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4WardEver UK

Finucane murder: PM’s decision not to hold independent inquiry upheld

Pat Finucane
Pat Finucane

source: The Guardian
published: 26 June 2015

A Belfast court has upheld David Cameron’s decision not to hold an independent inquiry into the 1989 loyalist murder of the Northern Irish solicitor Pat Finucane.

Finucane’s family brought a judicial review against the government’s refusal to establish a Bloody Sunday-style inquiry into his murder after a previous investigation found there was collusion between Finucane’s killers and the security forces.

In his judgment at Belfast high court on Friday, Mr Justice Stephens said: “I uphold that the decision was lawful and accordingly I dismiss that part of the challenge.”

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4WardEver UK

Tamir Rice : Push for arrests after judge finds probable cause to charge officers

Tamir Rice
Tamir Rice

source: Democracy Now!
published: 11 June 2015

A judge in Ohio has found probable cause to charge a police officer with murder for the fatal shooting of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, who was shot dead at a playground while holding a toy gun.

On Thursday, Judge Ronald Adrine of the Cleveland Municipal Court said there are grounds to prosecute the officers. The ruling came after community leaders in Cleveland took the unusual legal step on Tuesday of appealing directly to the judge to commence prosecution of the officer, saying they were tired of waiting over six months without any progress on the case.

We speak to Rice family attorney Walter Madison and Rhonda Williams, the director of the Social Justice Institute at Case Western Reserve University.

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4WardEver UK

Ex-Mountie convicted of perjury after Vancouver taser-death inquiry

Robert Dziekanski
Robert Dziekanski

source: The Globe & Mail
published: 20 March 2015

A former Mountie who was involved in Robert Dziekanski’s death and was later held up by the force as an example of a bad apple within its ranks was convicted on Friday of perjury for his testimony at a public inquiry.

Former corporal Benjamin (Monty) Robinson was charged along with three other officers for their testimony at hearings that examined what happened when Mr. Dziekanski was stunned with a taser at Vancouver’s airport and died in October, 2007.

He is the second of the officers to be convicted of perjury. One officer was acquitted and another is awaiting a verdict.

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4WardEver UK

Police release footage related to shooting of Antonio Martin

US Police - Gun & Cuffssource: The Guardian
published: 24 December 2014

St Louis police have released a series of surveillance videos that capture the moments before a black teenager was shot on Tuesday night in Berkeley, Missouri. Authorities insist the teenager, Antonio Martin, had pointed a handgun at the officer, who then killed him.

Two new videos were released on Wednesday that showed the immediate impact of the Berkeley shooting. One showed the officer, who remains unidentified, apparently being propelled backwards onto the ground by the force of his own gun, then turning, running and taking cover behind a gas pump.

Another newly released video, taken from the opposite angle, shows Martin and a friend walking up to the spot where the shooting happened. The camera fails to catch the shooting itself, but does show the friend running away from the scene very rapidly.

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