Middle East Experience

Dozens of aid workers involved in refugee rescues, including a Syrian swimmer, will be put on trial in Greece over charges of espionage and disclosing state secrets, in a case that rights groups have deemed as “politically motivated,” according to a Reuters report.The trial is set to open on Thursday, in a court on the Greek island of Lesbos, for their role in helping migrants who arrived in Greece between 2016 and 2018, the New York Times reported.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.Lesbos has been at the forefront of Europe’s migration crisis which began back in 2015.The 24 aid workers who are going on trial are affiliated with non-profit search-and-rescue group the Emergency Response Center International (ERCI) that operated in Lesbos between 2016 and 2018.They face up to eight years in prison and felony charges including people smuggling, belonging to a criminal group and money laundering, all of which carry 25-year prison sentences, Reuters reported.Among those to be tried is Sarah Mardini, a Syrian refugee swimmer who took an overcrowded dingy to Greece with her Olympian sister Yusra in 2015, at the height of Europe’s refugee crisis, and saved the other 19 passengers by pulling their sinking boat to shore for four hours.Mardini and another volunteer, Sean Binder, a German national, were arrested in 2018 and spent 107 days in Athens’s maximum-security prison in pre-trial detention.Both left Greece after they were released, and Binder has returned despite his misgivings about the trial.“I never for a moment thought that trying to help somebody out at sea would land you in prison,” Binder told Reuters in Athens. “I’m terrified of going back to prison.”He said he had been handcuffed in prison to a man who had committed double homicide by burning someone alive.“It is frightening to be going there again and I’m not confident that, just because there is absolutely no evidence of any wrongdoing... I’m still not confident that we will not be found guilty,” he said.Mardini, who now lives in Germany, has been barred from re-entering Greece and will represented by a lawyer.“It’s mind boggling why someone cannot attend their own trial,” said Giorgos Kosmopoulos, a senior campaigner for Amnesty, calling on authorities to drop the charges during a solidarity protest outside Greek parliament.Binder, a rescue diver, said he had only intended to volunteer for a while.“It wasn’t my plan to spend the rest of my life doing this, to be some kind of champion,” he said.“If you saw someone drowning you would do the same as me, you would reach out a hand, pull them out, and that’s the exact same crime that I’m accused of doing.”“This emblematic case demonstrates how far the Greek authorities will go to deter people from helping refugees and migrants,” said Amnesty International’s European director Nils Muiznieks.Human Rights Watch said that the trial “politically motivated.”The trial comes at a time when the country’s conservative government is toughening its stance on migration and groups that are working with migrants amid a hardening climate towards migrants in Europe given the new migrant crisis that has been taking place at the Poland-Belarus border.The Greek government has said it will take the necessary measures to ensure that the 2015-2016 migration crisis will not happen again. The crisis saw thousands of migrants crossing the Aegean Sea every day, which was overwhelming for the country’s rescue services, the New York Times reported.Greece has also tightened the policing of its borders due to fears of an influx of even more refugees coming from Afghanistan.With ReutersRead more:Pope Francis to revisit Lesbos on trip to Cyprus, GreeceRefugee crisis worsens amid COVID-19: One pct of all humanity is now displaced Greece blames Turkey after migrant children drown in AegeanGreece: Turkey behaved like ‘pirate state’, tried to force migrants into our waters
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Greece to put Syrian swimmer, aid workers who helped migrants on trial for espionage

Kuwait’s prosecution on Thursday detained 18 individuals suspected of financing Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah group, according to Kuwaiti newspaper al-Qabas.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.The 18 individuals are set to remain in prison for 21 days, the newspaper reported.The accused have been placed in the country’s central prison pending investigation, al-Qabas said, citing a source familiar with the matter.The source added that “the prosecution is still investigating the case, and is expected to refer it to the criminal court soon.”Read more:Embraces and flowers greet Kuwaiti prisoners freed under amnestyKuwait crown prince tasked with appointing prime minister, says decreeKuwait Emir asks crown prince to take over some constitutional duties
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Kuwait detains 18 suspected of financing Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah

Israel has charged a member of Defense Minister Benny Gantz’s housekeeping staff with espionage, saying on Thursday he offered to spy on him on behalf of “a person identified with Iran,” the country’s arch-enemy.In a statement, the Shin Bet security service said the suspect corresponded with the unnamed person over social media. It said he provided photographs taken in the house as proof he had access and proposing installing malware on Gantz’s computer.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.Tensions run high between Iran and Israel over Tehran’s nuclear program and what Israeli officials describe as its military entrenchment and support of Israel’s enemies in the region.The Shin Bet said the suspect, who performed housekeeping and cleaning tasks in Gantz’s residence, was indicted on espionage charges by a court in Lod, a city near Tel Aviv. It said he was arrested after an investigation earlier this month.It was not immediately clear whether he had entered a plea.The Public Defender’s Office, which assigned a lawyer to aid the suspect, said he had acted out of “financial duress” and had not intended to harm national security.Gal Wolf, the attorney representing him, implied on Kan public radio that the man had intended to extract money without actually being able to carry out any espionage.“A person can boast and say he can deliver the goods, (but) the Shin Bet’s statement does not stand the test of reality,” Wolf said.In its announcement, the Shin Bet said that while the suspect posed a potential danger to national security, he “was not exposed to classified material and subsequently none was passed on from him to the elements with whom he made contact.”Read more:Iran-backed hackers accused of targeting critical US sectorsIsrael resumes practicing for potential military strikes on Iran’s nuclear sitesIsrael’s PM: Iran is ‘lying’ to world about its nuclear program, time to act is now
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Israel Shin Bet accuses defense minister’s household staffer of spying for Iran

Pfizer Inc has signed a $5.29 billion deal with the US government to deliver 10 million courses of its COVID-19 oral antiviral drug starting this year, the drugmaker said on Thursday.The oral drug could be a promising new weapon in the fight against the pandemic, as it can be taken as an early at-home treatment to help prevent COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths.For more coronavirus news, visit our dedicated page.Pfizer on Tuesday filed for US authorization of the drug, paxlovid, and said it expects to manufacture 180,000 treatment courses by the end of next month and at least 50 million courses by the end of 2022.“This promising treatment could help accelerate our path out of this pandemic by offering another life-saving tool for people who get sick with COVID-19,” said Xavier Becerra, secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.The company earlier this month said the drug cut by 89 percent the chance of hospitalization or death for adults at risk of severe disease.The trial’s results suggest that Pfizer’s drug surpasses Merck & Co Inc’s pill, molnupiravir, which was shown last month to halve the chance of dying or being hospitalized for COVID-19 patients at high risk of serious illness.The US government has also signed a contract worth $2.2 billion for courses of the Merck drug.Read more:Pfizer to allow generic versions of its COVID-19 pill paxlovid in 95 countriesAstraZeneca antibody drug 83 pct effective in preventing COVID-19Merck’s COVID-19 pill partner in India sees a short-lived boom
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Pfizer signs .3 billion COVID-19 oral antiviral drug deal with US government

Amnesty International condemns legalization of chemical castration for repeat offenders of sexual violence..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Pakistan: Legalization of forced chemical castration a cruel and retrograde step

A year ago, the state shot to death scores of citizens. No one has been held accountable..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: The Myth of ‘Stray Bullets’ in Uganda

Responding to the arbitrary arrest of prominent human rights defender Narges Mohammadi on 16 November 2021 in Karaj, Alborz province, while attending a memorial for Ebrahim Ketabdar, who was killed by Iranian security forces during nationwide protests in November 2019, Heba Morayef, Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa said: “Narges Mohammadi is ..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Iran: Release arbitrarily detained rights activist at imminent risk of flogging

Emboldened by an absence of serious punitive measures, Iran-backed Houthi militias are pressing ahead with their attacks on Saudi civilian targets while resorting to some sort of a blackmail of the international community by continuing their detention of UN employees..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: On the front foot, Yemen Houthi militias continue down path of escalation

Russia’s space agency Roscosmos will send Lebanon the satellite images it has for Beirut’s port before and after a huge explosion rocked it last year, its head Dmitry Rogozin told reporters on Wednesday..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Russia to send Lebanon satellite images from day of port blast

Officials, including Saudi Consul General Abdullah bin Mansoor Al Mutawah, inaugurated the first ever international flight to Saudi Arabia’s tourist destination AlUla at Dubai International Airport on Friday morning.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.The Flynas flight signaled a new chapter in the Kingdom’s history as it opens to the world, continuing a drive to grow its tourism sector as part of wider efforts to diversify from oil.Al Mutawah cut the ribbon along with Flynas Vice President Of International Sales Abdulilah Aleidi at the airport ceremony.A second Flynas flight to AlUla was due to take off from Kuwait on Saturday, but has been postponed to an undisclosed date, Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) Executive Director of Destination Marketing Melanie de Souza told Al Arabiya English.“This is the start of a great partnership with an airline that’s just also put on domestic routes from Riyadh, Dammam, and Jeddah,” de Souza said.“Air access is a very critical determinant in terms of peoples’ choice of destination. AlUla is really getting the world’s attention as this magical destination in the north of Saudi Arabia, premised on heritage, culture, and a range of amazing activities,” de Souza added.“This is going to make not just a difference for the UAE market, but for connecting markets in the UK and Europe.”Paid passengers as well as members of the press and social media influencers were present on the flight that was scheduled to take off at 11:30 a.m. from Dubai.Read more: Saudi Arabia’s AlUla: Top five things to see and do in the Kingdom’s living museumSaudi Arabia’s AlUla Season will include ancient civilization experiencesSaudi Arabia’s AlUla and Saudia airline will launch world’s first flying museum
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Officials inaugurate first ever international flight to Saudi Arabia’s AlUla