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Mubarak detained
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Bhutto retrial
Indian woman who burnt her husband escapes jail term
Indian held for Nepal bus bomb attack in March
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Mubarak detained
Cairo, April 13 Mubarak, driven from presidential office on February 11 by mass demonstrations against his 30-year rule, was admitted to hospital on Tuesday suffering what state media called a “heart crisis”. Reports conflicted on the seriousness of his illness. The public prosecutor had summoned and questioned Mubarak over the killing of protesters, embezzling of public funds and abuse of power. More than 380 protesters were killed in 18 days of demonstrations that led to Mubarak's downfall. His two sons, Alaa and Gamal, have also been questioned as part of the probe and ordered detained, state television said. “Former President Hosni Mubarak was detained for 15 days for investigation,” state television reported in a brief headline. Judicial sources confirmed
the report. In his first public comment since stepping down, broadcast on Al Arabiya on Sunday, Mubarak denied wrongdoing. A security source told Reuters that Mubarak was likely to remain for security reasons in detention in Sharm el-Sheikh, the Red Sea resort where he has been in internal exile since quitting. A source cited by the official news agency said the former president would be moved to a place of detention once his health permits, but the site had yet to be determined. The agency also said there was heavy security around his hospital. The source said Mubarak's sons were taken to a prison on the outskirts of Cairo, joining a list of ex-ministers and officials under investigation and held in the same jail. Gamal (47), Mubarak's younger son, held a top post in the ruling party. Many Egyptians believed he was being groomed for top office, although both father and son denied any such plan.
— Reuters
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World leaders back Libyan rebels
Tripoli, April 13 At the first meeting of the ‘International Contact Group on Libya’ in the Qatari capital Doha, which marked the debut of the Libyan rebels on the world stage, UN Secretary General Ban
Ki-moon warned that up to 3.6 million people in Libya might eventually require humanitarian aid, more than half of the country's population. He also urged nations to speak with “one voice” on the issue. Italy, on its part, said it wanted the international community to consider arming Libyan rebels. “The discussion about arming the rebels is definitely on the table ... to defend themselves,” Italy's Maurizio Massari said on the sidelines of the meeting. “The UN resolution ... does not forbid arming” and “we need to provide the rebels all possible defensive means,” he added. But, Belgian Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle opposed the idea, saying the UN resolution speaks about protecting civilians, not arming them. Inaugurating the summit, Crown Prince of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa
al-Thani said Libya was facing a humanitarian crisis. “The suffering of the Libyan people is not a natural disaster - it is the outcome of political decisions and political
behaviour," he was quoted as saying by the media. According to BBC, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said: “Any viable ceasefire, any viable peaceful future for Libya must involve the departure of Col Gaddafi so such statements may be clearer as a result of our conference.” He said Gaddafi’s government was “internationally isolated”, adding that “it has no future under some of the most sweeping sanctions that the United Nations had ever adopted and so the writing was on the wall for the Gaddafi regime”. On the eve of the meeting, a spokesman for the rebel Transitional National Council that is seeking international recognition, said they would accept nothing short of the removal of Gaddafi and his sons from the country.
— PTI
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Bhutto retrial
In a dramatic move Pakistan law minister Babar Awan on Wednesday resigned from the office to qualify for pleading the reference filed by President Asif Ali Zardari seeking to declare trial and execution of former premier Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in 1979.
The Supreme Court admitted the reference for hearing describing it as of “historic important”. Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry said Bhutto was a great leader, who enjoyed world status. The Chief Justice headed the three-member Bench of the SC said a larger Bench might hear the case in which judges from provincial high courts would also be inducted in view of the significance of the case. The court adjourned the preliminary hearing for Thursday and asked Babar Awan to come prepared. The presidential reference has been submitted by the law ministry after it was signed by Zardari earlier this month. The reference described Bhutto's trial and conviction as travesty of justice by biased judges who violated rules to deal the harshest possible sentence under pressure from military ruler Gen Zia-ul-Haq. The reference is based mainly admission by Justice Nasim Hasan Shah, one of the four judges who convicted Bhutto in a 4-3 split verdict, that the judges acted under duress. Shah made the admission in a TV interview during Musharraf rule and later also acknowledge in his book that Chief Justice Lahore High Court Maulvi Mushtaq Hussain was personally inimical to Bhutto and should not have presided over the high court Bench that sentenced Bhutto to death. The Supreme Court on Thursday heard initial remarks made by Awan but wanted him to quit as minister in order to be able to argue the case. He observed that in the past ministers have been appearing in various cases in violation of the rules during military governments. “We will not allow history of dictators to be repeated,” the CJ said. The apex court also asked to the government to appoint 10 more lawyers to help in the case which is being dubbed as the re-trial of the century. Speaking to the media outside the court, Awan said he did not believe in the politics of revenge and that there was a need to purge the country of injustice and undo a historic wrong. “I would have loved to argue this case but it is Awan’s decision to do it himself which I appreciate,” Ahsan said.
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Indian woman who burnt her husband escapes jail term
Melbourne, April 13 Rajini Narayan (46) walked free from the court house after the Supreme Court judge John Sulan suspended her six-year sentence for burning her husband to death in December 2008 after confronting him about his affair. In her submission before the court, Narayan said she had only planned to burn the tip of her husband's penis, after coming to know that he was having an affair and had even told him so. But Satish, to whom she had been married for two decades, continued to subject her to physical and verbal abuse and had turned his back on her. The jury cleared Narayan for murder but found her guilty of manslaughter. The judge took the unusual step of suspending the sentence saying the woman had already suffered, but ordered her to be under supervision of the authorities. “The killing was due to momentary anger and muddled thinking and Narayan was truly remorseful for her actions,” the judge said. “Although it is often said that a suspended sentence is not a sentence at all, it's a real sentence and can be brought into effect if there is a failure to comply with specified conditions,” the judge warned her.
— PTI
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Indian held for Nepal bus bomb attack in March Kathmandu, April 13 The Indian, a 40-year-old man who gave his name as Islam Musalman, was paraded by police along with the two other perpetrators, Prashant Pandey, 26, and Raj Kumar Chauhan, 19. Police said the three men were arrested for leading a bomb attack on a bus heading from Bhairahawa in southern Nepal to Butwal in Rupandehi district March 27. The explosion occurred around evening, damaging the bus badly and killing one of the passengers on the spot. A second passenger died of his injuries in a hospital. The blast also injured 28 other passengers. — IANS
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