ALEXANDRIA, Virginia: A computer hacker serving 20 years for giving the Daesh (Islamic State) group the personal data of more than 1,300 US government and military personnel has been granted compassionate release because of the coronavirus pandemic and will be placed in ICE custody for prompt deportation, a federal judge ordered Thursday.
US District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema in Alexandria signed the order reducing the sentence of Ardit Ferizi to time served. Brinkema also ordered the Bureau of Prisons to immediately place Ferizi in a 14-day quarantine to ensure he’s not infected with the coronavirus. At the end of the quarantine, Ferizi will be released into the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement so he can be deported to Kosovo, the judge ordered.
Ferizi, 24, will remain on supervised release for 10 years as imposed when he was sentenced in September 2016, Brinkema wrote.
In a handwritten motion from prison, Ferizi said earlier this fall that his asthma and obesity placed him at greater risk for COVID-19. He also said special restrictions at the prison require him to check in with staff every two hours, increasing his contact with guards and his risk of contracting the coronavirus.
Brinkema initially rejected Ferizi’s request at a hearing in October, citing concerns that he might resume hacking if released, among other issues. Prosecutors had opposed Ferizi’s release.
US court orders deportation of Daesh hacker over COVID-19 fears
https://arab.news/6utww
US court orders deportation of Daesh hacker over COVID-19 fears
Brazil’s Lula accuses Trump of seeking to forge ‘new UN’
- Lula defended multilateralism against what he called “the law of the jungle” in global affairs
- Key US allies including France and Britain have also expressed doubts
BRASILIA: Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva accused Donald Trump on Friday of trying to create “a new UN” with his proposed “Board of Peace.”
The veteran leftist joins other world leaders who have avoided signing up for Trump’s new global conflict resolution organization, where a permanent seat costs $1 billion and the chairman is Trump himself.
“Instead of fixing” the United Nations, “what’s happening? President Trump is proposing to create a new UN where only he is the owner,” Lula said.
Trump unveiled his “Board of Peace” at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss ski resort of Davos Thursday, joined on stage by leaders and officials from 19 countries to sign its founding charter.
Lula defended multilateralism against what he called “the law of the jungle” in global affairs.
His remarks come a day after he spoke by phone with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who urged his counterpart to safeguard the “central role” of the United Nations in international affairs.
In his remarks on Friday, Lula said “the UN charter is being torn.”
Although originally intended to oversee Gaza’s rebuilding, the board’s charter does not seem to limit its role to the Palestinian territory and appears to want to rival the United Nations.
Key US allies including France and Britain have also expressed doubts.
London balked at the inclusion of Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose forces are fighting in Ukraine after invading in 2022.
France said the charter as it currently stood was “incompatible” with its international commitments, especially its UN membership.
