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A6 WORLD NEWS
Tuesday 9 July 2024
French court rules American man detained after ‘So I raped you’

Facebook message can be extradited

By NICOLAS VAUX-MON- er had written in a string of
TAGNY and MARYCLAIRE messages.
DALE “I’ll never do it to anyone
Associated Press ever again.”
LYON, France (AP) — A “I need to hear your voice.”
French court ruled on Mon- “I’ll pray for you.”
day that the American man The AP doesn’t typically
accused of sexually assault- identify sexual assault vic-
ing a Pennsylvania college tims without their permission,
student in 2013 and later which Keeler has granted.
sending her a Facebook The accuser’s lawyer in
message that said, “So I Pennsylvania, reached on
raped you,” can be extra- Monday, declined to com-
dited to the United States. ment on the development.
Ian Cleary, 31, of Saratoga, According to the June 2021
California, was detained in warrant, police verified that
April in the city of Metz in the Facebook account
northeastern France after a used to send the messages
three-year search. He has belonged to Ian Cleary.
been held in custody pend- Adams County District At-
ing extradition proceedings torney Brian Sinnett, who
since his arrest. filed it, declined to com-
The Court of Appeal in Metz ment on developments
said that Cleary can be ex- when reached Monday.
tradited. When asked if he After leaving Gettysburg,
wished to be extradited or This wanted poster provided by the U.S. Marshals shows Ian Cleary, of Saratoga, Calif. Cleary earned undergradu-
not, in line with French law, Associated Press ate and graduate degrees
Cleary refused, prosecutors from Santa Clara Univer-
said in a statement Mon- detained in France. crimes. Shannon Keeler, had a sity, near his family home in
day. His refusal may delay Justice Ministry officials The arrest warrant ac- rape exam done the same California, worked for Tesla,
the extradition process, but didn’t immediately respond cuses Cleary of stalking day she was assaulted in and then moved to France
it won’t stop it. to a request for comment. an 18-year-old Gettysburg 2013. She gathered witness- for several years, accord-
The ruling is final. Cleary’s Cleary had been the sub- College student at a party, es and evidence and spent ing to his website, which
case is now the responsi- ject of an international sneaking into her dorm and years urging officials to file describes his self-published
bility of the French Justice search since authorities in sexually assaulting her while charges. medieval fiction.
Ministry, which must pre- Pennsylvania issued a 2021 she texted friends for help. She went to authorities Keeler, originally from
pare and submit the extra- felony warrant in the case He was a 20-year-old Get- again in 2021 after discov- Moorestown, New Jersey,
dition order for the French weeks after an Associated tysburg student at the time, ering the Facebook mes- stayed on to graduate from
prime minister. While he Press story detailed the re- but didn’t return to cam- sages that seemed to come Gettysburg and help lead
awaits the prime minister’s luctance of local prosecu- pus. from Cleary’s account. the women’s lacrosse team
signature, Cleary remains tors to pursue campus sex The Gettysburg accuser, “So I raped you,” the send- to a national title.q

Deforestation in Colombia fell to historic lows in 2023, environment

minister says

By STEVEN GRATTAN ment said Monday, mark- rainforest, including about vowed to halt record-high dissident groups of FARC
Associated Press ing the lowest level since one-third of it in Colombia, rates of deforestation in the guerrillas forbidding defores-
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — records began. The decline the government of leftist Amazon by limiting agribusi- tation. Muhamad said Mon-
Deforestation in Colombia was driven by a drop in envi- President Gustavo Petro said. ness expansion into the for- day the strong presence of
fell 36% in 2023 versus the ronmental destruction in the Deforestation fell nationwide est and by creating reserves government armed forces in
previous year, the govern- Amazon, the world’s largest to about 792 square kilome- where Indigenous communi- these areas as well as prog-
ters (about 305 square miles) ties and others are allowed ress made with peace talks
in 2023, down from about to harvest rubber, acai and will be key to maintaining a
1,235 square kilometers other non-timber forest prod- downward trend.
(about 477 square miles) a ucts. But next year’s figures don’t
year earlier. A little over half Advancing peace talks look as promising. A signifi-
of the deforestation came in between the government cant rise in deforestation
the Amazon. and guerrilla groups in the has already been record-
The decrease “means that area, along with financial ed due to the effects of dry
44,262 hectares of forest incentives for farmers in the weather caused by El Nino,
stopped being cut down,” Amazon to help with con- Muhamad said, which is a
Environment Minister Susana servation, drove the drop. weather phenomenon that
Muhamad told journalists. It came after deforestation warms the central Pacific.
“It is very good news, but we had fallen about 29% in 2022. Mass cattle ranching, drug
definitely cannot say that the Environmental experts over crops and illegal mining and
battle is won. We continue past years have said the de- logging continue to drive
An illegal gold mining operation that contributed to deforestation to confront illicit economies.” crease in deforestation was deforestation in the Andean
is visible in Magui Payan, Colombia, April 20, 2021. When elected in 2022, Petro also likely tied to orders from nation, Muhamad said. q
Associated Press