TOKYO: A Japanese court yesterday sentenced an African man, one of four who attempted to hijack a Japanese tanker off the coast of Oman, to 11 years in jail, a report said. The 21-year-old man was a juvenile under Japanese law at the time of the incident and among four Africans, believed to be from Somalia, arrested in March 2011 over the attack in the Indian Ocean, Jiji Press said. Men armed with submachine guns tried to seize the tanker, which was operated by Mitsui OSK Lines and had 24 crew members aboard, the report said.
Rape victim’s mum loses case
BEIJING: A Chinese woman sent to labour camp after demanding her daughter’s rapists be punished lost her compensation case yesterday, state media said, as gruesome details emerged of inmate abuses from electricity to suspension. Tang Hui’s detention in a “re-education through labour” camp last year sparked widespread public anger and in the ensuing months state-run media gave calls for changes to the system prominent coverage, fuelling expectations of reform. Tang was condemned to 18 months in a camp for repeatedly protesting for justice after seven men in 2006 kidnapped, raped and forced her then 11-year-old daughter into prostitution.
Rohingya held in Indonesia
Makassar, Indonesia: Indonesia’s navy detained 82 asylum seekers, including Muslim Rohingya from Myanmar, when their boat ran aground as they headed to Australia, officials said yesterday. Fifty-one Rohingya, 24 Iranians and seven Somalis had been heading from Sulawesi island, in the east of the country, to East Nusa Tenggara, close to Australia. An increasing number of Rohingya, described by the UN as one of the world’s most persecuted minorities, have been arriving in Indonesia. Agencies
