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Forum / FunnyHub (Jokes + Comedy) / Voter registration equipment stolen in Nigeria( no bi small thing) |
on: 11-12-2010 05:35 AM
| | agos, Nigeria (CNN) -- Nigeria's Independent National Electoral Commission is urging would-be voters to turn out for the scheduled voter registration session in January, in hopes for a "free fair and credible elections in 2011," a Commission spokesman said Thursday.
"This reassurance is necessary against the backdrop of the theft of some Direct Data Capture machines at the Lagos airport, " said Kayode Robert Idowu, a Commission spokesman in a press statement.
On Tuesday, 20 voting machines were stolen at the Lagos airport, out of a total of 6,000 brought into the country by Zinox Technologies Ltd., Idowu said. Sixteen machines have been recovered so far and security agents are investigating the case, he said.
The equipment, meant for registering voters for the upcoming election in Nigeria, is comprised of laptops and webcams. It was stolen from a clearing point at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, said Idowu.
The equipment was the first consignment ordered to help register voters for the 2011 elections.
The presidential election is expected to take place in April 9.
President Goodluck Jonathan, who became president after the death of Umaru Yar'Adua earlier this year, is running for election to the office. He will be challenged in the primaries by another former vice president of Nigeria.
Atiku Abubakar is the consensus candidate put forward by a bloc of leaders from Nigeria's influential Northern Political Leaders Forum, which announced in September that it would name someone to take on Jonathan in the presidential primaries for the People's Democratic Party.
Abubakar served as vice president under Olusegun Obasanjo from 1999 to 2007.
Under Nigerian "zoning" rules, power must shift to between regions and ethnic groups every eight years.
Jonathan -- who is from the Niger Delta, in the south -- was part of the joint ticket with Yar'Adua, who was from the north. He was elected in 2007.
Because Jonathan took office after Yar'Adua's death in May, the northern leaders say the presidency should rotate back to the north. Jonathan disputes that.
Voter registration for the presidential election will be January 15-29. | | | | |
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Forum / FunnyHub (Jokes + Comedy) / Woman convicted of adultery, ( evil world) |
on: 11-12-2010 05:17 AM
| | A woman convicted of murder and adultery and sentenced to die by stoning confesses to her part in the plot to kill her husband on an Iranian television program aired Friday night.
But the family of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani has steadfastly denied that she played any role in her husband's death -- and a human rights organization that is trying to help Ashtiani called the program "a theatrical melodrama."
"There was a complete disregard for due process, bringing her out and making her a part of this theatrical melodrama is an attempt to try to convince the international public opinion that she is guilty," said Hadi Ghaemi, director of International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran.
Iran has drawn sharp criticism from the international community after Ashtiani's 2010 sentence to death by stoning. Officials ranging from Pope Benedict XVI to the European Union's top foreign policy official, Catherine Ashton, urged Iran not to carry out the sentence.
"Since the international outcry, the Iranian government is tap-dancing, trying to justify executing her," said Ghaemi.
Press TV, Iran's government-backed English language station, aired the half-hour special on "Iran Today." The program included interviews with -- among others -- Ashtiani and her son.
The program brought Ashtiani back to her home in Osku "to produce a visual account" of the death of her husband "at the crime scene."
"This is highly unusual because according to Iranian authorities this is a woman who is in prison convicted of adultery and murder and now she has apparently been plucked out of her jail cell and featured in this documentary," said CNN's Reza Sayah
"This was a program designed to promote the government's position," said Sayah.
This is not the first time Ashtiani has been brought out in front of cameras for an alleged confession.
The program also condemns the public campaign to free her.
"It was a very disturbing piece, it was the Iranian government turning a judicial case into a public relations case," said Ghaemi.
Press TV's release of still photographs of Ashtiani and her son from the interview, which took place on Sunday, fueled some speculation that they had been released, but there was no evidence or confirmation to support that conjecture.
Ashtiani was convicted of adultery in 2006. She also received a 10 year prison sentence for her alleged cooperation in the plot to kill her husband.
"The key point here is not just about Ashtiani, but about abolishing stoning in Iran. That is what the Iranian government is trying to diverge attention from. They don't want to talk about abolishing stoning or Iran's human rights record," said Ghaemi.
Two German journalists who interviewed Ashtiani were arrested in October and charged with espionage. He son and lawyer also were arrested, but it was not clear on what charges. | | | | |
