Committee of Human Rights Reporters – Mohammad Sadegh Najafi and Mojtaba Najafi, brothers charged with creating a website in support of political prisoners and the Mourning Mothers of Laleh Park, were summoned to appear at Branch 5 of Abuzar Court in the Ariashahr area of Tehran.
According to sources of CHRR, Mohammad and Mojtaba Najafi established a computer services company that operated a website called Mam-e Mihan (original homeland) and distributed political CD’s. Due to their activities they were identified and put under surveillance by security forces.
On March 9, 2010, agents from the Ministry of Intelligence raided the residence of the brothers in an attempt to detain them but were not successful because the brothers were not home at the time. However during the raid, the agents confiscated various personal items belonging to the brothers such as their computers, books, CD’s, and satellite dish. After being unsuccessful in detaining the brothers at that time, the agents went to their place of work, sealed off the computer services company and confiscated personal property.
RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's Justice Ministry has denied reports that a judge sentenced a young man to be surgically paralyzed in retribution for stabbing a friend who was also left unable to move.
The case was originally reported in local media and prompted outrage from governments and human rights groups around the world, bringing renewed scrutiny to an Islamic legal system that has no sentencing guidelines or system of precedent in determining punishments.
"The ministry would like to announce that this is utterly incorrect, and in fact the judicial ruling was contrary to that. The judge had shied away from demanding this punishment," the ministry said on its official Twitter feed on Monday.
The ministry issued a series of tweets on the subject, but did not reveal what the man's sentence had in fact been.
The Saudi Gazette reported last month the man had been ordered to pay $270,000 or be paralyzed for a crime he had committed 10 years earlier when he was 14 years old.
He had reportedly stabbed a school friend who was paralyzed as a result.
Human rights group Amnesty International described the reported sentence as "torture".
The kingdom's sharia justice system gives judges extensive leeway to reach verdicts and award sentences based on their own interpretation of the law. Capital punishment is common, and can be applied for crimes ranging from murder and armed robbery to drug smuggling and witchcraft.
CHICAGO (AP) — The family of an American diplomat who was among those killed in a terrorist attack in southern Afghanistan has taken solace in knowing she died doing what she loved.
Anne Smedinghoff, the first American diplomat to die on the job since last year's attack in Benghazi, Libya, was one of five Americans killed Saturday in a suicide car bombing while they were delivering textbooks to school children. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.
The 25-year-old suburban Chicago woman was remembered as having a quiet ambition and displayed a love of global affairs from an early age. She joined the U.S. Foreign Service straight out of college and volunteered for missions in perilous locations worldwide.
"It was a great adventure for her ... She loved it," her father, Tom Smedinghoff, told The Associated Press on Sunday. "She was tailor-made for this job." Anne Smedinghoff grew up in River Forest, Ill. — an upscale suburb about 10 miles west of Chicago — the daughter of an attorney and the second of four children. She attended the highly selective Fenwick High School, followed by Johns Hopkins University, where she majored in international studies and became a key organizer of the university's annual Foreign Affairs Symposium in 2008. The event draws high-profile speakers from around the world.
Speaking in a telephone interview Monday from the Afghan capital of Kabul, Solmaz Sharisi said her desk was next to Smedinghoff's at the embassy, where they both worked as assistant information officers. Working frequently with Western and Afghan journalists, the two became close friends, Sharisi said.
"What I admired most was her energy and enthusiasm and an unwavering commitment to the work she was doing," Sharisi said. "And it really did have an impact."
One of Smedinghoff's favorite projects was working with the Afghan women's soccer team and helping it gain greater acceptance inside Afghanistan. To ensure she would better interact with the Afghan players, Smedinghoff even practiced her own soccer skills on her days off, Sharisi said.
"She was young but she almost seemed like a seasoned foreign diplomat," Sharisi added.
Smedinghoff's remains of were being flown to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware for an official ceremony, according to State Department, which added the family had asked Monday's ceremony be private. The family is expected to attend along with Undersecretary of State Patrick Kennedy, Ambassador David Pearce and other officials.
While a student in Baltimore, Smedinghoff worked part time for Sam Hopkins, an attorney near campus. He described her as ambitious "but in a wonderfully quiet, modest way."
Her first assignment for the foreign service was in Caracas, Venezuela, and she volunteered for the Afghanistan assignment after that. Her father said family members would tease her about signing up for a less dangerous location, maybe London or Paris.
"She said, 'What would I do in London or Paris? It would be so boring,'" her father recalled. In her free time, she would travel as much as possible, her father said.
Smedinghoff was an up-and-coming employee of the State Department who garnered praise from the highest ranks. She was to finish her Afghanistan assignment as a press officer in July. Already fluent in Spanish, she was gearing up to learn Arabic, first for a year in the U.S. and then in Cairo, before a two-year assignment in Algeria.
Secretary of State John Kerry said Sunday at a news conference in Turkey that Smedinghoff was "vivacious, smart" and "capable." Smedinghoff had assisted Kerry during a visit to Afghanistan two weeks ago.
He also described Smedinghoff as "a selfless, idealistic woman who woke up yesterday morning and set out to bring textbooks to school children, to bring them knowledge."
Her father said they knew the assignments were dangerous, though she spent most of her time at the U.S. Embassy compound. Trips outside were in heavily armored convoys — as was Saturday's trip that killed five Americans, including Smedinghoff. The U.S. Department of Defense did not release the names of the others who died: three soldiers and one employee.
"It's like a nightmare, you think will go away and it's not," he said. "We keep saying to ourselves, we're just so proud of her, we take consolation in the fact that she was doing what she loved."
Friends remembered her Sunday for her charity work too.
Smedinghoff participated in a 2009 cross-country bike ride for The 4K for Cancer — part of the Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults — according to the group. She served on the group's board of directors after the ride from Baltimore to San Francisco.
"She was an incredible young woman. She was always optimistic," said Ryan Hanley, a founder of the group. "She always had a smile on her face and incredible devotion to serving others."
Johns Hopkins officials mourned her death in a letter on Sunday to students, faculty and alumni. Smedinghoff graduated in 2009. In the letter, University President Ronald J. Daniels praised her work on the symposium, her involvement in her sorority, Kappa Alpha Theta, and her involvement outside campus too.
"Her selfless action for others was nothing new," he wrote.
Funeral arrangements for Smedinghoff are pending.
Seven Workers Die in Accident at Grupo Modelo Brewery in Mexico
By Brendan Case - Apr 7, 2013 2:43 PM PT
Grupo Modelo SAB (GMODELOC), Mexico’s largest brewer, said seven workers died in an accident at its Mexico City brewery.
The deaths occurred today in “a confined area of a tank in which cleaning and maintenance work was being done,” Jennifer Shelley, a spokeswoman for the Mexico City-based company, said in a statement. The brewer has contacted authorities and the families of the deceased workers, she said.
Seven Workers Die in Accident at Grupo Modelo Brewery in Mexico
Gustavo Graf/Bloomberg
A Grupo Modelo SAB brewery stands in Mexico City.
A Grupo Modelo SAB brewery stands in Mexico City. Photographer: Gustavo Graf/Bloomberg
Modelo, which makes Corona beer and has agreed to be acquired by Anheuser-Busch InBev NV (ABI), is investigating the cause of the accident, Shelley said. Mexican newspaper Milenioreported that the deaths were due to unspecified toxins. Shelley declined to comment on the report.
There is no remaining risk to the surrounding neighborhood, the environment or the rest of the plant and its personnel, Shelley said in the statement.
The brewery is operating normally and production is not expected to be affected, she said in an e-mailed response to questions.
To contact the reporter on this story: Brendan Case in Mexico City at bcase4@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Ed Dufner at edufner@bloomberg.net
PHOENIX - Phoenix police say a 15-year-old boy stabbed his father to death during a domestic dispute.
Sgt. Tommy Thompson says the mother, her teenage son and a 7-year-old child were at a home Friday night when the man arrived drunk. Police identified the man as 36-year-old Antonio Raizola.
Thompson says Raizola allegedly got into a physical fight with the woman and the teen. The fight spilled out to the front yard and, at some point, Raizola grabbed a knife and started waving it.
The son took the knife from his father and stabbed him.
Phoenix television station KSAZ reports that the man was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The mother and son told police the stabbing was in self-defense. The son was questioned and released.
