Russia charges soldiers with killing pro-Moscow US fighter

Russia charges soldiers with killing pro-Moscow US fighter
Russia on Friday charged four of its soldiers serving in occupied Ukraine with torturing a US citizen living in Russian-held Donetsk who had fought with pro-Moscow forces since 2014. (AP/File)
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Updated 20 September 2024
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Russia charges soldiers with killing pro-Moscow US fighter

Russia charges soldiers with killing pro-Moscow US fighter
  • The authorities did not say what had motivated the soldiers to kill Russell Bentley
  • The Russian Investigative Committee said on Friday it had “established all the persons involved in the death of Russell Bentley and the circumstances of the offenses committed“

MOSCOW: Russia on Friday charged four of its soldiers serving in occupied Ukraine with torturing a US citizen living in Russian-held Donetsk who had fought with pro-Moscow forces since 2014.
It is rare instance for Russia to accuse active soldiers in Ukraine — who are glorified at home — of committing crimes.
The authorities did not say what had motivated the soldiers to kill Russell Bentley, who regularly appeared on pro-Kremlin social media channels, backing Moscow’s full-scale military offensive in Ukraine.
Known as “Texas,” 64-year-old Bentley was declared dead in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk in April. His wife said at the time he had been abducted and killed by Russian troops.
The Russian Investigative Committee said on Friday it had “established all the persons involved in the death of Russell Bentley and the circumstances of the offenses committed.”
It named the four soldiers involved as Vladislav Agaltsev, Vladimir Bazhin, Andrei Iordanov and Vitaly Vansyatsky.
They are accused of “using physical violence and torture, causing the death of a victim by negligence, as well as the concealment of a particularly serious crime by moving the remains of the deceased to another place,” the committee said.
According to the investigation, the soldiers tortured and killed Bentley in Donetsk on April 8.
Two of them then blew up a military car containing his body, before another moved the remains to cover up the crime, investigators said.
Moscow said the soldiers were “familiarising” themselves with the charge before the case is sent to court.
Bentley, from Austin in Texas, had served in the US army in the 1980s.
He often wore a cap, styled on Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin, with a red badge bearing hammer and sickle.


Norway hikes terror threat level to ‘high’ over Mideast escalation: intelligence agency

Updated 3 sec ago
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Norway hikes terror threat level to ‘high’ over Mideast escalation: intelligence agency

Norway hikes terror threat level to ‘high’ over Mideast escalation: intelligence agency
PST said “Jewish and Israeli targets” were most under threat in Norway

OSLO: Norway’s PST intelligence agency on Tuesday raised its terror threat level to “high,” fearing repercussions in the Scandinavian country from escalating tensions in the Middle East.
“We are raising the threat level from moderate to high in Norway due to several factors, primarily the current escalation in the Middle East,” the PST said, adding that “Jewish and Israeli targets” were most under threat in Norway.

UK spy boss highlights surge in children linked to terror plots

UK spy boss highlights surge in children linked to terror plots
Updated 1 min 50 sec ago
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UK spy boss highlights surge in children linked to terror plots

UK spy boss highlights surge in children linked to terror plots
  • MI5 boss Ken McCallum said that Russian intelligence was seeking to cause ‘mayhem’ in Britain
  • Under-18s represent 13 percent of people being investigated by the spy agency for possible involvement in terror activities
LONDON: The chief of Britain’s domestic intelligence service on Tuesday blamed extreme right-wing ideologies for a “staggering” rise in the number of children being investigated for terrorism.
MI5 boss Ken McCallum also said that Russian intelligence was seeking to cause “mayhem” in Britain because of its support for Ukraine and that his agency had investigated growing numbers of Iran-backed plots.
Under-18s represent 13 percent of people being investigated by the spy agency for possible involvement in terror activities, McCallum said.
He told reporters at MI5’s Counter Terrorism Operations Center in London that the number marked “a threefold increase in the last three years.”
McCallum said the Internet was the “biggest factor” driving the rise, describing how easily youngsters can access “inspirational and instructional material” from their bedrooms.
He said the intelligence service was seeing “far too many cases where very young people are being drawn into poisonous online extremism” and singled out “canny” Internet memes.
“Extreme right-wing terrorism in particular skews heavily toward young people, driven by propaganda that shows a canny understanding of online culture,” he added.
“It’s not really a consistent single ideology on the extreme right-wing side and that is what has skewed the numbers most heavily.”
The UK terrorist threat level remains at “substantial” — the third highest on five — meaning an attack is likely.
MI5 and the police have disrupted more than 40 late-stage attack plots since March 2017, saving “numerous lives,” McCallum said.
He added that the Daesh group had “resumed efforts to export terrorism” and that in the last year inquiries into plots by hostile states had surged by 48 percent.
According to McCallum, Russia’s intelligence service had tried to cause “mayhem” in the UK because of Britain’s support for Ukraine.
Meanwhile, MI5 has responded to 20 Iran-backed plots since January 2022 that presented potentially lethal threats to British citizens and UK residents, he added.

Hungary PM Orban says Ukraine “cannot win on the battlefield“

Hungary PM Orban says Ukraine “cannot win on the battlefield“
Updated 18 min 34 sec ago
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Hungary PM Orban says Ukraine “cannot win on the battlefield“

Hungary PM Orban says Ukraine “cannot win on the battlefield“
  • Orban added that both direct and indirect communication is needed between the warring parties

BUDAPEST: Ukraine cannot win the war with Russia on the battlefield and communication and a ceasefire are needed to save lives, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Tuesday at a news conference in Strasbourg.
Orban added that both direct and indirect communication is needed between the warring parties and it was a part of international politics that a third party mediates between them.


Prophet’s Mosque imam meets Indonesia top leaders on Jakarta visit

Prophet’s Mosque imam meets Indonesia top leaders on Jakarta visit
Updated 21 min 57 sec ago
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Prophet’s Mosque imam meets Indonesia top leaders on Jakarta visit

Prophet’s Mosque imam meets Indonesia top leaders on Jakarta visit
  • Sheikh Ahmed Al-Huthaifi will lead Friday prayers at Istiqlal Mosque
  • Indonesian Ulama Council hopes visit will strengthen Saudi-Indonesia ties

JAKARTA: Prophet’s Mosque Imam Sheikh Ahmed Al-Huthaifi is on a five-day visit to Indonesia to meet the top political and religious leadership in the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation.

The Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah is one of the three holiest sites in Islam, along with the Grand Mosque in Makkah and the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.

Its imam arrived in Jakarta on Monday evening and met with Indonesian Vice President Ma’ruf Amin and officials from the Indonesian Ulama Council on Tuesday.

“The vice president hopes that his visit as the Prophet’s Mosque imam will strengthen friendly relations between our countries beyond bilateral relations between two states, but also people-to-people relations,” Masduki Baidlowi, the vice president’s spokesperson, told Arab News.

“This is so that Indonesians and Saudis can further connect, exchange ideas and cultures.”

Al-Huthaifi will lead Friday prayers and deliver a sermon at the Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta — the largest mosque in Southeast Asia.

He is also scheduled to visit Islamic boarding schools in the Indonesian capital and meet with the leadership of the country’s largest Muslim organizations, Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah.

“This is a very important visit, especially because he is the imam of the Prophet’s Mosque, which is widely respected by Muslims around the world, including in Indonesia,” Dr. Sudarnoto Abdul Hakim, the Indonesian Ulama Council’s chair of foreign relations, told Arab News.

He was hopeful that the visit would enhance relations between Saudi Arabia and Indonesia and contribute to strengthening the global Muslim community.

“Relations between Indonesia and Saudi Arabia must be strengthened for the future, especially because the world is facing turmoil right now with the impact of what’s happening in Palestine, which continues to be subjected to genocide by Israel, with destructions expanding into southern Lebanon,” Hakim said.

“Unity among Muslims will have a constructive effect in … building peace and security at the global level.”


Request made to Dutch authorities to prosecute senior Israeli intelligence officers

An exterior view of the International Criminal Court in the Hague, Netherlands. (File/Reuters)
An exterior view of the International Criminal Court in the Hague, Netherlands. (File/Reuters)
Updated 29 min 37 sec ago
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Request made to Dutch authorities to prosecute senior Israeli intelligence officers

An exterior view of the International Criminal Court in the Hague, Netherlands. (File/Reuters)
  • Case brought after Guardian report suggested Israel had run a 9-year covert campaign against the International Criminal Court in the Hague
  • Activities began after investigation opened in 2015 into Israeli activity in the occupied Palestinian territories

LONDON: A request has been filed in the Netherlands asking for authorities to prosecute senior Israeli intelligence officials over claims they interfered with an International Criminal Court investigation into crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories.

A group of 20 complainants have brought the claim following a Guardian report that uncovered a nine-year campaign by Israeli intelligence to “undermine, influence and allegedly intimidate the ICC chief prosecutor’s office.”

The report, conducted with Israeli-Palestinian +972 Magazine and Hebrew language Open Call outlet, led the Dutch government, which hosts the ICC in the Hague, to raise its concerns with the Israeli ambassador to the Netherlands.

The complainants’ legal team claims: “Israel’s many attempts to influence, sabotage and stop the investigation constitute a direct violation of (their clients’) right to justice.”

They added that the Israeli activity may have broken Dutch law as well as contravened the Rome Statute and that a case against senior intelligence officers should be brought. A number of Dutch MPs have also called for an inquiry into the allegations.

A spokesperson for the Dutch prosecution service said: “The complaint has been received … and will be studied.”

A spokesperson for the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the government of the Netherlands has “continuous and good contact with the ICC.” 

They added: “Let one thing be clear: The Netherlands is doing its utmost to allow the ICC to do its work safely, undisturbed and independently.”

The ICC has been investigating allegations of Israeli crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories in 2015. In May this year, its Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan applied for warrants to arrest senior Hamas figures Yahya Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Yoav Gallant, for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The warrants have yet to be approved. Haniyeh was assassinated in Iran in July.

A spokesperson for the ICC prosecutor’s office said: “The office remains deeply concerned by the ongoing attempts to improperly influence its activities through threats and intimidation of its officials.”

The Israeli Embassy in the Netherlands did not respond to a request for comment.