Nations join to arrest child-sex suspect
MANILA, Philippines — Norwegian and U.S. law enforcers have helped the Philippines capture a man they say exploited children by having them join sex videos that he then showed to paying foreign clients online, officials said Friday.
National Bureau of Investigation Director Dante Gierran said Norwegian and U.S. law enforcers joined Filipino authorities in a raid Thursday that led to the arrest of the suspect, Anselmo Ico Jr., and the rescue of five of his alleged victims, all minors, in a poor village in Malolos city, north of Manila.
Philippine police have collaborated with their counterparts in Europe, Australia and the U.S. to curb the sexual exploitation of children, which thrives in poverty, unemployment and other dire social conditions.
The suspect is accused of violating laws against human trafficking, child abuse, child pornography and cybercrime, Norwegian police official Sidsel Isachsen said at a news conference in Manila, where Ico, a Filipino, was presented in handcuffs.
Turks sentence 24 journalists to prison
LONDON — A Turkish court sentenced 24 journalists to prison Friday over alleged links to a religious sect that the government calls a terrorist group and that was blamed for a failed coup attempt in 2016.
Most of the journalists worked for news organizations that are considered friendly to Fethullah Gulen, a cleric living in seclusion in a small town in Pennsylvania. The Turkish government sayd that he heads a shadowy, violent movement aiming to overthrow President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Since the July 2016 coup attempt, Erdogan has purged from the government and the military tens of thousands of people suspected of disloyalty, and thousands more have been arrested and charged with supporting terrorism.
Twenty-two of the journalists sentenced Friday were convicted of being members of an armed terrorist group — Gulen’s organization — and were sentenced to 6¼ to 7½ years in prison.
Two others were convicted on a lesser charge of helping a terrorist group and were freed based on time they had already served.
Pope’s aide explains away Chile crowds
VATICAN CITY — Attempting to deflect criticism of Pope Francis’ trip to Chile in January, the retired archbishop of Santiago blamed everything from the summer weather to an “absentee” spokesman for the lower-than-expected turnout and negative press coverage.
Cardinal Javier Errazuriz, a top papal adviser, wrote a letter to the bishops of Latin America insisting that the pope’s trip wasn’t a failure but was “highly positive.” The National Catholic Reporter first reported the letter and its contents Friday.
In the letter, Errazuriz did not take responsibility for a sex abuse scandal that shadowed Francis’ visit or how the handling of allegations involving the Rev. Fernando Karadima affected the views of Chilean Catholics toward the church and the papacy.
The former archbishop initially shelved the investigation of Karadima’s abuse of young parishioners and has admitted that he didn’t believe the victims. A Vatican tribunal convicted Karadima in 2011 and sentenced him to a life of penance and prayer for his sex crimes.
Francis’ trip was dominated by the Karadima affair and the pope’s support for a Karadima protege, Bishop Juan Barros. Some of Karadima’s victims have accused Barros of having witnessed their abuse and ignoring it. The criticism reached such a fever pitch that Francis decided upon his return to send a Vatican investigator to Chile.
S. Sudan suspends U.N. radio station
JUBA, South Sudan — South Sudan on Friday suspended a United Nations radio station, saying it refused to comply with the country’s media laws, although the station has not yet been taken off the air.
The Media Authority, an independent body in charge of regulating journalistic practices in the country, said Friday that it was shutting down Radio Miraya for “persistent non-compliance.” They said the radio station was “not immune” to oversight.
Elijah Alier, the Media Authority’s managing director, said at a news conference that officials are not trying to censor the station but rather they are monitoring it for “hate speech and incitement.” The government may not be able to take the station off the air because the transmitter is on the U.N. base in Juba.
This is Radio Miraya’s first suspension since it started broadcasting in 2006. The United Nations is in discussions with the government over the action, and it intends to keep broadcasting, said Francesca Mold, spokesman for the U.N. in South Sudan.
A Section on 03/10/2018