‘Anti-Democratic and Cowardly’: US Building New Secret Courtroom at Guantánamo

"The entire enterprise," said one critic of the tribunal process, "makes a mockery out of what the U.S. pretends to stand for."

Human rights advocates and attorneys representing Guantánamo Bay detainees on Thursday decried a secret new courtroom reportedly being built by the Pentagon at the notorious offshore US prison.

The New York Times reports Gitmo’s new second courtroom – which will cost $4 million – will not allow members of the public to witness proceedings against detainees to be tried for alleged terrorism-related offenses. People wishing to view those trials will have the option of watching delayed video footage in a separate building.

“I’ve observed trial proceedings in person at Guantánamo. The chipper ‘secrecy’ imposed by the military is insulting, anti-democratic, and cowardly,” said Michael Bronner, producer of the 2021 film The Mauritanian, which portrays Gitmo detainee Mohamedou Ould Slahi’s 14-year fight for freedom. “The entire enterprise makes a mockery out of what the US pretends to stand for.”

The Times calls the second court “the latest retreat from transparency in the already secretive national security cases at the base, where the military and intelligence agencies have been restricting what the public can see.”

The paper says that the new court “appears to be tailor-made for the conspiracy murder trial of three men who were recently charged in two terrorist bombings in Indonesia in 2002 and 2003 that killed more than 200 people.”

Pentagon officials said the new courtroom – which is being built in the United States for assembly at Gitmo by 2023 – will enable prosecutors to hold two simultaneous trials. Camp Justice, Guantánamo’s court compound, consists of prefabricated structures and tents in order to circumvent the congressional approval needed for permanent buildings. The current main courtroom permits observers to watch live proceedings with a 40-second audio delay that allows judges or security officers to censor information they believe is classified.

“I’ve observed trials in Mongolia that were more transparent than this,” James R. Hodes, an attorney representing detainee Encep Nurjaman – also known as Hambali – in the Indonesian bombing case, told the Times.

https://original.antiwar.com/Brett_Wilkins/2021/12/30/anti-democratic-and-cowardly-us-building-new-secret-courtroom-at-guantnamo/

Israeli Prime Minister says he’s not opposed to ‘good’ nuke deal with Iran as talks resume

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has said he is not opposed to a “good” nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, although he expressed skepticism that the talks that resumed this week can result in such an outcome.

“At the end of the day, of course there can be a good deal,” Bennett told Israeli Army Radio on December 28. “Is that, at the moment, under the current dynamic, expected to happen? No, because a much harder stance is needed.”

Israel is not a party to the talks and opposed the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers that curbed Iran’s controversial nuclear program, saying it was not tough enough.

In the past, Israel has accused its archenemy Iran of using “nuclear blackmail” as a bargaining chip that allowed it to inch closer to developing a nuclear weapon.

The eighth round of negotiations aimed at reviving the deal, which stalled after the United States withdrew from the accord in 2018, opened in Vienna on December 27.

Iran, which claims its nuclear program is for civilian purposes only, reacted to the U.S. withdrawal by gradually ramping up its nuclear program and enriching uranium well beyond the thresholds allowed in the original agreement.

Tehran has said that the current negotiations should focus on lifting sanctions on the Islamic republic and obtaining “guarantees” that Washington, which is participating the talks indirectly, will return to the accord.

“The most important issue for us is to reach a point where, firstly, Iranian oil can be sold easily and without hindrance,” Iranian media quoted Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian as saying in Tehran before negotiations resumed this week.

The 2015 agreement limited Iran’s nuclear program in return for sanctions relief, but sanctions were reimposed after the United States backed out of the deal under former President Donald Trump.

Diplomats from the parties that remained party to the deal — China, Britain, France, Germany, and Russia — are directly taking part in the efforts to restart the accord.

The seventh round of talks, the first under new hard-line Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, ended on December 17 after Tehran added some new demands to a working text, including that U.S. sanctions be lifted.

Diplomats from the three European countries directly involved in the negotiations said after that round ended that negotiators were “rapidly reaching the end of the road.” They have expressed frustration with Tehran’s new demands in recent weeks but pointed to “some technical progress.”

Russia’s envoy in the talks, Mikhail Ulyanov, said on December 28 that the working group was making “indisputable progress.”

“Sanctions lifting is being actively discussed in informal settings,” he wrote on Twitter.

U.S. national-security adviser Jake Sullivan said last week that current diplomatic efforts aimed at reviving the deal may be exhausted within “weeks,” while U.S. Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley warned of a “period of escalating crisis” if diplomacy failed to restore the agreement

https://americanmilitarynews.com/2021/12/israeli-prime-minister-says-hes-not-opposed-to-good-nuke-deal-with-iran-as-talks-resume/

Putin signs decree on holding Year of Cultural Heritage of peoples of Russia in 2022

The Russian government is to form an organizing committee and to approve the plan of the main events within the two months

MOSCOW, December 31. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on holding the Year of the Cultural Heritage of the peoples of Russia in 2022.

The decree to that effect was published on the official portal of legal information on Friday.

The goal of the Cultural Heritage year is to "popularize folk art, preserve cultural traditions, historical and cultural monuments, ethnocultural diversity, cultural identity of all peoples and ethnic communities of the Russian Federation," the document says.

The Russian government is to form an organizing committee and to approve the plan of the main events within the two months.

Every year since 2007, by issuing a relevant decree the President devotes the next year to a particular topic in order to attract public attention to it. In 2008. Russia held for the first time the Year of the Family. The outgoing 2021 was the Year of Science and Technology.

Putin supported the idea to hold the Year of the Cultural Heritage of the Peoples of Russia in 2022 back in November 2019 at a meeting of the Presidential Council for Interethnic Relations.

https://tass.com/culture/1383281

Navy removes two top commanders citing 'loss of confidence in their ability to command'

Cmdr. Richard J. Zamberlan, the ship’s skipper, and Cmdr. Phillip Lundberg, the vessel's executive officer, were relieved of their command.

The Navy has made the rare decision to remove two high-ranking officers from their posts – commanders of the littoral combat ship Montgomery – citing a "loss of confidence in their ability to command."

The announcement Thursday by the military service provided no specific information about why Cmdr. Richard J. Zamberlan, the ship's skipper, and Cmdr. Phillip Lundberg, the vessel's executive officer, were relieved of their command.

However, two Navy officials told The New York Times, on the condition of anonymity, that Lundberg and Zamberlan's removal resulted from their handling of a sexual harassment investigation.

They will be reassigned to desk jobs at the headquarters of the Pacific Fleet's Naval Surface Force.

Cmdr. Dustin Lonero, from the littoral combat ship Coronado, will be the Montgomery's acting skipper until a permanent replacement is named, Capt. Marc Crawford, commander of the Navy's Surface Division Eleven, said in the announcement.

While such firings or demotions are unusual, they are not unprecedented, especially recently.

The Navy in April removed Cmdr. Kathryn Dawley as the skipper of the guided-missile destroyer Hopper for what officials said was a poor command climate and bad crew morale, The Times also reports.

https://justthenews.com/accountability/navy-removes-two-top-commanders-citing-loss-confidence-their-ability-command

FDA says PCR tests for COVID are 'gold standard' after CDC admits they catch old infections

Questions about the sensitivities of PCR tests have lingered since summer 2020, but FDA stands behind them as the best detection tool for COVID-19.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky's recent admission that common tests for COVID-19 can detect long-gone infections has some calling into question the Food and Drug Administration's claim that the tests represent the "gold standard" for diagnosing coronavirus.

The CDC's new caution also falls in line with reports going back 16 months about widespread false positives among the so-called PCR tests, particularly when labs run them at high "cycle thresholds," which pick up viral loads that may be dead or too small to transmit.

The CDC's decision Monday to halve the recommended "isolation" time for asymptomatic COVID-19 infections amid the Omicron wave, regardless of whether individuals test negative, prompted consternation in some medical circles.

The agency justified the new 5-day isolation by claiming "the majority of SARS-CoV-2 transmission occurs early in the course of illness, generally in the 1-2 days prior to onset of symptoms and the 2-3 days after."

But Walensky also emphasized that neither rapid antigen tests, which are currently in short supply, nor PCR tests were appropriate for determining if a person can safely leave isolation.

She told CBS Mornings that antigen tests may not be sensitive enough to detect infectiousness, while PCR tests are so sensitive that "it can stay positive for up to 12 weeks, for months and months." People would have to stay isolated "for a very long time if we were relying on PCRs," she told Good Morning America.

The significance of Walensky's declaration, which has sweeping implications for COVID policy in the workplace, school and travel settings, went largely unnoticed except among skeptics of COVID policy.

"Think of all the lives ruined, jobs lost, education squandered b/c of false positives," tweeted Justin Hart, chief data analyst for the COVID contrarian website Rational Ground.

"We've been saying since summer 2020 that the PCR test can be positive at 5 days or 75 days. And ONLY JUST NOW is it being used to adjust policy," he said. Neither Rational Ground nor Hart responded when asked to provide his sources.

https://justthenews.com/government/federal-agencies/fda-insists-pcr-tests-covid-are-gold-standard-after-cdc-admits-they

Institutional Hoaxing – Brilliant Video Shows How Media, Joe Biden and Govt Health Officials Drove the Omicron Fear Narrative

Antifa Rioter, Arrested Three Times for Assaulting Police, Has Case Dismissed

An Antifa rioter in Portland who was arrested three separate times for assaulting police officers during riots had his charges dismissed “with prejudice,” meaning no charges connected with the crime will ever be brought against him.

Eva Warner of Beaverton, Oregon, who police said was also known as Joshua Warner, was arrested three times in August 2020 and released without bail. He had been accused of shining a laser into the eyes of police — an extraordinarily dangerous assault given the potential for blindness.

Fox News:

Portland Police said Warner directed a high-powered laser into the eyes of law enforcement officers trying to disperse the crowd. Warner resisted arrest, prompting officers to use force, the DOJ said. A laser pointer was found on Warner.

Warner was booked into custody and charged with intentionally obstructing, impeding, interfering with law enforcement officers engaged in official duties but later released without bail.

About a week later, Warner was arrested again and charged with second-degree criminal mischief in connection with another riot. Warner was again released from custody without bail.

On September 2, Warner was arrested in a southeast Portland apartment as part of a federal investigation. He appeared in court before a U.S. magistrate judge the next day and was later released pending further court proceedings.

Warner was looking at five years in prison if convicted. Instead, the prosecutor never brought the case to trial, and Warner had his case dismissed by Scott Erik Asphaug, acting U.S. attorney for the District of Oregon on December 21.

The motion noted that the defendant had performed “at least 30 hours of community service.”

The next day, U.S. District Court Judge Michael H. Simon dismissed Warner’s indictment “with prejudice,” according to court documents obtained by Fox News.

Fox News has reached out to Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon Thomas S. Ratcliffe as well as the Portland Police Association. Warner’s attorney was not available for comment.

Just to contrast the treatment of Warner with the legal jeopardy of J6 rioters, earlier in December, one January 6 rioter charged with assaulting a police officer found himself looking at the next five years behind bars for his crime.

ABCNews:

Robert Palmer, 54, of Largo, Florida, wept as he told U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan that he recently watched a video of his actions that day and could not believe what he was seeing.

“Your honor. I’m really really ashamed of what I did,” he said through tears.

Palmer was one of several rioters sentenced on Friday in District of Columbia court for their actions that day, when the angry mob descended to disrupt the certification of Joe Biden’s victory following a rally by then-President Donald Trump. Scores of police were beaten and bloodied, five people died and there was about $1.5 million in damage done to the U.S. Capitol.

Maybe if Palmer had performed community service, he might have avoided jail time — except it’s very difficult to perform community service from a jail cell.

The message is being sent loud and clear: No one cares in Portland if you try to blind a police officer during a riot ostensibly about “police brutality.” As long as you express the proper political sentiment with your actions, you can get away with just about anything.

In truth, both Palmer and Warner should serve time in jail. That Mr. Warner finds himself a free man today is a disgusting miscarriage of justice.

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/rick-moran/2021/12/31/antifa-rioter-arrested-three-times-for-assaulting-police-has-case-dismissed-n1545726

https://twitter.com/RepThomasMassie/status/1476992261758013449

Made in Communist China COVID home-tests… widely mandated to attend school, work, and travel in the USA. #thisisfine #bidensamerica

>>15285741

Made in China - fucking traitors sold you all out

COVID-19 rapid antigen self-tests that are approved in Australia

https://www.tga.gov.au/covid-19-rapid-antigen-self-tests-are-approved-australia

As of Jan. 4, 2022, Ontarians will need to have enhanced COVID-19 vaccine certificates with a scannable QR code if they want to eat inside restaurants, go to movie theatres, gyms, concert venues, and other non-essential businesses that require proof of vaccination.

Currently, vaccine passports are only required for those aged 12 and older.

The old versions of vaccine certificates without a scannable QR code will no longer be accepted. Those who have a medical exemption will also need a verified certificate with a QR code, as doctor's notes will no longer be accepted as of Jan. 10.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-ontario-qr-code-vaccine-passport/

In a stunning video interview with a doctor treating COVID-19 patients, The Desert Review uncovers the secrets health officials and hospitals aren't telling – and that is that "they are being held hostage and segregated from loved ones. And the reason is money."

"COVID patients in America's hospitals today are actually being treated worse than prisoners in American jails," Dr. Elizabeth Lee Vliet says. The very structure of how hospitals are reimbursed for COVID patients is what's causing this, she says.

"They (the hospitals) are paid by the government to do a PCR test on every patient who walks in the door … Then they are paid extra for a COVID admission to the hospital. They are paid an extra 20 percent bonus on the entire hospital bill, if the hospital ONLY uses remdesivir to treat the patient.

"And then if the patient goes on a ventilator, which is a consequence of some of the toxicity of remdesivir and the restriction of fluids and nutrients that they are also doing, and once the patient is on a ventilator there is ANOTHER incentive bonus to the hospitals. If the patient dies in the hospital, there is another incentive payment," Vliet states.

This video is over an hour long but it's worth watching every minute. It could save your or a loved one's life.

https://principia-scientific.com/hospitalized-with-covid-you-can-check-in-but-you-can-never-leave/

"…We are all partaking in a COVERT election for a world wide fascist dictatorship based on a social credit score linked digital smart currency which is denied to the unvaxxed by means of vaccine passports. Every shot you take, every shoulder your present, every jab your receive is a vote to lose your human rights, to lose your national democracy, to lose your national sovereignty, to lose your right to socialise with whom you choose or be treated by the doctor whom you choose, with the treatment which you and he choose"

https://rielpolitik.com/2021/12/29/covid-1984-every-single-covid-19-vaccination-is-a-vote-for-the-new-global-dictatorship/

YEAR IN REVIEW: 2021 Top Ten (Real) Conspiracies

Honorable Mention Highlights

As the official ‘global pandemic’ narrative continues to disintegrate, the public began to realize that proven off-label therapeutic drugs like Ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine were not as evil as the mainstream media, Dr Fauci and Bill Gates had claimed they were. The authoritarians in Australia shocked the world with their COVID Interment Camps in the Northern Territory, and other heavy-handed fascist policies down under. Also, Austria and Germany became Big Pharma’s Anschluss by returning to their fascist roots to enforce mandatory vaccines and vaccine passports – effectively locking the unvaccinated in their homes. This has also opened up the very important scientific debate between Germ Theory vs Terrain Theory – a discussion which strikes fear into the minds of Covidian true believers who regard anything which challenges the almighty powers of the virus as the work of Apostasies to their church. There was also the GameStop short squeeze, Facebook’s fake whistleblower, and the George Floyd bookend: the Trial of Derek Chauvin – to name only a few.

1. Jan 6th ‘Insurrection!’

2. The Trials of Jussie Smollet and Kyle Rittenhouse

3. The Collapse of CNN

4. Inflation and The Supply Chain!

5. Russian Invasion!

6. Sleepy Joe

7. Silicon Valley Censorship

8. OMICRON INVASION!

9. Endless Boosters for an Endless Pandemic

10. Vaccine Passport

https://21stcenturywire.com/2021/12/31/year-in-review-2021-top-ten-real-conspiracies/

CDC Now Treats Unvaccinated The Same As Un-Boosted, Just As DeSantis Predicted

In its recently updated guidance on exposure to COVID-19, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) treats double jabbed individuals that have not received a booster shot the same as unvaccinated ones.

“For people who are unvaccinated or are more than six months out from their second mRNA dose (or more than 2 months after the J&J vaccine) and not yet boosted, CDC now recommends quarantine for 5 days followed by strict mask use for an additional 5 days,” the updated guidance reads. “Alternatively, if a 5-day quarantine is not feasible, it is imperative that an exposed person wear a well-fitting mask at all times when around others for 10 days after exposure. Individuals who have received their booster shot do not need to quarantine following an exposure, but should wear a mask for 10 days after the exposure.”

The move to change the definition of “fully vaccinated” by the federal health agency was predicted by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis last month. During a press conference in Tallahassee, the Republican governor told attendees that “those individuals who have gone through a normal vaccination series for COVID …will be determined to be unvaccinated very soon.”

“They will do that – they are gonna tell you: ‘you’re unvaccinated and you have to get a booster,'” he said, adding that those who choose not to get a booster “could potentially face loss of employment or other types of penalties.”

The comments sparked outcry from legacy media fact-checkers, who were quick to label the governor’s prediction as false. Writing in The Independent, Andrew Feinberg penned an article titled “Fact Check: DeSantis falsely claims vaccinated citizens without boosters could be declared unvaccinated and lose their jobs,” in which he claims that DeSantis was “lying about the possibility that Covid-19 boosters will be used to force people out of their jobs.”

“Centers for Disease Control Director Rochelle Walensky has repeatedly denied that the Biden administration plans to consider people who do not get boosters to be unvaccinated.” he wrote.

In addition to the recently updated guidelines, government health officials have also publicly indicated that such a change in definition would ultimately occur. During a CNN interview earlier this month, White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci foreshadowed that changing the definition of fully vaccinated to include booster shots is a matter of “when, not if.”

“I don’t see that changing tomorrow or next week, but certainly if you want to talk about what optimal protection is, I don’t think anybody would argue that optimal protection is going to be with a third shot,” he said. “For me, as a public health person, I just say get your third shot – forget about what the definition is. I just want to see people be optimally protected.”

https://thefederalist.com/2021/12/31/cdc-now-treats-unvaccinated-the-same-as-un-boosted-just-as-desantis-predicted/

Despite Entire Team Being Fully Vaccinated – Two Thirds of Antarctic Polar Researchers Have Contracted COVID-19

Another example of the COVID-19 vaccine not working.

The National Post reports:

Polar researchers in Antarctica have contracted COVID-19 despite being fully vaccinated and living miles from civilization.

Two thirds of the 25 staff based at Belgium’s Princess Elisabeth Polar Station have caught the virus, the Le Soir newspaper reported, proving there is no escape from the global pandemic.

The outbreak took hold despite all staff passing multiple PCR tests, quarantining and living in one of the most remote places in the world.

There are studies that show that vaccines do not work, now we have another example in real life.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/12/despite-entire-team-fully-vaccinated-two-thirds-antarctic-polar-researchers-contracted-covid-19/

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/12/despite-entire-team-fully-vaccinated-two-thirds-antarctic-polar-researchers-contracted-covid-19/

Father-of-two assistant head teacher, 39, who had sex with underage girl pupils in his PE office and told one 'I could go to prison for this' and was jailed for 12 years is banned from classroom for life

PE teacher Sean Aldridge, now 39, had shown 'no remorse' for targeting the girls

The assistant head was jailed for 12 years in July 2019 at Portsmouth crown court

He has now been struck off for life by the Teaching Regulation Agency watchdog

An assistant headteacher who groomed pupils and had sex with them in his office has been banned from the classroom for life.

Teaching watchdogs said PE teacher Sean Aldridge, now 39, had shown no remorse for targeting four girls aged 13 to 16.

He was jailed for 12 years in July 2019 at Portsmouth Crown Court.

He has now been struck off for life by the Teaching Regulation Agency watchdog over multiple offences while teaching at Warblington School, Havant.

Peter Ward, who chaired the disciplinary hearing, said: 'The panel was satisfied that the conduct of Mr Aldridge was wholly contrary to the standards expected of the teaching profession.

'Teachers are placed in a privileged position of trust and Mr Aldridge had abused his position.

'Mr Aldridge's conduct was of the most serious and gravest kind.

'Mr Aldridge's actions in committing the offences had undoubtedly caused significant hurt and suffering to pupils who had been placed in his care.

'The panel considered that Mr Aldridge's behaviour in committing the offences would affect public confidence in the teaching profession.

'Further, that public confidence in the profession would be severely damaged in the event he was allowed to teach following his release from prison.

'In the light of the panel's findings against Mr Aldridge which involved 25 counts of sexual activity with pupils, there was a very strong public interest consideration in respect of the protection of pupils given the serious and multiple findings of sexual activity with pupils.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10358847/PE-teacher-39-sex-underage-girl-pupils-banned-teaching.html

Unearthed interview reveals how Ghislaine Maxwell helped kill Vanity Fair exposé

Ghislaine Maxwell savaged a Vanity Fair reporter nearly 20 years ago to help bury an exposé of her sex crimes — while claiming pedophile Jeffrey Epstein was generous and “very, very good” to his accusers, according to a newly released transcript of her rare interview.

Maxwell, now 60, did not testify during her sex-trafficking trial, in which her legal team insisted she was an innocent scapegoat for the “bad behavior” of Epstein, her late ex and longtime companion.

But she did speak out in 2002 — in a fiery interview that, like the planned exposé, never ran in Vanity Fair. Instead, the mag published a flattering puff piece titled “The Talented Mr. Epstein.”

Reporter Vicky Ward said it was her “eternal regret” that the magazine did not run the accusations by Maria Farmer and her sister Annie, whose testimony was key in Maxwell’s conviction this week.

Ward finally posted the full exchange with Maxwell on her Substack Thursday — saying it showed the disgraced British socialite “lied to me about not giving Annie Farmer a massage” and also repeatedly hailed Epstein’s “generosity” to his accusers.

“I just can’t even think how to respond to something so horrible,” Maxwell had told Ward in the call sparked by a fax from the mag’s fact checkers.

“The implication is thoroughly outrageous. Thoroughly untrue. And in every which way disgusting. And I cannot be party to anything like that,” she said, according to the transcript.

“These are two girls that benefited greatly from Jeffrey’s generosity, and absolutely nothing untoward in any stretch of the imagination ever took place with them,” she insisted at the time.

“They benefited hugely from this man,” she insisted, calling Ward “crazy” for considering running an interview with “two girls who are making stupid allegations.”

“I can tell you something. Those two girls got a lot of Jeffrey’s generosity. He was very, very good to them,” she said, without elaborating.

“I can tell you that nothing untoward happened whatsoever,” she again insisted, saying she was “horrified” at the “gross” allegations.

Maxwell — a close pal of Prince Andrew used to rubbing shoulders with world leaders — also expressed clear shock that the reporter would even consider running the story after her denial.

“You’re going to believe her over me? Is that what you’re saying to me?” she asked Ward, according to the transcript.

“You’re going to believe somebody that you don’t know who just comes up with a story about Jeffrey … over me? Is that what you’re just saying right now? I just want to be perfectly clear,” she asked.

When Ward repeatedly stressed that she was just sharing the sisters’ words, the daughter of disgraced tabloid mogul Robert Maxwell accused her of “the lowest thing the tabloid does.”

https://nypost.com/2021/12/31/interview-reveals-how-ghislaine-maxwell-killed-vanity-fair-expose/

=Ex-Epstein assistant Lesley Groff won’t face criminal charges, her lawyers claim

A former Jeffrey Epstein assistant who was accused of aiding his sex-trafficking scheme will not face criminal charges for her alleged role in his crimes, her lawyers claim.

A civil suit against the former Epstein executive assistant, Lesley Groff, was also voluntarily dismissed in recent days, her lawyers added.

“We are not surprised that the case was voluntarily dropped. Our hearts truly break for any person victimized by Epstein but the truth is – Lesley had no knowledge of and no participation in any of the illegal conduct alleged in the lawsuit,” the attorneys, Michael Bachner and Jon Whitcomb, said in a statement.

Kelsey Kintner, a spokesperson for the firm, added that Groff’s attorneys have been notified that she won’t be criminally charged.

“Lesley’s counsel have also been informed that no criminal charges will be brought against Lesley Groff,” Kintner said in a statement.

In October, an anonymous Epstein accuser from Russia said in a suit that Epstein raped her and sexually assaulted her numerous times beginning in 2017, when she was in her early 20s, on the promise that he’d help her get her career off the ground.

That suit named Groff as a defendant, claiming she booked flights at Epstein’s behest for the accuser to fly from Moscow to Paris and from Europe to the US.

When the suit was filed, Groff’s attorneys said they were confident it would be dismissed.

“This lawsuit should never have been filed. It does not contain a single factual allegation that Lesley in any way knowingly engaged in any wrongdoing or was aware of any misconduct committed by Jeffrey Epstein,” they wrote.

“We are truly confident that the lawsuit will be dismissed by the court,” they added.

Epstein’s longtime confidant and ex-girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, was convicted in Manhattan federal court Wednesday of grooming and trafficking girls for the financier to sexually abuse.

On Friday, a spokesperson for the Southern District of New York, where Maxwell was tried, declined to say if the investigation into Epstein’s associates remained ongoing.

https://nypost.com/2021/12/31/ex-epstein-assistant-wont-face-criminal-charges-lawyers/

Clean up operation continues on the back of GM verdict

China human trafficking suspects publicly marched through the streets as the days of the Cultural Revolution

Four suspects accused of flouting the rules of Covid-19 in China marched through the streets of Guangxi province, China, TBEN reported, citing local media.

Image via Weibo.

The four suspects were seen wearing hazmat suits and face masks while carrying signs with their photos and names.

Video clips of the incident also showed a large crowd watching the four suspects, who were surrounded by police, some of whom were armed.

According to Chinese state media Guangxi Daily, the four suspects were charged with human trafficking across the Chinese border and were publicly punished for their crimes.

The parade took place in the city of Jingxi, close to the Sino-Vietnamese border.

The outlet said the public shame serves to deter “border crimes” as well as to raise public awareness of Covid-19 regulations.

The authoritarian approach reminiscent of the Cultural Revolution era has been criticized by users of social media and several state media.

However, local authorities and police said they were “following orders” in inflicting the punishment, adding that there was nothing “inappropriate” about the punishment, according to Chinese state media. KNOWS reported.

Public humiliation is one of the disciplinary measures

According to TBEN, the local government announced a series of disciplinary measures to punish those who flouted Covid-19 regulations in August. Public humiliation was one such measure.

Two of the suspects allegedly helped two foreigners cross the Chinese border illegally in October, state-controlled media say World time (GT) reported.

When one of the stowaways tested positive for Covid-19, around 50,000 residents of Jingxi City were quarantined, which GT said “affected the local economy and the livelihoods of the community. local population”.

https://www.thebharatexpressnews.com/china-human-trafficking-suspects-publicly-marched-through-the-streets-as-the-days-of-the-cultural-revolution/

Australian State Media says this

China brings back public shaming, parading alleged people-smugglers through the streets for breaking COVID-19 rules

https://youtu.be/Hh5jxjQlOcI

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-12-30/china-public-shaming-covid-rule-breakers-people-smugglers/100731450

Same footage

6 members of trafficking gang held

They lured girls with promise of film industry jobs

Rapid Action Battalion has arrested six members of a gang that has trafficked around 100 young women to India after luring them with various promises on social media.

The gang mainly targeted girls and women from poor and lower middle-income families and promised them jobs in films, or employment in markets, superstores and beauty parlours in India, said Rab.

Once they took the victims to the neighbouring country, they confined the young women to "safe homes" where the gang members tortured them physically and mentally and forced them into prostitution under threat of death, said Rab-4 Commanding Officer Mozammel Haque.

The gang have trafficked around 100 girls and women to India in the last few years, claimed Rab.

A Rab team raided Darussalam area in the capital's Mirpur late on Wednesday night and made the arrests after a victim's mother sought their help to rescue her daughter from the gang's clutches.

The gang had earlier taken the victim to Darussalam to traffic her to India.

The arrestees are: leader of the gang Sekander Hossain of Dhaka, Asaduzzaman alias Akash of Jeshore, Noor Mohammad alias Alif of Narsingdi, Bulbuli Begum of Jashore, Rubi Akhter and Koli Akhter of Netrakona.

Rab rescued the victim and recovered some Aadhaar cards, the identification card issued by the Indian government, PAN (permanent account number) cards, mobile phones and fake travel documents.

Rab in a press release said the filing of a case by the victim was under process.

Primary interrogations revealed that Rubi and Koli were once trafficked to India and sold to a dance bar where they remained confined for four years, Rab said in the press release.

They managed to flee back to Bangladesh, but again tried to go to India with the help of fugitive accused Sohag alias Sagar, who had asked them to lure a victim for the trafficking ring.

They then lured the victim who was rescued on Wednesday night.

Rab said apart from the arrestees, the gang has five to seven more accomplices in Bangladesh while several others including Dipak, Khoka alias Kangkai, Maria and Tamanna are in India.

The gang used to traffic victims through the Benapole border at night with fake documents.

Sekander, the leader of the gang, once worked as a make-up artist in Bangladesh Film Development Corporation.

Sohag had also worked as a make-up artist in the film industry earlier, but left the job and got involved in human trafficking, said the Rab release.

https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/crime-justice/news/6-members-trafficking-gang-held-2929191

IACAT: 657 human trafficking victims rescued in 2021

The Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) said that there 657 human trafficking victims rescued in 2021.

“The number of operations assisted by the Task Forces doubled compared to the previous years that resulted to significant increase on the rescued victims,” it said in its 2021 accomplishment report.

The IACAT said anti-trafficking task forces assisted in the investigation of 66 successful operations in 2021.

“The operations resulted in the rescue of 657 victims and the arrest of 41 suspects,” it said.

The IACAT noted that there were 317 operations conducted in 2020 that resulted in the rescue of 30 victims and arrest of 40 persons.

It also showed that in 2019 there were 210 operations that yielded to the rescue of 40 victims and arrest of 62 persons.

https://youtu.be/yrU7wPQIs2A

https://politics.com.ph/iacat-657-human-trafficking-victims-rescued-in-2021/

74 human trafficking cases cracked; over 248 victims rescued in Rachakonda in 2021

Hyderabad: The Anti Human Trafficking Unit has operations against human trafficking in the Commissionerate level and cracked 74 complicated human trafficking cases in this year -2021 and rescuing over 248 victims and apprehending 196 human traffickers including sex-buyer/customers and placed 56 notorious traffickers under preventive detention and also seized brothel houses by concerned authorities.

In 2021, a total of 93 cases were booked for illegal possession and transportation of Marijuana, drugs and seized a large quantity of 5779.791 kg of Marijuana, 3 litre liquid Marijuana, 6.754 litre Hashish Oil, 400 kg Opium Poppy Seeds, 6.1 gram Methamphetamine, Ketamine 7 grams, 1 gram of MDMA and 0.4 gram LSD BLOT besides arresting 175 accused persons and 33 persons were detained under PD Act.

Investigation in Marijuana transport cases done from source to destination and the accused were arrested from agency area of Vishakapatnam (Araku, GK Veedhi, Chinthapally, Madgula, Paderu, Narsipatnam, Lambasingi, Seeleru, Vizag Agency) and Ramachandrapuram, East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh as well as destinations like Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, and Goa.

NewsHyderabad News

74 human trafficking cases cracked; over 248 victims rescued in Rachakonda in 2021

Hyderabad News

Sowmith Yakkati

Sowmith Yakkati

| Correspondent

Updated Dec 28, 2021 | 23:21 IST

In 2021, a total of 93 cases were booked for illegal possession and transportation of drugs.

Rachakonda Police Commissioner Mahesh Bhagwat

Rachakonda Police Commissioner Mahesh Bhagwat

Hyderabad: The Anti Human Trafficking Unit has operations against human trafficking in the Commissionerate level and cracked 74 complicated human trafficking cases in this year -2021 and rescuing over 248 victims and apprehending 196 human traffickers including sex-buyer/customers and placed 56 notorious traffickers under preventive detention and also seized brothel houses by concerned authorities.

In 2021, a total of 93 cases were booked for illegal possession and transportation of Marijuana, drugs and seized a large quantity of 5779.791 kg of Marijuana, 3 litre liquid Marijuana, 6.754 litre Hashish Oil, 400 kg Opium Poppy Seeds, 6.1 gram Methamphetamine, Ketamine 7 grams, 1 gram of MDMA and 0.4 gram LSD BLOT besides arresting 175 accused persons and 33 persons were detained under PD Act.

Investigation in Marijuana transport cases done from source to destination and the accused were arrested from agency area of Vishakapatnam (Araku, GK Veedhi, Chinthapally, Madgula, Paderu, Narsipatnam, Lambasingi, Seeleru, Vizag Agency) and Ramachandrapuram, East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh as well as destinations like Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, and Goa.

Rachakonda top cop Mahesh Bhagwat during Operation Smile-IV, ‘Worksite Schools’ were started with a total strength of 980 students in Peddakonduru village, Choutuppal, Ravirala village, Adibatla, Bommalaramaram, YadadriBhongir District of Rachakonda Commissionerate. These Oriya language schools helped children of migrant Odisha labourers children to continue their education in their mother tongue. The project received an international award from IACP USA for civil & human rights. So far 2802 Odisha children had taken advantage.

SHE Teams Rachakonda Police also stopped as many as 122 child marriages including 31 during this year and rescued 122 minor girls from their marriages which were planned to perform at different places by their parents mainly from rural areas i.e., Bhongir, Choutuppal, and Ibrahimpatnam.

https://www.timesnownews.com/hyderabad/article/74-human-trafficking-cases-cracked-over-248-victims-rescued-in-rachakonda-in/844522

"Felt Like The Apocalypse" - Colorado Wildfires Destroy 1,000 Homes

Update (1315ET): Dry conditions and 100 mph winds fueled dangerous wildfires that swept through suburban areas of Denver, destroying upwards of 1,000 homes. The flames caused more than 30,000 people to evacuate the area.

At a news conference Friday morning, authorities said that 1,000 homes have been burned and noted no fatalities reported so far. They said 200 people are in emergency shelters.

https://www.zerohedge.com/weather/30000-evacuated-hundreds-homes-burned-wind-drive-colorado-wildfires

https://www.zerohedge.com/weather/30000-evacuated-hundreds-homes-burned-wind-drive-colorado-wildfires

The Great Reset Or The Greatest Hold-Up?

https://www.brighteon.com/7744abe7-99d6-4701-a0d9-5c09ca74f709