BBC news 2009-08-02 加文本

BBC 2009-08-02


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BBC News with Roy Lamar.

A judge in Colombia has sentenced ten soldiers to 30 years in prison for murdering civilians and passing them off as rebels killed in combat. The soldiers were convicted for killing two restaurant workers in 2006 and presenting their bodies as rebel casualties. Jeremy McDermott reports.

A court here in Medellin has handed down sentences between 4 and 30 years to soldiers from the Fourth Brigade based in the city. The sentences of 30 years were for the soldiers who actually carried out the murders of two young men in a town some four hours from Medellin. The two men represented as rebels killed in combat. The lesser sentences were for the soldiers who helped cover up the murders. These cases are among more than 1, 000 that the Attorney General’s office is investigating, in a practice that can only be described as widespread.

The biggest reformist party in Iran Mosharekat has issued a statement, describing legal action against leading reformist politicians in Teheran as a laughable show trial. About a hundred people appeared in court on Saturday, accused of acting against national security and fomenting the unrest that followed the disputed presidential election in June. Catherine Najo reports.

The first session of the trial is now over and it’s not clear when the next session will be held. Pro-government news agencies have been reporting what they say are the confessions of some of the leading reformists who have allegedly accepted the charge of treason in the court. The authorities appeared to be hoping that the trial will intimidate the opposition into silence, putting an end to weeks of street unrest throughout the country. But the biggest reformist party Mosharekat says the show trial is the latest stage of what it describes as a coup d'etat by the hardliners.

At least six people have been killed in Pakistan in clashes between Muslims and Christians. The violence started late on Thursday in Punjab when hundreds of Muslims set fire to Christian homes after rumors spread that they had desecrated pages from the Koran. As Christian demonstrators protested on Saturday, fighting again broke out and six Christians died. Shoaib Hasan reports from Islamabad.

Saturday’s riots have drawn calls from President Asif Ali Zardari who says it has tarnished Pakistan’s international image. He has sent the country’s interior minister to personally carry out an investigation into the events. Christian leaders point out that the incident is the second in the Punjab in just over a month. They fear it could be the start of an organized campaign to target local Christians.

A lone gunman has attacked a gay club in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv, killing two people and wounding many others, some seriously. Gay organizations have said the club was targeted on purpose. The gunman is still at large and police have ordered the temporary closure of all gay clubs in the city.

BBC World News.

There are conflicting reports from Nigeria on the number of people who died during recent clashes between members of an Islamic sect and the country’s security forces. The Red Cross and police say 600 people were killed. The military says 400 died in the violence. However, the BBC’s correspondent in Nigeria says many people believe the number of dead is even higher.

A jury in the United States has found an American man guilty of killing his sick daughter by praying for her recovery instead of seeking medical care. Prosecutors convicted the father Dale Neumann of second-degree reckless homicide of his 11-year old daughter. John Donaldson reports from Washington. 

Madeline Neumann died after collapsing at her family home in the town of Weston in rural Wisconsin. The 11-year-old was suffering from undiagnosed diabetes. The court was told how her family surrounded her and prayed for her recovery rather than seek medical care only when she stopped breathing did anyone call an ambulance. Dale Neumann who once studied to be a Pentecostal minister testified that he believed God would heal his daughter. He said that by calling a doctor he would have been putting the doctor before God.

Police in Brazil say that they have broken up an international prostitution ring that generated around eight million dollars a month across three continents. 12 people were arrested in raids in San Paulo and Rio de Janeiro and elsewhere, accused of sending some 200 Brazilian women every year to work abroad as luxury prostitutes. Another three suspects are being sought in the Dominican Republic and France.

Opposition groups in Venezuela say the government’s closure of more than 30 local radio stations is an attack on freedom of speech. One group urged people to protest vigorously against what it called a “despotic decision”. An opposition politician said the government had turned into a mutilator of rights.

BBC News.