Worry grows for Iran athlete who competed without her hijab



South Korea Iran Protest

Iranian athlete Elnaz Rekabi competes during the women's Boulder & Lead final during the IFSC Climbing Asian Championships in Seoul, Sunday, Oct. 16, 2022. Rekabi left South Korea on Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2022 after competing at an event in which she climbed without her nation's mandatory headscarf covering, authorities said. Farsi-language media outside of Iran warned she may have been forced to leave early by Iranian officials and could face arrest back home, which Tehran quickly denied. 

(Rhea Khang/International Federation of Sport Climbing via AP)

HYUNG-JIN KIM and JON GAMBRELL

Tue, October 18, 2022 

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — An Iranian competitive climber left South Korea on Tuesday after competing at an event in which she climbed without her nation's mandatory headscarf covering, authorities said. Farsi-language media outside of Iran warned she may have been forced to leave early by Iranian officials and could face arrest back home, which Tehran quickly denied.

The decision by Elnaz Rekabi, a multiple medalist in competitions, to forgo the headscarf, or hijab, came as protests sparked by the Sept. 16 death in custody of a 22-year-old woman have entered a fifth week. Mahsa Amini was detained by the country's morality police over her clothing.

The demonstrations, drawing school-age children, oil workers and others to the street in over 100 cities, represent the most-serious challenge to Iran's theocracy since the mass protests surrounding its disputed 2009 presidential election.

A later Instagram post on an account attributed to Rekabi described her not wearing a hijab as “unintentional," though it wasn't immediately clear whether she wrote the post or what condition she was in at the time. The Iranian government routinely pressures activists at home and abroad, often airing what rights group describe as coerced confessions on state television.

Rekabi left Seoul on a Tuesday morning flight, the Iranian Embassy in South Korea said. The BBC's Persian service, which has extensive contacts within Iran despite being banned from operating there, quoted an unnamed “informed source” who described Iranian officials as seizing both Rekabi's mobile phone and passport.

BBC Persian also said she initially had been scheduled to return on Wednesday, but her flight apparently had been moved up unexpectedly.

IranWire, another website focusing on the country founded by Iranian-Canadian journalist Maziar Bahari who once was detained by Iran, alleged that Rekabi would be immediately transferred to Tehran's notorious Evin Prison after arriving in the country. Evin Prison was the site of a massive fire this weekend that killed at least eight prisoners.

In a tweet, the Iranian Embassy in Seoul denied “all the fake, false news and disinformation” regarding Rekabi’s departure on Tuesday. But instead of posting a photo of her from the Seoul competition, it posted an image of her wearing a headscarf at a previous competition in Moscow, where she took a bronze medal.

Calls to the Iranian Embassy in Seoul rang unanswered Tuesday.

Rekabi didn’t put on a hijab during Sunday’s final at the International Federation of Sport Climbing’s Asia Championship, according to the Seoul-based Korea Alpine Federation, the organizers of the event.

Federation officials said Rekabi wore a hijab during her initial appearances at the one-week climbing event. She wore just a black headband when competing Sunday, her dark hair pulled back in a ponytail; she had a white jersey with Iran's flag as a logo on it.

The later Instagram post, written in the first person, offered an apology on Rekabi's behalf. The post blamed a sudden call for her to climb the wall in the competition — although footage of the competition showed Rekabi relaxed as she approached and after she competed. It also sought to describe her travel back to Iran on Tuesday as being “on schedule.”

Rekabi was on Iran’s 11-member delegation, comprised of eight athletes and three coaches, to the event, according to the federation.

Federation officials said they were not initially aware of Rekabi competing without the hijab but looked into the case after receiving inquires about her. They said the event doesn’t have any rules on requiring female athletes wearing or not wearing headscarves. However, Iranian women competing abroad under the Iranian flag always wear the hijab.

“Our understanding is that she is returning to Iran, and we will continue to monitor the situation as it develops on her arrival,” the International Federation of Sport Climbing, which oversaw the event, said in a statement. “It is important to stress that athletes’ safety is paramount for us and we support any efforts to keep a valued member of our community safe in this situation.”

The federation said it had been in touch with both Rekabi and Iranian officials, but declined to elaborate on the substance of those calls when reached by The Associated Press. The federation also declined to discuss the Instagram post attributed to Rekabi and the claims in it.

Later Tuesday, South Korea’s Foreign Ministry acknowledged that the Iranian athlete and her team had left the country, without elaborating.

Rekabi, 33, has finished on the podium three times in the Asian Championships, taking one silver and two bronze medals for her efforts.

So far, human rights groups estimate that over 200 people have been killed in the protests and the violent security force crackdown that followed. Iran has not offered a death toll in weeks. Demonstrations have been seen in over 100 cities, according to the group Human Rights Activists in Iran. Thousands are believed to have been arrested.

Gathering information about the demonstrations remains difficult, however. Internet access has been disrupted for weeks by the Iranian government. Meanwhile, authorities have detained at least 40 journalists, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Iranian officials, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has repeatedly alleged the country's foreign enemies are behind the ongoing demonstrations, rather than Iranians angered by Amini’s death and the country's other woes.

Iranians have seen their life savings evaporate; the country's currency, the rial, plummeted and Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers has been reduced to tatters.

In a statement Tuesday, the office of the United Nations high commissioner for human rights called for the immediate release of all those “arbitrarily detained” in the protests. It also criticized the “unabated violent response by security forces” that has seen even children reportedly arrested and killed.

“The continued unnecessary and disproportionate use of force against protesters must stop," the statement said. "Arresting people solely for exercising their rights of peaceful assembly and freedom of expression constitutes an arbitrary deprivation of liberty.”

___

Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associated Press writers John Marshall in Phoenix and Kim Tong-hyung in Seoul contributed to this report.

Iranian climber Elnaz Rekabi could face repercussions after competing without a hijab in Seoul

Tyler Greenawalt

Tue, October 18, 2022 

An Iranian professional climber could face jail time in Iran after she competed without a hijab during the International Federation of Sport Climbing’s Asian Championships in Seoul, South Korea, on Sunday.

Elnaz Rekabi, 33, reportedly left Seoul on Tuesday morning and will be transported directly from the airport to Evin Prison in Tehran, Iran, upon her arrival, according to IranWire, a news outlet founded by Iranian-Canadian journalist Maziar Bahari in 2014.

This report comes hours after speculation about Rekabi's whereabouts following the event. Rekabi had initially been reported as missing by the BBC, but IranWire later reported she was "tricked" into entering the Iranian embassy building in Seoul by Reza Zarei, the head of Iran's Climbing Federation, on the orders of Mohammad Khosravivafa, Iran's Olympic Committee chairman, in order to more easily bring her back to Iran.

Rekabi wrote in an Instagram story on Tuesday morning that she was indeed leaving Seoul for Iran.

News of Rekabi's departure from Seoul to Tehran was later confirmed by the BBC, the Iranian embassy in Seoul and the International Federation of Sport Climbing. The embassy tweeted it "strongly denies all fake news, lies and false information" regarding Rekabi's situation. The IFSC also released a statement Tuesday morning acknowledging Rekabi's travel plans and also stated their support of athlete safety and the right to free speech.

"There is a lot of information in the public sphere regarding Ms Rekabi and as an organisation we have been trying to establish the facts," the IFSC wrote. "We have also been in contact with Ms Rekabi and the Iranian Climbing Federation.

"Our understanding is that she is returning to Iran, and we will continue to monitor the situation as it develops on her arrival.

"It is important to stress that athletes' safety is paramount for us and we support any efforts to keep a valued member of our community safe in this situation.

Rekabi recently won bronze in the women's combined event at the 2021 IFSC Climbing World Championships in Moscow. She's won three other medials since 2013 at various Asian Championship events.

Rekabi's decision not to wear a hijab went against Iranian law

Rekabi defied Iranian law which requires women to wear a headscarf covering at all times in public when she didn't don a hijab in Seoul. Rekabi has worn a hijab during other events, including her earlier appearances in Seoul, but said not wearing one on Sunday was "unintentional." Instead, she wore a black headband with her hair in a ponytail.

The event did not have rules requiring athletes from wearing headscarves. In a 2016 interview with Euronews, Rekabi said that wearing a hijab could be "a problem" when it gets too hot but that her team created an outfit "that respects the hijab and is compatible with practicing the sport of climbing."

IranWire later reported that Rekabi "made her decision to appear without a hijab around a month ago" but chose not to seek asylum because her husband was still in Iran.

This is only the second time an Iranian athlete openly broke the country's law regarding hijabs. Professional boxer Sadaf Khadem competed without a headscarf and also wore shorts in an international competition in France in 2019. She stayed in France following the event after Iran issued a warrant for her arrest.

Rekabi's act comes during a time where Iranian women have been protesting the headscarf law by burning hijabs and cutting their hair following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini on Sept. 16. Amini was arrested and detained by Iran’s morality police on Sept. 13 after she reportedly wore her hijab too loosely. She died three days later in police custody.

Elnaz Rekabi could face jail time after defying Iranian law. (Rhea Khang/International Federation of Sport Climbing via AP)

Safety concerns mount for Iranian rock climber Elnaz Rekabi, who competed without a headscarf, as she quietly flies back to Tehran 2 days earlier than planned

Matthew Loh

Mon, October 17, 2022 

Iranian sport climber Elnaz Rekabi competes in a previous competition.MIGUEL MEDINA/AFP via Getty Images

• Iranian rock climber Elnaz Rekabi competed on Sunday without wearing a hijab.

• Her decision was seen as an act of solidarity with the women-led protests raging through Iran.

• Reports say she flew back to Tehran two days earlier than planned, prompting fears for her safety.

Iranian rock climber Elnaz Rekabi has flown back to Tehran from an international competition in South Korea two days earlier than planned, according to multiple reports, prompting rising concerns for her safety.

Rekabi made headlines on Sunday after she competed without wearing a customary hijab in a finals event at the International Federation of Sport Climbing's Asian Championships.

Wearing the hijab is mandatory for female Iranian athletes when they compete overseas, and Rekabi's declining to don the headscarf was widely seen as a historic show of solidarity with the women-led protests rocking Iran.

Rekabi's choice during her Sunday climb had been expected to lead to severe repercussions upon her return to Iran. On Monday evening, BBC Persian reported that the athlete disappeared hours after contact with her friends was cut off. Her passport and mobile phone were also taken, per the outlet.

BBC Presenter Rana Rahimpour later tweeted that Rekabi was on a flight to Iran two days earlier than planned.

Iranian citizen journalism website IranWire reported that Rekabi will be directly transferred to Evin Prison once she arrives in Tehran, citing an unnamed source. Rekabi was summoned to the Iranian embassy in Seoul after being told by a sporting official that she would be granted safe travel to Iran, the source told the outlet.

"Elnaz made her decision to appear without a hijab around a month ago and knew that she was going to compete without the mandatory hijab," the source said, according to IranWire.

"She did not seek asylum either because her husband is in Iran, and she wanted to return after the competition. She always makes such bold decisions," they added, per the outlet.

The Iranian embassy in Seoul did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

A Persian-language report by IranWire also wrote that Rekabi's brother, Daud Rekabi, was arrested by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps on Monday morning Iran time. Insider was unable to verify the authenticity of this report.

Both IranWire reports claim the Rekabi siblings were intercepted under the order of Mohammad Khosravivafa, the chairman of Iran's Olympic Committee, who the outlet said received orders in turn from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The Iranian Olympic Committee did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Rekabi's refusal to wear the hijab came amid weeks of protests in Iran over women's rights. The movement resurged in September after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died after being taken into custody of Iran's morality police. She had been arrested on accusation of not following Iran's strict rules on wearing the hijab. Officials claim that Amini died of a sudden heart attack, but her family and witnesses say she was taken into a van and beaten.

The resulting protests have seen women marching on city streets and removing their headscarves in acts of defiance. While these rallies have grown to also encompass dissent over economic conditions in Iran, women's rights have remained at the forefront of the movement.

Iranian leaders have since cracked down against the demonstrations, with security forces firing tear gas and arresting thousands.

Iran protests: Videos show intensifying crackdown and brutal tactics used on protesters

Demonstrations in Iran's Kurdistan province are being met with increasingly brutal tactics from security forces, human rights groups say. With limited information coming out of the region, Sky News has analysed some of the videos from inside.


By Victoria Elms, digital investigations journalist
Saturday 15 October 2022 


Human rights groups have warned of Iranian security forces' escalating response to demonstrations in the western province of Kurdistan.

Clips from the regional capital Sanandaj appear to show security forces firing weapons in residential neighbourhoods and large groups of anti-riot police moving around the city.

The city was one of the first to see demonstrations following the death of 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini after she was in the hands of security forces.

With internet disruption reported across Iran and reports of local journalists being arrested for covering the demonstrations, information about the situation on the ground is scarce.

But footage from across the country is surfacing online. One widely-condemned video showed a police officer sexually assaulting a female protester while trying to arrest her in Tehran's Argentina Square.

A voice in the video can be heard saying: "Oh they have arrested her, it is a girl. Please let her go. Why no one goes to her rescue?"

Police officer assaults female protester
A new video has emerged online showing a police officer sexually assaulting a female protester while trying to arrest her in Tehran’s Argentina Square.


A new video has emerged online showing a police officer sexually assaulting a female protester while trying to arrest her in Tehran’s Argentina Square.

With reports of escalating tactics in Kurdistan province, Sky News has analysed footage emerging from the region's capital.

MORE ON DATA AND FORENSICS

Iran protests: Government uses internet 'kill-switch' as tech savvy youth continue to evade digital censorship


Iran protests: Videos show intensifying crackdown and brutal tactics used on protesters


This video was shared on Monday by Norway-based group Hengaw, which monitors human rights violations in Iran's Kurdistan province. They say it was captured in Naysar, which is a northern suburb of Sanandaj.

Sky News has not been able to independently verify the video. Although reverse image searches of the video’s key frames confirm that the video is recent.

In it, at least six members of the Iranian security forces can be seen firing weapons in a residential neighbourhood.

The sound made when reloading indicates the weapons being fired are shotguns, according to analysts at the UK-based weapons research group, the Omega Research Foundation.

And while it's possible that they are using rubber bullets, they say it's more likely that they are shotgun pellets.

It's difficult to make out the direction of fire, but Hengaw say that officers in the video were firing directly at homes.

Amnesty International has also said that it's received reports of officers firing tear gas at people's homes.

Another video shared by Hengaw last weekend shows used canisters and cartridges.

The person recording the video says they were used to "suppress the people" and ends the video by saying "death to Khameini".

According to analysts at the Omega Research Foundation, those casings on the left and in the centre are shotgun cartridges.

The metal canisters on the top right would have contained CS gas - also known as tear gas.

The Omega Research Foundation says that the disused cartridges in the videos are similar to others found in other cities in Iran.

"While each require further verification, all evidence in combination points to the use of live fire against protesters," it said.

But human rights groups say this is all just the tip of the iceberg.

"We are entering a sensitive phase of the demonstrations and confrontations. The regime is using more and more force to repress the protests. And we've seen that in Sanandaj, Kurdistan but also in small towns in the region," said Taimor Aliassi, United Nations representative for the Association of Human Rights in Kurdistan of Iran.

"They're now using new arms against protesters that we haven't seen before [in the protests]" he told Sky News.

Other videos reportedly from Sanandaj demonstrate chaotic scenes on the ground.

In this video, at least 14 motorbikes driven by members of the security forces drive through the city.

Many of the bikes are carrying two officers, with those on the back equipped with weaponry. Shots can be heard throughout the video, and protesters can be seen throwing rocks at the officers as they pass.

Hengaw say that it's not unusual for officers to travel on motorbikes in Iran, but it's rare to see so many together at one time.

Other footage shared by the group demonstrates the scale of the security force's presence in the city.


This video, which they say was captured on Thursday, shows a convoy made up of at least 14 vehicles including cars, motorbikes and trucks carrying security forces.

Those visible appear to be wearing the uniform of Iran's anti-riot police.

However, Hengaw warn that officers from the military Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) have been reported as operating in the region wearing police and riot police uniforms in recent days.

It's therefore difficult to discern exactly which units are part of the convoy depicted.

"All sorts of security forces, both plain cloth and uniform, have been transferred to Sanandaj," he told Sky News.

"We see photos taken by residents showing security forces stationed every five metres on the street. It's really quite a militarised situation."

The Data and Forensics team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite images, social media and other open source information. Through multimedia storytelling we aim to better explain the world while also showing how our journalism is done.

Iranian State Media Is Now Going After Britney Spears


CT Jones
Tue, October 18, 2022 

Britney Spears Announces New Las Vegas Residency At Park Theater 

- Credit: Gabe Ginsberg/FilmMagic/Getty Images

Iran’s state sponsored media, the Islamic Republic News Agency, has turned their focus from state propaganda to U.S. icon Britney Spears. After Spears tweeted her support for the Iranian citizens currently protesting the country’s morality police, the IRNA shot back on Twitter by mentioning Spears’ years-long conservatorship. “American singer Britney Spears was placed under her father’s conservatorship in 2008 due to her mental health problems,” the organization tweeted. “That gave Britney’s father control over her finances and even her personal life aspects such as pregnancy, remarriage and visits to her teenage sons.” The IRNA’s tweet, and media response, is part of an ongoing (and failing) strategy to drown out widespread support for Iran’s nationwide protests.

The current protests center around the September death of 22-year-old activist Mahsa Amini. Amini was arrested by Iran’s morality police in Tehran under claims that she was not properly clothed in the required religious headscarf and modest dress. She died in police custody. Following news of her detainment and subsequent death, Amini’s family spoke out, claiming that the young girl was beaten to death by police. The IRNA has continued to deny the claim and assert the girl had a heart attack, even as Amini’s death has sparked some of the biggest nationwide protests in years.

Earlier this year, Spears married Iranian-American actor and model Sam Asghari. Since the protests began, the couple has been extremely vocal about their political beliefs, including her support for the Iranian protestors. “Me & my husband stand with the people of Iran fighting for freedom,” Spears tweeted on Sunday.

The IRNA didn’t even have the decency to quote-tweet the “Baby One More Time” singer, instead screenshotting the tweet to include a user’s response that read “Nice tweet. Can you manage your own money yet?”



The IRNA’s tweet was accompanied with the hashtag #MahsaAmini. The late activist’s name has been used as a rallying cry for the ongoing protests against the country’s morality police. In the past month, IRNA’s social media accounts have continued to use the hashtag to populate pro-protest online spaces with government narratives.

The organization seems to be taking some inspiration from the recent popularity of comedic government accounts. Since the start of the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia, Ukraine’s official twitter account has taken a comfortable approach to social media, tweeting out memes and clapbacks in between serious videos and articles surrounding the conflict. And this isn’t the first time the IRNA have pushed back against big name support for the protestors. Last week, the organization posted a meme claiming that international superstar Shakira was ignoring police violence against women in the United States and Saudi Arabia, continuing to assert that Amini died of a heart attack instead of police brutality.

But their attempted comedic media response has been unable to break through a wave of celebrity support for the Iranian protests. Stars like Bella Hadid, Justin Bieber, Olivia Coleman, Angelina Jolie, and even Jake Paul have spoken out against accounts of police brutality against protestors and called for wider awareness of the Iranian movement. And in the country, Iran’s protests continue to grow. In the past week, hundreds of children have joined the protestors ranks and the cries of “Women, Life, Freedom,” have inspired potential sanctions from the European Union — demonstrating that even with the organization’s pithy comments about pop stars, international support and the voices of hundreds of thousand of Iranian protestors continue to ring out louder.

Britney Spears Issues Message Of Support For Iranians 'Fighting For Freedom'

Josephine Harvey

Sun, October 16, 2022

Britney Spears has voiced her support for protesters in Iran fighting for women’s rights.

“Me & my husband stand with the people of Iran fighting for freedom,” she tweeted on Sunday.

The pop star’s husband, Iranian-American model Sam Asghari, has been speaking out about the deadly demonstrations since last month, when Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian woman, died in the custody of morality police in Tehran. Amini was arrested for improperly wearing her hijab. According to witnesses, she was beaten severely by police upon her arrest.

Her death sparked nationwide protests against the government and its authoritarian religious regime mandating strict dress codes for women. Human rights groups estimate more than 200 people have been killed in the demonstrations.

“Me & My Queen stand with the people of Iran. Keep fighting,” Asghari wrote on Sunday, sharing his wife’s post.

Last month, Asghari shared an impassioned message on Instagram about the protests, calling the Iranian government the “biggest terrorist for its own people.”

“The biggest protest for basic human rights in Iran is happening as we speak. We’ve seen videos of people getting murdered and slaughtered on the streets, innocent people,” he said, urging followers to share what’s happening in the country.

Widespread internet outages have made it difficult for protesters to communicate with the rest of the world, and Iranian authorities have detained dozens of journalists since the unrest began, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Many protesters have begged social media users to spread the word about what’s going on in Iran.

Spears married Asghari in June, around seven months after she was released from a conservatorship that put strict limits on her personal and financial freedoms for more than 13 years.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.

Iranian dancer in Turkey says she believes protests will end Tehran's 'cruelty'





'Mikaeil Alizadeh, also known by her stage name Leo, is pictured with her cats in Istanbul

Tue, October 18, 2022 
By Dilara Senkaya and Ali Kucukgocmen

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Mikaeil Alizadeh decided to move to Turkey from Iran in 2015 after receiving threats for being gender-fluid and fearing she would be jailed for being a dancer. Now she believes the anti-government protests will lead to the end of Tehran's "cruelty."

Alizadeh, 33, who goes by the stage name Leo, is one of hundreds of Iranians who have attended protests in Turkey triggered by the death last month of a 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman while in the custody of Iran's morality police.

The protests over the death of Mahsa Amini, who had been detained for violating strict codes requiring women to dress modestly in public, spread rapidly.

Attending a rally in Istanbul on Monday marking one month since Amini's death, Alizadeh said protesters in Iran were encouraged by support from abroad.

"The people in Iran have become very strong...thanks to our protests, the support from the world," she said among a crowd of around 100 people on a street opposite the Iranian consulate.

"We are going to win this time. This government is cruel, this government is a killer. Cruelty is not sustainable. Its end has come," Alizadeh said.

The unrest has become one of the boldest challenges to Iran's clerical rulers since the 1979 revolution, with protesters calling for the downfall of the Islamic Republic. However analysts say the chances of a political change in Iran remain slim anytime soon.

Alizadeh said she had to give dance lessons and perform in secret in Iran. She finally moved to Turkey in 2015 after a neighbour called the police and made prostitution accusations over the dance classes.

"I felt the danger in my heart after that day. I had to stop dancing if I lived in Iran or would have had to spend the rest of my life in prison," she told Reuters.

PERFORMING IN TURKEY

Alizadeh, who identifies as gender-fluid, said she got a hysterectomy and mastectomy in Iran. She had been receiving threats in her own country as she briefly underwent hormone therapy.

"They asked me why are you dancing with women as a man? I was really tired of that country at that time because our protests were going unanswered," she said.

Alizadeh later decided to reverse the mastectomy.

Turkey was once seen as a safe haven for the LGBT community in the Middle East and Istanbul's Istiklal Avenue was the scene of large Pride marches, with tens of thousands attending.

Homosexuality is not a crime in Turkey, but hostility to it is widespread. President Tayyip Erdogan's conservative AK Party and their nationalist MHP allies have toughened their anti-LGBT stance in recent years, with a minister referring to the LGBT community as deviants.

Alizadeh said she got married in Turkey and now gives private lessons and performs at cultural and private events.

"At least Turkey does not ban dancing. It is a sin and is forbidden to even think about dancing in Iran," she said, speaking at an Istanbul restaurant where she performs.

"I put on shows here. People look me in the face as I dance and smile. That moment is a huge gift for me," she said.

(Reporting by Dilara Senkaya and Ali Kucukgocmen; Editing by Daren Butler and Angus MacSwan)

US: French cement firm admits Islamic State group payments

LIKE SHINGLES,CAPITALI$M DOESN'T CARE

 A logo of Lafarge, the world's largest cement maker, is pictured outside of a facility, in Paris, Sept. 8, 2017. Lafarge has pleaded guilty to paying $17 million to the Islamic State group so that a plant in Syria could remain open, in a case the Justice Department describes as the first of its kind. The charges were announced Tuesday in federal court in New York City. The allegations involve conduct that was earlier investigated by authorities in France. 

(AP Photo/Francois Mori, File)

ERIC TUCKER and BOBBY CAINA CALVAN
Tue, October 18, 2022 

NEW YORK (AP) — French cement company Lafarge pleaded guilty Tuesday to paying millions of dollars to the Islamic State group in exchange for permission to keep open a plant in Syria, a case the Justice Department described as the first of its kind. The company also agreed to penalties totaling roughly $778 million.

Prosecutors accused Lafarge of turning a blind eye to the conduct of the militant group, making payments to it in 2013 and 2014 as it occupied a broad swath of Syria and as some of its members were involved in torturing or beheading kidnapped Westerners. The company's actions occurred before it merged with Swiss company Holcim to form the world’s largest cement maker.

The payments were designed to ensure the continued operations of a roughly $680 million plant that prosecutors say Lafarge had constructed in 2011 at the start of the Syrian civil war. The money was to be used to protect employees and to keep a competitive edge.

“The defendants routed nearly six million dollars in illicit payments to two of the world’s most notorious terrorist organizations — ISIS and al-Nusrah Front in Syria — at a time those groups were brutalizing innocent civilians in Syria and actively plotting to harm Americans,” Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen, the Justice Department's top national security official, said in a statement.

“There is simply no justification for a multi-national corporation authorizing payments to designated terrorist organizations,” he added.

The charges were announced by federal prosecutors in New York City and by senior Justice Department leaders from Washington. The Justice Department described it as the first instance in which a company has pleaded guilty to conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization.

The allegations involve conduct that was earlier investigated by authorities in France. Lafarge had previously acknowledged funneling money to Syrian armed organizations in 2013 and 2014 to guarantee safe passage for employees and supply its plant.

In 2014, the company was handed preliminary charges including financing a terrorist enterprise and complicity in crimes against humanity.

A French court later quashed the charges involving crimes against humanity but said other charges would be considered over payments made to armed forces in Syria. That ruling was later overturned by France’s supreme court, which ordered a retrial in September 2021.

The wrongdoing precedes Lafarge’s merger with Holcim in 2015.

In a statement, Holcim said that when it learned of the allegations from the news media in 2016, it voluntarily conducted an investigation and disclosed the findings publicly. It fired the former Lafarge executives who were involved in the payments.

“None of the conduct involved Holcim, which has never operated in Syria, or any Lafarge operations or employees in the United States, and it is in stark contrast with everything that Holcim stands for," the company said. “The DOJ noted that former Lafarge SA and LCS executives involved in the conduct concealed it from Holcim before and after Holcim acquired Lafarge SA, as well as from external auditors.”

The Islamic State group is abbreviated as IS and has been referred to as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS.

Family: Saudis sentence US citizen to 16 years over tweets

The Associated Press
Tue, October 18, 2022 

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An American citizen has been arrested in Saudi Arabia, tortured and sentenced to 16 years in prison over tweets he sent while in the United States, his son said Tuesday.

Saad Ibrahim Almadi, a 72-year-old retired project manager living in Florida, was arrested last November while visiting family in the kingdom and was sentenced earlier this month, his son Ibrahim told The Associated Press, confirming details that were first reported by the Washington Post. Almadi is a citizen of both Saudi Arabia and the U.S.

There was no immediate comment from Saudi or U.S. officials.

It appeared to be the latest in a series of recent cases in which Saudis received long jail sentences for social media posts critical of the government.

Saudi authorities have tightened their crackdown on dissent following the rise of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is seeking to open up and transform the ultraconservative kingdom but has adopted a hard line toward any criticism.

A Saudi court recently sentenced a woman to 45 years in prison for allegedly damaging the country through her social media activity. A Saudi doctoral student at Leeds University in England was sentenced to 34 years for spreading “rumors” and retweeting dissidents, a case that drew international outrage.

Ibrahim says his father was detained over 14 “mild tweets” sent over the past seven years, mostly criticizing government policies and alleged corruption. He says his father was not an activist but a private citizen expressing his opinion while in the U.S., where freedom of speech is a constitutional right.

President Joe Biden traveled to the oil-rich kingdom in July for a meeting with Prince Mohammed, in which he said he confronted him about human rights. Their meeting — and a widely criticized fist-bump — marked a sharp turnaround from Biden’s earlier vow to make the kingdom a “pariah” over the 2018 killing of Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.

Ibrahim said his father was sentenced to 16 years in prison on Oct. 3 on charges of supporting terrorism. The father was also charged with failing to report terrorism, over tweets that Ibrahim had posted.

His father was also slapped with a 16-year travel ban. If the sentence is carried out, the 72-year-old would be 87 upon his release and barred from returning home to the U.S. unless he reaches the age of 104.

Ibrahim said Saudi authorities warned his family to stay quiet about the case and to not involve the U.S. government. He said his father was tortured after the family contacted the State Department in March.

Ibrahim also accused the State Department of neglecting his father's case by not declaring him a “wrongfully detained” American, which would elevate his file.

“They manipulated me. They told me to stay quiet so they can get him out," Ibrahim said, explaining his decision to go public this week. “I am not willing to take a gamble on the Department of State anymore.”

Validity of Turkey’s New Disinformation Law Tested in Top Court

Selcan Hacaoglu
Tue, October 18, 2022 

(Bloomberg) -- Turkey’s main opposition party asked the nation’s top court to halt the implementation of part of a controversial new law that will enable social media users who knowingly spread disinformation to be jailed.

The application to the Constitutional Court by the Republican People’s Party, or CHP, on Tuesday came just hours after the law went into effect, and argued that the government could use its provisions to intimidate critics in the run-up to next year’s elections.

The move by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s administration to criminalize the spread of what it describes as false information on digital platforms is a troubling sign in a nation already under fire for its failure to protect free speech. Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index ranks Turkey 149th out of 180 nations.

Read more: New Turkey Law Mandates Jail Time for Spreading ‘Disinformation’

“We’ve filed a case for the annulment of Article 29 to stop its implementation,” until a verdict is given on its validity, Engin Altay, the CHP’s deputy parliamentary whip, told reporters outside the courthouse. “This law reflects the mindset of Stalin.”

Article 29 of the law provides for those who deliberately spread disinformation about the country’s security, public order and overall welfare in an attempt to incite panic or fear to be imprisoned for between one and three years. The challenge is unlikely to succeed because of the considerable influence Erdogan wields over the court -- he has appointed 10 of its 15 judges.

Civil rights groups have also condemned the law’s provisions as censorship, and say they are aimed at muzzling dissent ahead of presidential and parliamentary elections that will be held in about eight months’ time.