■Japan
Briton sent to prison
A British man was sentenced to 14 years in prison yesterday and given a 5 million yen (US$42,373 dollar) fine for smuggling drugs into Japan in a trial that has triggered fears of serious human rights abuses. Nicholas Baker's guilty verdict came despite a campaign by a British lawmaker and a human rights lawyer to push for a fair trial. Sabine Zanker, a lawyer for the London-based human rights group Fair Trials Abroad, argued that the prosecution had blocked key defense evidence from appearing in court and said Baker would appeal the decision. Baker, 32, was caught at Narita airport near Tokyo in April last year with more than 40,000 ecstasy pills and almost one kilogram of cocaine in a suitcase he insisted belonged to a "mate" and traveling companion.
■ Thailand
Alleged rape victim charged
A Hong Kong tourist who says she was gang-raped in Bangkok was arrested Thursday and charged with defamation and filing a false complaint, a senior police officer said. The 27-year-old freelance journalist holidaying here last week claimed she was raped by the driver of a three-weeled "tuk tuk" taxi and three other men on June 3 in front of Parliament House. The driver Thongbai Ummahear, whom police had arrested but dropped charges against on Thursday, filed the defamation suit while police posted the false complaint charge.
■ Australia
Lawyer sues counselor
A lawyer is suing a marriage guidance counselor for having sex with his wife only weeks after he was hired to help save their union, news reports Thursday said. Brisbane psychologist Owen Pershouse denies the claim brought by lawyer Michael Baker, the Courier-Mail reported. Baker alleges Pershouse began an affair with his wife only weeks after the joint counseling sessions began in 1993. The case comes before a Brisbane court in August.
■ Cambodia
Islamic terrorists hunted
Cambodia charged a fourth suspected Muslim militant yesterday as Southeast Asia intensified a crackdown on a shadowy radical Islamic network blamed for terror attacks in the region. In Thailand, police were hunting for accomplices of Muslims arrested in connection with a plan to attack US interests and beach resorts there. Sman Esma El, a 23-year-old Muslim teacher at a Kuwaiti-funded Islamic school west of Cambodia's capital, was arrested on Wednesday and charged him with international terrorism activities linked to the network of the Jemaah Islamiah southeast Asian militant group.
■ Indonesia
Soldiers jailed for beatings
An Indonesian court-martial yesterday jailed three more soldiers for beating up villagers during a hunt for separatist rebels in Aceh province. Military judge Major Hulwani jailed the two privates and a sergeant for between four months and four months and 20 days. They were the second group of soldiers to be court-martialled since Indonesia on May 19 launched its biggest military operation for a quarter-century to crush the Free Aceh Movement. The same tribunal at Lhokseumawe city in North Aceh on Monday sentenced three privates to four months in jail over the incident at Lawang in Bireuen district
■Germany
Housemate rots on couch
German authorities put a 43-year-old man into psychiatric care after he was found living with his housemate who had been dead a month. Police discovered the rotting body of the 58-year-old man on his living room couch, following a tip-off from a hired gardener who grew suspicious after being repeatedly sent away. An autopsy on the body gave no hint of foul play, police said. "The man told us he had just stopped eating," said Hans Roeck, a police spokesman in the town of Aalen.
RSS