Displaying items by tag: murder

Three retired colonels have been sentenced to fifteen years in prison for orchestrating the 1982 killings of four Dutch journalists during El Salvador’s civil war. They are former defence minister Jose Guillermo Garcia (91), Francisco Moran (93), and Mario Adalberto Reyes Mena (85). The journalists had been filming with leftist rebels when ambushed by soldiers in a planned military trap. A 1993 UN truth commission had previously identified the ambush as orchestrated by Reyes, who remains in the USA despite an extradition request. Garcia and Moran are currently under police watch in a private hospital. The case was revived in 2018 after El Salvador's supreme court struck down a postwar amnesty. Advocacy from the victims’ families and international bodies, including the Dutch government and EU, pressured authorities to bring long-delayed justice.

The murder of 10-year-old Sara Sharif has ignited calls for stronger safeguards for children, particularly those being home-schooled. Sara’s father and stepmother, convicted of her murder, had subjected her to two years of horrific abuse, prompting scrutiny of existing child protection measures. The government plans to introduce a Children's Wellbeing Bill, proposing safeguards like mandatory local authority consent for home-schooling children under protection plans, a child identifier system, and multi-agency safeguarding teams. Surrey County Council, which had been alerted to Sara’s welfare concerns before her death, is launching an independent review of its actions. Critics argue that current laws allowing at-risk children to be removed from school are inadequate. Keir Starmer emphasised the need for answers and better safeguards to prevent such tragedies. Proposals also include establishing a register for home-educated children and improving data-sharing between services to identify risks more effectively.

Alid Ahmed, a Moroccan asylum seeker in England, is accused of murdering 70-year-old Terence Carney and attempting to murder his housemate Javed Nouri, a Christian convert, citing ‘revenge’ for Israeli actions in Gaza as his motive. Ahmed, who attacked both victims with knives, also assaulted two female police officers during his arrest. He initially targeted Nouri for being a Muslim convert to Christianity, then killed Carney, mistakenly believing both victims were dead. The attacks occurred soon after the Hamas attacks in Gaza, with Ahmed claiming his actions were to ‘free Palestine from the Zionists’. Despite Ahmed's claims of religious and political motivations, including his desire for martyrdom and references to the conflict in Gaza and Israel's actions, the trial is focussing on determining his intentions during the attacks. The prosecution claims his actions were driven by a combination of personal grievances and his perceived religious and political motivations. The case is ongoing.

Three women have been convicted of the brutal murder of Safoora Bibi, a schoolteacher at an Islamic seminary in Dera Ismail Khan, in March 2022. The main suspect, Umra Aman, planned the attack with her two nieces, who were students at the school; they were allegedly prompted by a dream accusing Bibi of blasphemy. The killing has highlighted the pervasive issue of vigilante attacks in the country, fuelled by Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy laws. Despite the government's stated zero-tolerance policy, reluctance to repeal or reform these laws persists due to pressure from hard-line Islamist groups. Over 90 blasphemy-related killings have occurred in Pakistan in the past seven decades, with a significant rise in recent years.

A court in Pakistan has sentenced a Muslim man to 25 years in prison for killing a Christian woman who rejected his marriage proposal. Muhammad Shahzad, also known as Shani, was sentenced in Islamabad for killing Sonia Allah Rakha, a 24-year-old Christian woman. The judge commended the police for their thorough investigation, which led to Shani’s conviction while acquitting three other accused individuals, the group said. Shanik shot Sonia on 30 November 2020, after her family declined his marriage proposal due to religious differences. He initially fled the scene but was later apprehended by the police.on. The victim’s family said that the accused had been harassing Sonia for the previous six months and had tried to force a physical relationship with her.

Independent news outlet Vyorstka has reported a huge uptick in the number of Russian soldiers facing trial for murders committed outside the conflict zone in Ukraine. At least 147 soldiers went on trial for murder between January and September, compared to the 15 murder cases heard against soldiers in military courts in all of 2022. Court verdicts from this year indicate that most soldiers facing trial committed murders under the influence of alcohol. In one case an intoxicated soldier killed a woman with a Kalashnikov assault rifle after learning that she did not support Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. He was sentenced to nine years in prison in March. It is unclear whether the figures cited by Vyorstka include members of the Wagner mercenary outfit, which recruited prison inmates to fight in Ukraine in exchange for pardons. Among the weapons used in the murders were knives, axes, pistols, and Kalashnikovs.

Canada's high commission in India has said that it has decided to ‘adjust’ staff presence in the country temporarily after some diplomats received threats on social media platforms, adding to spiralling tensions between the two countries. The statement from the high commission came soon after an Indian company published a notice that it was suspending visa services for Canadian citizens. Tensions between the two countries escalated earlier this week when Canada said that it was ‘actively pursuing credible allegations’ linking Indian government agents to the murder of a Sikh separatist leader in British Columbia in June. Prime minister Narendra Modi's government has categorically rejected the claims. With both nations expelling a diplomat each, and India urging its nationals in Canada to ‘exercise caution’, relations between the two countries have touched the lowest point.

A young architect in Egypt was tragically murdered on a building site by a colleague in a bulldozer who later told police, ‘I hate Christians; I killed him because he is a Christian.’ After confessing to Fadi’s murder, Mohammed spent four days in prison before being sent to a mental health hospital for treatment. It is unclear to what extent, if at all, psychological issues contributed to this attack. They are often cited by Muslim extremists to explain their attacks against Christians to avoid prosecution - and it works. Like so many families who’ve been affected by persecution in Egypt, there is no guarantee that Fadi’s family will receive justice from the legal system. Despite this uncertainty and the anguish they are in, they have already decided to forgive Mohammed. This incident reminds us how for many Christians the workplace is not safe - either because of overt attacks like this one or more subtle forms of discrimination.

A Louisville nurse, Breonna Taylor, was asleep with her partner Kenneth Walker III, when they heard a noise. They got up and went to the door shouting ‘Who is it?’ and got no reply. Plainclothes police entered the home without knocking, mistakenly thinking they would find drugs. Walker said he couldn't see but he fired one shot at the intruders, thinking they were burglars, hitting an officer in the leg. Next, the police fired over 30 rounds and killed Breonna. Their trial for murder was this week, but only one of the officers was indicted, on the charge of first-degree wanton endangerment. No-one was charged with murder. People are protesting nationally, saying that the message of this indictment is, ‘We don't care about you, especially if you are black, and even more if you are a woman.’ Police are using violence and pepper spray as the situation escalates in Philadelphia, Portland, Seattle, and elsewhere.

On 2 January, Rev Lawan Andimi was abducted by Boko Haram. He pleaded with the government and the leadership of CAN (Christian Association of Nigeria) to come to his rescue, adding that his captors were taking good care of him and ‘hoped he would return home safely if it was the will of God’. The insurgents demanded two million euros for his release, but then went ahead and beheaded him. Bishop Mamza, of CAN, said that another pastor had been abducted and killed almost at the same time. Stating that Boko Haram had not been defeated or suppressed, he urged the government to tell Nigerians the truth. President Buhari expressed sadness and sympathy, but another CAN spokesman described the unabated kidnappings and killings as ‘shameful’ to the government. Pray for God’s comfort to embrace those living in sorrow and fear.