Latest news with #leniency
The Independent
31-07-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Virginia Giuffre's family pleads with Trump not to pardon Ghislaine Maxwell
The family of Virginia Giuffre, one of Jeffrey Epstein 's victims, has urged Donald Trump not to pardon the disgraced financier's longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell. As backlash grows over his administration's handling of the Epstein case, Trump told reporters on Monday that he is 'allowed' to grant clemency to Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking minors, adding that he hadn't thought about it. The family of Giuffre, a key survivor of Epstein's sexual abuse who died by suicide in April, said any leniency shown toward Maxwell would be 'one of the highest travesties of justice.' 'The government and the President should never consider giving Ghislaine Maxwell any leniency,' the family said in a statement Wednesday. 'Ghislaine Maxwell is a monster who deserves to rot in prison for the rest of her life for the extraordinary violence and abuse she put not just our sister Virginia through, but many other survivors, who may number in the thousands.' A senior administration official told NBC News that no leniency towards Maxwell is being discussed. The family also noted that Trump said that 'clemency for Maxwell is not something he is even thinking about at this time.' The Giuffres pounced on Trump's claims on Tuesday that Epstein 'stole' the victim from his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach. Aged 16, Giuffre had worked at Trump's resort as a locker-room attendant during the summer of 2000. 'It was shocking to hear President Trump invoke our sister and say that he was aware that Virginia had been 'stolen' from Mar-a-Lago,' they said in the statement. 'It makes us ask if he was aware of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell's criminal actions, especially given his statement two years later that his good friend Jeffrey 'likes women on the younger side... no doubt about it.'' Trump denies having any knowledge of Epstein's criminal activity, and the president has never been accused of wrongdoing in connection with the disgraced financier's case. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday evening that the president kicked Epstein out of Mar-a-Lago for 'being a creep' to female staff. In the statement, the family acknowledged that Giuffre had worked at Trump's Florida resort years before Epstein and Trump allegedly fell out over a real estate deal around 2004, and a year before police began investigating Epstein. However, the family accused Maxwell of having 'preyed upon' Giuffre while she worked at the resort 25 years ago. Giuffre's family told The Atlantic on Wednesday that the Epstein victim's work at Mar-a-Lago was meant to be a fun summertime job, but instead led to her being sex trafficked. For more than a decade, the Epstein case has been a subject of intense public interest, amid speculation that high-profile public figures who had ties to the financier may have been involved in – or had knowledge of – his sex-trafficking network. The Trump administration has been facing backlash after the Justice Department and FBI said in a memo released earlier this month that there was no client list of Epstein's associates who may have participated in his crimes. It also noted that Epstein did indeed die by suicide in his jail cell in 2019. Giuffre's family noted in its statement that they and the public are demanding answers about the case and that 'survivors deserve this.' In what Democrats are calling a veiled effort to drown out the outrage at the Trump administration's sudden U-turn on the files, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche met with Maxwell privately for nine hours last week. Last week, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee subpoenaed Maxwell, leading her to signal that she would testify to Congress if granted immunity. Giuffre's family warned Maxwell had already been convicted for lying under oath and said she 'will continue to do so for as long as it affects her position.' The committee quickly rejected Maxwell's proposal, stating through a spokesperson that immunity will not even be considered.
Daily Mail
20-05-2025
- Daily Mail
Brit arrested in Bali pleads judges for leniency as prosecutors say they want to DROP drug charges that carry death sentence
A British man on trial for drug offences pleaded for leniency in an Indonesian court in Bali on Tuesday after a charge that could carry the death penalty was dropped. Thomas Parker, from Cumbria, was arrested near Kuta beach in January after allegedly collecting a package from a taxi driver at a nearby street. The package contained slightly over a kilogram of MDMA, a party drug and the main ingredient in ecstasy, according to a lab test result cited in court documents. Parker, a 32-year-old electrician by trade, was initially charged with drug trafficking and could have faced the death penalty by firing squad if found guilty. But the trafficking charge was dropped after police investigators determined that the package was not directly linked to him. Parker repeatedly expressed his remorse in his final plea today, and asked the panel of three judges in Denpasar District Court to consider his situation and impose a lenient sentence. 'I am very sorry and apologise, I know it was a mistake,' Parker said, 'I promise not to repeat it again, because I really didn't know that (the package) was drugs.' British citizen Thomas Parker, who is accused of drug offences, walks to a holding cell after his trial hearing at a district court in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia, Tuesday, May 20, 2025 After Parker read out his plea, Presiding Judge Gusti Ayu Akhirnyani adjourned the trial until May 27, when the judges will read out their sentence in a verdict. 'Until now, they (prosecutors) cannot prove that our client is a middleman or trafficker,' Pangkahila said. 'He has no connection with any drug network, we hope the judges will come to the same conclusion.' He said his client is nervous and depressed as he faces trial. According to the court document obtained by The Associated Press, Parker was noticed 'acting suspiciously' by officers while he was collecting the package. He allegedly discarded it in a panic and fled when police approached him. He was traced back to the villa where he was staying and was arrested. But Parker, in court, has maintained that he did not order the package and had initially refused to collect it, doing so only after a friend assured him it was safe and would not endanger him. The package was sent by a drug dealer friend, identified only as Nicky, who Parker had known for around two years and spoke to regularly through the Telegram messaging app. Parker was told someone would pick it up shortly from him, his lawyer, Edward Pangkahila said. Parker was not promised money or anything else by Nicky in return, Pangkahila said. During the police investigation, Parker was able to prove that he did not order the package. Authorities reduced the charge from trafficking to the less serious offence of hiding information from authorities. Prosecutors on May 6 sought a one-year prison term for Parker. However, under Indonesian legal system, judges have an important role as legal determinants in a trial. They could seek further charges if applicable laws are unclear or non-existent, meaning that the trafficking charge could be reinstated. Pangkahila said that Parker last met Nicky a year ago when he was on vacation in Thailand. As his friend was a dealer, Parker worried the package was filled with drugs. He panicked when he saw police officers on the street and and was approached by them, Pangkahila said. He was traced back to the 7 Seas Villas in North Kuta, where he was arrested. Police showed the discarded package to Parker, who allegedly admitted it was the package he had received earlier. They claimed they had found a light-brown powder inside later identified as MDMA. Police took the suspect to the narcotics office for processing back in January, and he has been remanded in custody since. The case went unreported until authorities showed a handcuffed Parker at a news conference on March 6. A spokesperson for the Foreign Office told MailOnline they were supporting a British man detained in Bali and are in contact with the local authorities. Indonesia has very strict drug laws and convicted traffickers can be executed by a firing squad. About 530 people are on death row in Indonesia, mostly for drug-related crimes, including 96 foreigners, the Ministry of Immigration and Corrections' data showed. Indonesia's last executions, of an Indonesian and three foreigners, were carried out in July 2016.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Moncton tenant says small claims process with property manager was difficult
Matthew Habermacher took his former property manager to small claims court over internet services that were included in the rental contract but never received. He won, but the company asked for leniency in how it paid him.
CBC
20-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
Moncton tenant says small claims process with property manager was difficult
Matthew Habermacher took his former property manager to small claims court over internet services that were included in the rental contract but never received. He won, but the company asked for leniency in how it paid him.
