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Philippines' Duterte says he is retiring from politics,
but not everyone is convinced
By Karen Lema
MANILA, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte said on Saturday he was retiring from politics, a surprise move that fuelled speculation he was clearing the way for a presidential run by his daughter.
Sara Duterte-Carpio is currently mayor of Davao, the Philippines' third-largest city, and filed on Saturday to contest the role again. She has previously said she would not run for national office next year.
"Today, I announce my retirement from politics," Duterte said as he accompanied his ally Senator Christopher "Bong" Go of the ruling PDP-Laban party to register Go's candidacy for vice president in next year's election.
But political analysts were sceptical, noting that last-minute changes were still possible, as in 2015 when Duterte entered the presidential election race at the eleventh hour and won by a huge margin.
Duterte, 76, had been expected to run for the No. 2 job, a plan most Filipinos oppose as violating the spirit of the constitution, which sets a one-term limit for the president to stop power being abused.
"In obedience to the will of the people, who after all placed me in the presidency many years ago, I now say to my countrymen, I will follow your wish," Duterte said as he urged the public to back his longtime aide.
Analysts say it is crucial for Duterte to have a loyal successor to insulate him from potential legal action - at home or by the International Criminal Court - over the thousands of state killings in his war on drugs since 2016.
"I would take his announcement with a lot of salt," Carlos Conde, Philippines researcher for New York-based Human Rights Watch, told Reuters. "But assuming that he's really going to retire, that doesn't mean he won't get the protection from the ICC that he craves."
Duterte, a maverick leader famous for his embrace of China and disdain for the United States, traditionally a close ally of the Philippines, remains popular even though his opponents accuse him of being authoritarian and intolerant of dissent.
Activist and human rights lawyer Neri Colmenares also viewed Duterte's announcement sceptically, saying "he will still dictate (to) his political machinery".
"Unfortunately for him, he will not be spared from accountability. Retirement from politics will not save him from a prison sentence," said Colmenares, who is also providing legal assistance to drug war victims.
Authorities have killed more than 6,100 suspected drug dealers and users since Duterte took office in June 2016. Rights groups say the police summarily executed suspects, which the police deny, saying they acted in self-defence during sting operations.
'ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN'
More than 60 million Filipinos will vote in May for a new president, vice president and more than 18,000 lawmakers and local government officials.
Political observers had long suspected Duterte could spring a surprise, such as a presidential bid by his daughter next year. Duterte-Carpio's re-election filing, shortly after her father announced his retirement, did little to douse speculation she has her eye on the presidency.
Mar Masanguid, who backed Duterte's 2016 run and has now founded a group to back Duterte-Carpio, said the signs still pointed to a run, which would mirror her father's last minute bid in 2016.
"In politics, anything can happen," he said.
Duterte-Carpio has topped opinion surveys on prospective candidates, but said last month she was not a candidate for higher office next year because she and her father had agreed only one of them would run for a national role in 2022.
The older Duterte's decision not to join the race next year would clear her way.
"This allows Sara Duterte to run," said Antonio La Vina, professor of law and politics at the Ateneo de Manila University. "She sees through the father's scheme or it is a drama to confuse everyone."
But La Vina said he could not rule out the possibility the firebrand leader might have a change of heart and be Go's substitute.
Candidates have until Friday to register, but withdrawals and substitutions are allowed until Nov. 15.
Judge grants probation in US Capitol case, questions prosecutors’
‘credibility’ compared to lenient treatment of BLM rioters
2 Oct, 2021 02:25
An Oklahoma woman who participated in the US Capitol riot has been granted probation – against the recommendation of prosecutors – and the judge in her case implied the government has been inordinately harsh on such defendants.
Danielle Doyle, 37, was given two months of probation on Friday in the US District Court in Washington, rather than being sentenced to home confinement as prosecutors sought. She pleaded guilty in July to illegally demonstrating inside the Capitol, which she entered through a broken window. She spent a total of 24 minutes in the building and wasn’t accused of committing any acts of violence or property damage.
Judge Trevor McFadden questioned the prosecution's “credibility,” wondering why the Department of Justice hasn’t indicted more of those who rioted in Washington during Black Lives Matter-inspired protests last year, citing figures on cases that haven’t been prosecuted. In contrast, more than 600 people have been charged in connection with the Capitol riot, including some who have been held without bail while awaiting trial.
“I think the US Attorney would have more credibility if it was even-handed in its concern about riots and mobs in this city,” the Associated Press quoted McFadden as saying. The BLM riots caused up to $2 billion in insured property damage nationwide and resulted in over two dozen deaths.
Doyle told the judge she regretted that a peaceful election-fraud protest escalated into a riot when people breached the Capitol. “So many people came here to represent things that were important to us, but in the blink of an eye, all of those things were overshadowed,” she said, per the AP. “For that, I’m sorry, because it overshadowed the things that were good.”
McFadden, who was appointed to the bench by former President Donald Trump, said Doyle’s behavior was inexcusable and that she was “acting like all those looters and rioters who attacked our city last year. That’s because looters and rioters decided the law didn’t apply to them.” He added that the January 6 riot made Americans feel “less safe,” just as the violent BLM protests did.
Doyle worked in ticket sales for the Oklahoma City Thunder NBA team until December 2020. Two former co-workers reported her to the FBI after recognizing her in video footage of the riot circulating online and in media. She also was ordered to pay a $3,000 fine and $500 in restitution. The misdemeanor charge, to which Doyle agreed to plead guilty in a deal with prosecutors, carries a maximum sentence of six months in jail.
Russia bans Scientology: Justice ministry puts key
Scientologist groups on list of ‘undesirable’ organizations
2 Oct, 2021 01:59
Russia’s Justice Ministry has blacklisted two Church of Scientology entities, banning them from operating in the country. Moscow has taken numerous measures against the group, arguing that it's a business masquerading as religion.
An updated list of “undesirable” organizations was released by the country's Justice Ministry on Friday, just over a week after the Russian Prosecutor General’s office advised a ban for several Church of Scientology affiliates.
Two California-based holdings, the World Institute of Scientology Enterprises International (WISE) and the Church of Spiritual Technology (CST), also known as the “L. Ron Hubbard Library,” were officially blacklisted.
Both were deemed a threat to Russia’s national security, according to a previous statement from the prosecutor’s office. The inclusion of Scientology on Russia’s list of “undesirable” organizations, which currently number at 49, means the outfit is now prohibited from conducting any activities in Russia, with its local chapters to be forcibly closed and assets frozen.
The decision follows a decades-long campaign to ban Scientology from illegally profiting on Russian territory, with the first major effort to restrict the group dating back to 1996, back in the Boris Yeltsin-era and some twelve years after the organization gained a foothold in what was then the Soviet Union. However, it was not until the 2010s when authorities really cracked down on Scientology groups, investigating major branches in Moscow and St. Petersburg, as well as their leaders, on charges of illegal business activities and extremism.
Some of the group’s literature has been outlawed as extremist material, while its Moscow chapter was ordered closed by the Supreme Court in 2016.
The Church of Scientology, which was founded by American science fiction novelist L. Ron Hubbard in the 1950s, describes itself as a new religious movement, while its critics believe the group to be either a dangerous cult, a business trying to dodge taxes using religious exemptions, or some combination of both.
While the group has rarely achieved full-blown recognition from state authorities around the world, it has managed to obtain a tax exemption status in a number of countries. At the same time, Russia is far from being the only nation actively obstructing the group’s activities and influence.
A drawn-out case in Belgian against the ‘church’ involved charges of bribery, extortion, fraud, and the unlicensed practice of medicine, but its leaders were acquitted of all charges. Meanwhile in France, Scientology has been classified as a dangerous cult and seven of its members were convicted on various charges, including contribution to suicide.
Ironically, it was the Strasbourg, France-based European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) that came to the defense of Scientology in its case in Russia, accusing authorities of religious discrimination. In fact, the group appears so confident about the ECHR’s support that an American representative once said of the situation in France, “if it has to go to the court of human rights we’re confident we will win there.”
The US has consistently criticised any country attempting to take the group and its leaders to court as discriminating on religious grounds, despite a long history of lawsuits and other legal issues with the group within the United States. In the 1970s, the ‘church’ carried out what it dubbed ‘Operation Snow White,’ which reportedly saw up to 5,000 Scientologists infiltrate scores of US government agencies – namely the IRS – where they stole documents, wiretapped phones of government agents and carried out other surveillance.
Several high-ranking Scientologists, among them Hubbard’s then-wife Mary Sue, pleaded guilty to charges linked to the massive infiltration op, including obstruction of justice, burglary of government offices, and theft of documents and government property.
Russian couple detained after trying to dispose of mummified
bodies of husband’s parents they kept in apartment for months
3 Oct, 2021 06:14
A Russian couple has been detained after they tried to dispose of the mummified remains of the husband’s parents. The bodies had apparently been kept in their apartment for months, with the foul smell blamed on a “pet goose.”
The blood-chilling story unfolded in the city of Odintsovo, located just outside Moscow. On Thursday, local police were alerted after two mummified bodies were found in a multistory building, packed into wooden longboxes.
CCTV footage circulating online showed a man and woman loading one of the boxes into a van before fleeing the scene. The box contained the body of an elderly woman, while another one, containing the remains of an elderly man, was found leaning against the wall on the staircase of the building.
The horrifying discovery prompted the launch of a murder case. The two suspects, who turned out to be a married couple, were detained on Saturday, Russia’s Investigative Committee confirmed. The dead bodies that were stuffed into the boxes turned out to be the husband’s parents.
“So far, experts have not established the cause of death of the elderly couple,” the Investigative Committee said.
The suspects have been identified by Russian media as Anatoliy and Tatiana Tkachenko, who had lived in the building for some six years. They rented their apartment from its owner, who permanently resided in another city.
At some point, Anatoliy’s parents moved in with the couple, and ultimately met their end at the apartment. The corpses had reportedly been kept in the apartment at least since March, when the couple’s neighbors noticed a foul smell coming from inside.
They notified the police over the smell, but law enforcement reportedly found nothing suspicious. Anatoliy is understood to have blamed the smell on a “decorative goose” he kept in the apartment.
He was also reportedly confronted by neighbors when he brought a haul of lumber into the flat, which was apparently used to construct the longboxes. The suspicious activity was blamed on the elusive goose again, with Anatoliy claiming his pet needed a pen. It remains unclear whether the suspect actually owned such a bird or merely sent his neighbors on a wild-goose chase.
The botched attempt to dispose of the bodies reportedly came after the apartment’s owner decided to check up on his property after the couple failed to pay rent for several months in a row. He ran into his tenants just as they were loading the grim cargo into the van, sending them on a two-day flight from the police.
