Headline

Man Dies After Deportation From UK, Family Blames Home Office

Published

1 year ago

May 28, 2024

The UK Home Office has been faulted for the death of a Sri Lankan man identified as Sudharsan Ithayachandran after he was deported to his home country.

The 41-year-old, who admitted to the use of false documents and working illegally at a British multinational retailer -Tesco, was sent packing from the UK on December 24, 2019, leaving behind his deaf wife, Subatra; and his two children, aged eight and nine.

According to the UK Guardian on Monday, all three are British citizens. The said date of deportation, however, marked his wedding anniversary.

Ithayachandran was a member of the Tamil heritage in Sri Lanka.

The report noted that during an immigration tribunal ruling in November 2023, Judge Bonavero had accepted Ithayachandran’s appeal, noting that he was allowed by right to live with his family in the UK.

However, the Home Office was accused of delaying the process of issuing a return visa to the deceased for several months, causing him to live in perilous conditions, according to a report by the International Justice and Truth project, titled, “Disappearance, torture and sexual violence of Tamils 2015 – 2022.”

Before his death, a legal counsel from MTC Solicitors, Naga Kandiah began judicial review proceedings against the Home Office about the delay in return visa issuance.

However, on May 19, 2024, Ithayachandran was found collapsed at his accommodation in Sri Lanka and died after being taken to the hospital. His cause of death is thought to be sepsis, although no medical record of such was sighted by PUNCH Online in this report.

The family blamed the Home Office, saying Ithayachandran was left in deep depression at home, owing to his separation from his children, adding that he was not eating or looking after himself properly.

His mother-in-law, Yasadora Nagendra, 60, described him as “the pillar of the family.”

She said, “I don’t know how the family is ever going to get over this. When he was here, he looked after everybody. He was such a kind and supportive man. Nobody can replace him. I believe that if the Home Office had not deported him he would still be alive today. We blame them for his death.

“He was treated in a very unfair way by the Home Office. He was so depressed that even after he won his case last November, the Home Office delayed making arrangements for his return to the UK. He couldn’t understand why he still had to wait to come back to his family. “

Kandiah stated that “the tribunal accepted our client had a genuine and subsisting relationship with his children and to live without them would be ‘unduly harsh’. He had spent years battling with the Home Office to simply rejoin his family. He finally won his case but died before he could do this.”

On his part, Lou Calvey, the director of a charity organisation, Asylum Matters, noted, “Serious questions must be answered about this heartbreaking case. Why was Sudharsan deported when he had such clear rights to remain here? Why did the Home Office delay implementing the court ruling reversing the deportation, and why did he have to die alone without his family?”

An unnamed spokesperson from the Home Office said that “all deportation orders are considered on a case-by-case basis, based on the evidence provided.

“Once an appeal has been allowed against the refusal to revoke a deportation order, the responsibility of applying for entry clearance to the UK lies with the individual and their representatives.”

On May 21, 2024, a disabled Nigerian man, Anthony Olubunmi George, who had resided in the UK for 38 years, faced the prospect of being forcibly removed from the country by the Home Office.

In 2019, he experienced two strokes that had a significant impact on his ability to speak and move.

On May 21, 2024, a disabled Nigerian man, Anthony Olubunmi George, who had resided in the UK for 38 years, faced the prospect of being forcibly removed from the country by the Home Office.

In 2019, he experienced two strokes that had a significant impact on his ability to speak and move.

Headline

Court Jails Two For Targeting President With Sorcery

Published

15 hours ago

September 15, 2025

Editor

A Zambian court on Monday sentenced two men to two years in prison with hard labour on charges of attempting to use witchcraft to kill the country’s president.

Mozambican national Jasten Mabulesse Candunde and Zambian village chief Leonard Phiri were arrested in December in possession of charms, including a live chameleon.

Police said they planned to use the charms to harm President Hakainde Hichilema, and they were charged with professing knowledge of witchcraft and possession of charms.

“The motive of the crime was to kill the head of state,” magistrate Fine Mayambu ruled in the capital Lusaka on Monday.

“The convicts were not only enemies of the head of state but all Zambians. I therefore sentence them to 24 months imprisonment with hard labour from the date of their arrest,” he said.

The prosecution said the men had been hired by the brother of opposition MP Emmanuel “Jay Jay” Banda, who is facing trial for robbery, attempted murder and escaping custody.

Headline

Two Nigerians Face Jail Terms In Liberia’s Piracy Trial

Published

15 hours ago

September 15, 2025

Editor

Criminal Court ‘D’ in Monrovia is set to deliver judgment this week in Liberia’s first piracy trial, involving two Nigerian nationals accused of hijacking a cargo vessel in the Gulf of Guinea.

According to court records, the defendants were arrested earlier this year after a Liberia-flagged ship was seized by armed men while transporting goods through international waters. The crew sent a distress signal, prompting international maritime forces to intervene.

The suspects were subsequently transferred to Liberian authorities under global maritime cooperation protocols.

According to Liberia’s news platform, Front Page Africa, the case has attracted attention because Liberia maintains one of the world’s largest open ship registries, yet prosecutions for piracy within its domestic courts have not previously occurred. Under international law, Liberia holds jurisdiction over crimes involving ships registered under its flag.

On Monday, proceedings took a new turn when defense lawyer, Cllr. Bestman Juah, informed the court that the defendants had admitted responsibility for the hijacking and were requesting a plea-bargain arrangement. State prosecutors did not oppose the request, leaving open the possibility of reduced sentences in exchange for full cooperation.

Resident Judge Mameita Jabateh-Sirleaf, who presides over Criminal Court ‘D’, will rule on whether to accept the plea deal and determine the sentencing framework. The ruling could also address deportation measures following imprisonment.

Criminal Court ‘D’ handles cases involving armed robbery, terrorism, hijacking, and other serious crimes, and the piracy trial represents a growing trend of transnational offenses being prosecuted within Liberia’s judicial system.
As of press time, the court has not announced the date for sentencing.

Headline

Spain Cancels $825m Israel Arms Deal Over Gaza

Published

15 hours ago

September 15, 2025

Editor

The Spanish government has cancelled a contract worth nearly 700 million euros ($825 million) for Israeli-designed rocket launchers.

The move comes after Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced last week that his government would “consolidate in law” a ban on military equipment sales or purchases with Israel over its offensive in Gaza.

The contract, awarded to a consortium of Spanish companies, involved the purchase of 12 SILAM rocket launcher systems derived from the PULS platform made by Israeli firm Elbit Systems, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies’ Military Balance.

First reported by local media and the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the cancellation was formalised on Spain’s official public contracts platform on September 9.

The following day, Sanchez unveiled measures aimed at stopping what his leftist government called “the genocide in Gaza”.

It includes the approval of a decree imposing a ban on military equipment sales or purchases with Israel due to its military offensive in Gaza, launched after the Hamas attacks in October 2023.

Spain applied the ban as Israel stepped up its military onslaught.

Spain has also formalized the cancellation of another contract for 168 anti-tank missile launchers, which were to be manufactured under license from an Israeli company.

That contract, valued at 287 million euros, had been first reported by the press in June.

According to Spanish daily La Vanguardia, the government is undertaking a broader review to phase out Israeli weapons and technology from its armed forces.

Sanchez has emerged as one of Europe’s most outspoken critics of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Gaza policy.

Relations between the two countries have been tense for months.

Israel has not had an ambassador in Spain since Madrid recognized the state of Palestine in 2024.

Last week, Spain recalled its ambassador to Israel after heated exchanges over Sánchez’s new measures.

The Barcelona-based Delas Centre, a security research institute, estimated in April that since the start of the Gaza war, Spain had awarded 46 contracts worth $1.044 billion to Israeli companies, based on public tender data.