01 August 2016
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Civil UAV Regulations Worldwide (Defence iQ, link):
"The civilian use of UAVs presents homeland security, critical national infrastructure and commercial industries with a myriad of safety and privacy challenges. However, while 2016 represents a landmark year for the introduction of many new regulatory frameworks across many countries, a huge number remain unclear or untested."
CZECH REPUBLIC: Communist-era secret police members facing charges (Prague Daily Monitor, link):
"Investigators filed charges in spring against three members of the Czechoslovak Communist secret police (StB) over participating in the harassment of dissidents within the Asanace (Sanitation) raid under the Communist regime, the server iDnes said on Monday.
Asanace was to force opponents of the Communist regime to emigrate."
HUNGARY: Police Investigate OCCRP Partner for "Harrassment" (OCCRP, link):
"Hungarian police have launched a criminal investigation into Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) partner Direkt36 after a politician accused the news organization of harrassment."
Romania denies hosting US nukes (EUobserver, link):
"The foreign ministry of Romania has denied that US nuclear weapons were being moved from Turkey to Romania as ties between Washington and Ankara soured after the failed coup of 15 July. Bucharest issued a press release firmly rejecting the information, first reported by the Euractiv news agency in Brussels. Defence minister Mihnea Motoc said “so far there have not been any plans or discussions [in Nato] on this topic”."
UK: Another 100 beds at Gatwick site: expansion by stealth? (The Detention Forum, link):
"In Stephen Shaw’s substantive review of detention earlier this year, it did not go unnoticed that the scale of immigration detention in the UK had increased without any strategic plan, or statement of purpose. He commented that ‘the use of detention is determined on a direct one to one basis by the number of available spaces. A strategic decision therefore needs to be made about the size and location of the IRC estate over the next decade and longer’. The then Immigration Minister, James Brokenshire, in a statement made in January, accepted the ‘broad thrust’ of Shaw’s recommendations, and outlined plans to reduce the numbers detained. Plans for the future shape and size of the detention estate, he said, would be outlined in the Immigration Enforcement’s Business Plan for 2016/17. This elusive business plan remains unpublished.
It comes as somewhat of a surprise to learn, then, that the detention centres at Gatwick Airport (Brook and Tinsley House) are being expanded this summer by 100 bed spaces."
UK: Lincoln Prison 'failed ' inmate found hanged in cell (Lincolnshire Echo, link):
"The grieving mother of a vulnerable prisoner found hanged in his cell at HMP Lincoln says it was disgraceful staff failed to protect him properly .
Luke McDonnell, 29, was found by wardens hanged in his cell on his birthday, June 14.
He was rushed to Lincoln County Hospital and was in a coma before his life support machine was switched off on June 19.
A jury at an inquest into his death found the prison had failed him and other prisoners at risk of self harm."
UK: London Bridge arrest investigated after complaint about use of spit hood (The Guardian, link):
"The police watchdog is investigating the arrest of a man who was forcefully restrained by officers and had a spit hood put over his head after an argument with his partner.
Video footage showed Ik Aihie screaming in pain as British Transport police (BTP) officers held him down on the floor of London Bridge station during the incident last month. He was approached by officers after his partner, Jessica McConkey, asked him to give her back her phone, the couple said.
Police said he was arrested after he “became aggressive” and, during the arrest, that Aihie also threatened to spit at officers."
UK: Secrets of a Police Marksman was an interesting window into a little-seen world – review (The Telegraph, link):
"Secrets of a Police Marksman (Channel 4) was on our screens days after a US presidential candidate seemed to incite gun-owners to assassination. In the UK – and everywhere else in the developed world – we have sanity around guns, which is why Tony Long’s story is exceptional."
UK: Student wins lawsuit forcing police watchdog to re-examine assault claim (The Guardian, link):
"A university student who alleges he was assaulted by police during a demonstration has won a lawsuit forcing an official watchdog to conduct a fresh examination of his allegations.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission had cleared the police of misconduct during the demonstration against education cuts at Warwick University in December 2014.
But a high court judge ruled on Friday that the IPCC was wrong to dismiss Lawrence Green’s allegations."
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