Crime
Qadri thanks Govt role for new JIT in Model Town case

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Awami Tehreek chief Dr. Tahir-ul-Qadri Thursday telephoned Prime Minister Imran Khan.
The PAT chief thanked the government for its role regarding the formation of the new joint investigation team in the Model Town case, according to a PM Office statement.
The prime minister also assured the PAT leader for transparency and justice in the case.
Relevant pieces published earlier:
Model Town Massacre: PPPP, PAT and PTI leaders join hands at Lahore Rally!
APC condemns 2014 Model Town massacre! Asks CM and Law Minister to resign by 7th of Jan.
Model Town Tragedy: PPP proclaims support for PAT on the eve of APC
Make 2014 Model Town incident’s judicial inquiry public within 30 days: LHC

Crime
NAB arrests four Revenue officials for selling govt land

QUETTA: National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Balochistan on Tuesday arrested four officials of Provincial Revenue Department including Ex Tehseeldars, Naib Tehseeldar and Patwari for selling government land in Gwadar.
According to a statement, the accused included Ex-Tehseeldars Gwadar Mohammad Jan Baloch, Mohammad Jan Jamaldini, Naib Tehsildar Agha Zafar Hussain and Abdul Hafeez Patwari in connivance with other revenue officers and private persons tempered revenue record and sold the land causing huge loss to the national exchequer.
Taking action on evidences surfaced during the probe into the matter, DG NAB Balochistan Mohammad Abid Javed issued arrest warrants of the accused.
They were held and shifted to NAB Balochistan office.
Further probe was underway.
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Crime
Turkey issues warrants for soldiers over FETO links

ISTANBUL: Turkey is seeking over 50 serving soldiers across the nation for their suspected links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup, judicial sources said on Tuesday.
Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office issued the warrants for 53 active-duty soldiers, who are accused of communicating with FETO members through pay phones and land phones, as part of a probe into FETO presence in Turkish Armed Forces.
Police launched simultaneous operations in 15 provinces, including Istanbul, for the suspects working for the gendarmerie branch of Turkish Armed Forces, as well as Land, Air and Naval Forces Command.
Police hunt for the suspects is ongoing across the country.
According to the Turkish government, FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which left 251 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.
Ankara also accuses FETO of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.
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Crime
Victims of Church sex abuse go global with fight for justice

PARIS: After years of struggling alone or finding support in national groups, survivors of sex abuse by priests have formed a new international alliance to pressure the Catholic Church to face up to its crimes.
The group, called Ending Clerical Abuse (ECA), brings together activists from dozens of countries on several continents, and will be mobilised in Rome this week when Pope Francis hosts a hotly awaited summit on tackling the wave of child sex abuse scandals shaking the Catholic Church.
“It’s a momentous and a historic movement… to bring a global and unified voice,” one of its co-founders, Peter Saunders, told media.
“This is the first truly global initiative.”
Saunders’ personal story is among countless others suffered by people who grouped together to form ECA last June, including survivors from Chile, Poland, Switzerland, France, Italy, the Democratic Republic of Congo and other countries.
“I was abused at seven years old by a family member. I was also sexually abused by two Jesuit priests at my secondary school at about 12 years of age,” he said.
The same priest targeted his brother Michael at the same school six years before him, and died aged 55 after a lifelong battle with drug and alcohol abuse.
“I think the Church has been resisting change for many, many years and I think at long last the Church is beginning to bow to the pressure put on by survivors, by our media colleagues around the world, and by public opinion,” he added.
The group’s objectives include forcing the Church to take a “zero tolerance” approach to paedophilia, working to overturn the statute of limitations on abuse cases, and supporting victims in areas where speaking out remains difficult, such as in various African and Asian countries.
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