges. But he was disqualified from running in the May 11 parliamentary election earlier this week, and his fortunes have gone from bad to worse since then.

20 Apr, 2013

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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/asia/2013/04/20/Musharraf-vows-to-fight-back-after-arrest-on-terrorism-charges.html
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