Free Dr. Stacey Addison! - American imprisoned in East Timor

Free Dr. Stacey Addison!

Angelina Brouillette

Mariposa, CA

Dr. Stacey Addison, a Portland, Oregon veterinarian is unjustly imprisoned in the South East Asian country of East Timor. While living her dream of an around the world trip Dr. Addison had the extremely bad luck to share a hired vehicle with a stranger who committed a crime. She has been imprisoned, denied due process and can be held with no charge against her for one year. What should have been a trip of a lifetime has turned into a nightmare. I've known Stacey for 15 years and I'm helping her mother bring her home with this petition. Our government and the government of East Timor must take action immediately to release Dr. Stacey Addison from her illegal imprisonment.  

On September 5th Stacey entered East Timor and shared a hired taxi from the border to the capital city of Dili with a stranger. This practice is very commonplace and usually safe. It’s like Lyft or Uber, but other people can share the car if it’s on the same route. Unknown to Stacey, the other passenger in the car was a criminal. En route he asked the driver to stop so he could pick up a package. The police were waiting, tipped off that the package contained illegal drugs. The car was surrounded by the police and everyone arrested.

After her belongings were searched, her drug test came up negative, and statements by everyone declaring they didn’t know her beyond sharing the cab were acquired, Stacey was still held for 5 days before being brought before a judge. She was given a conditional release, but told that her passport could be held for up to one year pending an investigation. Stacey found herself trapped and unable to travel back home to Portland, Oregon.

For nearly 2 months, waiting in agony and willing to cooperate, Stacey and her lawyer heard nothing from the authorities. Suddenly, on October 28th she was rearrested without a charge and taken to a women's prison.  She was told that the prosecutor had filed an appeal to have her conditional release rescinded without notifying Stacey or her lawyer. This is a violation of her Human Rights and illegal under Timorese and International law.

Stacey is not a criminal. She is a dedicated and caring veterinarian, often volunteering for causes close to her heart. Even on this trip, before these horrifying turn of events, Stacey volunteered as a vet in Peru and Ecuador. This is who Stacey is and the last place she deserves to be is in prison.

We are sharing her story in hopes you will join our friends and family in calling for her to be released and for her passport to be returned. We already have the support of both US Senators from Oregon and the media is starting to pay attention. Your support could create the momentum needed to ensure Stacey gets home. Please take a moment to sign and share our petition calling on the East Timor government to free Stacey now and return her passport.

You can also go to the Facebook page Help Stacey for more info and "like" it to show your support: https://www.facebook.com/PleaseHelpStacey 

Iran: Hundreds of nurses protest low wages and difficult work conditions

NCRI – Hundreds of Iranian nurses held a gathering on Sunday outside Hassan Rouhani’s office in Tehran to protest low salaries and difficult working conditions.

The group of 700 nurses also renewed their long demand for the implementation of the ‘Nursing Tariff Act’ that had been ratified in 2007 which limits the amount of overtime nurses can work, among other benefits.

Nurses, who came from various cities across Iran to Tehran, said large groups of nurses in their cities were distracted from attending the protest after a state institution contacted their hospitals.

The hospitals in Iran are experiencing a shortage of nurses, who leave the country on a daily basis due to low salaries.

According to international standards, there should be a minimum of two nurses per hospital bed each day, while in Iran this number is half this, according to some officials.

The shortage of nurses has forced nurses to work many hours in overtime.

The protesting nurses chanted “ignoring nurses in the country results in more and more nurse migration”.

They carried signs that read: “Five percent of the health care is taking the 95 percent of the income” and “This is injustice”.

It is estimated that some 40 nurses leave Iran every day to work in other countries making the situation in the hospitals critical.

The flow of Iranian immigrant nurses to Canada has increased. Canada is the first immigration destination for Iranian nurses with close to 50 percent, while the UAE attracts some 30 percent of immigrants.

Australia, the USA and the UK are among other major destinations for Iranian nurses.

Police storm Sydney cafe where jihadist, murder suspect held hostages

Police toting automatic weapons and lobbing flash grenades stormed a Sydney cafe early Tuesday, bringing to a dramatic end a 16-hour standoff in which a jihadist and murder suspect held an unknown number of hostages in a scene much of the world watched on television.

A series of explosions, believed to be gunshots and flash grenades, came just before 2:30 a.m. local time as several more hostages fled Lindt Chocolat Cafe, where a man identified as Man Haron Monis, an Iranian also known for sending hate mail to the families of fallen soldiers, was holed up with an unknown number of captives. The drama, which began early Monday, appeared to be coming to a dramatic resolution, as frenzied activity enveloped the scene that Australians had been watching on television for hours.

"Police and paramedics have stormed the building," the Sydney Morning Herald reported. "Dozens of continuous bangs and possibly gun shots have lit up the sky."

Several people were taken from the building on stretchers as an alarm rang and police in riot gear moved in and out of the shop, in the heart of Australia's largest city's business district. A bomb disposal robot was seen being deployed in the shop, though police said the standoff was over. It was not clear if anyone was killed or what had happened to the suspect. The handful of hostages seen fleeing as the explosions echoed through the predawn air followed escapes hours earlier by five captives.

Sydney hostages in Lindt coffee shop - terrorists #sydneysiege ( Video )

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SYDNEY - Possible hostages taken by people with " Arabic flag "

SYDNEY - A major police operation was underway in downtown Sydney on Monday, where several people inside a chocolate shop and cafe could be seen through the windows with their hands held in the air.

New South Wales state police would not say what was happening inside the Lindt Chocolat Cafe or whether hostages were being held. But television footage shot through the cafe's windows showed several people with their arms in the air and hands pressed against the glass.

The footage showed two people inside the cafe holding up what appeared to be a black flag with white Arabic writing on it. It was not immediately clear what the flag said. Heavily-armed officers were lined up outside the cafe.

A police spokeswoman said no injuries had been reported from the incident.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the National Security Committee of Cabinet met to be briefed on the situation.

"This is obviously a deeply concerning incident but all Australians should be reassured that our law enforcement and security agencies are well trained and equipped and are responding in a thorough and professional manner," Abbott said in a statement.

The cafe is located in Martin Place, a plaza in the heart of the city's financial and shopping district that is packed with holiday shoppers this time of year. It is home to the state premier's office, the Reserve Bank of Australia, and the headquarters of two of the nation's largest banks. The state parliament house is a few blocks away.

Streets in the area were closed, offices evacuated and the public told to stay away.

UN calls for "swift and transparent investigation" into death of Palestinian minister

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 Sunday, 14 December 2014 15:27

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Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas (right) stands by the coffin during the funeral of Ziad Abu Ein in Ramallah on December 11, 2014

The UN Security Council has called for a "swift and transparent investigation" into the death of a Palestinian minister during a confrontation with Israeli soldiers.

The Palestinian leadership blamed Israel for the "killing" of 55-year-old Ziad Abu Ein, after an Israeli border policeman shoved and grabbed him by the throat during a protest in the occupied West Bank.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas condemned “the brutal assault that led to the martyrdom” of Abu Ein, calling it “a barbaric act that cannot be tolerated or accepted," Abbas said as he announced a three-day mourning period.

A statement issued by the Security Council on Friday "encouraged the parties to ensure that a swift and transparent investigation is undertaken" into the incident.

"The members of the Security Council called on all sides to exercise maximum restraint and to refrain from steps that could further destabilise the situation."

The top United Nations human rights official also expressed his ‘deepest condolences to Ziad Abu Ein’s family and to the people of Palestine' and said the incidents that preceded the Minister’s death are disturbing and must be carefully investigated.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said in a statement. ‘I express my deepest condolences to Ziad Abu Ein’s family and to the people of Palestine. It is a terrible and deeply tragic irony that he should die in this way after taking part in a peaceful protest against illegal settlements, centred around the planting of olive trees, on Human Rights Day.’

The Minister's death came on the same day when a Palestinian boy was shot in the head by Israeli officials in the Jalazone refugee camp in the West Bank.

“This continuous stream of fatal incidents underscores the need for effective accountability measures,” said Zeid.

On Friday, during a phone call with President Abbas, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry expressed his condolences for the death of [senior Palestinian official] Ziad Abu Ein and stressed the importance of continuing peace efforts," Palestine's state-run WAFA news agency reported.

1,000-pound cow escapes slaughterhouse - Cops chase him

POCATELLO, ID - A 1,000-pound cow being prepared for slaughter jumped a 6-foot fence and bolted through the streets of Pocatello before police shot and killed it following a lengthy pursuit.

Pocatello Police Chief Scott Marchand tells the Idaho State Journal that his officers fired two shots at the heifer because it posed a safety risk.

The cow had escaped from Anderson Custom Pack, a meat processing business, on Friday afternoon.

Early in the chase, an officer shot the cow in the head but the wounded animal kept running.

The cow led police and animal control officers on a chase on foot and in vehicles through the city's north side. It rammed an animal control truck and two police cars.

The animal was eventually cornered in a residential backyard about 3 miles away, and was shot and killed by a police officer.