KYIV: Ukraine’s security service said Monday it had detained an informer accused of helping Russia plot an attack on President Volodymyr Zelensky as he visited a flood-hit region.
The SBU security service said the detained woman was gathering intelligence to try to find out Zelensky’s itinerary ahead of his visit to the southern Mykolaiv region.
It published a blurred image of the woman being detained by masked officers in a kitchen, as well as some phone messages and handwritten notes about military activity.
Ukraine regularly accuses local residents who support Russia of passing information to help Moscow’s military.
Zelensky said on Telegram Monday that the head of the SBU had updated him about the “fight against traitors.”
Zelensky visited the Mykolaiv region in June after it was hit by flooding caused by the Kakhovka dam breach and in July after shelling.
The SBU said that Ukraine was aware of the plot ahead of time and put in additional security measures during Zelensky’s visit.
It alleged the suspect was helping Russia prepare a “massive air strike on the Mykolaiv region.”
She was allegedly seeking data on the location of electronic warfare systems and warehouses with ammunition.
The SBU said its officers kept monitoring the suspect to get more information on her Russian handlers and her assignments.
Officers then caught the woman “red-handed” as she attempted to pass intelligence data to Russian secret services, the SBU said.
It said the woman lived in the small southern town of Ochakiv in the Mykolaiv region and formerly worked in a store at a military base there.
She allegedly photographed locations and tried to get information from personal contacts in the area.
She may face a charge of unauthorized dissemination of information about the movements of weapons and troops.
If convicted, she could serve up to 12 years in prison.
Ukraine detains woman over alleged plot to attack Zelensky
https://arab.news/52762
Ukraine detains woman over alleged plot to attack Zelensky
- SBU security service said the detained woman was gathering intelligence to try to find out Zelensky’s itinerary ahead of his visit to the southern Mykolaiv region
UN’s top court opens Myanmar Rohingya genocide case
- The Gambia filed a case against Myanmar at the UN’s top court in 2019
- Verdict expected to impact Israel’s genocide case over war on Gaza
DHAKA: The International Court of Justice on Monday opened a landmark case accusing Myanmar of genocide against its mostly Muslim Rohingya minority.
The Gambia filed a case against Myanmar at the UN’s top court in 2019, two years after a military offensive forced hundreds of thousands of Rohingya from their homes into neighboring Bangladesh.
The hearings will last three weeks and conclude on Jan. 29.
“The ICJ must secure justice for the persecuted Rohingya. This process should not take much longer, as we all know that justice delayed is justice denied,” said Asma Begum, who has been living in the Kutupalong refugee camp in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar district since 2017.
A mostly Muslim ethnic minority, the Rohingya have lived for centuries in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state but were stripped of their citizenship in the 1980s and have faced systemic persecution ever since.
In 2017 alone, some 750,000 of them fled military atrocities and crossed to Bangladesh, in what the UN has called a textbook case of ethnic cleansing by Myanmar.
Today, about 1.3 million Rohingya shelter in 33 camps in Cox’s Bazar, turning the coastal district into the world’s largest refugee settlement.
“We experienced horrific acts such as arson, killings and rape in 2017, and fled to Bangladesh,” Begum told Arab News.
“I believe the ICJ verdict will pave the way for our repatriation to our homeland. The world should not forget us.”
A UN fact-finding mission has concluded that the Myanmar 2017 offensive included “genocidal acts” — an accusation rejected by Myanmar, which said it was a “clearance operation” against militants.
Now, there is hope for justice and a new future for those who have been displaced for years.
“We also have the right to live with dignity. I want to return to my homeland and live the rest of my life in my ancestral land. My children will reconnect with their roots and be able to build their own future,” said Syed Ahmed, who fled Myanmar in 2017 and has since been raising his four children in the Kutupalong camp.
“Despite the delay, I am optimistic that the perpetrators will be held accountable through the ICJ verdict. It will set a strong precedent for the world.”
The Myanmar trial is the first genocide case in more than a decade to be taken up by the ICJ. The outcome will also impact the genocide case that Israel is facing over its war on Gaza.
“The momentum of this case at the ICJ will send a strong message to all those (places) around the world where crimes against humanity have been committed,” Nur Khan, a Bangladeshi lawyer and human rights activist, told Arab News.
“The ICJ will play a significant role in ensuring justice regarding accusations of genocide in other parts of the world, such as the genocide and crimes against humanity committed by Israel against the people of Gaza.”
