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Emanuel Zeltser
Vladlena Funk ( rus, Владлена Функ; born 1977) is a former Russian-American freelance reporter, who was held captive by the Belarusian KGB for over a year in a high-profile US-Belarus hostage crisis, together with American lawyer Emanuel Zeltser, who was head of the American Russian Law Institute, a non-for-profit non-governmental public policy research and advisory organization. Early life and career Ms. Funk was born and raised in Veliky Novgorod, Russia. After earning bachelor’s and master's degrees in Linguistics from the Yaroslav-the-Wise Novgorod State University, she joined web-based ''Moscow Telegraph''. She subsequently earned an MBA in Economics from Moscow State University. Beginning in 2004, she worked for New York based WSNR Radio (620 AM) as its Moscow correspondent. Abduction On March 11, 2008, Zeltser and Funk were abducted in London, U.K., by the Belarusian KGB operatives. Both were drugged and secretly rendered across international bor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Miami New Times
The ''Miami New Times'' is a newspaper published in Miami, Florida, United States, and distributed every Thursday. It primarily serves the Miami area and is headquartered in Miami's Wynwood Art District. Overview It was acquired by Village Voice Media, then known as New Times Media, in 1987, when it was a fortnightly newspaper called the ''Wave''. The paper has won numerous awards, including a George Polk Award for coverage of the Major League steroid scandal in 2014 and first place in 2008 among weekly papers from the Investigative Reporters and Editors for stories about the Julia Tuttle Causeway sex offender colony. In 2010, the paper garnered international attention when it published a story by Brandon K. Thorp and Penn Bullock which revealed that anti-gay activist George Alan Rekers George Alan Rekers (born July 11, 1948) is an American psychologist and ordained Southern Baptist minister. He is emeritus professor of Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Science at the Universi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polonium-210
Polonium-210 (210Po, Po-210, historically radium F) is an isotope of polonium. It undergoes alpha decay to stable 206Pb with a half-life of 138.376 days (about months), the longest half-life of all naturally occurring polonium isotopes. First identified in 1898, and also marking the discovery of the element polonium, 210Po is generated in the decay chain of uranium-238 and radium-226. 210Po is a prominent contaminant in the environment, mostly affecting seafood and tobacco. Its extreme toxicity is attributed to intense radioactivity, capable of severely harming humans. History In 1898, Marie and Pierre Curie discovered a strongly radioactive substance in pitchblende and determined that it was a new element; it was one of the first radioactive elements discovered. Having identified it as such, they named the element polonium after Marie's home country, Poland. Willy Marckwald discovered a similar radioactive activity in 1902 and named it radio-tellurium, and at roughly the sa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Patton Boggs
Squire Patton Boggs is an international law firm with 42 offices in 20 countries. It was formed in 2014 by the merger of multinational law firm Squire Sanders with Washington, D.C. based Patton Boggs. It is one of the 30 largest law firms in the world by total headcount and gross revenue, twelfth largest firm in the UK by revenue, and one of the top 15 by number of countries occupied. Its largest offices are in Washington, London and Cleveland, each having more than 100 lawyers. The firm serves a diverse base of legal clients ranging from Fortune 100 and FTSE Index 100 corporations to newly emerging companies, private clients and local and national governmental entities. The company lobbies on behalf of the entity of the Saudi government that was directly responsible for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi; after the murder, the company continued to represent the entity for years until a pressure campaign led the company to drop the client. Due to its lobbying role for Saud ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jonathan M
Jonathan may refer to: *Jonathan (name) Jonathan ( he, , Standard: ''Yəhōnatan''/''Yōnatan'', Tiberian: ''Yо̆hōnāṯān''/''Yōnāṯān'') is a common name given to males which means "YHWH has given" in Hebrew. The earliest known use of the name was in the Bible; one Jonathan ..., a masculine given name Media *Jonathan (1970 film), ''Jonathan'' (1970 film), a German film directed by Hans W. Geißendörfer *Jonathan (2016 film), ''Jonathan'' (2016 film), a German film directed by Piotr J. Lewandowski *Jonathan (2018 film), ''Jonathan'' (2018 film), an American film directed by Bill Oliver *Jonathan (Buffy comic), ''Jonathan'' (Buffy comic), a 2001 comic book based on the ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' television series *Jonathan (TV show), ''Jonathan'' (TV show), a Welsh-language television show hosted by ex-rugby player Jonathan Davies (rugby, born 1962), Jonathan Davies People and biblical figures Bible *Jonathan (1 Samuel), son of King Saul of Israel and friend of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
State-sponsored Terrorism
State-sponsored terrorism is terrorist violence carried out with the active support of national governments provided to violent non-state actors. States can sponsor terrorist groups in several ways, including but not limited to funding terrorist organizations, providing training, supplying weapons, providing other logistical and intelligence assistance, and hosting groups within their borders. Because of the pejorative nature of the word, the identification of particular examples are often subject to political dispute and different definitions of terrorism. A wide variety of states in both developed and developing areas of the world have engaged in sponsoring terrorism. During the 1970s and 1980s, state sponsorship of terrorism was a frequent feature of international conflict. From that time to the 2010s there was a steady pattern of decline in the prevalence and magnitude of state support. Nevertheless, because of the increasing consequent level of violence that it could poten ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ihar Rynkevich
Ihar Mikhaylavich Rynkevich ( be, І́гар Міха́йлавіч Рынке́віч; born 3 April 1968) is a prominent Belarusian legal and political expert, journalist and human rights champion. Rynkevich is a member and the press secretary of the Belarus Helsinki Commission since 1996 and Vice Chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Popular Accord. Important Cases Rynkevich is best known for his role as lead defence counsel for Alaksandar Kazulin, former Chairman of BSDP and one of the most prominent Eastern-European human rights activist, and for advocating the release of American lawyer Emanuel Zeltser and his assistant Vladlena Funk during the U.S. - Belarus hostage crisis in 2008-2009. In an interview, Rynkevich, described Mr. Zeltser and Ms. Funk as "political prisoners" and noted that it was the "lack of evidence" against Mr. Zeltser and Ms. Funk that prompted the country’s authorities to hold the hearing behind closed doors. Rynkevich noted that "violence" had been u ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and supporters around the world. The stated mission of the organization is to campaign for "a world in which every person enjoys all of the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights instruments." The organization has played a notable role on human rights issues due to its frequent citation in media and by world leaders. AI was founded in London in 1961 by the lawyer Peter Benenson. Its original focus was prisoners of conscience, with its remit widening in the 1970s, under the leadership of Seán MacBride and Martin Ennals to include miscarriages of justice and torture. In 1977, it was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. In the 1980s, its secretary general was Thomas Hammarberg, succeeded ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts European legislation, following a proposal by the European Commission. The Parliament is composed of 705 members (MEPs). It represents the second-largest democratic electorate in the world (after the Parliament of India), with an electorate of 375 million eligible voters in 2009. Since 1979, the Parliament has been directly elected every five years by the citizens of the European Union through universal suffrage. Voter turnout in parliamentary elections decreased each time after 1979 until 2019, when voter turnout increased by eight percentage points, and rose above 50% for the first time since 1994. The voting age is 18 in all EU member states except for Malta and Austria, where it is 16, and Greece, where it is 17. Although the E ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
International Covenant On Civil And Political Rights
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) is a multilateral treaty that commits nations to respect the civil and political rights of individuals, including the right to life, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, electoral rights and rights to due process and a fair trial. It was adopted by United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2200A (XXI) on 16 December 1966 and entered into force 23 March 1976 after its thirty-fifth ratification or accession. , the Covenant has 173 parties and six more signatories without ratification, most notably the People's Republic of China and Cuba; North Korea is the only state that has tried to withdraw. The ICCPR is considered a seminal document in the history of international law and human rights, forming part of the International Bill of Human Rights, along with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Complia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United Nations Convention Against Torture
The Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (commonly known as the United Nations Convention Against Torture (UNCAT)) is an international human rights treaty under the review of the United Nations that aims to prevent torture and other acts of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment around the world. The Convention requires member states to take effective measures to prevent torture in any territory under their jurisdiction, and forbids member states to transport people to any country where there is reason to believe they will be tortured. The text of the convention was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 10 December 1984 and, following ratification by the 20th state party, it came into force on 26 June 1987. 26 June is now recognized as the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, in honor of the convention. Since the convention's entry into force, the absolute prohibition against torture a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
International Convention Against The Taking Of Hostages
The Hostages Convention (formally the International Convention against the Taking of Hostages) is a United Nations treaty by which states agree to prohibit and punish hostage taking. The treaty includes definitions of "hostage" and "hostage taking" and sets out the principle of ''aut dedere aut judicare'': a party to the treaty must prosecute a hostage taker if no other state requests extradition for prosecution of the same crime. Creation and entry into force The creation of an anti-hostage-taking treaty was a project initiated by the Federal Republic of Germany in 1976.Blumenau, Bernhard. "The United Nations and Terrorism. Germany, Multilateralism, and Antiterrorism Efforts in the 1970s", Palgrave Macmillan, 2014. The convention was adopted on 17 December 1979 by the issuance of Resolution 34/1461 by the United Nations General Assembly, UN General Assembly. By the end of 1980, it had been signed by 39 states and it came into force on 3 June 1983 after it had been ratified by 22 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Belarus Constitution
The Constitution of the Republic of Belarus ( be, Канстытуцыя Рэспублікі Беларусь, russian: Конституция Республики Беларусь) is the ultimate law of Belarus. The Constitution is composed of a preamble and nine sections divided into 146 articles. Adopted in 1994, three years after the country declared its independence from the Soviet Union, this formal document establishes the framework of the Belarusian state and government and enumerates the rights and freedoms of its citizens. However, the United Nations and various observers challenge that the rule of law is respected or that the judiciary is independent in Belarus, highlighting the consolidation of power by the current president. The constitution was drafted by the Supreme Soviet of Belarus, the former legislative body of the country and is heavily influenced by Western constitutions. The constitution has been amended thrice under controversial circumstances sin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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