Headline

UK Court Spares Nigerian From Deportation After Claims He’s ‘Demonically Possessed’

Published

7 months ago

March 3, 2025

A Nigerian man convicted of armed robbery and drug dealing has avoided deportation from the UK after a judge ruled he would be considered “possessed” in his home country, potentially placing him at risk.

The offender, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was sentenced to seven years in prison in 2011 for an armed robbery at a brothel.

Seven years later, he was jailed again for supplying crack cocaine.

Despite a deportation order issued in April 2014, he appealed on human rights grounds and remains in the UK a decade later.

His continued stay has been justified by concerns that his belief in possession, combined with inadequate mental health care in Nigeria, could endanger his well-being.

Having spent significant time in a secure mental health hospital, the man now lives in the community but is still considered a “high risk of serious harm” to the public, according to experts.

He is also reported to be addicted to crack cocaine.

Judge Stephen Smith ruled that a previous judge had made an “error of law” in assessing the case.

“We note the appellant’s recurring belief that his mental ill-health is a result of being possessed,” Smith stated as quoted by The Telegraph.

“We assess that him expressing this belief would increase the likelihood that others will see his illness as being a manifestation of possession.”

A report by Amnesty International presented during the appeal supported the argument that returning him to Nigeria could expose him to harmful societal attitudes.

“It is our assessment that on return to Nigeria [the appellant] is likely … to encounter widespread attitudes that confirm and amplify his belief in demonic forces and witchcraft as being at the root of his problems,” the report stated.

The report further warned of the “substantial risk of being identified as suffering from demonic forces and faces a resultant risk of being targeted as a result.”

A doctor’s evaluation found the man suffers from a “trauma-related disorder with psychotic features.”

His condition includes intrusive memories, nightmares, and a fixation on demonic forces “playing tricks with his mind.”

He also reported being unable to move upon waking, attributing it to demonic interference.

Desire for Rehabilitation
In court, the man expressed his wish to lead a crime-free life.

“I really want to stay away from crime. I don’t want to get into that predicament again … I want to live a normal life,” he said.

His key worker testified that he had been attending the gym five to six days a week and volunteering once a week.

However, concerns over the broader implications of the case have been raised.

Alp Mehmet, chairman of Migration Watch UK, questioned why the UK should be responsible for the man’s care.

“I think this is a worrying case and situation. Why should we as a country, be picking up the health problems of people from other countries who have committed serious crime?” he said.

“I appreciate this man has serious mental health issues, but why should it be the responsibility of Britain to solve them, fund them, and allow him to stay when he is a very serious criminal? It shows serious issues with the law.”

With the ruling in place, the case is now set for a new hearing.

Headline

Serbia Indicts Ex-minister, 12 Others Over Train Station Tragedy

Published

14 hours ago

September 16, 2025

Editor

Serbian prosecutors filed an updated indictment on Tuesday against 13 people, including a former minister, over a fatal railway station roof collapse that has triggered a wave of anti-government protests.

The prosecution said all those indicted, among them former construction minister Goran Vesic, face charges of “serious crimes against public safety” over the tragedy that killed 16 people last November.

“The indictment proposes that the Higher Court in Novi Sad order custody for all the defendants,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

The roof collapse at the newly renovated station in Serbia’s second-largest city, Novi Sad, became a symbol of entrenched corruption and sparked almost daily protests.

Protesters first demanded a transparent investigation, but their calls soon escalated into demands for early elections.

The Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Novi Sad initially filed an indictment at the end of December, but judges returned it in April, requesting more information.

The accused were released or placed under house arrest following the decision.

The prosecutor’s office said it had complied with the judge’s request and had now completed the supplementary investigation.

The prosecutor specialising in organised crime and corruption in Belgrade is leading a separate, independent investigation into the tragedy.

That investigation is focused on 13 people, including Vesic and another former minister, Tomislav Momirovic, who headed the Construction Ministry before him.

In March, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) launched a third, separate investigation into the possible misuse of EU funds for the station’s reconstruction.

AFP

Headline

Kazakhstan Bans Forced Marriage, Bride Kidnapping

Published

14 hours ago

September 16, 2025

Editor

Kazakhstan has banned forced marriages and bride kidnappings through a law that came into effect Tuesday in the Central Asian country, where the practice persists despite new attention being paid to women’s rights.

Forcing someone to marry is now punishable by up to 10 years in prison, Kazakh police said in a statement.

“These changes are aimed at preventing forced marriages and protecting vulnerable categories of citizens, especially women and adolescents,” it added.

Bride kidnappings have also been outlawed.

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“Previously, a person who voluntarily released a kidnapped person could expect to be released from criminal liability. Now this possibility has been eliminated,” the police said.

There are no reliable statistics of forced marriage cases across the country, with no separate article in the criminal code prohibiting it until now.

A Kazakh lawmaker said earlier this year that the police had received 214 such complaints over the past three years.

The custom is also present in neighbouring Kyrgyzstan, where it mostly goes unpunished due to indifferent law enforcement and stigma surrounding whistleblowers.

The issue of women’s rights in Kazakhstan gained media attention in 2023 following the murder of a woman by her husband, a former minister, a case that shocked Kazakh society and prompted President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to react.

“Some people hide behind so-called traditions and try to impose the practice of wife stealing. This blatant obscurantism cannot be justified,” Tokayev said last year.

AFP

Headline

Russia Arrests Woman For Detonating Bomb On Railway

Published

14 hours ago

September 16, 2025

Editor

Russia’s FSB security service said on Tuesday it had arrested a woman in her fifties accused of detonating explosives in a bid to sabotage the Trans-Siberian Railway.

The suspect was allegedly working on behalf of Ukrainian intelligence, the FSB said, in the latest incident of alleged covert activity during the countries’ conflict.

“In August 2025, following the instructions provided by the adversary, the suspect manufactured a homemade explosive device from publicly available components, placed it on the railway tracks and triggered it,” the Russian agency said.

“She recorded the moment of the explosion on her mobile phone camera and sent the footage as a report to the handler to receive a reward.”

The statement did not name the suspect but said she was born in 1974 and carried out the alleged attack in eastern Siberia’s Zabaikalsky region.

The FSB warned Russians that it was monitoring social networks and online messenger services such as Telegram and WhatsApp for evidence of Ukrainian services recruiting Russians to carry out sabotage.

Separately, the agency told state news agency TASS that a man had been sentenced to 18 years and six months for transporting explosives on behalf of a “pro-Ukrainian” group.

A resident of the Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine, had, the FSB said, established contact through the Telegram app with a banned “terrorist organisation”.

He allegedly retrieved explosives from a cache on the orders of this group before waiting for “further instructions”, according to the same source cited by TASS.

He was jailed by a military tribunal.

AFP