Man wrongly convicted of IRA bombing dies
DUBLIN – Gerry Conlon, who was imprisoned unjustly for an Irish Republican Army bombing and inspired an Oscar-nominated film, has died at age 60 after a long battle with cancer.
His family said in a statement he died Saturday at his Belfast home. They paid tribute to a man they said had “brought life, love, intelligence, wit and strength to our family through its darkest hours.”
Conlon became a central figure in one of Britain’s greatest miscarriages of justice after he and three others were convicted and sentenced to life for the 1974 bombing of a pub in Guildford, near London, that killed five people. The so-called Guildford Four were freed in 1989 after a top judge ruled that police had fabricated the hand-written interrogation notes used to convict all four.
Conlon’s autobiography, Proved Innocent, became the basis for the 1993 film, “In the Name of the Father,” starring Daniel Day-Lewis as Conlon. It received seven Oscar nominations.
Egypt sentences more than 180 to death
MINYA, Egypt – The Muslim Brotherhood’s spiritual leader and more than 180 others were sentenced to death Saturday by an Egyptian court in the latest mass trial after last year’s overthrow of the country’s Islamist president.
The ruling by the southern Minya Criminal Court is the largest confirmed mass death sentence to be handed down in Egypt in recent memory and comes from Judge Said Youssef, who earlier presided over the mass trial. It is the second death sentence for the Brotherhood’s Supreme Guide Mohammed Badie since the crackdown against his group began.
The court acquitted more than 400 others in the case, and family members of the accused wailed or cheered the verdicts.
Putin supports cease-fire in Ukraine
KIEV, Ukraine – Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed support Saturday for Ukraine’s unilateral cease-fire in its battle against pro-Russian separatists and appealed to both sides to halt all military operations.
But he warned Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko’s blueprint for peace would not be viable without action to start peace negotiations.
The qualified Russian backing for Poroshenko’s effort to halt the conflict was another in a series of shifting Kremlin moves and statements that leave unclear the level of Moscow’s commitment to de-escalating the conflict.
Afghans protesting alleged election fraud
KABUL, Afghanistan – Hundreds of Afghans protested Saturday against alleged fraud in last week’s presidential runoff, part of escalating tensions over what Western officials had hoped would be a smooth transfer of power as violence across the country killed at least 13 people.
Former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah, who is running against Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai, a former finance minister, has accused electoral officials and others of trying to rig the June 14 vote against him.
Abdullah announced last week he was severing ties with the Independent Election Commission and would refuse to recognize any results it releases. He also suggested the United Nations step in, an idea supported by President Hamid Karzai, who is constitutionally barred from seeking a third term.
Associated Press
