3, August 2019
Islamic Movement in Nigeria challenges govt. ban 0
The Islamic Movement in Nigeria has challenged a ban imposed by the Nigerian government in a Federal High Court.
The court action challenging the banning of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria was filed at the Federal High Court Abuja by lawyers representing the movement. The lawyers said the order was hastily filed and granted, and that it violates the Nigerian constitution.
The Federal High Court had earlier granted an application by the Nigerian government banning the activities of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, and designating it a terrorist organization. In an announcement after the court order, the Nigerian chief of police said any protester arrested in connection with the movement would be prosecuted under the terrorism act. The team of lawyers representing the Islamic Movement in Nigeria wants the Federal High Court to intervene.
Supporters of leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, Sheikh Ibrahim al-Zakzaky, have been engaged in several protests demanding the release of the prominent cleric who has been in detention for close to four years in violation of a court ruling ordering his immediate release.
Members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria have time and again stressed that the Nigerian government is determined to portray a negative impression of the Islamic Movement in order to justify the continuous oppression and murder of its members. They have pledged to be peaceful no matter the level of provocation.
Source: Presstv
3, August 2019
US announces new sanctions against Russia over Skripal poisoning 0
A fresh round of sanctions were imposed on Moscow Saturday by the United States over the 2018 poisoning of former double-agent Sergei Skripal in the United Kingdom.
Russian agents have been blamed for the poisoning of Skripal and his daughter in the English city of Salisbury in March last year using the Soviet-developed nerve agent Novichok.
Washington said Saturday it will oppose “the extension of any loan or financial or technical assistance to Russia” by international financial institutions and put limits on US banks from financing Russian sovereign debt, US State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement.
The US will also limit the export of goods and technology to Russia, Ortagus added.
Chemical weapons
The Salisbury attack, the first offensive use of chemical weapons in Europe since World War II, caused an international outcry and prompted a mass expulsion of Russian diplomats by Western nations.
Moscow denies involvement in the poisoning and has offered numerous and varied alternative explanations and counter-accusations.
Skripal, a former officer with Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency, was found guilty in 2006 of “high treason” before being traded in a spy exchange between Moscow, London and Washington.
In January the European Union imposed chemical weapons sanctions on nine Russian and Syrian officials, including the chief of the powerful GRU.
(AFP)