Category Archives: Viva!

Prosecution requests nine-year jail term for Khadija Ismayilova

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns the monstrous sentence sought by the prosecution in journalist Khadija Ismayilova preposterous trial’s in Azerbaijan, a nation that suffered one of the biggest falls of any country in RSF’s 2015 press freedom.

The judicial sham will soon be over. After a series of hearings in which the defendant’s rights were systematically flouted, a Baku prosecutor today requested a nine year sentence for Ismayilova.

“This is so obviously an absurd and outrageous political trial, a judicial sham that elevates this case into a symbol of the wave of persecution of independent media that began a year ago,” RSF secretary-general Christophe Deloire said.

“We urge the international community to condemn this trial and to remind Azerbaijan of its obligations under the many international commitments it has given. Pressure must be put on this regime in order to obtain the unconditional release of Ismayilova and all the other journalists arbitrarily detained in Azerbaijan.”

Held partially behind closed doors, the trial has been conducted in a blatantly hostile manner with the clear aim of denying justice. In order to dispatch the case as quickly as possible, the judges accepted almost none of the defence lawyers’ requests, thereby preventing them from presenting evidence that would have demonstrated the absurdity of the charges.

The access of Ismayilova’s family and friends to the courtroom has been restricted on the grounds that there has been no space. According to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the courtroom was filled with people recruited for the occasion. The independent press has also been denied access.

Azerbaijan’s leading investigative journalist, Ismayilova is well known for her coverage of high-level government corruption, much of it involving members of the ruling Aliyev family.

After several attempts to pressure and intimidate her, including a blackmail attempt with a sex tape, the authorities finally arrested her on 5 December 2014 on the trumped-up charge of inciting a fellow journalist to attempt suicide.

After he retracted his statement incriminating Ismayilova, the authorities brought four new charges against her – large-scale embezzlement, illegal trading, tax evasion and abuse of authority in connection with the Baku bureau of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which Ismayilova once headed.

Azerbaijan is ranked 162nd out of 180 countries in the 2015 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index.

Back in the 1950s, This Pre-Teen Girl Intimidated Musclemen with Her Insane Strength

April Atkins — a cute, perpetually grinning pre-teen who, for one brief, bonkers moment in the mid-1950s, routinely blew minds at California’s famed Muscle Beach by performing utterly improbable feats of strength. Here are some of amazing photographs taken in 1954 by LIFE’s photographer Loomis Dean.

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<a href=”http://www.vintag.es/2015/08/back-in-1950s-this-pre-teen-girl.html

via Back in the 1950s, This Pre-Teen Girl Intimidated Musclemen with Her Insane Strength.

Ohio Warned Not to Import Execution Drug

A Food and Drug Administration letter to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction indicated the state was considering importing sodium thiopental from overseas for use in executions. The letter warned the department that importing the drug would violate federal law: “Please note that there is no FDA approved application for sodium thiopental, and it is illegal to import an unapproved new drug into the United States.” A similar letter was sent to Nebraska officials after the state spent over $50,000 in an attempt to obtain lethal injection drugs from a source in India. All executions were put on hold in Ohio after the botched execution of Dennis McGuire in 2014, as the state has pursued a new execution protocol. The potential foreign supplier was not revealed because Ohio, like many other states, keeps the identity of execution-drug suppliers secret.

(C. McDaniel, “Ohio Intended To Illegally Import Execution Drugs, FDA Letter Says,” Buzzfeed, August 18, 2015). See Lethal Injection and Botched Executions.

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Dolphin spying for Mossad captured off Gaza shore

PNN/ Gaza/

The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has captured a dolphin with “spying equipment” off the shore of the Gaza Strip, Press TV said Thursday. 

According to Wednesday reports by Palestinian media outlets based in the blockaded sliver, the aquatic animal was captured a few days ago.

The website added that Hamas commandos noticed the sea creature thanks to its “suspicious movements” and caught it.

A small surveillance camera was strapped to the dolphin along with a remote-control monitoring device, also capable of shooting small arrows.

Sources were quoted as saying the arrows were capable of injuring or even killing a man.

The animal was reportedly being used to track Hamas naval commandos’ movements and training in the water.

The move was considered as part of the Israeli regime’s underwater espionage off the coast of the enclave.

Israel’s use of animals for espionage activities is not uncommon, Press TV says. In 2012, an eagle, equipped with Mossad’s tracking and other surveillance devices, was captured.

Egyptian officials have even spoken of sharks, controlled by Mossad, to kill tourists in the Red Sea in an attempt to harm tourism there.

Ohio Warned Not to Import Execution Drug | Death Penalty Information Center

A Food and Drug Administration letter to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction indicated the state was considering importing sodium thiopental from overseas for use in executions. The letter warned the department that importing the drug would violate federal law: “Please note that there is no FDA approved application for sodium thiopental, and it is illegal to import an unapproved new drug into the United States.” A similar letter was sent to Nebraska officials after the state spent over $50,000 in an attempt to obtain lethal injection drugs from a source in India. All executions were put on hold in Ohio after the botched execution of Dennis McGuire in 2014, as the state has pursued a new execution protocol. The potential foreign supplier was not revealed because Ohio, like many other states, keeps the identity of execution-drug suppliers secret.

via Ohio Warned Not to Import Execution Drug | Death Penalty Information Center.