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WORLD NEWSThursday 7 January 2016
Thai police arrest British man in child pornography case
BANGKOK (AP) — Thai po- Thai agency in November with his Thai wife and two his Thai neighbors. Police carries a penalty of seven
lice, acting on a U.S. tip that images were being children. said he offered to teach years.
about child pornography uploaded and sent from a “With a court warrant, DSI English to local children. Thailand and other parts of
uploads, arrested a Brit- specific Internet address. searched this man’s house Thai newspapers said he Southeast Asia are attrac-
ish man Wednesday in a The uploads were traced in Chiang Mai this morn- had once been a Buddhist tive destinations for sex of-
northern province where by The National Center for ing and found a lot of such monk. fenders because of lax law
another Westerner was ar- Missing and Exploited Chil- images, some were taken Blandford is being held enforcement despite peri-
rested weeks earlier in a dren, a non-profit group by himself and some were pending formal charges. odic crackdowns.
similar case. funded by the U.S. govern- downloaded. The man ad- Under a Thai law that came A 67-year-old American,
Department of Special In- ment. mits that the images be- into force last month, pos- James Craig Neumann,
vestigation Lt. Col. Paisith Police arrested Fabian long to him,” said Paisith. session of child pornogra- was arrested on similar
Sungkahapong said the Frederick Blandford, 64, He said that according phy carries a penalty of up charges last month in a
U.S. Department of Home- at his home in Chiang Mai to an initial investigation, to five years in prison, and different district of Chiang
land Security informed the province, where he lives Blandford was friendly with distribution of the images Mai. q
Cologne divided over who to blame for New Year’s assaults
FRANK JORDANS 26-year-old student Antonia Rabente a Cologne resident who assault and robbery during saults.
Associated Press was not among the victims, attends an interview with The As- the New Year’s Eve festivi- “On the one hand there’s
COLOGNE, Germany (AP) sociated Press in front of the main station in Cologne, Western ties, authorities said, includ- a feeling that what hap-
— Amid widespread shock Germany, on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2016 where she spoke about ing two accounts of rape. pened is wrong and many
over a string of sexual as- the attacks during the New Year’s celebrations. The attacks were seized on people are concerned
saults in this cosmopoli- by opponents of Germa- about this. But where peo-
tan German city on New (AP Photo/Hermann J. Knippertz) ny’s welcoming stance to- ple are split is in how to re-
Year’s Eve, the response ward those fleeing conflict. spond,” she said. “I think it’s
was divided Wednesday: marks by Cologne’s mayor, words that were widely “This is where Merkel’s ir- important to keep the focus
blame the police or chide Henriette Reker, suggesting ridiculed on social media responsible immigration on the women who were
the victims, deport crimi- that women can protect Wednesday for putting the policy will lead us,” de- affected. They (mustn’t be)
nal foreigners or prevent themselves from strange onus on the victims. clared Thorsten Craemer misused for attacks on the
migrants from entering the men on the streets by At least 106 women have of the far-right fringe party right to asylum.”
country in the first place. keeping them “more than come forward to file crimi- ProNRW, which staged a Germany was one of the
The reaction in Cologne an arm’s length” away — nal complaints of sexual small rally in front of Co- few European countries to
reflects a broader debate logne’s main train station, welcome the influx of refu-
as Germany struggles to the site of the attacks. gees last year. Many Ger-
reconcile law and order “There will be battles for re- mans cheered as weary
with its new-found role as a sources, confrontations far Syrians, Afghans and Iraqis
haven for those seeking a worse than what we’ve ex- stepped off trains in Mu-
better life. perienced on New Year’s nich, Frankfurt and Ham-
Police descriptions of the Eve.” burg last summer and tens
perpetrators as of “Arab or His fellow activists — fewer of thousands have volun-
North African origin” were than 10 in total — were far teered to help the new
seized on by those calling outnumbered by counter- arrivals. That euphoria has
for an end to Chancel- demonstrators shouting given way to the realiza-
lor Angela Merkel’s open- them down with slogans tion that integrating the
door policy toward people such as “East or West, down nearly 1.1 million people
fleeing violence and per- with the Nazi plague.” who came to Germany
secution — even as au- Among the counter-pro- last year will be a long and
thorities warned they don’t testers was Antonia Raben- difficult task, even as many
know if any of the culprits te, a 26-year-old student Germans have been heart-
are refugees. Adding to and union activist who ex- ened by Merkel’s mantra,
the controversy were re- pressed anguish at the as- “We can do this.” q
Filipinos raped by Japan WWII troops demand compensation
TERESA CEROJANO with United Nations bod- than once or twice to our apologizing and agreeing rape is a crime against
Associated Press ies and holding Philippine government to help us, to contribute 1 billion yen women and is prohibited
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — President Benigno Aquino support us before Japan ($8.3 million) for a founda- by international humanitar-
A group of elderly Filipino III liable for allegedly failing so that we can be given tion to help support the vic- ian law and is recognized
women raped by Japa- to support the case of the justice for the sufferings tims. Historians say tens of as an international crime.”
nese troops during World women against Japan. we went through during thousands of women from He noted that South Ko-
War II called for compen- Isabelita Vinuya, the World War II,” Vinuya said around Asia were sent to rea’s Supreme Court had
sation from Japan on 84-year-old president of at a news conference, front-line military brothels ordered the government
Wednesday, following To- Malaya Lolas — a group of adding that many of the to provide sex to Japanese to fight for the rights of the
kyo’s pledge of $8.3 million Filipino women abducted women have died without soldiers. “Is there a differ- Korean victims, but that the
for South Korean women and raped by Japanese seeing justice. Japan and ence in the rape of a South Philippines’ top court dis-
forced into Japanese mili- troops in their village — South Korea announced Korean and a Filipino wom- missed in 2010 a case filed
tary-run brothels during the urged the Philippine gov- last week that they had an?” Harry Roque, the Fili- by Vinuya and 70 other
war. ernment to support their settled their decades-long pino victims’ lawyer, said at women urging the court to
The women’s lawyers said demand for justice from standoff over wartime Wednesday’s news confer- compel the government to
they were also exploring Japan. sex slaves, with Japanese ence. “The answer is there press their claims against
the possibility of filing cases “We have appealed more Prime Minister Shinzo Abe should be none, because Japan.q
