Here is some international news in brief.
Posted at 7:14 a.m.
A Russian man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for attempting to poison conscripted soldiers. In Iran, a man was executed for attacking around sixty women in the streets of Tehran. In Ghana, the Supreme Court gives the green light to an anti-LGBTQ+ bill.
In Russia, 20 years in prison for attempting to poison mobilized soldiers
A resident of Barnaul, in the Altai region of Siberia, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for attempting to poison mobilized soldiers and thus support Ukraine, the Russian Security Service (FSB) announced on Wednesday.
A regional military court found this man guilty of “attempted attack” and “attempted high treason” and sentenced him to 20 years in prison, the regional branch of the FSB said in a statement, cited by the RIA Novosti news agency.
“This Russian citizen, born in 1981, came into contact with the Ukrainian special services, via social networks”, expressing his “desire to support the Ukrainian armed forces”, according to the press release.
“Being an employee of a canteen, he attempted to poison soldiers who were part of the contingent mobilized in the Altai region,” by filming the process for the Ukrainian special services, the statement said.
Analyzes carried out showed that the intoxicating substance used could have caused acute poisoning with a possible fatal outcome, according to the same source.
Agence France-Presse
Man executed for assaulting around sixty women in Iran
Iranian authorities executed a man convicted of attacking nearly sixty women in Tehran on Wednesday, according to the official Judicial Authority agency.
The accused, named Rastgooï Kandolaj, “injured 59 women and young girls with an awl and sowed terror in Tehran,” said Mizan, specifying that some attacks date back to 2018.
The age and date of arrest of the individual were not specified.
The punch is a metal tool used to perforate hard materials.
According to the judiciary, the man in question traveled on a motorcycle, with his face covered, and attacked his victims from behind.
Iran is the country that carries out the highest number of executions per year after China, according to the human rights organization Amnesty International. No official figures are available.
Agence France-Presse
In Saudi Arabia, an activist denounces “the silence imposed” on dissidents
A Saudi human rights activist appeared remotely at a UN forum in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday to denounce the “imposed silence” on dissidents in the Gulf kingdom.
Lina al-Hathloul’s intervention at the Internet Governance Forum is a rare direct criticism of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s de facto ruler, expressed on Saudi soil and described by Human Rights Watch (HRW) as ” historical”.
Organizers opened the forum with a minute of silence to honor government critics “who are arbitrarily detained” in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere in the Middle East.
An empty chair was placed next to the moderator, along with a badge bearing M’s nameme Hathloul, who is currently abroad.
“The empty chair representing me is a stark symbol of the silence that so many of us face,” Ms.me Hathloul par visioconférence.
Head of communications for the human rights organization ALQST, based in London, this activist closely follows the increase in executions of death row inmates in Saudi Arabia and prosecutions linked to online crimes.
In Saudi Arabia, “no one [parmi ceux qui s’expriment en ligne] is safe and even what is considered mild criticism can become a crime,” she said.
Agence France-Presse
In Ghana, the Supreme Court gives the green light to an anti-LGBTQ+ bill
Ghana’s Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected two appeals against a proposed bill passed by parliament that drastically restricts the rights of the LGBTQ+ community, paving the way for its upcoming enactment in the West African country.
“There is no act that the Supreme Court can overturn by virtue of its jurisdiction” and this text can “become a law in accordance with the provisions set out in the Constitution” bill, declared Avril Lovelace-Johnson, who chaired the panel of seven Supreme Court judges when announcing its decision.
Adopted last February by the Ghanaian Parliament, the bill “on sexual rights and family values” provides for up to three years of imprisonment for a person engaging in homosexual activities and a prison sentence ranging from five to 10 years for those involved in the “promotion” of homosexuality.
In Ghana, a very religious conservative country with a Christian majority, same-sex relations are prohibited by a law dating from the colonial era, but there have so far been no cases of prosecution on these grounds.
This bill, strongly criticized in the West, can come into force after its ratification by President Nana Akufo-Addo.
Agence France-Presse
President Xi Jinping arrived in Macau to mark 25 years of handover to China
Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Macau on Wednesday, according to state television CCTV, a three-day visit during which he will participate in the celebrations of the 25th anniversary of the handover of the semi-autonomous territory.
The former Portuguese colony was returned to China on December 20, 1999 under the “One country, two systems” principle, which promised greater autonomy and civil liberties than in mainland China.
The city is the only place in China where casinos are permitted. It now surpasses Las Vegas in gaming revenue, thanks to two decades of frenzied development and spending by Chinese tourists.
During his stay, Xi Jinping will attend the inauguration of the new administration of Macau and “will carry out an inspection tour”, indicated the official Xinhua news agency.
Former president of the highest Macanese court, Sam Hou-fai will become the fourth leader of the territory since the handover on Friday.
Agence France-Presse
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