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Trump says he expects to be indicted in Capitol riot probe

Former US President Donald Trump said he expects to be charged for the January 6 Capitol attack, adding to his legal troubles as he eyes another White House run. He is already facing criminal charges for mishandling classified documents. The exact charges for 6 January are not clear.

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1 year ago

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WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES — Former US president Donald Trump said Tuesday he expected to be charged over the 6 January attack on the US Capitol — an indictment that would ramp up his legal woes as he makes another White House run.

Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, is already facing criminal charges brought by special counsel Jack Smith for mishandling top secret government documents after leaving office.

Trump said he received a letter from Smith on Sunday stating that he’s a target of the probe into 6 January 2021, when Trump supporters stormed Congress in a bid to prevent certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory.

“Deranged Jack Smith, the prosecutor with Joe Biden’s DOJ, sent a letter… stating that I am a TARGET of the January 6 Grand Jury investigation,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform.

The 77-year-old Trump said he was given four days to report to a grand jury, “which almost always means an Arrest and Indictment.”

“This witch hunt is all about election interference and a complete and total political weaponization of law enforcement,” he said. “It is a very sad and dark period for our Nation!”

Speaking on Fox News later Tuesday, Trump accused the Democratic party of using the Department of Justice to tank his political career.

“The DOJ has become a weapon for the Democrats, an absolute weapon,” he said. “They want to try and demean, and diminish, and frighten people.”

‘Fight like hell’

It was not immediately clear what charges Trump may face, and a target letter does not always result in an indictment.

Before the Capitol attack, Trump delivered a fiery speech nearby urging the crowd to “fight like hell,” and Smith has spent months looking into January 6 and Trump’s other efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

An unnamed advisor to Trump told the Post the former president would decline to appear before the January 6 grand jury, which has already heard testimony from a number of close Trump associates.

More than 1,000 people have been arrested for taking part in what prosecutors have called an insurrection intended to keep Trump in the White House.

Most of them face charges of illegally entering the Capitol or causing property damage, but some 350 have been charged with assaulting law enforcement officers or resisting arrest.

Others, including members of the far-right Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, have been convicted of the more serious charge of seditious conspiracy.

‘Distraction’

Former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, who is also vying for the 2024 Republican nomination, told Fox News another Trump indictment would be a “distraction.”

“We can’t keep dealing with this drama,” Haley said. “And that’s why I’m running. We need a new generational leader.”

Kevin McCarthy, the Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, accused Biden, who is running for reelection, of using the justice system to “go after their number one opponent.”

Democratic Representative Adam Schiff denounced McCarthy’s remarks as a “shameful” attempt to “provide cover for a corrupt former president.”

Trump was indicted by Smith in June for allegedly stashing classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida — the first former US president to face criminal charges.

Trump is charged with “willful retention of national defense information,” conspiracy to obstruct justice, making false statements and other offenses.

Prosecutors have asked US District Judge Aileen Cannon for a December trial date, while Trump’s defense attorneys have asked for it to begin after the November 2024 White House vote.

At a hearing in Fort Pierce, Florida, on Tuesday, Cannon was sceptical about delaying the trial until after the 2024 election but also appeared doubtful it could be held in December, The Washington Post reported.

She said she would issue a decision on a trial date “promptly.”

Georgia probe

Georgia prosecutors are also investigating whether Trump illegally attempted to overturn the 2020 presidential election outcome in the southern state.

In his Truth Social post, Trump said he has “the right to protest an Election that I am fully convinced was Rigged and Stolen” and he was being targeted because of the upcoming vote.

Asked about Trump’s potential indictment, White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said, “The president respects the Department of Justice, their independence.”

Trump pleaded not guilty in New York earlier this year in a case involving election-eve hush money payments to Stormy Daniels, a porn star who said she had an affair with him.

Trump was impeached by the Democratic-majority House of Representatives in 2019 for seeking political dirt on Biden from Ukraine, and again after the January 6 attack on the Capitol, but was acquitted by the Senate both times.

— AFP

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AFP

Singapore hangs 14th drug convict since last year

Singapore executed Mohd Aziz bin Hussain, convicted of drug trafficking, amid a resumption of executions in 2022. Another woman prisoner, Saridewi Djamani, faces execution.

Amnesty International urged Singapore to halt the executions, questioning the deterrent effect of the death penalty.

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1 year ago

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26 July 2023

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SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE — Singapore on Wednesday hanged a local man convicted of drug trafficking, officials said, two days before the scheduled execution of the first woman prisoner in the city-state in nearly 20 years.

Mohd Aziz bin Hussain, convicted and sentenced to death in 2017 for trafficking “not less than 49.98 grams” (1.76 ounces) of heroin, was executed at Changi Prison, the Central Narcotics Bureau said in a statement.

The 57-year-old was the 14th convict sent to the gallows since the government resumed executions in March 2022 after a two-year pause during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Hussain’s previous appeals against his conviction and sentence had been dismissed, and a petition for presidential clemency was also denied.

A woman drug convict, 45-year-old Saridewi Djamani, is scheduled to be hanged on Friday, according to the local rights group Transformative Justice Collective (TJC).

She was sentenced to death in 2018 for trafficking around 30 grams of heroin.

If carried out, Djamani would be the first woman executed in Singapore since 2004, when 36-year-old hairdresser Yen May Woen was hanged for drug trafficking, according to TJC activist Kokila Annamalai.

Singapore has some of the world’s toughest anti-drug laws — trafficking more than 500 grams of cannabis or over 15 grams of heroin can result in the death penalty.

Rights watchdog Amnesty International on Tuesday urged Singapore to halt the executions, saying there was no evidence the death penalty acted as a deterrent to crime.

“It is unconscionable that authorities in Singapore continue to cruelly pursue more executions in the name of drug control,” Amnesty death penalty expert Chiara Sangiorgio said in a statement.

Singapore, however, insists that the death penalty has helped make it one of Asia’s safest countries.

Among those hanged since last year was Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam, whose execution sparked a global outcry, including from the United Nations and British tycoon Richard Branson, because he was deemed to have a mental disability.

— AFP

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AFP

Singapore to execute first woman in nearly 20 years: rights groups

Singapore set to execute two drug convicts, including first woman in 20 years, despite rights groups’ calls to stop.

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1 year ago

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25 July 2023

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SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE — Singapore is set to hang two drug convicts this week, including the first woman to be sent to the gallows in nearly 20 years, rights groups said Tuesday, while urging the executions be halted.

Local rights organisation Transformative Justice Collective (TJC) said a 56-year-old man convicted of trafficking 50 grams (1.76 ounces) of heroin is scheduled to be hanged on Wednesday at the Southeast Asian city-state’s Changi Prison.

A 45-year-old woman convict who TJC identified as Saridewi Djamani is also set to be sent to the gallows on Friday. She was sentenced to death in 2018 for trafficking around 30 grams of heroin.

If carried out, she would be the first woman to be executed in Singapore since 2004 when 36-year-old hairdresser Yen May Woen was hanged for drug trafficking, said TJC activist Kokila Annamalai.

TJC said the two prisoners are Singaporeans and their families have received notices setting the dates of their executions.

Prison officials have not answered emailed questions from AFP seeking confirmation.

Singapore imposes the death penalty for certain crimes, including murder and some forms of kidnapping.

It also has some of the world’s toughest anti-drug laws: trafficking more than 500 grams of cannabis and 15 grams of heroin can result in the death penalty.

At least 13 people have been hanged so far since the government resumed executions following a two-year hiatus in place during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Rights watchdog Amnesty International on Tuesday urged Singapore to halt the impending executions.

“It is unconscionable that authorities in Singapore continue to cruelly pursue more executions in the name of drug control,” Amnesty’s death penalty expert Chiara Sangiorgio said in a statement.

“There is no evidence that the death penalty has a unique deterrent effect or that it has any impact on the use and availability of drugs.

“As countries around the world do away with the death penalty and embrace drug policy reform, Singapore’s authorities are doing neither,” Sangiorgio added.

Singapore insists that the death penalty is an effective crime deterrent.

— AFP

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