European Politics > Lofven Out; Neo-Nazis in Ukraine (2); Catalan Separatists Pardoned

 Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven ousted in no-confidence vote

Justin, does that make you a bit nervous?

Li-Lian Ahlskog Hou, 

CNN, and Reuters

Updated 11:02 AM ET, Mon June 21, 2021

Sweden's parliament backed a no-confidence vote against Prime Minister Stefan Löfven on Monday, making him the first Swedish premier to be ousted by a motion put forth by opposition lawmakers.

The Social Democrat leader has a week to resign and hand the speaker the job of finding a new government, or call a snap election.

The nationalist Sweden Democrats had seized the chance to call the vote after the formerly communist Left Party withdrew support for the center-left government over a plan to ease rent controls for new-build apartments.

Löfven's party was in a minority coalition with the Green Party and relied on support in parliament from two smaller center-right parties -- the Centre Party and the Liberals -- and the Left Party.

Sweden Democrat leader Jimmie Akesson told parliament the government was harmful and historically weak, adding: "It should never have come into power."

The no-confidence motion, which required 175 votes in the 349-seat parliament to pass, was supported by 181 lawmakers.

Speaking in parliament on Monday, Löfven said Sweden was now in a "difficult political situation," adding that as the Left Party had united with the "right-wing conservative parties" to back the no-confidence vote, it was a "temporary majority that was created."

"It is a group of parties only aiming to vote out the government, but which have differing views on the issues and lack the will and ability to present an alternative to the government," Löfven said, adding that he would hold discussions with other parties and decide whether to resign or call snap elections within a week.

The Left Party blamed Lofven for triggering the crisis.

"It is not the Left Party that has given up on the Social Democrat government, it is the Social Democrat government that has given up on the Left Party and the Swedish people," Left Party leader Nooshi Dadgostar said.

With parliament deadlocked, it is not clear to whom the speaker might turn to form a new government if Lofven resigns. Opinion polls suggest the center-left and center-right blocs are evenly balanced, so a snap election might not bring clarity either.

Dadgostar said that even though her party had voted against Lofven, it would never help "a right-wing nationalist government" take power.

A new government -- or a caretaker administration -- would sit only until a parliamentary election scheduled for September next year.

80 years after Nazi invasion of USSR, Ukraine's main opposition party asks Kiev to finally clamp down on neo-Nazi organizations

22 Jun, 2021 11:54

FILE PHOTO. Participants of the "March of embroidery" in Kiev. The action is carried out by nationalists and is timed to the anniversary of the creation of the SS division "Galicia" during the Second World War, Ukrain. © RIA

On the 80th anniversary of the start of Operation Barbarossa, the German-led WW2 military invasion of the Soviet Union, Ukraine's leading opposition party has demanded that authorities in Kiev finally ban neo-Nazi organizations.

In a statement published on its website on Tuesday, the Opposition Platform - For Life party also asked the Ukrainian government to stop "rewriting history."

Back in April, Ukrainian nationalists held a march in the center of Kiev to mark the anniversary of the creation of the SS Galicia during World War II. The SS division was made up predominantly of Ukrainian volunteers who took up arms for Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union, and who mainly fought against local partisans. The unit was almost wiped out in the 1944 Battle of Lvov–Sandomierz, and later saw action in Slovakia and Austria. In 1945, it rebranded as the Ukrainian National Army and lasted until the end of the war in May that year.

The march in Kiev was condemned by officials from Russia, Germany, and Israel, amongst others.

At the time, Opposition Platform asked the government for a "tough reaction," noting that the traditional WWII Victory Day parade was banned, due to Covid-19 restrictions, but the SS Galicia parade wasn't.

"On this Day of Mourning and Remembrance of Victims of War, we do not expect fake lamentations from the authorities," the Opposition Platform statement explains. "We demand prohibition and persecution for all neo-Nazi organizations, an end to the glorification of Nazi collaborators and an end to the rewriting of history. An end to the policy of ethnic and cultural discrimination."

In Ukraine, as well as in Russia and other former Soviet states, June 22 is considered a Memorial Day. On this date in 1941, a coalition led by Nazi Germany began attacking the Soviet Union, in a five-month-long offensive that saw millions of Soviet citizens killed. By the end of the Second World War, in 1945, the country had lost an estimated 27 million people.

The Germans were joined in the invasion by their Italian, Hungarian, Slovak, Finnish and Romanian allies.

"The crimes of the Nazis cost the world tens of millions of lives and broken lives. Ukraine lost one out of every five inhabitants," the statement adds.

"The Nazi tumor was cut from the body of humanity. It seemed to everyone to be forever. Never again will we hear nonsense about the superiority of certain nations over others," it continues. "[However], the metastases remained."

Opposition Platform - For Life is Ukraine's largest opposition party. In recent months, the country's authorities have cracked down on the faction, which draws much of its support from Russian speakers in the east and south of the country and has advocated a less confrontational approach to Moscow than the one pursued by authorities in Kiev since the Maidan.

In May, the party's leader Viktor Medvedchuk was charged with "high treason" and stands accused of handing over classified information to Moscow. Prosecutors also say he has colluded with the Russian government to steal natural resources from Crimea. He denies all charges, calling them politically motivated. He is currently under house arrest.

Soviets worked with West to bring down Nazi legacy – but now NATO expansion risks tearing Europe apart once again, Putin says

22 Jun, 2021 08:49

FILE PHOTO. Russian President Vladimir Putin © Sputnik / Aleksey Nikolskyi

Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that a new arms race is underway in Europe, driven by instability and tension, while insisting his country stands ready to rebuild friendly relations with nations across the continent.

Writing in Hamburg’s Die Zeit newspaper on Tuesday, Putin emphasized the role the Soviets played in liberating European nations from Nazi occupation. The president paid tribute to the soldiers of the Red Army, “who not only defended the independence and dignity of our homeland, but also saved Europe and the world from enslavement.”

He went on to add that the defeat of the Third Reich was also down to “our allies in the anti-Hitler coalition, participants in the Resistance movement, and German anti-fascists who brought our common victory closer.”

Putin said the end of the Cold War should have been “a common victory for Europe,” but that tensions across the continent had needlessly resurged. The president blamed NATO for this state of affairs, arguing that the US-led military bloc was a “relic” of Cold War-era confrontation. Its expansion eastwards, despite assurances to the contrary, had fueled distrust and tension on the continent, he said.

Relations between Moscow and NATO initially thawed after the fall of the USSR, with both sides even signing a declaration maintaining they did “not consider each other as adversaries.”

However, Russia insists it was given a commitment that the bloc would not look to extend its reach towards the country’s borders, which was broken in 2004 when NATO underwent the single largest expansion in its history, admitting the Baltic nations and a number of former Eastern Bloc states. The move was cited as a strategic threat by Putin in a speech marking the reabsorption of Crimea in 2014.

“Moreover,” Putin wrote on Tuesday, “many countries were put before the artificial choice of being either with the collective West or with Russia.” The president cited events in Ukraine in 2014 as an example “of the consequences that this aggressive policy has led to.” There, he said, “the EU actively supported the unconstitutional armed coup in Ukraine.”

“The whole system of European security has now degraded significantly,” he warned. “Tensions are rising and the risks of a new arms race are becoming real. We are missing out on the tremendous opportunities that cooperation offers – all the more important now that we are all facing common challenges, such as the pandemic and its dire social and economic consequences.”

Putin reiterated that “Russia is in favor of restoring a comprehensive partnership with the rest of Europe” and again proposed the idea of a “common space for cooperation and security from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean.”

In April, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov extended an invitation to EU nations to sign up to a Moscow-backed plan to form a ‘Great Eurasian Partnership’ that would be open to all states across the two continents. This would be driven by the values of unification and inclusivity, he said.

In his appeal to German readers on Tuesday, Putin said, “The world is a dynamic place, facing new challenges and threats. We simply cannot afford to carry the burden of past misunderstandings, hard feelings, conflicts, and mistakes.”

He added that “our common and indisputable goal is to ensure security on the continent without dividing lines, a common space for equitable cooperation, and inclusive development for the prosperity of Europe and the world as a whole.”

Nine Catalan pro-independence leaders formally pardoned by Spain

over failed 2017 independence bid

22 Jun, 2021 14:59

FILE PHOTO. Barcelona, Spain. © Reuters / Jon Nazca; (inset) Oriol Junqueras, Raul Romeva, Joaquim Forn, Jordi Sanchez, Jordi Turull, Josep Rull, Jordi Cuixart, Carme Forcadell, Dolors Bassa, Carles Mundo, Santi Vila and Meritxel Borras at the Supreme Court in Madrid. © AFP / EMILIO NARANJO

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s office has announced that pardons for nine jailed Catalan separatist leaders, who’d been handed sentences ranging from nine to 13 years behind bars, have been approved by Spain's cabinet.

In a tweet published on his official account, Sanchez said the nine had received partial pardons, commuting their prison sentences but upholding their disqualification from holding office.

The move is aimed at putting Spain on the path to reconciliation as the country’s “government works for understanding, not for confrontation,” Sanchez said, adding that he hoped all sides could now “concentrate on improving the lives of our people” as the nation emerged from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The pardons had been rumored in recent weeks and were revealed on Monday, ahead of their final sign-off, with Sanchez justifying them by saying that “confrontation doesn’t serve to solve any problem.”

It’s not clear exactly when the jailed separatists will be released from prison – the authorities have simply said they would work quickly to finish the administrative steps required to secure their freedom.

The nine separatists were jailed for sedition by Spain’s Supreme Court in October 2019, with several others fleeing abroad to avoid prosecution, including Catalonia’s former president Carles Puigdemont, who was recently granted political asylum in Morocco.

Pro-separatist figures have dismissed the reconciliation attempt as a political stunt, claiming that, if Sanchez was serious about moving forward, his government would have granted full amnesty to all who were involved in the 2017 independent effort, allowing those abroad to return to the region.

The division within Spain and the prosecution of the separatists came after Catalonian officials attempted to hold an unauthorized referendum in 2017, as part of their bid to secure independence from Madrid, sparking charges of sedition from the Spanish authorities.

Ozzone 4-28 > What you get when you surrender your life completely to God.

 

European Politics > Sweden's Lofven Could Be Dumped; Will EU Crumble - Whose Nexit?

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Israel's PM Netanyahu was knocked off his long-sustained perch last week, and now it appears Stefan Lofven may finally be knocked off his. The two couldn't be more different but both are subject to political assault.

Sweden’s Christian Democrats vow to vote against Prime Minister Lofven in vote of no-confidence, following Left & Sweden Democrats

17 Jun, 2021 13:23

Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven (FILE PHOTO) © Fredrik Sandberg/TT News Agency/via REUTERS

 

The leader of Sweden’s Christian Democrats has said his party will vote in favor of ousting center-left Prime Minister Stefan Lofven in a no-confidence vote, after the Left Party withdrew its support for the government.

On Thursday, the leader of the Christian Democrats, Ebba Busch, vowed to vote against center-left Prime Minister Stefan Lofven’s government. “We were against the Lofven government when it came into power,” Busch told a news conference. “We will vote to oust it,” she added. 

The country’s right-wing party, the Sweden Democrats, submitted a vote of no confidence against the government on Thursday. “If we have a chance to replace this damaging government we will take it,” Henrik Vinge, the Sweden Democrat’s parliamentary group leader, told a news conference. The anti-migrant party currently holds one-fifth of the parliament’s seats. 

The move was triggered after the Left Party, which is not part of the government but has backed the prime minister frequently, said on Thursday it would no longer support Lofven. “We are now seeking support for a vote of no-confidence,” Left Party leader Nooshi Dadgostar later told reporters during a news conference after rumors spread online. 

The Left fell out with Lofven over plans to ease rent control rules for newly built apartments.

A vote is set to take place on June 21, which may topple the uneasy minority coalition of Social Democrats and Greens that has ruled for over two years. To succeed, a vote of no-confidence would require the support of half of the parliament’s 349 members.

Is the EU about to crumble?

The bloc has never been so weak — just ask the Dutch

BY AYAAN HIRSI ALI

Ayaan Hirsi Ali is an UnHerd columnist. She is also a research fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, Founder of the AHA Foundation, and host of The Ayaan Hirsi Ali Podcast. Her new book is Prey: Immigration, Islam, and the Erosion of Women’s Rights.

June 16, 2021

  

Almost five years after Britain voted to leave the European Union, the bloc faces an existential question: which, if any, of the remaining 27 countries will be next?

European cohesion is threatened by a range of serious issues; some internal, some external. Mass migration and the challenge it poses to integration remains the most daunting challenge. Last year may have seen a lull in migrant crossings as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, but they are ramping back up, largely from Libya. (Indeed, it is surely only a matter of time before politicians fall prey to their usual smoke and mirrors rhetoric about the “benefits” of mass migration in the context of an ageing population, without much credence given to concerns for cultural integration or assimilation.)

Meanwhile, the EU remains plagued by recurrent tensions over its pandemic response, particularly in regard to vaccine distribution. The European Recovery Fund also had a shaky path to approval, which left many member-states dissatisfied.

But will another member state leave? If you believe the bookies, the odds-on favourite is Italy (available at 3/1) — followed by Greece (6/1) and France (8/1). But as the Brexit referendum demonstrated, the bookies don’t always make the right call — and it would be unwise to rule out the country sitting in fourth place: the Netherlands (12/1). In fact, I believe it’s a strong contender. 

Of all the EU-27 countries, I am most familiar with the Netherlands, where I served as a Member of Parliament from 2003 until 2006. One of my strongest memories of that period was my first trip, along with some of the freshmen Dutch legislators, to the European Parliament in Brussels. Compared with our modest parliament building, the EU building was grand and impressive.

MORE FROM THIS AUTHOR

Sweden's migrant rape crisis

BY AYAAN HIRSI ALI

At lunch, which started as early as 11.30am, we were welcomed with trays of tall flutes filled with the best champagne. We were then served a lavish meal, accompanied by bottle after bottle of wine. This “working” lunch went on until 3.30 p.m.

The week after, back in the national Parliament canteen with its modest assortment of sandwiches, my Dutch colleagues and I were obsessed with one question: who paid for this scandalous extravagance? In the years since, the Dutch have continued to question the financial benefit of remaining an EU member — and it’s not hard to see why.

In 2018, for example, the Netherlands contributed €4.845 billion to the EU; but in return, Brussels spent only €2.470 billion in the country. The European Union’s own website claims that “the EU budget doesn’t aim to redistribute wealth”; in the Netherlands, that doesn’t seem to quite add up.

Over the past decade, the Dutch, who are notoriously frugal, have become increasingly frustrated with the frivolity of EU spending. Exacerbating this irritation is the fact that the Netherlands is the largest net contributor to the EU budget per capita. Meanwhile, the Dutch parliament is grappling over how to afford the maintenance of the equivalent of their NHS and the rising costs of healthcare for an ageing society. Dutch health authorities estimate healthcare spending will double between 2020 and 2040, to €200 billion euros per year, up from €106 billion in 2019.

More important, though, are questions pertaining to national sovereignty and control over sensitive political issues. Every Tuesday morning, I and my fellow MPs would gather to debate both domestic and international issues. Naturally, these discussions sometimes became heated — but this principally occurred when we were told that a decision had to be made by an anonymous, faraway EU official, rather than by us.

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Increasingly, we found that we didn’t have the last word on many of the issues that mattered most to us: immigration, terrorism and agriculture, among others. Nor was this feeling confined to the Dutch political class. When, in 2005, EU countries were presented with the prospect of creating a bloc-wide constitution, only two countries held a referendum that ultimately rejected the proposals: the Netherlands and France.

True, there are still glaring differences between the UK and the Netherlands that make “Nexit” seem impractical. The UK wisely never joined the monetary union, while the Netherlands was among the first to adopt the euro two decades ago. Not only do they share a currency with much of the continent, the Netherlands is also more dependent on the single market than Britain was. And then there’s the fact that the United Kingdom is the sixth-largest economy in the world, while the Netherlands trails a distant 17th (with four other European Union countries ranking higher). While the Dutch see their country as the gateway to Europe, they are not their own island, separated by a Channel, apart from the rest of Europe.

Yet, since I left office, the frictions between the EU and the Netherlands have only worsened. This month, I&O Research, a research agency for the Dutch government, released a report that showed “a larger proportion of the Dutch are still dissatisfied (43%) than satisfied (37%) with what the European Union is doing”.

And while this same report confirmed that there is still nothing close to a majority for “Nexit” — a position with adherents only among the populist FvD and PVV parties — it did reveal that “in a referendum on whether the Netherlands should remain a member of the European Union, 61% would now vote for ‘remain in the EU.’” Less than a year ago, the figure was 72 percent. That is a striking decrease of support for the EU. The 61% figure is also striking for another reason — it’s lower than the proportion of Brits who supported Remain a year before the Brexit vote (66%). And we all know how that turned out.

Context was everything in the UK five years ago. We forget now how unlikely Brexit seemed to most commentators — until the first, stunning results came in from northern English cities such as Sunderland.

Today, the context has shifted for one fundamental reason. Brexit has happened, and it has not been the unmitigated disaster that so many Remainers predicted. On the contrary, the UK’s superior vaccine strategy — nimble where the EU’s was lumbering and bureaucratic — provided a better advertisement for “taking back control” than anything in the original Leave campaign.

Could watching a successful exit by the UK push the Dutch population further in this direction? Don’t rule it out.

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Islam - Current Day > Palestinian Woman; Freedom of Speech in Germany; Another School Abduction in Nigeria; Poor Security at Manchester Bombing; Swiss War Crimes Trial

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IDF ‘neutralizes’ Palestinian woman who rammed

and stabbed Israeli troops in West Bank

16 Jun, 2021 12:26

Members of Israeli forces gather near the scene of a security incident near Hizma checkpoint in the

Israeli-occupied West Bank, June 16, 2021. © REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman

 

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have said that one of their troops has been lightly injured after a Palestinian woman rammed Israeli soldiers near Ramallah before attempting to stab them. The woman was “neutralized,” the IDF said.

In a series of tweets on Wednesday, the IDF stated that an attack had taken place against Israeli troops near the village of Hizma, southeast of Ramallah, the main city in the West Bank.

The IDF described the event as a “combined car-ramming and stabbing attack” and said that “the assailant was neutralized at the scene.” 

Another tweet added that a woman had “exited her vehicle with a knife drawn” after ramming troops and was then “neutralized” by IDF soldiers. “During the incident, an IDF soldier was lightly injured,” it stated but did not elaborate on the injuries sustained.

Photos from the scene show a damaged saloon car and Israeli troops holding positions around the supposed attack site. 

On Wednesday morning, there were signs that the peace treaty agreed in May following the 11 days of fighting may be in danger as Israel, under the new government headed by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, launched airstrikes on Gaza. The IDF said the airstrikes were “in response to the inflating of incendiary balloons into Israeli territory.”  

The incendiary balloons, which caused a number of fires across Israel, were launched after Bennett’s government allowed right-wing settlers to march to the Damascus Gate in East Jerusalem on Tuesday. The annual march marks Israel seizing East Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day war. 

Bennett was sworn in as prime minister on Sunday, replacing long-term leader Benjamin Netanyahu, and will lead the ‘Change Bloc’ consisting of right-wing, centrist and even Arab parties. Bennett has previously stood for and championed the rights of Jewish communities to settle in the West Bank.

Most Germans say freedom of speech is in jeopardy, many name Islam

and patriotism among topics they cannot speak freely about

16 Jun, 2021 20:27

FILE PHOTO. ©  Global Look Press / Christian Ohde

A majority of German citizens believe that freedom of expression is in danger, the latest poll shows. ‘Patriotism’ and Islam were named among topics one should be particularly careful about.

Only 45% of Germans still believe they can express their political opinion freely, says a survey conducted by the Allensbach Institute for Demoscopy – one of Germany’s oldest and most respectable polling agencies.

That is the lowest figure since 1953, when the institute started conducting such polls. Just a few years ago, two-thirds of Germans believed that nothing stops them from expressing their opinion freely.

Most believe that their freedom of expression is in danger, while 44% feel one had better be careful about what one says, according to the survey published in Germany’s FAZ newspaper on Wednesday.

Almost 60% of respondents named Islam as an issue to be particularly reserved about. “Patriotism” was named as another such controversial topic by 28% of Germans. Another issue many respondents reported feeling uneasy about was women’s rights, since 19% of the respondents named it a taboo topic.

Some other topics such as gender-neutral language or words considered to be politically incorrect were also perceived as sensitive, the Tagesspiegel newspaper said.

Supporters of various political parties also assessed the situation with freedom of speech in Germany differently. Those backing the left-leaning Green Party described it quite positively, as did the supporters of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU).

Supporters of all other parties, including Merkel’s coalition partners – the Social Democrats – said they have to be rather cautious while expressing their opinions. Sympathizers of the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party were the least satisfied with the present situation, since only 12% of them said they could freely defend their opinions in public.

Gunmen kill police officer, abduct students & teachers

from Nigerian school

17 Jun, 2021 19:19

FILE PHOTO: Nigerian security forces patrolling the streets. © Reuters / Temilade Adelaja

Another group abduction occurred in Nigeria on Thursday, with militants killing a police officer and kidnapping five teachers and an unknown number of students in an attack on a school in the northwest of the country.

A gunfight erupted between the attackers and police outside a federal government college in the remote town of Birnin Yauri in the state of Kebbi. The militants eventually overpowered law enforcement, managing to make their way into the building before abducting a number of female students, local media reported.

Kebbi police have confirmed the attack, saying that one officer was shot dead in the gunfight. A student also suffered a bullet wound in the incident and was taken to hospital for treatment.

“We are still trying to ascertain the number of students kidnapped, but five teachers were kidnapped,” police spokesman Nafiu Abubakar told reporters. Security forces were searching a nearby forest in an attempt to track down the kidnappers and their victims, he added.

Panic broke out at the school as parents searched for their kids, eyewitness Atiku Aboki told Reuters. “When we got there we saw students crying, teachers crying, everyone is sympathizing with people,” he said.

More than 800 students have been kidnapped from schools in Nigeria since December. The authorities have blamed the raids on armed groups who are looking for ransom. Some of those students have been rescued by security forces or managed to escape, but many others remain missing. The Nigerian government has denied ever paying ransom for the return of the kidnapped.

The continuing spate of kidnappings sparked protests in the country’s Niger State in late May, with locals disrupting a major highway while demanding better security and protection from law enforcement.

Manchester Arena bomber Salman Abedi who killed 22 people

 ‘should have been identified as threat,’ inquiry finds

17 Jun, 2021 15:59

Members of the public attend a candlelit vigil, to honour the victims of Monday evening's terror attack

on May 23, 2017 in Manchester, England ©  Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

The suicide bomber who killed 22 people and injured hundreds of others at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England should have been spotted as a threat, a public inquiry into the 2017 attack has found.

Inquiry chief John Saunders said there “were a number of opportunities which were missed” that should have “prevented or minimised the devastating impact” of Salman Abedi’s bomb attack.

In the first of his three reports, published on Thursday, Saunders was highly critical of the security arrangements at the Manchester Arena ahead of the attack by Abedi, who was said to have been inspired by the Islamic State terrorist group.

Abedi detonated the device, concealed in his backpack, in the venue’s foyer area as many parents waited to collect children after the show.

Those “principally responsible” for the missed opportunities were entertainment company SMG, which ran the arena, its contracted security firm Showsec, and the British Transport Police (BTP), Saunders said.

However, he also said there were “failings by individuals,” including that of Showsec security guard Mohammed Agha, which Saunders said was the “most striking” missed opportunity of all.

Agha had spoken to a concerned member of the public, Christopher Wild, who had confronted Abedi and asked what was in his bag just minutes before the bomb went off, the report said. In his evidence, Wild said he felt “fobbed off” by Agha after telling the security guard that he thought Abedi might “let a bomb off.”

Saunders said Abedi “should have been identified on May 22, 2017 as a threat by those responsible for the security of the Arena and a disruptive intervention undertaken.”

Had that occurred, I consider it likely that Abedi would still have detonated his device, but the loss of life and injury is highly likely to have been less.

Other failings identified in the inquiry’s report included SMG’s “inadequate” CCTV, which Saunders said had caused a blind spot that enabled Abedi to hide before his attack. The inquiry lead criticised stewards’ counter-terrorism training and the fact that there was no BTP officer stationed in the foyer area.

The inquiry chief also made nine recommendations, including that the government’s ‘Protect Duty’, which is currently still under public consultation, should be made into legislation to enhance security at venues.

Liberian rebel leader sentenced to 20 years in prison for war crimes

including cannibalism in first such trial by Swiss court

18 Jun, 2021 16:21

FILE PHOTO. Switzerland's national flag is displayed on the Swiss Federal Criminal Court

(Bundesstrafgericht) building in Bellinzona, Switzerland. © Reuters / Emma Farge.

Liberian rebel commander Alieu Kosiah has been handed a 20 year prison sentence over charges of rape, killings and even cannibalism in the first war crimes trial in a civilian court in Switzerland.

On Friday, the Swiss Federal Court found Kosiah guilty on all but four of the 25 charges he faced for his alleged actions while in the United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy (ULIMO) rebel group. The court convicted him on war crimes including rape, killings and even cannibalism, after an incident in which he allegedly ate slices of a man’s heart.

The 46-year-old’s sentencing comes at the end of a seven-year legal process. Kosiah was first arrested in Switzerland, where he was living, in 2014 with Swiss authorities making use of a 2011 law that permits the prosecution of anyone for serious crimes, regardless of where they were committed.

The conviction marks one of the first successful prosecutions over the actions of rebel groups during the West African nation’s civil war, with Human Rights Watch (HRW) describing the judgment as a “landmark” event. 

“Switzerland’s efforts on this case should help mobilize wider accountability in Liberia as this shows that these crimes can be prosecuted,” HRW’s Elise Keppler said following the sentencing.

Liberia has faced criticism for failing to hold people accountable for the crimes committed in the country between 1989 and 2003, when warring factions engaged in internationally-condemned actions, including using child soldiers. Activists within Liberia have expressed hope that, following Kosiah’s conviction and sentencing, the country’s government will establish a war crimes unit, as called for by the nation’s Truth and Reconciliation Committee.

The ULIMO rebel group fought in the First Liberian Civil War from 1991 to 1994. Following internal divisions, it splintered into two factions, ULIMO-J and ULIMO-K, in 1994. Its fighters have been accused of committing numerous human rights abuses during the conflict.

20 years for 21 charges including rape, murder, and cannibalism is too short! It should be twice that if you are going to make any impression on those who commit war crimes. They should not have the luxury of having hope that they will be out while still young enough to continue their inhuman ways.

Reality Contradicts The 'Acceptable Narrative' in Germany

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It's almost unanimous in western countries that right-wing advocates are the greatest danger to modern society. The stupidity of that 'acceptable narrative' should be obvious when you realize that almost all terrorism is perpetrated by Muslims; that crime rates in Europe have skyrocketed because of Muslim migrants; that there are dozens of, if not hundreds of No-Go Zones in Europe, all occupied by Muslims.

These statements are sufficient to explain a rise in right-wing activism, and yet, we see in Berlin that most danger comes from the far-left. 60 police officers injured in one day exceeds both Muslim and far-right damage by a considerable margin.

It's time to drop the 'acceptable narrative' in favour of the truth!

Squatters and left-wing radicals clash with German police in Berlin,

60 officers injured

16 Jun, 2021 19:36

Police officers stand near extinguished barricades at Rigaer Street in Berlin, Germany, on June 16, 2021.

©  Reuters / Axel Schmidt

A routine fire inspection has led to massive riots in the German capital as left-wing radicals protested a fire inspector’s visit to a Berlin squat. At least 60 police officers have been injured in the violent confrontation.

Barricades have been burning on the streets of Berlin’s Friedrichshain neighborhood on Wednesday. Squatters, left-wing radicals and their sympathizers erected them from rubbish, bicycles and barbed wire to block the authorities from accessing a house on one of the local streets.

Known as one of the most popular get-together locations among German left-wing radicals, the ill-fated house on the Rigaer Strasse had been occupied by squatters for a year until they were evicted in a massive police operation back in 2016. Since that time, however, it has been apparently occupied again.

Its residents, some of them without rental agreements, have recently even filed a complaint with a local court, challenging the decision of the building’s owner and the local authorities to send a fire inspector into the house. The complaint was rejected by the court which cited a public interest in mitigating the potential risks of fire in the building.

The squatters and the radicals were apparently not ready to give up so easily. Some started pelting the police with bottles and stones as law enforcement officers sought to breach the barricades.

The situation escalated further and the area started to look like an active combat zone. A helicopter was barraging amid the billows of black smoke clouding the skies. Some witnesses reported dozens of loud bangs.

Footage published by the Ruptly video news agency showed the police trying to break one of the barricades with an armored vehicle and using water cannons to extinguish the flames. Berlin’s “emergency services and fire fighters were not let through,” the police said in a statement on Twitter, adding that they were pelted with stones, including from the roofs of nearby buildings.

At least 60 police officers were injured in clashes, mostly by stones and bottles thrown by the rioters, a police spokeswoman, Anja Dierschke, told the Berliner Zeitung. The police also said that around 200 masked rioters clashed with police before retreating to nearby houses. Only one person has been arrested so far. A police team also managed to climb on the roof of the Rigaer Strasse house.

Berlin’s Interior Minister Andreas Geisel has canceled his participation in a conference of interior ministers on Wednesday because of the riots. “Those who burn car tires are not fighting for left-wing open spaces, but are harassing their own neighborhood,” he said.

The riots also drew condemnation from German politicians. Burkard Dregger, the head of the conservative Christian Democratic Union faction in Berlin’s parliament, accused the local ruling left-wing coalition of pandering to the “chaos” and “violence” of the leftist radicals. 

“They created the breeding ground for...violence that Berliners have suffered from for years,” he said.

Karsten Woldeit, a member of the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, called on the police to immediately and “decisively” confront those he called “leftist terrorists.” The “hotbeds of violence” should be cleared immediately, he said.

The squatters previously announced violent resistance to the fire inspection of the house which is scheduled for early Thursday morning. Earlier, the district authorities ordered the owner to conduct the inspection or pay a fine of €500,000 ($605,650).

Police have cordoned off nearby areas and announced that access to the district would be granted only to its residents between Wednesday and Friday evening. Law enforcement are preparing for a “major operation,” according to the local media.

The Media is The Message > Muzzled Reporter Unleashed - Is Big Pharma Controlling The News?

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Rogue ex-Fox 26 reporter accuses station of bias &

self-censorship to please advertisers

16 Jun, 2021 09:00

Screenshot © YouTube / Project Veritas

Ivory Hecker, who went viral after accusing her now-former employer Fox 26 of “muzzling” her, has presented the records she kept to make the case of entrenched “corruption” at the news station.

Hecker, who was suspended and later fired by the Houston affiliate of Fox News after her Monday live report stunt, was interviewed by Project Veritas’ James O’Keefe. Her story, however, fell short of the smoking gun that some viewers expected. The substance of her allegations was that Fox 26 was putting profits and other corporate interests before the interests of its viewers.

I suspect she consulted with a lawyer and came to the realization that she couldn't say a thing like - 'the leadership of Fox26 was heavily influenced by Big Pharma', without getting sued into oblivion. 

As a conspiracy theorist, I can't help but think that Big Pharma spent a fortune hiding stories about Hydroxychloroquine. Big Pharma made incredible fortunes on their various vaccines, most of which had some dreadful side effects for some people. Hydroxychloroquine is off-patent and cheap. It could potentially have saved millions of lives, but that's not what Big Pharma is about - millions of dollars, not lives.

It will be interesting to see if Ivory ever gets another reporting job, or if the entire industry turns against her. If there is a news network interested in the unbridled truth, she should be picked up in a flash. However, I don't see that happening.

Video 17:27

One part of her argument was a recording confirming the station’s refusal to cover bitcoin in its five o’clock segment. Assistant News Director Lee Meier said it was her choice not to pursue the story because “Bitcoin for poor African-American audience at five – it’s probably not going to play.” Meier’s words seem to be an example of how the editorial decision-making process works based on who watches the early evening news.

A large portion of the interview was dedicated to the coverage of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), an anti-malaria drug that was at one point considered a promising treatment for Covid-19, and became a hot political topic in the US after then-President Donald Trump endorsed it.

Among other things, Trump shared a video of a controversial HCQ enthusiast, Houston-based doctor and pastor Stella Immanuel. After going viral, her videos were suppressed by social media as Covid-19 misinformation.

Hecker says she was harshly reprimanded by management for sharing a clip from an interview with Dr. Joseph Varon, the chief of critical care at UMMC Houston, which her crew filmed while doing a story for Fox 26. In it, Varon said that HCQ was “politicized up to the wazoo,” and that he used the drug in the treatment of Covid-19 patients “with good success.”

Fox 26 Vice President and News Director Susan Schiller told Hecker to “cease and desist posting” about HCQ and said she “failed as a reporter to not know more” about the drug beforehand, according to a recorded conversation, which was played during the Project Veritas interview. The journalist rejected the accusation, citing an earlier piece she did about the controversy surrounding Dr. Immanuel. The criticism was apparently motivated by potential negative reactions to the post from senior management at Fox News.

Project Veritas also played some of its own secret recordings of Fox 26 employees, confirming that the station sold advertising time to the CDC. O’Keefe insinuated that Fox subjected its news reporting on health issues and Covid-19 to the considerations of advertisers, including vaccine producers, but failed to produce solid proof. The closest thing to an admission was a remark that “a lot of stuff can happen,” which was made by a sales coordinator after she was asked if the Ad Council could call and ask not to run “any anti-vax stories” as a precondition for buying some spots.

Hecker accused Fox News of enforcing “the corporate narrative” and failing its viewers and the principles of journalism, which amounts to “corruption” of the profession. Fox 26 said it “adheres to the highest editorial standards of accuracy and impartiality” and called the journalist “a disgruntled former employee seeking publicity by promoting a false narrative produced through selective editing and misrepresentation.” Asked about her motive for turning on Fox, Hecker said she wanted to protect viewers from corporate deception.

The Media is The Message > Journalist Muzzled by Fox News Turns to Project Veritas

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Fox 26 Houston reporter accuses network of ‘muzzling’ her & others, teases release of recordings from Project Veritas

15 Jun, 2021 09:37

video 0.59

Ivory Hecker, a reporter with the Houston affiliate of Fox News, fired a surprising broadside at the network, accusing it of suppressing reporting that didn’t fit the desired narrative, and promising to expose it.

During a live report on Monday, Hecker alleged that “Fox Corp. has been muzzling” her and possibly other reporters “to keep certain information from you, the viewers.”

“I am going to be releasing some recordings about what goes on behind the scenes at Fox,” she said, pointing to the controversial conservative outfit Project Veritas. The material is supposed to be published by the outlet on Tuesday.

Project Veritas published the clip, as well as some extra footage, showing one of its journalists, Christian Hartsock, talking to Hecker, at what seems to be the same location she was giving her live report from.

“They sent a reporter out there. They don’t like what that person said. And they turn around and punish the reporter,” she said.

"Does that make any sense? No. But I guess I am supposed to know the narrative and stick with it instead of sticking with the facts."

Project Veritas made its name by secretly recording people in various industries, including the media and Big Tech, and using their words to claim systemic bias against conservative voices in America. Critics accuse it of using sleazy tactics and deceptive editing of its tapes to make their case.

After Hecker made the allegations, the group’s name trended on Twitter, which Project Veritas hailed as yet another success. Its own Twitter account had been suspended in February “for repeated violations of Twitter’s private information policy.”

Just moments ago...

The Daily Beast reported that Hecker had been suspended:

In a phone call recording provided to Project Veritas, Fox 26 assistant news director Lee Meier informed Hecker that she was suspended “effective immediately” and the situation was “pending further review.” Furthermore, Meier asked Hecker “not to come to the station” and that they would remain in touch.

And early this morning...

Newsweek gives us a glimpse of the issue:

In a statement to Newsweek explaining why she made the claims against Fox during Monday's broadcast, Hecker claimed that after she interviewed an unspecified person in August 2020, her relationship with the network took a "dark turn."

"They decided they didn't like what the interview subject had said, and they went on to internally harass and defame me," Hecker said.

"I knew I was not working for a journalistic organization when I was called into an HR meeting in December and was told to keep my support for free speech and opposition to censorship to myself—that those were not matters to be publicly spoken about.

Project Veritas stated that their report will come out this evening.