Small-boat migrant posted pro-terrorist videos while seeking asylum in UK
A judge has criticised a small-boat migrant who posted pro-Islamic State videos online while applying for asylum.
Hakan Barac, 28, a Turkish national reached the UK two years ago and was in the process of applying for asylum when he was arrested by counter-terrorism police last year.
Bristol Crown Court heard Barac had been posting videos on social media sites including Instagram and Telegram glorifying IS and terrorists Osama bin Laden and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
The videos showed jihadists preparing for martyrdom, and also featured Mohammed Khalifa, the Saudi-born Canadian recruiter.
Barac, of Newport, South Wales, previously pleaded guilty to five counts relating to the online distribution of terrorist publications, and one of expressing support for a proscribed organisation.
Jailing Barac for 45 months, Judge Martin Picton said Barac had shared material glorifying 'violent terrorism'.
'The dissemination of material of this kind has the clear potential to be supportive of such activity,' he said.
'It is apparent from your own use of social media that you have a mindset that is aligned with that ideology.
'The pattern of terrorist activity in modern times demonstrates the potential for individuals to be encouraged by material they see posted on social media so as to carry out acts of violence.
'Anybody posting material in the nature that features in this case runs the risk of encouraging another to commit an act of terrorism.
'This is not a victimless crime and the maximum penalty, as well as the relevant sentencing guidelines reflect that position.
'I accept you have had a difficult life and that you have navigated a challenging route to get to this country.
'You are here seeking asylum but at the same time choose to disseminate material that strikes at the very heart of our democratic society.
'For you to behave in that way when seeking refuge in this country is very difficult to understand and must seem utterly unacceptable to all right-thinking people.'
Ben Lloyd, prosecuting, said: 'It was apparent that a substantial number of followers to his accounts were interested in extreme Islamic subject matters.
'The defendant shared such material recklessly. In other words, he was reckless as to whether an effect of his posting the material would be the direct or indirect encouragement to the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism.
'The prosecution's position is that the defendant's activity, while not intentional, nevertheless involved a repeated and wilful disregard with a clear, serious and obvious risk of encouraging terrorist activity.'
Mr Lloyd said that investigators found other material that he had posted online shortly before his arrest glorifying IS and martyrdom.
'The prosecution position is that the possession and sharing of this material demonstrates that defendant itself is of an Islamic extremist mindset,' he said.
'It is extreme in nature and depicts graphic violence and his possession of it demonstrates an escalation in the nature of the material he was viewing and sharing the days before his arrest.'
Mr Lloyd said Barac had entered the UK illegally on a small boat on April 22 2023.
'He does not have leave to remain, but he is permitted to stay while an application for asylum is considered and he has no previous convictions recorded against him in this jurisdiction,' he said.
Tim Forte KC, mitigating, said Barac had pleaded guilty on the basis there was 'no intention to assist or encourage' and the posts had only been seen by a small number of people.
'He thought he had a hundred followers – that's not a huge group in a country of 60 million, in a world of eight billion,' he said.
'Given it's global, it's a relatively small number. There is no evidence that others have acted or been assisted.'
Judge Picton said due to the sentence, Barac would be automatically be referred to the authorities to consider deportation.
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And yet, inexplicably, no matter how bad it got — the draw was still there — and the couple continued to spend an occasional night together. Caity Meader: We know that children who are raised in homes where there's been domestic violence or other abuse are much more likely to end up in these types of relationships going forward … you will model relationships that have been modeled for you. One night in the fall of 2014, when the couple was once again sleeping together, Daniel told friends he got the shock of his life when he awoke to find Erika pointing a gun at his head. Erin Moriarty: He told you that she woke up, dreamed that he had been with another woman and held a gun to his head. What did she say to him at that point? Herb Adame: She said that she was going to kill him. Erin Moriarty: If he left her. Herb Adame: Yeah. Or if he cheated on her. Daniel and Erika went their separate ways yet again but came together in January 2015 to celebrate Aiden's second birthday with a family party. Matt and Misty were watching them closely. It was one month before Daniel's murder. Misty Gray: We thought that Daniel and Erika were getting back together … Before we all left, Daniel actually kissed her on the cheek. And I was like, "Yep it's going to happen … maybe it's the right time now. Maybe they're finally growing up and it's OK. And as long as everybody is happy that's all that matters." But then weeks later, Daniel told friends he was dating a new woman. Matt Green: I think he probably expressed that this was somebody that was gonna be around — maybe forever. Erin Moriarty: You think that really is what set everything off. Matt Green I do. Misty Gray: I really thought one day she would kill him. 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But only one person can really talk about what happened the day Daniel was murdered, and so Chambers takes an extraordinary and risky step and puts Erika on the stand. Dan Chambers | Defense attorney: It was a collective decision-- and it wasn't an easy decision. In direct testimony, Erika begins with a litany of stories about the abuse she claims she suffered from Daniel over the years: ERIKA SANDOVAL: At that point we were arguing a lot. ERIKA SANDOVAL: He grabbed me by the shirt, my shirt, and he started shaking me back and forth and as he was yelling in my face, "Shut the f--- up." … And he's like, you know, "I could f---ing kill you and make it look like an accident." … That's when he grabbed me from my ponytail and he slammed my head in the dashboard while I was holding Aiden. There was a witness to that incident, but Erika did not call police then and says she rarely reported abuse because Daniel was a cop. DA Tim Ward: … it appears now the that objective of some of this is to murder his memory. And as horrible as the relationship was, Erika admits that she and Daniel continued to have sex. Again, she blames Daniel: ERIKA SANDOVAL: He would allow me extra time with Aiden in order — to go over and do a sexual act with him. DAN CHAMBERS | DEFENSE ATTORNEY: So, why did you feel you had to do those things? ERIKA SANDOVAL: I preferred a happy Daniel as opposed to an angry Daniel. She testifies the two even had phone sex on February 5, 2015. Just one day later, she tells jurors, she showed up at Daniel's house to just snoop around: ERIKA SANDOVAL: I saw the kitchen window, and I figured I'd try to see if it was open. So, I took off the screen and I wedged it and it was open. Moving through the house, Erika says she grabbed two of Daniel's guns. Erika spotted Daniel's open safe and found what she says were two photos depicting child pornography: ERIKA SANDOVAL: The first picture I saw, um, it was like a girl. She looked to be maybe, like, 12, 13, next to a bed. Her story takes the prosecution by surprise; Erika had never mentioned the photos in any of her previous statements. DA Tim Ward: That was the very first time that we ever had even heard that or anything close to that. Ward says no such photos were found. But Erika insists she saw them and left them in the safe: ERIKA SANDOVAL: It just made me think, like, fantasies that he, like, had with me … the school girl outfits he'd want me to wear … I thought, you know, like, is he watching this kind of stuff around my son? DAN CHAMBERS: What's the next thing you remember doing? ERIKA SANDOVAL: I heard his truck. That's when Erika says she ducked into Aiden's closet — where she had her ex-husband's two loaded guns. DEADLOCKED One month into her trial, Erika Sandoval explains for the first time publicly how and why she killed her ex-husband Daniel Green. She tells jurors she was obsessed with fears that Daniel may have been abusing their son. ERIKA SANDOVAL: I was thinking about Aiden … I didn't know if he was doing stuff to Aiden. Erika explains how she hurried into her son's bedroom closet when Daniel came home that afternoon. ERIKA SANDOVAL: And I heard him coming down the hallway, passing by the room … I was scared. I didn't know where he was going. When Daniel was in the bathroom, Erika says she "snapped" and did the unthinkable. ERIKA SANDOVAL: I stepped out of the closet … I stepped out of Aiden's room. I stood right there in front of Daniel when he was on the toilet. ERIKA SANDOVAL As soon as he saw me, he said, "I'm going to f-----g kill you." And he started getting up as soon as I started raising my arm, and I shot. DAN CHAMBERS | DEFENSE ATTORNEY: How many times? ERIKA SANDOVAL: I don't know how many times I shot, but I know I shot. It's such a shocking admission that her attorney Dan Chambers tries his best to take some of the edge off: DAN CHAMBERS: Do you regret what you did? ERIKA SANDOVAL [crying]: I regret a lot. Of course, I regret it. Every day. I regret it every day. DAN CHAMBERS: What has it cost you? ERIKA SANDOVAL: My son. My family. Erika sticks to her story even when cross-examined by Assistant District Attorney David Alavezos, who clearly doubts her claim about finding photos of child porn: PROSECUTOR DAVID ALAVEZOS: You know they're not in the report, so you just expected them to magically show up? ERIKA SANDOVAL: No. I advised my attorney as to what I saw. DAVID ALAVEZOS: And nobody else? ERIKA SANDOVAL: No, just my attorney. Erika says she deliberately didn't tell investigators: ERIKA SANDOVAL: I didn't trust them … They've never given me a reason to trust them. Daniel always told me how they always had each other's backs. Matt Green: She's gonna come up with whatever narrative she thinks will work in getting her off. The question hangs over the trial: did those child porn photos actually exist or is Erika lying to make her actions more understandable to the jury? Alavezos has an answer. PROSECUTOR DAVID ALAVEZOS: That's a disgusting lie to make you feel Daniel's not worth a murder charge, to devalue him as a human being, that is the sole purpose of it. But Chambers counters that Daniel had hundreds of pornographic videos and photos of adults on his phone and computers. Chambers also says there were thousands of unknown images that were somehow deleted from Daniel's cell phone in the years before he was killed. DAN CHAMBERS | DEFENSE ATTORNEY: … images deleted … Why? What were they? Why would someone need to delete that many photographs or images? But the more important images, according to the prosecutor, are the ones Erika would rather forget — he forces her to look at photos of Daniel after she shot him: PROSECUTOR DAVID ALAVEZOS: One of your shots, People's 7, went right through Daniel's neck. ERIKA SANDOVAL [crying]: Yes. DAVID ALAVEZOS: It's right up there. Look at it. ERIKA SANDOVAL: Yes. After nearly two months, the attorneys make their final arguments. Alavezos tells the jury that Erika was the real abuser and plays more audio and, sometimes, video recordings that Daniel made: [VIDEO RECORDING] DANIEL GREEN: Erika leave me alone. I need to get ready for work. ERIKA SANDOVAL: [standing in doorway] You need to chill. I didn't do anything. DANIEL GREEN: Leave me alone. Go do your thing. ERIKA SANDOVAL: I want to talk about what happened. DANIEL GREEN: I have to get ready for work. What part of that is too difficult for you to understand? ERIKA SANDOVAL: You don't have to yell at me. I'm right here. DANIEL GREEN: leave me alone. Go. Go away. I'm serious. Go. And in his closing, Dan Chambers puts the blame on both Erika and Daniel — tied together, he says, by a "traumatic bond" that is difficult to understand. DAN CHAMBERS | DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Both are victims and both are aggressors. Erin Moriarty: Do you either one of you worry … that there might be one juror – Misty Gray: My biggest fear is that she won't pay for what she's done. Jurors deliberate for nearly four days before telling Judge Joseph Kalashian they can deliberate no more. JUDGE JOSEPH KALASHIAN: I am going to declare a mistrial at this point. A mistrial – the jury deadlocked at 11-1 with one single juror refusing to convict Erika of murder in the first degree. Three jurors agreed to discuss that holdout juror. Bill Walker | Juror: it became evident day after day, hour after hour that she wasn't going to waiver and the reality of a hung jury started to sink in. John Whetstone | Juror: he never gave much reasoning behind why she felt the way she did They said the holdout's position led to a screaming match between two jurors. John Whetstone: Tensions started getting high and they started yelling at each other. They were getting emotionally involved. As for Erika's allegations that Daniel Green possessed child pornography photos -- Jeremy Yarbro | Juror: There were never any pictures that we saw … Jeremy Yarbro: You could tell that she obviously lied on the stand … I think a lot of the trial was spent by the defense not defending her but rather attacking Daniel. Bill Walker: I think every juror had empathy for her, but they also had empathy for him. We saw just how vindictive or forceful she was toward him. Why is she still staying there? Why is he still staying there? As for the defense, Dan Chambers says he feels good about the mistrial. Dan Chambers: In the defense world, a hung jury is always considered a win because it means you live to fight again another day. But Chambers says Erika is adjusting to the reality that she'll need to sit through another murder trial. Dan Chambers: Right now she's gotta process a lot of emotions … she's kind of a whipsaw of emotions. Daniel's sister Misty and his identical twin Matt declined to talk about the mistrial. They are still grappling with the loss of their brother. Misty Gray: It's devastating. There's a hole that'll never be filled … It'll never heal. Ever. The siblings do, however, have at least one reminder of Daniel that brings them joy — his son Aiden. Erika's parental rights have been terminated and Matt and his wife decided to adopt the child. Erin Moriarty: You're raising Daniel's son… Was that a tough decision? Matt Green: No, not at all. …the least I could do is … make sure that he knew how much his father loved him. Erika Sandoval was assigned a public defender for her retrial. In May 2025, she was found guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Daniel Green. She was sentenced to 50 years to life. Australian reporter covering Los Angeles protests shot with rubber bullet by police officer LAPD chief speaks out about deployment of military forces to anti-ICE protests Can Trump deploy National Guard without governor's approval?
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Consortium of foreign ministers to sanction two Israeli officials
June 10 (UPI) -- A group of five foreign ministers announced jointly Tuesday that they will put punitive measures into effect for a pair of Israeli government officials for allegedly provoking violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. The foreign ministers of Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Canada and the United Kingdom said through a press release that Israel's Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich and Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir "have incited extremist violence and serious abuses of Palestinian human rights." "With today's sanctions, we are sending a clear message that the continued expansion of settlements and acts of extremist settler violence in the West Bank are unacceptable and pose serious obstacles to peace and the realization of a two-state solution," said Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand in a Canadian version of the release. "We resolutely stand with the Israeli and Palestinian peoples and their right to live in peace and security, with dignity and without fear," she added. "Extremist rhetoric advocating the forced displacement of Palestinians and the creation of new Israeli settlements is appalling and dangerous. These actions are not acceptable," continued the joint statement. The ministers also pointed at the two for inciting settler violence against Palestinians with "extremist rhetoric" that they purport calls for Palestinians to be pushed out of their homes, and also inspires human rights abuses, and furthermore discards the idea of having two states. "We are steadfastly committed to the two-state solution, which is the only way to guarantee security and dignity for Israelis and Palestinians and ensure long-term stability in the region, but it is imperiled by extremist settler violence and settlement expansion," the ministers said. "The measures announced today do not deviate from our unwavering support for Israel's security," the ministers added, and they still condemn the attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, but is solely targeted at Smotrich and Ben-Gvir. "Today's measures are targeted towards individuals who in our view undermine Israel's own security and its standing in the world," the statement continued. "We continue to want a strong friendship with the people of Israel based on our shared ties, values and commitment to their security and future." The statement concluded with another reminder, that the ministers also recognize the situation in Gaza, and "continue to be appalled by the immense suffering of civilians, including the denial of essential aid." The five ministers concluded with the insistence that Palestinians are not to be removed from two-statehe West Bank, and that they will keep working with Israel to find a ceasefire, to get all hostages home and get humanitarian aid to Gaza, and said "We want to see a reconstructed Gaza no longer run by Hamas and a political pathway to a two state solution." Israel's foreign minister Gideon Saar has since responded to the statement, and said his country's government will meet next week to discuss a response. "It is outrageous that elected representatives and members of the government are subjected to these kind of measures," Mr. Saar said.
