Free Republic

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese prosecutors have indicted the former top aide to ex-President Hu Jintao on charges of taking bribes, illegally obtaining state secrets and abuse of power, state media reported Friday, in the latest high-profile blow in President Xi Jinping's sweeping crackdown on corruption. State broadcaster CCTV said prosecutors in the northern port city of Tianjin have filed the charges against Ling Jihua, who once served as head of the Communist Party's General Office, a position comparable to the U.S. president's chief of staff. Ling was placed under investigation in late 2014 and was formally arrested in July 2015.

MADRID, Spain - A Spanish judge has indicted 22 people suspected of links to a recruitment network sending fighters to Iraq, a court said Tuesday. National Court judge Baltasar Garzon charged 18 of the suspects with belonging to a terrorist organization, and the other four were accused of collaborating with it, the statement said. The cell's mission was to send potential fighters to Iraq "so they might join in terrorist activity sponsored and directed by al-Qaida," Garzon said. One of those arrested, Moroccan Omar Nakhcha, 24, was also charged with helping some of those involved in the 2004 Madrid train...

US indicts 11 environmental, animal activists Fri Jan 20, 2006 03:05 PM ET WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Eleven environmental and animal rights activists have been indicted in a series of attacks in the U.S. West on targets that included the Vail Ski Resort in Colorado, the Justice Department said on Friday. The defendants, based in Portland, Oregon, and acting on behalf of the Animal Liberation Front and the Earth Liberation Front, were named in a 65-count indictment that included charges of arson and destruction of an energy facility, U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said at a news conference. A Justice Department...

MONTGOMERY, Ala. - A federal grand jury on Monday indicted former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman and former HealthSouth Chairman Richard Scrushy on more charges in a political corruption case. The new indictment accuses Scrushy of paying off Siegelman for a seat on the state health regulatory board, and accuses both men of wielding improper influence over the board. Siegelman called the latest grand jury action another attempt to destroy his Democratic campaign for governor. "They are going to try to pull every trick in the book to manipulate the 2006 election," he said Monday. Federal prosecutors have said repeatedly that...

AUSTIN, Texas - A Texas grand jury indicted Rep. Tom DeLay on a new charge of money laundering Monday, less than a week after another grand jury leveled a conspiracy charge that forced DeLay to temporarily step down as House majority leader. Both indictments accuse DeLay and two political associates of conspiring to get around a state ban on corporate campaign contributions by funneling the money through a political action committee to the Republican National Committee in Washington. The RNC then sent back like amounts to distribute to Texas candidates in 2002, the indictment alleges.

Last August, when the Orange County Board of Supervisors was considering a union-sponsored measure to significantly increase pensions for county employees, Treasurer John Moorlach argued that the assumptions underlying the proposal were flawed and that the plan would soon cause a crisis that could rival the financial mess created by the 1994 county bankruptcy. Others, including the Register Editorial Page and the Orange County Taxpayers Association, likewise warned against approving the deal, especially against the provision that would grant 62 percent pension increases retroactively to current county employees. Supervisors Bill Campbell, Jim Silva and Tom Wilson voted in favor of...

US President George Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair deserve life sentences, with the possibility of parole after 25 years, for the war crimes and genocide in Iraq, according to a lawyers' panel. Speaking on Monday at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan, Kohki Abe, a professor of law at Kanagawa University, said they should face the "maximum penalty available". That would not include the death penalty, however, as the members of the tribunal opposed capital punishment, he added. Abe is the chief justice of a four-person panel of the International Criminal Tribunal for Iraq (ICTI) that has judged...

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) - A federal grand jury has indicted 10 people on fraud charges for an alleged scheme in which false bills were submitted to Medicare and a portion of the proceeds were used to buy a Rolls-Royce, a yacht and to pay gambling bills in Las Vegas. Federal agents arrested seven of the 10 defendants Thursday, including the operator of a Huntington Beach medical supply firm, the U.S. Attorney's Office office said. Three others named in the indictment, which was issued Wednesday, will receive a summons to appear in court in coming weeks, authorities said. Those indicted...

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) - Gen. Augusto Pinochet was indicted Monday for the kidnapping of nine dissidents and the killing of one of them during his 1973-90 regime, and the former dictator was placed under house arrest.Judge Juan Guzman made the announcement nearly three months after questioning the 89-year-old former ruler and having him examined by doctors to determine whether he can stand trial.Guzman said he made the decision to try Pinochet after carefully reviewing an interview Pinochet gave to a Spanish language television station in Miami.He said he is convinced Pinochet is healthy enough to stand trial.he trial of Pinochet...

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (AP) - A grand jury indicted a former city councilwoman and seven other people Wednesday for an alleged real estate scheme that involved converting apartments into higher-priced condominiums without the required permits for the changes. Pamela Houchen, who resigned from the City Council in September, also was charged with corruption for allegedly concealing her ownership of an apartment building in a redevelopment district where she was prohibited from owning property under conflict-of-interest laws. The former councilwoman, a real estate broker who also has served as mayor, is charged with 11 counts of mail fraud and seven counts...

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A federal grand jury filed more charges Wednesday against the city's former treasurer and a top mayoral fund-raiser in a broad corruption probe that involved FBI wiretapping of city officials and their political supporters. The new indictment accuses ex-treasurer Corey Kemp of filing false tax returns between 2000 and 2003. It also accuses Ronald A. White, an attorney and close ally of Mayor John F. Street, with making false statements to a bank that loaned him money to buy a $1.3 million home in Florida. Kemp had been charged in July with accepting payments and gifts from...

Grand jury indicts Siegelman, 2 othersSiegelman characterizes charges as 'baseless' attack by Republicans against him and other Democrats Friday, May 28, 2004 By SALLIE OWEN, JOE DANBORN and JEFF AMY Staff Reporters Former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman and his former chief of staff were indicted with a third person by a federal grand jury in Birmingham on charges they illegally rigged bids for medical services, prosecutors announced Thursday. The 25-page indictment alleges that while he was governor, Siegelman and his chief of staff, Paul Hamrick, manipulated the bid process to help Dr. Phillip Bobo of Tuscaloosa win a multimillion-dollar Medicaid...

A criminal grand jury has indicted Santa Clara County Judge William Danser after hearing testimony that the judge may have fixed traffic tickets and handed out other favors, sources close to the investigation say. Danser, 50, was booked Monday at the sheriff's office on one felony count of conspiracy, as well as additional misdemeanor charges, according to Danser's attorney Ken Robinson. He was released without posting bond and has promised to appear in court Oct. 20. ``We plan to enter a plea of not guilty,'' said Robinson, who declined further comment. Danser's friend, former Los Gatos police detective Randy Bishop,...