Protests in Denver over Death of Young Hispanic Shot by Police

DENVER – Dozens of relatives and friends of Jessica Hernandez, 16, who was shot to death by local police earlier this week, on Tuesday marched to demand that charges be filed against the two officers involved in the incident, saying that the teen’s death was “unnecessary.”

After the march to the offices of the Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey, the members of the so-called Community Defense Committee of Denver asked in a petition that authorities investigate the circumstances surrounding the girl’s Monday morning death in one of the city’s northeastern neighborhoods.

At a Monday afternoon press conference, Denver police chief Robert White acknowledged that the two officers used their weapons, that each fired several shots and that “there are a lot of questions that need to be answered.”

The incident began when a police officer on patrol noticed the presence of a suspicious vehicle. The car’s license plate enabled the officer to determine that it had been stolen Sunday night, whereupon backup was requested.

When a second patrol car arrived, both officers tried to get the vehicle’s driver – Hernandez – to stop but, they said, she accelerated, hitting and injuring the leg of one of the men.

The officers opened fire, focusing their shots on Hernandez. The other four occupants of the vehicle, apparently all minors, were uninjured.

Via a communique released on the social networks, the Community Defense Committee said that Hernandez was “unarmed” when she was killed and asked for a firm stance against police violence.

According to the committee, the investigation should focus on a videotape, apparently recorded by a resident after the shooting, in which a handcuffed girl can be seen being questioned by police. But the girl seems not to be responding to the police.

The committee wants to know whether the girl in the video is Hernandez and whether she was already dead when the images were taken.

As in normal procedure in such cases, the two officers have been placed on “administrative leave” while the investigation is under way, a probe being conducted by the police, the district attorney and the Office of the Independent Monitor, a civilian oversight agency for the city.

This is the third incident in less than a year in which local police have killed young Hispanics inside vehicles.

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Egypt prosecutors to examine killing of " Female activist " picked out of crowd?

A technical committee will examine videos posted on social media of events surrounding the killing of leftist activist Shaimaa El-Sabagh, Al-Ahram Arabic news website reported on Tuesday.

El-Sabagh, 33, was shot during a peaceful protest in downtown Cairo to commemorate the anniversary of the 2011 revolution.

The party to which she belonged, the Socialist Popular Alliance, has accused the police of deliberately killing her.

The interior ministry, however, has denied the accusation, claiming outsiders infiltrated the protest and shot El-Sabagh.

The technical committee, lead by the head of Qasr El-Nil prosecution office, will gather all the videos filmed during and after the shooting for possible use as evidence in the case.

Spent bullets will also be examined to determine the weapon used to shoot El-Sabagh.

The prosecution is currently gathering footage from three cameras found in the vicinity of the incident.

It has also started interrogating officers from the Central Security Forces who dispersed the march.

The incident sparked fury and condemnation among activists and on social media. They said excessive force had been used to disperse the peaceful march.

One of the main reasons for the 2011 uprising was police brutality.

Few members of the security forces have been convicted for the killing of hundreds of protesters during four years of turmoil since the uprising.

Iran: High court confirms 133 years of sentences for 8 Facebook activists

NCRI - The Supreme Court in Iran has confirmed the sentences of eight social media activists in Iran who have been sentenced to a total of 133 years in prison for criticizing the regime on Facebook, according to reports received from Iran.

The activists had been originally charged with “colluding and gathering against national security, propaganda activities against the system, insulting sacred symbols, insulting the head of the government branches and insulting specific individuals.”

It is unclear whether the activists who have been arrested in various cities including Tehran, Yazd, Kerman, Shiraz and Abadan were acting together.

The eight individuals include six men, Massoud Seyed Talebi, Fariborz Kardarfar, Amin Kararmipour, Amir Golestani, Massoud Ghasemjani, Mehdi Rayshahri, and two women, Roya Saberi-Nejad Nonbakht, and Nagmeh Shahsavandi Shirazi.

Roya Saberi Negad Nobakht, 47 year Iranian British woman, from Stockport, Greater Manchester, was arrested in the south-western city of Shiraz while visiting friends in the city of Shiraz.

The oldest is a 62-year old women and the youngest is 21-year-old man. The ruling by the high court is not clear in each individual sentencing terms but it is believed that they are sentenced between 8 to 21 years in prison.

They were originally arrested around the end of summer 2013 by the cyber police in Iran.

The official news agency IRNA then reported: ““Two of them were sentenced to 18 years and 91 days and 19 years and 91 days in prison respectively, with 50 lashes and fines of 1.3 million tomans ($500). Others in this case were sentenced to 21, 14, 20, 8, 11 and 16 years in prison.”

The Iranian regime’s Cyber Police are responsible for monitoring cyber activities. Their most notorious case was that of blogger Sattar Beheshti whom they killed in custody.

While social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are banned in Iran, some Iranian officials, including Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, have Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Cuba and the US maintain their positions on migration

THE EFE HAVANA

Cuba and the United States held on Wednesday "respectful dialogue" on migration issues, but both countries still maintain their conflicting views on the validity of the Cuban Adjustment Act and politics "feet dry / wet feet" UStoward the island. 

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Latin America at the State Department, Alex Lee, told a press conference that the US "Is fully prepared to keep the Cuban Adjustment Act," which "will continue to guide" theimmigration policy of his country to the island. 

That law, in force since 1966, with its "feet dry / wet feet" favors Cubans who manage to reach American territory that allows to apply for permanent residence one year later; while those intercepted at sea are returned to Cuba. 

For its part, the general director for USA Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Cuba, Josefina Vidal, rejected the permanence of that law, which they consider "the main incentive to illegal migration and trafficking in persons to the United States." 

The Cuban diplomat explained that the Adjustment Act "gives Cubans preferential, exclusive and unique treatment" in regulating the situation in the United States, which according to her is causing an "increase in document fraud with intent entering the US. " 

Vidal also said the policy "feet dry / wet feet" "encourages Cuban health professionals to abandon their missions in third countries", which he considered a "reprehensible practice of brain drain (...) that goes against the migration agreements. " 

Despite these differences, both Vidal and Lee highlighted the "climate of respect" and "constructive spirit" in which the discussions took place, in which both countries reiterated their commitment to a "legal, safe and orderly migration" , purpose of the agreements for a migration dialogue signed in 1994 after the episode of the "rafters crisis". 

Cuba acknowledged that the United States "is complying with the migration agreements regarding the granting of no less than 20,000 visas a year to Cuban immigrants," and that there has been an increase in visas to Cubans for temporary visits. 

The parties also agreed to expand cooperation against illegal migration and continue holding regular workshops like those that have occurred between the US Coast Guard services and border guards troops in Cuba. 

They also agreed to perform soon, but date to be determined, one of these technical meetings on document fraud, advanced Vidal. 

The US representative reported that also addressed at the meeting other issues such as family reunification programs or the return of "excludable" Cuban residents in the US that the Government of that country wants to "return to the island," mainly because there have violated the law. 

"It is the duty of all countries to accept its citizens," Lee said. 

The US official also stressed that the fact that the talks have been "productive" and collaborative spirit "proves that despite the differences, there are opportunities "to continue working on issues of mutual interest" . 

The migration talks today are the first contact between delegations of the two countries since they announced the restoration of diplomatic relations last December 17; although this new round of migration dialogue was convened for months. 

However, the parties used the meeting to start tomorrow the first official negotiations on the normalization of diplomatic ties, meetings will be headed by Secretary of State for Latin America, Roberta Jacobson, the most senior US official to visit Castro's Cuba. 

Vietnam Arrests Two Peruvians for Robbing Foreign Tourists

BANGKOK – Vietnamese police have arrested two Peruvians who allegedly robbed foreigners in hotels in Hanoi to fund their trips around the world, the Vietnamese press reported Friday.

William Rafael A.V., 43, and Jose Marcelino V.A., 63, were arrested after a Canadian tourist reported being robbed of several electronic gadgets, money and credit cards.

Police Lt. Col. Ngo Van Dap said that the pair had confessed to several thefts in different hotels frequented by foreigners, and that authorities were searching for more victims, according to the Tuoitre News portal.

According to the Peruvians, their modus operandi was to stay at two different hotels and use telephones to coordinate their crimes, the proceeds of which were used to finance further travel.