International News
Trump Arrested Over Election Fraud, Released Shortly On $200,000 Bond
Former US president Donald Trump was arrested at a Georgia jail Thursday on racketeering and conspiracy charges and released on $200,000 bond after having a historic mug shot taken.
Trump, who is accused of colluding with 18 other defendants to overturn the 2020 election result in the southern state, spent less than 30 minutes inside Atlanta’s Fulton County Jail before leaving in a motorcade for the airport.
Like the other defendants in the case who have surrendered so far, the 77-year-old Trump had his mug shot taken during the booking process — a first for any serving or former US president.
In the photograph released by the sheriff’s office, he scowled at the camera while dressed in a dark blue suit, white shirt and red tie.
Speaking to reporters after his arrest, Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, said it was a “very sad day for America.”
“What has taken place here is a travesty of justice,” he said. “I did nothing wrong.”
Trump posted the mug shot on his own Truth Social platform with the caption “Election Interference” and a link to his campaign website.
Trump was given the inmate number “PO1135809” by the Fulton County Jail, which listed his height as six foot three inches (1.9 meters), his weight as 215 pounds (97 kilograms) and his hair color as “Blond or Strawberry.”
Trump was able to dodge having a mugshot taken during his previous arrests this year: in New York on charges of paying hush money to a porn star, in Florida for mishandling top secret government documents, and in Washington on charges of conspiring to upend his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden..
His arrest came one day after Trump spurned a televised debate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, featuring eight of his rivals for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination — all of whom lag well behind him in the polls.
He still stole the spotlight, though, with all but two of the candidates saying they would support him as the party’s nominee even if he were a convicted felon.
Court dates in election race
A tight security perimeter was set up for Trump’s booking at the Fulton County Jail, which is under investigation for a slew of inmate deaths and deplorable conditions.
Fani Willis, the Fulton County district attorney who filed the sweeping racketeering case, had set a deadline of noon on Friday for Trump and the other 18 defendants to surrender.
Trump and 11 others have turned themselves in so far.
Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows surrendered on Thursday and was released on $100,000 bond.
Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, who served as Trump’s personal lawyer when he was in the White House and vigorously pushed the false claims that Trump had won the 2020 election, was booked and released on Wednesday.
John Eastman, a conservative lawyer who is accused of drawing up a scheme to submit a false slate of Trump electors to Congress from Georgia instead of the legitimate Biden ones, has also been booked and released.
A few dozen supporters of the former Republican president gathered outside the jail, including Sharon Anderson who spent the night in her car.
“I think this is a political persecution and now that’s turned into a political prosecution,” Anderson told AFP.
Trump is the first US president in history to face criminal charges.
His various trials, if they take place next year, may coincide with the Republican presidential primary season, which begins in January, and the campaign for the November 2024 White House election.
A few dozen supporters of the former Republican president gathered outside the jail, including Sharon Anderson who spent the night in her car.
“I think this is a political persecution and now that’s turned into a political prosecution,” Anderson told AFP.
Trump is the first US president in history to face criminal charges.
His various trials, if they take place next year, may coincide with the Republican presidential primary season, which begins in January, and the campaign for the November 2024 White House election.
Special counsel Jack Smith has proposed a January 2024 start date for Trump’s trial on charges of conspiring to overturn the last election with a lie-fueled campaign that culminated in the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol by his supporters.
Trump’s attorneys have countered with a suggested start date well after the election — April 2026.
Willis, the Georgia district attorney, initially proposed that the racketeering case begin in March next year, the same month Trump is scheduled to go on trial in New York on charges of paying hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels.
On Thursday, after one of the defendants asked for a speedy trial, she proposed that it begin for all 19 in October of this year, a move met with an immediate objection from Trump’s lawyers.
The Florida case, in which Trump is accused of taking secret government documents as he left the White House and refusing to return them, is scheduled to begin in May.
South African police have arrested five suspects after rescuing a 25-year-old e-hailing driver who was allegedly kidnapped, raped and held for ransom in Cape Town.
The South African Police Service (SAPS) said in a statement on Sunday that Steenberg police rescued the driver after he was allegedly raped by two female suspects and held at ransom by the group.
Police were alerted by the victim’s brother after the suspects contacted him and demanded R4,000 in cash for the driver’s release.
According to SAPS, the police used the victim’s vehicle tracker to locate him at Southampton Road in Heathfield, where he was rescued.
“Steenberg police rescued a 25-year-old e-hailing driver after he was raped and held at ransom by two female suspects and three males yesterday,” the police said.
The victim had reportedly met one of the female suspects the previous week through his e-hailing business.
According to police, the two exchanged telephone numbers and communicated throughout the week before arranging to meet.
“When he went to meet her, he was kidnapped by the suspects and the females raped him,” SAPS said.
Police subsequently arrested the two female suspects, aged 23 and 34, as well as three male suspects aged 16, 42 and 48.
The five suspects are expected to appear before the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court on Monday, September 14, 2026.
SAPS said they would face charges relating to the alleged kidnapping and rape.
A 31-year-old woman in the United Kingdom will spend more time in prison after falsely accusing 10 men of rape, following intervention by Attorney General Ellie Reeves.
Bolton, had her sentence increased by two years and six months after Reeves referred her case to the Court of Appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme.
Sharples contacted men on Facebook and dating apps between 2013 and 2020, arranged to meet them in person, and then made false claims of rape against them to the police.
The court heard how the convict repeated and sustained the accusations, which led to eight separate police investigations involving ten innocent victims.
The government said the majority of those wrongfully accused were arrested and held in custody, resulting in months of investigations and over 550 hours of police time.
The victims described the impact that false allegations had on their daily lives, including loss of relationships, employment, and lasting damage to their mental health.
“Anyone who seeks to exploit or undermine genuine acts of violence against women and girls must be held to account,” said Attorney General Reeves.
The top justice official advised genuine victims to come forward, saying every report of rape is rightly taken seriously and treated with the care it deserves.
On March 11, March, Sharples was sentenced to four years and six months’ imprisonment for 10 counts of obstruction of justice. The Court of Appeal increased it to 7 years on September 9.
Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan has lost her husband, Hafidh Ameir Hassan, who died on Monday while receiving treatment for a heart condition at a hospital in Zanzibar.
Ameir died at 08:00 local time (06:00 GMT) at the Emilio Mzena Memorial Hospital, according to Vice-President Deogratius Ndejembi, who announced his death.
Ndejembi said funeral arrangements were already being made in Kizimkazi, a village on Tanzania’s semi-autonomous island of Zanzibar.
The vice-president also expressed condolences to President Hassan, Ameir’s family and friends following his death.
Kenyan President William Ruto joined those mourning Ameir, saying he received news of his death with “deep sorrow”.
“President Samia has lost a lifelong companion, her children a beloved father, and Tanzania a distinguished son,” he wrote on social media.
Ameir, an agricultural academic, largely stayed away from the public spotlight despite being married to Tanzania’s president. He became the country’s first First Gentleman after Hassan assumed office in 2021.
His appearances alongside President Hassan were uncommon, although he occasionally accompanied her at official engagements.
Ameir and Hassan married in 1978, before she began her political career, and had four children together — three sons and a daughter.
Their daughter, Wanu Hafidh Ameir, has also followed a political career and currently serves in Zanzibar’s House of Representatives in the National Assembly.
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