Latest news with #Terrorism
Russia Today
a day ago
- Politics
- Russia Today
‘One-sided game' in relations with West has ended
Russia will no longer play 'one-sided' games with the West, President Vladimir Putin has told journalists on the sidelines of the summit of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) in Minsk. Western nations have repeatedly betrayed Russia by not fulfilling their promises related to NATO expansion and resolving the Ukraine conflict, he stated at a press conference on Friday. NATO is currently justifying its planned defense spending hike to 5% of its members' GDP and military buildup in Europe by pointing to Russia's 'aggressiveness,' Putin said, adding that the bloc's members are 'turning everything upside down' when they make statements such as these. 'No one is saying a word about how we've come up to the Russian special military operation,' the president said, adding that the roots of the Ukraine conflict go back decades when Moscow was 'blatantly lied to' about NATO expansion. 'What followed was one expansion wave after another,' he stated. Russia's security concerns about the bloc's activities have been consistently ignored and met with silence, according to Putin. 'Isn't it aggressive behavior? That is precisely aggressive behavior, which the West does not want to pay attention to.' According to the president, Western nations have supported separatism and even terrorism as long as it is directed against Russia. Terrorist groups were outright ignored if they acted on Russian territory, he claimed. 'Everything was good as long as it was against Russia. Haven't we seen this? They [the West] saw it as well. Yet, they only talk about our aggressiveness.' We are not aggressive. The Collective West is. The president's words came just days after the NATO summit in The Hague, where the bloc's members made a commitment to hike defense spending to 5% of GDP annually by 2035. The decision was made 'in the face of profound security threats and challenges, in particular the long-term threat posed by Russia to Euro-Atlantic security,' the summit's statement said. Russia has said it considers NATO expansion towards its borders to be a major national security threat, and cited Kiev's ambitions to join the US-led bloc among the key reasons that led to the conflict between Moscow and Kiev.
Arabian Business
a day ago
- Politics
- Arabian Business
UAE Supreme Court reconvicts 24 in Justice and Dignity terror case, issues life sentences for terror financing
The Federal Supreme Court of the UAE has partially overturned a previous judgment in the high-profile 'Terrorist Justice and Dignity Organisation' case, issuing life sentences to 24 defendants for collaborating with and financing the Al-Islah Terrorist Organisation. The court sentenced the defendants to life imprisonment f or collaborating with the 'Terrorist Justice and Dignity Organisation,' and providing funds to the 'Al-Islah Terrorist Organisation,', in addition to ordering the confiscation of all funds and items seized in connection with these crimes. Attorney General, Chancellor Dr. Hamad Saif Al Shamsi, had partially appealed the appellate court's ruling that dismissed the criminal case against the defendants for collaborating with the 'Terrorist Justice and Dignity Organisation' and financing the 'Al-Islah Terrorist Organization,' citing their prior trial in Case No. 79 of 2012 – State Security. UAE courts The Attorney General argued that the ruling was legally flawed in its application of the law, and should therefore be overturned. He emphasised that the court should have applied the penalties prescribed for the more serious offences of financing and collaborating with a terrorist organisation, while accounting for any portion of the sentence already served under the previous ruling. The court's decision to dismiss the criminal case for these two offenses based on a final ruling issued in Case No. 79 of 2012 – State Security Crimes – was misplaced. The prior judgement only convicted the defendants of a single crime, namely the establishment and management of the 'Al-Islah Organization' as stipulated in Article 180/1 of the Penal Code, and did not address the separate crimes of financing a terrorist organisation and collaborating with it, both of which are stipulated in Federal Law No. 1 of 2004 on Combating Terrorist Crimes, and carry independent and more severe penalties. The Federal Supreme Court reviewed the Attorney General's appeal, and in its session on Thursday, June 26, ruled to partially overturn the judgment and reconvict 24 defendants, sentencing them to life imprisonment. The court based its decision on the clear legal distinction between the incidents in the two cases, which invalidates any claim that they share the same cause or subject matter. Each incident constitutes an independent criminal act subject to its own punishment under the law. Accordingly, the previous ruling in Case No. 79 of 2012 – State Security Crimes – does not carry legal weight that would prevent the prosecution of the defendants for the charges of financing and collaboration in the present case. Since the challenged judgment overlooked this principle and dismissed the criminal case based on the prior ruling, despite the difference in cause and subject matter, the judgment erred in its application of the law. This necessitated the partial overturning of these specific charges, limited to the defendants named in the Attorney General's appeal. The State Security Chamber of the Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeal had previously convicted, in Case No. 87 of 2023, known publicly as the 'Terrorist Justice and Dignity Organization' case, 53 defendants who were leaders and members of the terrorist Muslim Brotherhood organization, in addition to six companies. Sentences ranged from life and temporary imprisonment to fines totalling AED20m ($5.4m), while one defendant was acquitted. Following Thursday's ruling by the State Security Chamber of the Federal Supreme Court, the total number of convicted individuals in this case has risen to 83 out of 84 referred to trial.
Zawya
a day ago
- Politics
- Zawya
UAE: Life Imprisonment for Defendants in ‘Justice and Dignity Organization' Case
In its session held yesterday, Thursday, 26 June 2025, the Criminal Chamber of the Federal Supreme Court ruled to partially overturn the judgment issued by the State Security Chamber at the Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeal and to reconvict 24 defendants in the case known publicly as the "Terrorist Justice and Dignity Organization" case. The court sentenced the defendants to life imprisonment for collaborating with the "Terrorist Justice and Dignity Organization," and providing funds to the "Al-Islah Terrorist Organization,", in addition to ordering the confiscation of all funds and items seized in connection with these crimes. Attorney General, Chancellor Dr. Hamad Saif Al Shamsi, had partially appealed the appellate court's ruling that dismissed the criminal case against the defendants for collaborating with the "Terrorist Justice and Dignity Organization" and financing the "Al-Islah Terrorist Organization," citing their prior trial in Case No. 79 of 2012 - State Security. The Attorney General argued that the ruling was legally flawed in its application of the law, and should therefore be overturned. He emphasized that the court should have applied the penalties prescribed for the more serious offenses of financing and collaborating with a terrorist organisation, while accounting for any portion of the sentence already served under the previous ruling. The court's decision to dismiss the criminal case for these two offenses based on a final ruling issued in Case No. 79 of 2012 - State Security Crimes - was misplaced. The prior judgement only convicted the defendants of a single crime, namely the establishment and management of the "Al-Islah Organization" as stipulated in Article 180/1 of the Penal Code, and did not address the separate crimes of financing a terrorist organization and collaborating with it, both of which are stipulated in Federal Law No. 1 of 2004 on Combating Terrorist Crimes, and carry independent and more severe penalties. The Federal Supreme Court reviewed the Attorney General's appeal, and in its session yesterday, ruled to partially overturn the judgment and reconvict 24 defendants, sentencing them to life imprisonment. The court based its decision on the clear legal distinction between the incidents in the two cases, which invalidates any claim that they share the same cause or subject matter. Each incident constitutes an independent criminal act subject to its own punishment under the law. Accordingly, the previous ruling in Case No. 79 of 2012 - State Security Crimes - does not carry legal weight that would prevent the prosecution of the defendants for the charges of financing and collaboration in the present case. Since the challenged judgment overlooked this principle and dismissed the criminal case based on the prior ruling- despite the difference in cause and subject matter- the judgment erred in its application of the law. This necessitated the partial overturning of these specific charges, limited to the defendants named in the Attorney General's appeal. It is worth noting that the State Security Chamber of the Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeal had previously convicted, in Case No. 87 of 2023, known publicly as the "Terrorist Justice and Dignity Organization" case, 53 defendants who were leaders and members of the terrorist Muslim Brotherhood organization, in addition to 6 companies. Sentences ranged from life and temporary imprisonment to fines totaling 20 million dirhams, while one defendant was acquitted. Following yesterday's ruling by the State Security Chamber of the Federal Supreme Court, the total number of convicted individuals in this case has risen to 83 out of 84 referred to trial.
Fox News
4 days ago
- Politics
- Fox News
MIKE POMPEO: Trump's Iran strikes show world what 'America First' foreign policy looks like
The world changed for the better on Saturday night thanks to America's devastating strikes on key Iranian nuclear facilities – a mission so effective that it impelled Iran to sue for peace with Israel within two days. Americans owe a debt of gratitude to the brave servicemen who carried out this operation, and to President Donald Trump for taking this momentous and necessary decision. For the past 46 years, America may not have been at war with Iran -- but Iran was certainly at war with America. From assassination plots on American leaders to the proxy forces killing American soldiers in Iraq, Tehran is responsible for the deaths of well over a thousand Americans. The destruction of the Great Satan (America) and the Little Satan (Israel) is embedded in the DNA of this regime, which remains the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism. Allowing this evil dictatorship to acquire a nuclear weapon would have been a grave dereliction of duty. President Trump has been clear that he would not permit the Islamic Republic to acquire nuclear weapons. Yet presidents often make such promises and fail to deliver – think of President Obama's "red line" in Syria, or President Joe Biden's toothless warnings to Russia prior to the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. By following through on his vow, President Trump communicated to Iran – and to the world – that America means business. President Trump gave the Iranian regime every opportunity to negotiate, but would not fall for the regime's tactic of spinning out talks in perpetuity while racing toward nuclear breakout. These strikes embodied the "America First" vision of foreign policy that we pursued during my time as Secretary of State in the first Trump administration. We threw out the Obama administration's disastrous Iran deal and shifted our policy from appeasement to maximum pressure – imposing real costs for Iran's bad behavior. When Iranian proxies killed American servicemen, we retaliated by taking out Quds Force Commander Qassem Soleimani. Standing up to the regime checked their ability to project power in the region, and enabled us to forge the historic Abraham Accords between Israel and several Muslim countries. And while they can't yet say it publicly, I have no doubt that our Gulf Arab allies are thanking us today. Iran's authoritarian allies in Beijing and Moscow should take note. The fact that neither Xi Jinping nor Vladimir Putin came to Iran's aid tells us everything we need to know about the strength of that allegedly enduring security and diplomatic partnership. Russia and China stand to lose significantly from a weakened Iran: Iran's ability to provide military hardware to Russia for its war on Ukraine is now compromised, and a key source of pressure on U.S. interests in the region is on the back foot. Of course, none of these achievements are without risk, as we saw with Monday's attacks on U.S. military personnel in the Middle East, which were thankfully intercepted. Iran is not known for keeping its word, and has a long history of using terrorist cells and proxy forces to work their will, and America and our allies must be alert to this danger. However, President Trump has made it perfectly clear that the days of Iran holding a sword above our heads are over, and the United States will unleash hell if any American is harmed in the coming days. It's also important to note that there is still work to be done to make sure that Iran's nuclear program is fully dismantled. The American and Israeli intelligence services will need to figure out what materials the regime was able to disperse in advance of these strikes. But there can be no doubt that their capabilities have been enormously diminished – and that is thanks to the United States and Israel. The critics on the left and right who warned we were embarking on a "forever war" once again missed the mark completely. What President Donald Trump initiated was a limited mission to end the forever war that the Iranian regime has been waging against the American people and our allies for decades. And while military action is always a calculated risk, inaction given the condition of the Iranian nuclear program posed a far greater threat to American security. If there was ever a time to act to end the unacceptable threat of a nuclear Iran, it was now. The end of this story is not yet written, but one thing is certain: Saturday night's strikes were a triumph of decisive leadership that will go a long way toward making President Reagan's dictum of "peace through strength" a reality. America's enemies must know that we want peace, but are fully prepared to take decisive military action should the situation require it. We've now made that plain – and America is safer today as a result.
National Post
5 days ago
- Politics
- National Post
Michael Higgins: After Trump's airstrikes on Iran, the world is a safer place
The U.S. airstrikes on Saturday at three Iranian nuclear facilities will undoubtedly raise tensions in the Middle East, but have almost certainly made the world a safer place. Article content What is so chilling and frightening about Iran's nuclear ambitions is how close they were to creating a nuclear weapon. And a nuclear bomb in the hands of Iran is the same as putting it in the hands of terrorists. Article content Article content How close are they? According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iran, the biggest sponsor of terrorism in the world, is estimated to have enough uranium to create nine nuclear weapons if they just enrich it a little further. Article content Article content Iran says it is building a nuclear program for peaceful purposes, but then hides its nuclear stockpile from the IAEA inspectors and hinders them as they try to assess the country's capabilities. Article content Iran has stopped the inspectors from monitoring heavy water production needed for the nuclear program; refused them access to enrichment facilities at Natanz and Fordo and does not allow them to inspect centrifuges or other infrastructure. Article content Article content These moves are in clear violation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) signed between Iran and the U.S., the U.K., France, Russia, China and Germany in 2015. Article content Article content 'The historic deal that will prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon,' trumpeted the White House under President Barack Obama when the deal was signed. Article content 'The fact that Iran is the only non-nuclear-weapon State in the world that is producing and accumulating uranium enriched to 60 per cent remains a matter of serious concern, which has drawn international attention given the potential proliferation implications,' says the IAEA in a rather understated manner.
