August 28, 2007
Court tries 18 for cross-dressing
BAUCHI, Nigeria (Reuters) - Eighteen Nigerian men accused of dressing up as women during a party at a hotel went on trial Tuesday before an Islamic sharia court in the northern state of Bauchi.
Dozens of residents shouted abuse and hurled stones at the men as they were escorted into an armored prison vehicle after the hearing, prompting police to fire tear-gas at the crowd.
The men, mostly in their 20s, were arrested in a Bauchi hotel on August 4. Police say they were dressed as women, which is illegal under the state's sharia penal code.
The offence is punishable by up to a year in prison and 20 lashes by cane.
The accused, who tried to hide their faces as they were jeered on their way in and out of court, deny the charge. One of them told Reuters they went to the hotel for a graduation party.
Muhammad Bununu of the Hisbah Commission, a body charged with enforcing sharia law in the state, told reporters the accused were "addressing each other as women and dressing themselves as women."
"They said they went to the hotel to witness a wedding between a male and a male," he said.
The police brought handbags and suitcases containing women's high-heel shoes and clothing to the court as evidence.
The 18 are not formally charged with homosexuality, which is illegal in Nigeria and considered immoral by the vast majority of people, both Muslims and Christians.
SHARIA LAW
Bauchi is one of 12 states in the predominantly Muslim north that started a stricter enforcement of sharia law in 2000 -- a decision that alienated sizeable Christian minorities and sparked bouts of sectarian violence that killed thousands.
Sharia courts have been active for centuries but under British colonial rule their powers were curtailed. In the 12 states, they regained the right to impose strict punishments such as death for adultery or sodomy and amputation for theft.
Only one man, a convicted murderer hanged in 2002, is known to have been executed under sharia law since it was reinforced in the 12 states.
Nigerian media had originally reported that the 18 men arrested in Bauchi were charged with sodomy and facing death by stoning, raising concerns among human rights groups who sent observers to Tuesday's hearings.
But Bununu said the reports were incorrect.
Judge Tanimu Abubakar adjourned the case until September 13 to allow time for a Bauchi state prosecutor who is taking over from the police to familiarize himself with the evidence.
Posted by ronnie at 01:41 PM | Comments (0)
July 08, 2007
Men disguised as Muslim women rob bank
SARAJEVO (Reuters) - Two armed men disguised as Muslim women in burqas held up a bank in Sarajevo and got away with some $40,000, Bosnian police said on Tuesday.
They said the pair entered a Union bank branch in the capital wearing head-to-toe black dresses and veils typical of women adhering to the orthodox Islamic code and trained guns on customers. They then made customers lie on the floor while the emptied the tills, police added.
"Everything happened in a moment. Two persons in black niqabs (burqas) came into the bank. I thought they were ladies," the Sarajevo daily Oslobodjenje quoted bank customer Mehmedalija Komarac as saying.
Women in burqas and men with long beards have become a common sight in the Bosnian capital in recent years.
Posted by ronnie at 10:54 AM | Comments (0)
April 05, 2007
Firefighter charged with racy park romp
MASON, Ohio - A man wearing a woman's wig and a string bikini was charged with taking a drunken afternoon romp through a park, officials said.
Steven S. Cole, a 46-year-old volunteer firefighter, told an officer he was on his way to a Dayton bar to perform as a woman in a contest offering a $10,000 prize, the arrest report said.
He pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges of drunken driving, public indecency and disorderly conduct.
Cole was arrested Tuesday after police received a report that an intoxicated man was walking and driving around Heritage Oak Park in Mason.
Police said Cole was wearing a blond wig, pink flip-flops and a red-black-and-white striped bikini with the top filled out by tan water balloons. The
National Weather Service said it was around 60 degrees in the Mason area about the time he was arrested.
Cole's blood-alcohol test registered 0.174, more than twice Ohio's legal driving limit of 0.08, the arrest report said.
"He is obviously humiliated and embarrassed by the entire situation," said Cole's lawyer, Charlie Rittgers, who added that he is investigating the circumstances that led to the arrest.
Cole did not return a call seeking comment. He remained free on his own recognizance until trial, set for May 24.
Cole has been a Wayne Township firefighter since 2000. Township officials said he will be placed on administrative leave.
Posted by ronnie at 10:35 PM | Comments (0)
February 05, 2006
Film director Tamahori arrested on sex charge
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - New Zealand-born director Lee Tamahori, whose films include the James Bond hit "Die Another Day," has been arrested on a sex charge while wearing a woman's dress and a wig, officials said on Friday.
Tamahori, 55, was arrested January 8 in a police sting operation and charged with prostitution and loitering in a public place, City Attorney spokesman Frank Mateljan said.
The filmmaker is accused of offering to perform oral sex on an undercover police officer in exchange for money.
Tamahori had been set to be arraigned on Thursday, but the hearing was postponed until February 24. If convicted of the misdemeanour charges, he faces a maximum of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine (570 pounds), Mateljan said.
Tamahori gained notice for directing the 1994 drama "Once Were Warriors," a film set in New Zealand about a family of native Maori whose lives have been plagued by alcohol, drugs and violence. Tamahori's father is Maori.
He followed that film with the 1950s crime drama "Mulholland Falls" and thriller "The Edge," starring Anthony Hopkins and Alec Baldwin.
Tamahori went on to make a splash with 2002's "Die Another Day," which starred Pierce Brosnan as British secret agent 007 and Halle Berry as an American agent named Jinx. The movie raked in more than $430 million worldwide.
But his action film "xXx: State of the Union," starring rapper Ice Cube bombed at the box office last year.
Media reports said he was being represented by famed Los Angeles defence attorney Mark Geragos, who has worked for pop singer Michael Jackson and actress Winona Ryder.
Geragos and his associates were not immediately available to confirm those reports.
Posted by ronnie at 02:06 PM | Comments (0)
January 19, 2006
British police seize TV transvestite's 'gorilla coat'
LONDON (AFP) - A coat allegedly made from gorilla fur and worn by a British television reality show contestant has been handed over to police following complaints from furious viewers about animal cruelty.
Hertforshire Police said Thursday the coat, worn by Dead or Alive singer Pete Burns on Channel Four television's "Celebrity Big Brother", will now be tested to confirm its origin.
The silicon-enhanced transvestite, famous for his 1985 hit "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)", had claimed to other housemates under the 24-hour scrutiny of cameras that the garment was made of fur from the endangered species.
Flamboyant Burns, 46, handed over the coat Wednesday night, police said.
"Hertforshire Constabulary will take positive action to investigate any allegation of criminal activity," the force stressed in a statement.
Britain's Biodiversity Minister Jim Knight last week warned that Burns could be thrown in jail if his claims about the coat were true.
Trading in endangered species carries a penalty of up to five years in prison and/or an unlimited fine.
Meanwhile, firebrand MP George Galloway could face punishment from Britain's Queen Elizabeth II under an ancient law for entering the "Big Brother House" while the other house -- the House of Commons is sitting.
The controversial socialist accused by US senators of taking illegal kickbacks from Iraq under the UN's oil for food programme -- has been accused of neglecting his constituents by taking part in the show.
According to the 1382 Summons to Parliament Act, anyone absenting themselves from Parliament can be "amerced" arbitrarily punished if the monarch decides he has not "reasonably and honestly" excused himself.
Galloway, nicknamed "Gorgeous George" because of his penchant for designer suits and Cuban cigars, has attracted widespread derision for his antics on the show, including impersonating a cat.
Martin Salter, an MP from the governing Labour Party which kicked Galloway out over his views on Iraq, urged the queen to dish out an appropriate punishment.
"In my view Galloway should be sent back to the Big Brother house for the rest of his life with the instruction to perform demeaning impressions of every animal that walks the earth," he said.
Posted by ronnie at 09:24 AM | Comments (0)