Two Iranian poets are facing 99 lashes each for shaking hands with people of the opposite sex in one of the latest examples of harsh punishments meted out against writers and artists by Iran’s judiciary, according to human rights advocates. The poets, Fatemeh Ekhtesari and Mehdi Musavi, have also both been sentenced to years in prison for “insulting the sacred” in their writings, a decision slammed by freedom of expression activists.(CNN.COM/photo:cnn.com)…[+]

William Ebi Lockhart, formerly ‘Johnny Welshman’ is once again in the limelight. This time, the man who had accused former Speaker of the National Assembly Raphael Trotman of sexually assaulting him, has found himself on the wrong side of the law, with a mother accusing him of fleecing her of $40,000 by pretending that he was an attorney. The incident allegedly occurred on October 21, in Georgetown. Lockhart, 23, of 2519 Layou Street, North Ruimveldt, Georgetown, is being accused of obtaining the money from a woman by falsely pretending to be an attorney at law, knowing same to be false.(Kaieteurnieuws.com/photo:Kaieteurnieuws.com)…[+]

Auditor General (AG) Deodat Sharma has found it appalling that after flagging a few cases of financial improprieties against the State since 1992, these matters still await closure in Guyana’s Court system. In his 2014 report, Sharma said that over the years, there were four matters which were either being investigated by the police or pending before the Court. Sharma said that each case was based on apparent irregularities or suspected fraudulent acts perpetrated against the State. The estimated losses, which remain outstanding to date, are valued at $14.382M. He then briefly explained the four cases.(Kaieteurnieuws.com/photo:Kaieteurnieuws.com)…[+]