Nigeria police in Islamist trial

13 July 2011 Last updated at 11:39 GMT Boko Haram leader Mohammed Yusuf was alive when captured by the army Four Nigerian policemen have appeared in court in the first public hearing over the killing of radical Islamist leader Mohammed Yusuf in 2009.

The Boko Haram leader was captured alive in Maiduguri and paraded in front of video cameras, but his body was later displayed riddled with bullets.

Legal proceedings began earlier this year but the hearings were kept secret.

There has been an increased frequency of attacks, blamed on Boko Haram, targeting the police.

There was tight security around the Abuja court house as the hearing opened with the four police officers in court, says the BBC's Habiba Adamu at the scene in the capital.

The trial has now been adjourned until next Tuesday when a fifth officer will be included in the trial and formal charges will be made against the men.

The Nigerian government is often accused of failing to prosecute police accused of brutality and extra-judicial killings.

Fight for Islamic rule

Two years ago, Nigeria's security forces brutally suppressed an uprising by Boko Haram, destroying their compound and then capturing Mr Yusuf.

Instead of disappearing, the group, which opposes Western education and fights for Islamic rule, re-emerged last September and vowed to avenge its leader's death.

Last month, the group said it had carried out an attack on the headquarters of the Nigerian police in Abuja, which killed at least six people.

Most of its attacks take place in the north-eastern city of Maiduguri, in Borno state, where thousands of people have been fleeing in recent days.

Continue reading the main story 2002: Founded2009: Hundreds killed when Maiduguri police stations stormed2009: Boko Haram leader Mohammed Yusuf captured by army, handed to police, later found deadSept: 2010: Freed hundreds of prisoners from Maiduguri jailDecember 2010: Bombed Jos, killing 80 people and blamed for New Year's Eve attack on Abuja barracks2010-2011: Dozens killed in Maiduguri shootingsMay 2011: Bombed several states after president's inaugurationJune 2011: Police HQ bombedJune 2011: 25 people killed in attack on barOn Tuesday, the university in Maiduguri was closed because of the growing insecurity.

The security forces in the city have also been accused of firing indiscriminately and killing civilians after the raids.

Legislators from Borno state held a press conference in Abuja on Tuesday to condemn the military strategy in Borno and called for an amicable solution to the conflict with Boko Haram.

Last week, Maiduguri banned all motorbikes to prevent drive-by shootings by Boko Haram.

Its gunmen often use motorbikes to assassinate security officers and politicians.

The group's official name is Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati wal-Jihad, which in Arabic means "People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet's Teachings and Jihad".

But residents of Maiduguri, where it was formed in 2002, dubbed it Boko Haram.

Loosely translated from the local Hausa language, this means Western education is forbidden.

Residents gave it the name because of its strong opposition to Western education, which it sees as corrupting Muslims.

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Police trial on Katrina shooting

28 June 2011 Last updated at 04:57 GMT Defence lawyers say officers did the best they could in the chaos after the storm Five police officers charged over a fatal shooting in the chaotic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in August 2005 have gone on trial in New Orleans.

Two unarmed residents were killed and four others wounded in the incident on the Danziger Bridge.

Prosecutors say the officers decided to "shoot first and ask questions later" and then tried to cover up the crimes.

Defence lawyers say their clients feared for their lives and were justified in using deadly force.

Most of New Orleans was flooded by the hurricane and there was widespread looting and violence in the storm's aftermath.

Prosecutor Bobbi Bernstein said police plotted to plant a gun, fabricate witnesses and falsify reports to cover up what they had done.

He said they tried to use the chaotic conditions created by the hurricane as an excuse for gaps in their investigation.

"They lied because they knew they committed a crime," Mr Bernstein said.

"They lied because they knew police officers were not allowed to shoot first and ask questions later."

Charges 'fiction'

Former officer Robert Faulcon, Sgt Robert Gisevius, Sgt Kenneth Bowen and officer Anthony Villavaso are charged with the shootings that killed James Brissette, 17, and Ronald Madison, 40.

Retired Sgt Arthur Kaufman is charged with the alleged cover-up.

Paul Fleming, lawyer for Mr Faulcon, said the officers "did the best they could".

"These men are innocent," he said. "These five had one thing in common - they stayed."

Frank DeSalvo, lawyer for Mr Bowen, called the government's case a work of "fiction"

The shootings happened on the morning of 4 September 2005, less than a week after Katrina made landfall.

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China police arrest 25 in clashes

12 June 2011 Last updated at 08:42 GMT Last week, there were protests in central Hubei province Police in southern China say they have arrested 25 people after clashes between residents and security forces near the city of Guangzhou.

A crowd threw bottles and bricks at police after a dispute between two street vendors and local security.

Riot police are also patrolling the city of Lichuan in central China after crowds attacked government offices.

Protests and clashes with police are common in China over corruption and land seizures by local officials.

In the Guangzhou incident, reports said people in the town of Xintang blocked traffic and damaged vehicles as the dispute between police and two street vendors, a migrant couple, escalated.

Police later seized control of the area, which is in southern China's manufacturing heartland and is home to migrants working in a number of textile factories.

'Unnatural death'

The arrests follow a separate incident further north, in Lichuan city in Hubei province, where hundreds of people laid siege to local government offices following the death in custody of a respected local official.

The official, Ran Jinxian, had been arrested for allegedly taking bribes linked to land seizures and forced demolitions of people's homes.

Mr Ran, 49, was arrested on 26 May and died on 4 June. His family said he was beaten to death during interrogation.

"Ran's cousin said he found signs of wounds and bruises on Ran's body at the hospital and believed that they were signs of an 'unnatural death'," state-run Xinhua news agency said.

Residents of Lichuan said Mr Ran was arrested because he refused to co-operate with his superiors in a campaign of land requisitions.

Several officials have been detained or are under investigation over Mr Ran's death.

There is widespread anger in China over corruption and the practice of seizing land and clearing out the residents to develop it for a profit.

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Ahmad 'assault' police not guilty

3 June 2011 Last updated at 15:25 GMT Colin Reynolds, solicitor acting for officers: "They are looking forward to returning to work"

Four police officers accused of beating up a terror suspect have all been found not guilty at Southwark Crown Court.

A jury acquitted Pc Roderick James-Bowen, 40, Pc Mark Jones, 43, Pc Nigel Cowley, 34, and Det Con John Donohue, 37, of assaulting Babar Ahmad.

Mr Ahmad, 37, was arrested at his home in Tooting, south London, in December 2003 on suspicion of leading a group which supported al-Qaeda.

Mr Ahmad was never charged in relation to his arrest but is in custody.

He is awaiting extradition to the US for alleged terrorism offences.

Mr Ahmad said he feared he would die in the early morning Metropolitan Police raid.

But jurors rejected claims that the officers attacked him, taking less than an hour to reach their decision.

The BBC understands some members of the jury later asked to meet the officers to shake their hands, correspondent Ben Ando reported.

Secret recordings

Speaking after the verdicts, the officers' solicitor Colin Reynolds said secret recordings from a listening device planted in Mr Ahmad's home, which emerged in evidence, corroborated his clients' accounts.

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They are hoping that they will be able to put these unfounded and unsubstantiated allegations behind them”

End Quote Colin Reynolds Solicitor "It was only weeks before this trial commenced that the prosecution then disclosed that a listening device had been planted in the home address of Babar Ahmad some time before his arrest in December 2003," he said.

"Many hours were spent analysing what could be heard as a result of that probe before and during the trial and that evidence proved the account originally given by these officers was correct and specific details of the complaint made by Mr Ahmad were not present."

Asked why the Met paid out ?60,000 to Mr Ahmad in a civil case when the force admitted liability, he said: "That's a matter for the Commissioner and his lawyers."

Mr Reynolds also spoke of the men's relief at the verdicts and said they were "looking forward to getting on with their professional lives".

"The officers look forward to returning to work and... serving the public within the MPS and they are hoping that they will be able to put these unfounded and unsubstantiated allegations behind them now."

After the not guilty verdicts were returned, Judge Geoffrey Rivlin QC said he hoped what he described as Mr Ahmad's "ordeal" would come to an end as quickly as possible, either by his extradition to the US or his release.

He said Mr Ahmad had been detained in the UK for a number of years and it was a matter of concern.

Mr Ahmad claims the officers, then all constables in the Met's Territorial Support Group (TSG), beat him repeatedly, swore at him, mocked his Islamic faith and humiliated him by touching his genitals in an assault that began at his house and continued in a police van and at a police station.

CCTV showed Babar Ahmad's arrest

He alleged that one officer grabbed his throat and cut off his breathing.

Mr Ahmad told the court: "He kept squeezing to the point where I thought, 'This guy is going to kill me. He wants to kill me. I am going to die in the back of this van'."

But the officers said his injuries were either self-inflicted or caused by a legal tackle that took him to the ground when he was first detained.

Pc James-Bowen told the court he had a "ferocious" struggle with martial arts expert Mr Ahmad in which he used "significant force", but rejected accusations that he and his colleagues beat him up.

Resistance feared

The four officers involved in the raid had been told by senior officers to arrest Mr Ahmad.

The four-week trial heard that the suspect's arrest came 11 months after DC Stephen Oake was murdered in Crumpsall, Manchester, by terror suspect Kamel Bourgass.

Police chiefs briefed the arresting officers that Mr Ahmad was to be considered as dangerous as Bourgass and said they feared he would resist, the jury heard.

Continue reading the main story

The issues that have arisen out of the arrest have now been ongoing for a long time”

End Quote Acting Commander Carl Bussey Metropolitan Police Pc Jones told the court he and the other officers in his unit were told by their sergeant before the operation that the suspect had been trained by al-Qaeda in armed and unarmed combat.

Mr Ahmad was believed to be the leader of an al-Qaeda-linked cell that acted as a conduit to terrorism overseas, providing recruits and logistical support.

In evidence during the trial, Mr Ahmad confirmed that he travelled to Bosnia three or four times to fight during the 1992/95 war, but insisted he was not an "al-Qaeda superman".

Misconduct review

The Metropolitan Police Authority is set to publish an investigation into the incident.

In a statement, the Met Police said the court had heard evidence that did not support Mr Ahmad's account of events following his arrest.

Acting Commander Carl Bussey, head of the Met's Directorate of Professional Standards, said: "The issues that have arisen out of the arrest have now been ongoing for a long time and undoubtedly this will have been a difficult seven years for all involved.

"Given the result I will now ensure a misconduct review is conducted immediately so that the officers can be given a decision as soon as possible and this matter finally brought to a conclusion."

The Metropolitan Police later said three of the officers would remain on restricted duties pending a decision on whether they should face a misconduct hearing.

The fourth officer, Pc Mark Jones, is currently suspended on an unrelated matter.

Mr Ahmad's lawyer, Fiona Murphy, said: "The criminal proceedings have taken their course and the jury has returned its verdict".

"We now call upon the IPCC to put its abject failures in relation to this case to one side and to give proper consideration to the misconduct aspects."

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S Korea police end Hyundai strike

24 May 2011 Last updated at 13:27 GMT Officials said the strikers had illegally blocked others from entering the factory South Korean police have broken up a strike at a car parts factory which was threatening the country's car industry.

More than 3,000 riot police moved in to disperse protesters at the Yoosung Enterprise factory in Asan, south of Seoul, Korea's Yonhap news agency said.

About 500 workers had been staging a sit-in at the factory since last week after wage negotiations broke down.

Hyundai, South Korea's top carmaker, had warned it was facing severe disruption to production.

Yoosung manufactures piston rings, which are key components in car engines.

Hyundai had already suspended production of diesel engines at its Ulsan plant and warned earlier on Tuesday it could also have to stop production of petrol or gasoline engines.

Supply disruption was also expected to hit its subsidiary car manufacturer Kia Motors.

Yoosung also supplies parts to the Korean units of General Motors and Renault.

'Negative impact'

In a statement issued before the raid, the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association said the industry could lose up to five trillion won (?2.8bn: $4.57bn) if the stoppage ran into June, and urged the union to consider the "negative impact" of the strike.

Officials at the plant said the strike was illegal because those taking part were occupying the production line and blocking non-strikers from entering the building.

"Police have marched into the plant... so far without any violent clashes," a police spokeswoman in Asan told the AFP news agency.

Yonhap said police had secured warrants for the arrest of two union leaders involved.

The majority of strikers occupying the plant were detained while others were dispersed, a police statement said, adding that most of those in detention would be released later.

It remains unclear when production might resume at the plant.

The disruption comes as South Korean carmakers are poised to take market share from their Japanese rivals, which are suffering from parts shortages of their own.

Hyundai reported record profits in the final three months of last year, due in part to strong overseas sales in China and the US.

Analysts had been expecting the carmaker, the fifth-biggest in the world, to continue to perform well in 2011.

There were concerns that serious disruption to production lines could have affected those forecasts.

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