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JK Rowling dares police to arrest her  

Rowling put out a series of comments on X lashing out against transgender women, including double rapist Isla Bryson, who was jailed for eight years last year for raping two women…reports Asian Lite News

JK Rowling has dared police to arrest her as the Harry Potter author lashed out against new hate crime laws that have come into force in Scotland

The new measures aim to tackle the harm caused by hatred and prejudice, extending protections from abusive behaviour to people on grounds including age, disability, religion, sexual orientation and transgender identity.

A Holyrood minister, Siobhian Brown MSP, said on Monday people “could be investigated” for misgendering someone online. Those who support the new laws insist they will make Scotland more tolerant. But critics such as Rowling say the legislation could stifle free speech – and fails to extend these protections to women.

Rowling put out a series of comments on X lashing out against transgender women, including double rapist Isla Bryson, who was jailed for eight years last year for raping two women.

Rowling said: “I’m currently out of the country, but if what I’ve written here qualifies as an offence under the terms of the new act, I look forward to being arrested when I return to the birthplace of the Scottish Enlightenment.”

She said the new legislation “is wide open to abuse by activists who wish to silence those of us speaking out about the dangers of eliminating women’s and girls’ single-sex spaces, the nonsense made of crime data if violent and sexual assaults committed by men are recorded as female crimes, the grotesque unfairness of allowing males to compete in female sports, the injustice of women’s jobs, honours and opportunities being taken by trans-identified men, and the reality and immutability of biological sex”.

Rowling has long been involved in a battle with the transgender community, who accuses her of being transphobic. The author denies the accusation, saying she wants to defend women’s rights.

On Monday she went on to say: “The re-definition of ‘woman’ to include every man who declares himself one has already had serious consequences for women’s and girls’ rights and safety in Scotland, with the strongest impact felt, as ever, by the most vulnerable, including female prisoners and rape survivors.

“It is impossible to accurately describe or tackle the reality of violence and sexual violence committed against women and girls, or address the current assault on women’s and girls’ rights, unless we are allowed to call a man a man. Freedom of speech and belief are at an end in Scotland if the accurate description of biological sex is deemed criminal.”

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BA official on the run in India over £3 mn visa racket

“He exploited a loophole knowing that immigration checks are no longer carried out by officials but are left to airline staff,” ‘The Sun’ newspaper quoted a source as saying…reports Asian Lite News

British police are working with their Indian counterparts to trace a British Airways supervisor believed to be on the run in India after his role in an alleged GBP 3 million visa scam from over five years came to light, according to a UK media report on Tuesday.

‘The Sun’ newspaper reports that the unnamed 24-year-old suspect worked at Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport and is said to have charged customers GBP 25,000 per trip to abuse a loophole and fly them across the British Airways (BA) network without crucial visa documents.

British police are now said to be working with their Indian counterparts to try to trace the man, who reportedly vanished with his partner – a BA ground services staffer – after he was arrested on January 6 and released on bail. He is believed to have flown out to India where he has reportedly bought several properties.

“As part of his fiddle, he got clients, most from India, to fly to the UK on a temporary visitor visa where he arranged for them to jet elsewhere,” the newspaper reports.

“Other clients were UK-based asylum claimants who feared being returned to their country of origin. Canadian authorities raised the alarm after years of BA flights to Toronto and Vancouver on which arrivals would immediately declare asylum,” it adds.

An investigation into the issue discovered that all passengers were checked in by the same man who wrongly verified the travellers had an electronic travel authorisation (ETA) to enter a chosen country. An ETA can be applied for by a passenger only in their country of origin and therefore should have been rejected.

“He exploited a loophole knowing that immigration checks are no longer carried out by officials but are left to airline staff,” ‘The Sun’ newspaper quoted a source as saying.

“By inputting wrong data, and claiming eTA documents had been secured, he got people to countries they had no permission to enter in the first place. On arrival, the bogus passengers would shred their documents and claim asylum. Many jetted to Britain to pay him to get them to Canada,” the source said, adding that the full extent of the scam remains unknown.

“We’re assisting the authorities with their investigation,” a BA spokesperson said.

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Spanish police arrest 14 suspected Pakistani jihadists  

A similar anti-terror operation was carried out by the Spain’s national police last month where the police caught four suspected jihadists, reported Euro Weekly News…reports Asian Lite News

Police in Spain arrested suspected 14 Pakistan-origin individuals and busted a suspected jihadist network based in the country, Euro Weekly News reported.

The arrests were made as part of an operation initiated by Spain’s General Information Commissioner’s Office after the anti-terrorist alert level was raised in the country following Hamas’ attack on Israel a month ago. Spanish Security Forces redoubled surveillance on suspects in order to avoid possible attacks, Euro Weekly News reported.

All of the detainees were of Pakistani origin and are said to have lived in Catalonia, Valencia, Guipuzcoa, Vitoria, Logrono and Lleida, according to Euro Weekly News, the largest English newspaper in Spain.

Police sources confirmed the arrests to La Razon, a local daily.

Those arrested will be reportedly produced in court on Wednesday (local time)

Euro Weekly News reported that it is believed that these individuals formed a network in which jihadist messages and a high degree of radicalisation were transmitted online.

David Atherton, a journalist at The European Conservative posted on social media app X stating that these 14 Pakistani jihadists are linked to Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) an Islamic extremist political party in Pakistan.

“In Spain 14 Pakistani jihadists have been arrested for terrorist activities. They lived in Catalonia, Valencia, Guipuzcoa, Vitoria, Logrono & Lleida. They are linked to Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan an Islamic extremist political party in Pakistan,” he said.

A similar anti-terror operation was carried out by the Spain’s national police last month where the police caught four suspected jihadists, reported Euro Weekly News.

Those four suspects were arrested in the Granada municipality of Huetor-Tajar, Cubelles in Barcelona, and Madrid, for ‘proselytism and jihadist recruitment’, the Spanish weekly said.

Reportedly, among those arrested was a man named “Caliph” who authorities said was the “creator and administrator of several groups in which he tried to indoctrinate young people in the jihadist creed.”

A married couple who had apparently been brought together after joining one of these online social media groups was also among those held, Euro Weekly News reported. Adding to this, the fourth suspected jihadist was said to have been an ‘indoctrinated’ individual. (ANI)

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London police chief calls for clarity on handling extremism at protests

A spokeswoman for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, which is responsible for examining the legal definition of extremism, declined to comment…reports Asian Lite News

Britain’s most senior police officer said on Sunday he would support a review into the legal definition of extremism in response to criticism of the way his officers handled pro-Palestinian protests in London.

Antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents have surged in Britain since a deadly rampage by Hamas gunmen in Israel on Oct. 7, and Israel’s retaliatory attacks on Gaza since then, with massive pro-Palestinian demonstrations held in London and other major UK cities, and vigils by Jewish groups in solidarity with hostages who were taken by the militants.

Some British politicians have criticised London’s police after they failed to arrest people at a pro-Palestinian rally shouting “jihad”. The police later said the phrase could have a number of meanings, concluding no offence had taken place.

Mark Rowley, head of London’s Metropolitan Police force, said his officers would “ruthlessly” arrest anyone who commits a hate crime, but there could only be prosecutions when the law is broken.

“There is scope to be much sharper in how we deal with extremism within this country,” he told Sky News. “The law was never designed to deal with extremism, there’s a lot to do with terrorism and hate crime but we don’t have a body of law that deals with extremism and that is creating a gap.”

Ministers are reviewing the legal definition of extremism in a move designed to counter hate crimes, including antisemitism, according to one government official. This work began with the attacks in Israel, the official said.

The government is also examining potential changes to terrorism legislation, The Sunday Telegraph reported.

A spokeswoman for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, which is responsible for examining the legal definition of extremism, declined to comment.

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Met Police to stop attending mental health calls

A Met spokesperson told the BBC that officers spent an average of 10 hours with a patient when they are sectioned under the Mental Health Act…reports Asian Lite News

The Metropolitan Police will no longer attend 999 calls linked to mental health incidents from September.

Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has told health and social care services that officers won’t be sent unless there’s a threat to life. It’s intended to allow police to focus on crime and its victims rather than dealing with people who need expert medical help.

“Where there is an immediate threat to life, officers will continue to respond,” the Met Police told The Guardian.

“In the interests of patients and the public, we urgently need to redress the imbalance of responsibility, where police officers are left delivering health responsibilities.

“Health services must take primacy for caring for the mentally ill, allowing officers to focus on their core responsibilities to prevent and detect crime, and keep communities safe and support victims.”

However, Mind, a mental health charity, expressed concern at the move, with its chief Sarah Hughes telling the BBC’s Today programme: “I am not persuaded we have got enough in the system to tolerate a shift to this new approach. I think we’ve got a huge way to go before the system is working together on behalf of very distressed individuals.

“We’re not in a position to say it’s either the police or somebody else. It’s often a complicated question that has a raft of answers. We are not ready, we are not in a fit for purpose state, to go straight to this policy.

A Met spokesperson told the BBC that officers spent an average of 10 hours with a patient when they are sectioned under the Mental Health Act.

“In London alone, between 500-600 times a month, officers are waiting for this length of time to hand over to patients, and it cannot continue,” said a statement.

“Police are compassionate and highly skilled but they are not trained to deliver mental health care.”

Humberside brought in a similar policy – known as Right Care, Right Person (RCRP) – in 2020 that involves staff from the charity Mind dealing with calls in the police control room.

It saved 1,100 police hours per month and people received “more timely care from the most appropriate care provider”, according to a November report by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, Fire and Rescue Services.

RCRP is designed to be implemented nationally, but the Met commissioner is believed to have lost patience. In his letter to health and social care services, seen by The Guardian, he writes: “I have asked my team that the Met introduce RCRP this summer and withdraw from health-related calls by no later than August 31.

“It is important to stress the urgency of implementing RCRP in London. Every day that we permit the status quo to remain, we are collectively failing patients and are not setting up officers to succeed. We are failing Londoners twice. We are failing them first by sending police officers, not medical professionals, to those in mental health crisis, and expecting them to do their best in circumstances where they are not the right people to be dealing with the patient. We are failing Londoners a second time by taking large amounts of officer time away from preventing and solving crime, as well as dealing properly with victims, in order to fill gaps for others. The extent to which we are collectively failing Londoners and inappropriately placing demand on policing is very stark.”

He added the Met had received a record number of 999 calls on 28-29 April but only 30% were “crime related”.

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YOU FAILED ME! Victims join women’s rights group to protest police failures in UK

Another victim, Sunita Goswami, described how she had been thrown out of her marital home – which she shared with her husband and two children…reports Asian Lite News

Members of the Indian Ladies in UK (ILUK), one of the largest Indian migrant women’s groups in the UK, gathered outside the headquarters of Britain’s biggest police force to protest the repeated police failures in protecting vulnerable migrant women.

The protestors made impassioned pleas for police forces across the country to improve awareness of the unique circumstances faced by migrant women.  They also implored those in positions of authority and power to address the serious lack of understanding in how to handle cases of the physical, emotional and psychological violence endured by these individuals.

These victims’ circumstances present unique challenges – they are in an entirely alien environment; they lack a support network; their visa status means that they are often unable to access public services; language and cultural barriers mean that, quite often, reporting abuse is as terrifying as experiencing it; above all, a lack of understanding of the law and their legal rights hampers their ability to obtain help and support.

Among those participating in the demonstration was ‘Pallavi’ (name changed to protect victim’s anonymity), a young woman originally from Indore in Madhya Pradesh who moved to the UK in 2017 after marrying a British citizen.  Soon after she began suffering abuse at the hands of her husband, the only person that she knew and relied on in the UK.  After months of mental, emotional and physical abuse she was locked out of her marital home with no family, no support.  She was left homeless and without any possessions.  When she reached out to the police for help – at the very least to retrieve her personal belongings – they refused even to register a complaint.

Pallavi became emotional at the demonstration, repeatedly telling the officers there: “You failed me!  When I was out on the streets alone, abandoned by my husband and with no support, you failed me!  When I was being threatened repeatedly by my husband’s family, you didn’t even register a complaint.  You failed me!”

Another victim, Sunita Goswami, described how she had been thrown out of her marital home – which she shared with her husband and two children.  She was falsely accused of being “mentally ill”, a favourite refrain of the perpetrators, and sent to a mental asylum, only to be released within hours after doctors found nothing mentally wrong with her.

When she reached out to police, they once again failed to register a complaint and refused to help in any way.

This inability to provide assistance has led to organizations like ILUK having to take matters into their own hands.  ILUK founder Poonam Joshi, who led the demonstration, said: “The worst part of my work is having to help women whose lives have been destroyed by the men they have entrusted their lives, only for them to be repeatedly let down by a policing and justice system that treats them like second class citizens.  The times where I have had to call police officers and remind them of the rights that women have or to coerce police forces to offer help are countless.  Also, we have been forced to take the law into our own hands because the situation has become so desperate and it is US having a word of warning with husbands to let them know about the protections and rights of women.  

 “Tens of thousands of women have been put at risk because of the widespread failure of police forces across the country to tackle domestic violence.  These failures are doubly damaging to first generation migrants because they not only have to contend with the trauma of abuse but then have to deal with a system that lacks understanding of the support that they require and urgently need.

“Often the default position is to take the abuser’s word at face value because these particular victims are unable to articulate what they are going through and are unable, unwilling or too fearful to demand their rights – either because they just aren’t aware or through cultural factors.  We need a dramatic change in police attitudes, empathy and education of officers who deal with these victims.”

Another supporter, Bhavini Patel, articulated the unique burden carried by these victims.  “Police don’t realize the emotional labour that we carry as migrant women.  Communities don’t realize the extra burden of being migrants in a foreign land, to be able to contend all those challenges while also dealing with abuse.  These women are extraordinary and while they have the support of their sisters, the justice system needs to do far more and far better to help them.  It’s just not good enough at the moment”.

Joining members of ILUK at the demonstration – many of whom left work early to participate in solidarity with victims – were representatives of Sikh Women’s Aid, another community organization that helps victims of domestic abuse victims across the West Midlands.

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Police arrest SNP treasurer in finance probe

Scottish Tory deputy leader Meghan Gallacher, however, said Yousaf should “tackle this scandal head on and prove he is his own man” by suspending both the former first minister and her husband…reports Asian Lite News

SNP treasurer Colin Beattie has been released without charge after he became the second figure in the party to be arrested amid a police investigation into its finances.

The 71-year-old was questioned by detectives on Tuesday and Police Scotland said that evening that he had since been “released without charge pending further investigation”.

The arrest of Beattie, the MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, comes less than two weeks after former first minister Nicola Sturgeon’s husband was arrested as part of the same investigation.

Peter Murrell, the former SNP chief executive, was questioned by officers on Wednesday April 5 as officers searched the home the couple share. He was later released without charge, pending further inquiries.

Police Scotland have been looking into how more than £600,000 in donations to the party earmarked for an independence referendum had been used, but First Minister Humza Yousaf said on Tuesday that he would not be speaking to Sturgeon about the investigation. Yousaf told journalists at Holyrood: “I haven’t spoken to Nicola in the last couple of weeks, but I will get to speak to Nicola, I am certain I will. But one thing Nicola and I will not be talking about is the police investigation. That would be wholly inappropriate.”

Scottish Tory deputy leader Meghan Gallacher, however, said Yousaf should “tackle this scandal head on and prove he is his own man” by suspending both the former first minister and her husband.

Speaking in Holyrood, Gallacher said: “The SNP is in total meltdown. Its former chief executive and now its current treasurer have been arrested amid a police investigation into the party’s finances. And leaked footage has shown Nicola Sturgeon trying to shut down scrutiny.”

Her comments came after Scottish Conservative chairman Craig Hoy called for Mr Beattie, Murrell and Sturgeon to be suspended from the SNP.

Hoy said: “This extremely serious matter is escalating by the day and everyone in the SNP has a duty to be as transparent as possible about what they knew and when.”

But Yousaf said it was a “really important point of natural law that people are presumed innocent until guilty”. He said he would consider the situation if charges are brought by police, saying if that was the case “we may well have to take that course of action”.

The First Minister stated: “Of course if they are guilty I would take the appropriate action, whether that is suspension or going further than that. But it is really important due process takes place.”

Earlier on Tuesday, Police Scotland confirmed Beattie had been arrested “in connection with the ongoing investigation into the funding and finances of the Scottish National Party”.

A report will be submitted to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, the force added.

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China’s illegal police ops in foreign soil target critics

One of the key operations the police service centers are involved in is the “persuasion to return” process, in which pressure is brought to bear on activists overseas using threats and retaliation…reports Asian Lite News

China is carrying out illegal, transnational policing operations across five continents, targeting overseas critics of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) with harassment, threats against their families back home and “persuasion” techniques to get them to go back, according to a recent report.

Chinese police are currently running at least 54 “overseas police service centers” in foreign countries, some of which work with law enforcement back home to run operations on foreign soil, the report from Safeguard Defenders said, RFA reported.

Initially started as a pilot scheme by police in Qingtian county, Zhejiang province, in 2019, the overseas stations were ostensibly set up to help Chinese nationals overseas with administrative tasks, the report said.

“But they also serve a far more sinister and wholly illegal purpose. Some official anecdotes of official operations explicitly cite the active involvement of Hometown Associations on the ground in tracking and pursuing targets indicated by [police or public prosecutors in China],” the report said.

Hometown Associations are community based groups of people from the same town in China, and are connected to the hierarchy of the CCP’s United Front Work Department, which runs outreach and influence operations both in China and overseas, RFA reported.

One of the key operations the service centers are involved in is the “persuasion to return” process, in which pressure is brought to bear on activists overseas using threats and retaliation against their loved ones back in China.

“In the mere 15 months between April 2021 and July 2022 alone, a staggering 230,000 Chinese nationals were returned to face potential criminal charges in China through these methods, which often include threats and harassment to family members back home or directly to the target abroad either through online or physical means,” Safeguard Defenders said.

The “persuasion to return” campaign was rolled out as a pilot project across 10 provinces in 2018, and official guidelines include denying targets’ children the right to education in China, or targeting their family members for harassment.

“The combination of an absolute absence of minimal judicial safeguards for the target and the association by guilt methods employed on their families, as well as the illegal methods adopted to circumvent official international cooperation mechanisms and the use of United Front Work-related organizations abroad to aid in such efforts, pose a most grave risk to the international rule of law and territorial sovereignty,” the report found, RFA reported.

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Police orders DNA test of stolen buffalo

The matter had taken a back seat during the Covid-19 pandemic…reports Asian Lite News

In an interesting case, the Shamli police has ordered the DNA test of an allegedly stolen buffalo that was traced by its owner in a nearby village.

Chandrapal Kashyap, a labourer, had complained that a three-year-old male buffalo was stolen from his cowshed on August 25, 2020.

It was found in November 2020 in Beenpur village of Saharanpur but the new owner Satbir Singh refused to part with the animal claiming it was his.

The matter had taken a back seat during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Shamli SP, Sukriti Madhav has ordered a DNA test of both the mother buffalo (which is still with Kashyap) and the Saharanpur buffalo to ascertain the rightful owner.

Madhav said “It was really a challenge to find out the real owner. But since Kashyap claimed he had the mother, we decided to go for a DNA test.”

Kashyap, meanwhile, explained how he identified the lost animal: “Like humans, animals also have distinct features. Firstly, it has a scar on its left leg. It also has a white patch at the tail end. And the third thing is its memory. When I went closer, he recognised me and tried to reach me. What else do I need to establish its identity?”

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Prince Harry files court claim over police protection

The claim to a judicial review was filed in September to challenge the British government’s decision-making behind the security procedures…reports Asian Lite News

Prince Harry has filed a claim for a judicial review against the British government’s decision not to let him personally pay for police protection while in the U.K.

The Duke of Sussex’s legal representative said Saturday that Harry wants to bring his children Archie and Lilibet to visit his home country from the U.S. but that is too risky without police protection.

The representative said Harry wanted to fund the police protection himself. His private security team in the U.S. doesn’t have adequate jurisdiction abroad or access to U.K. intelligence information, they said.

“The Duke and Duchess of Sussex personally fund a private security team for their family, yet that security cannot replicate the necessary police protection needed whilst in the U.K.,” a statement said.

“In the absence of such protection, Prince Harry and his family are unable to return to his home.”

The claim to a judicial review was filed in September to challenge the British government’s decision-making behind the security procedures.

Harry and his wife Meghan lost publicly funded police protection in the U.K. when they stepped down as senior working royals and moved to North America in 2020. The couple said their decision was due to what they described as unbearable intrusions and racist attitudes of the British media.

The couple first went to Canada before settling in the United States. They stated that they privately funded security for their move to the U.S. after then President Donald Trump said his government wouldn’t pay for their protection.

The statement said Harry’s security was “compromised due to the absence of police protection” during a short visit to the U.K. in July, when his car was chased by photographers as he left a charity event.

Harry and Meghan’s 7-month-old daughter Lilibet has yet to meet her great-grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, and other members of the royal family.

The statement said Harry first offered to personally pay for U.K. police protection for himself and his family in January 2020, during talks with the queen over the Sussexes’ future. The offer was “dismissed,” the statement said.

“The goal for Prince Harry has been simple – to ensure the safety of himself and his family while in the UK so his children can know his home country,” it said. “The UK will always be Prince Harry’s home and a country he wants his wife and children to be safe in.”

Britain’s government said its security system is “rigorous and proportionate” and declined to comment on details. It also said it was inappropriate to comment on any legal proceedings.

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