BOGOTA: Colombia has detained a former paramilitary wanted for the massacre of dozens of peasants in 2000, and who recently threatened to drive more from their land, police said on Friday.
Hernan Cantillo, 38, for whom an international arrest warrant had been issued, was apprehended in Colombia's northern town of Galapa.
Cantillo is thought to have been a member of the extreme-right militant group United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia (AUC) for 20 years.
Founded in the 1980s, the AUC is believed to be responsible for the death of thousands of people.
Authorities have accused Cantillo of the November 22, 2000 massacre of 36 people in the town of Sitionuevo, northern Colombia, under the direction of an AUC boss.
‘Canadian Psycho’ skips bail: Police
OTTAWA: A Canadian man facing charges for posting an 11-minute video depicting an ex-porn actor’s grisly killing and dismemberment of a Chinese student has skipped bail, police said on Friday.
Canadian media said Mark Marek, 38, the operator of the gore website that allegedly posted a video of Luka Magnotta dismembering university student Lin Jun in May 2012, may be seeking to leave the country. Marek was released on C$7,500 ($7,300) bail on July 18 after being arrested and charged with corrupting morals for hosting the Magnotta video on his website, Bestgore.com.
Putin takes part in Ukraine festivities
KIEV: Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday stressed the common history shared by Russia and Ukraine as he attended politically charged religious festivities, highlighting a tug-of-war over Kiev’s moves to integrate with the EU.
Arriving in Ukraine on a two-day visit to celebrate the 1,025th anniversary of the arrival of Christianity in what was once known as Kievan Rus — a vast territory comprising modern-day Ukraine and Russia — Putin said the two majority Orthodox neighbours had to solve a “lot of joint issues.”
Malema launches political party
SOWETO, South Africa: Populist politician Julius Malema launched South Africa’s newest political party yesterday to take on his former party, the ruling African National Congress (ANC), in polls next year.
Malema’s leftist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) held its first general assembly in Soweto, the Johannesburg township which was a hotbed of resistance against white minority rule. A few hundred supporters sporting the EFF’s trademark red berets filled a community hall, singing liberation songs and waving flags before they discussed the party’s manifesto in a closed session. Agencies
