Latest news with #neo-Nazis
The Advertiser
20 hours ago
- Politics
- The Advertiser
'Sheer hell': elder pleads for Liberals to save Pesutto
A senior Liberal figure has piled pressure on the party to come to the rescue of former state leader John Pesutto over his unpaid multimillion-dollar legal bill. Mr Pesutto was ordered to pay $2.3 million in legal costs to first-term Victorian MP Moira Deeming after their high-stakes defamation battle. The Federal Court found he defamed Mrs Deeming by implying she was associated with neo-Nazis who gatecrashed a controversial Melbourne rally she attended in 2023. Her lawyers issued a bankruptcy notice to the court on Monday, leaving Mr Pesutto 21 days to pay the debt, sign up to a payment arrangement or face bankruptcy. Bankruptcy would force his exit from Victorian parliament, setting up an expensive by-election in his marginal state seat of Hawthorn in Melbourne's east. With a final deadline approaching, former Liberal premier Jeff Kennett has written to the party's administrative committee to encourage it to foot the bill rather than offering a loan. In the letter, seen by AAP, Mr Kennett said he believed the committee was about to meet to discuss the issue and listed 10 points for its consideration. He labelled Mr Pesutto's situation "sheer hell" and stressed the matter could be quickly resolved if the party pays the outstanding claims against him. "Regardless of what you think of John personally, what he said, the judgement, the consequences are much greater than an individual," he wrote. "In principle and in practice. It is wrong to ask him to foot the bills, to bankrupt him and his family. "Wrong to ask him to borrow money from the capital funds we might have at our disposal." A GoFundMe campaign for Mr Pesutto's cause has raised more than $210,000. Mr Kennett acknowledged the court decided some of Mr Pesutto's words were "inappropriate" and "defamatory", but argued the party should be meeting all of his costs as he was acting as its "agent" at the time. He called for the administrative committee to act decisively, declaring it was not the "Liberal way" to leave Mr Pesutto to fend for himself. "Remember money can always be replaced, a change of government cannot," Mr Kennett said. "Please put personalities to one side and put the Party's interest front and centre." Mrs Deeming, who was expelled from the Liberals' parliamentary ranks before returning in December after Mr Pesutto lost the leadership, declined to comment on Mr Kennett's intervention. The upper house MP has previously foreshadowed she may pursue cost recovery through Mr Kennett and Mr Pesutto's other defamation defence donors if the Hawthorn MP declares bankruptcy. Mr Pesutto said he was doing "everything possible" over the next weeks to repay what he owes Mrs Deeming. A senior Liberal figure has piled pressure on the party to come to the rescue of former state leader John Pesutto over his unpaid multimillion-dollar legal bill. Mr Pesutto was ordered to pay $2.3 million in legal costs to first-term Victorian MP Moira Deeming after their high-stakes defamation battle. The Federal Court found he defamed Mrs Deeming by implying she was associated with neo-Nazis who gatecrashed a controversial Melbourne rally she attended in 2023. Her lawyers issued a bankruptcy notice to the court on Monday, leaving Mr Pesutto 21 days to pay the debt, sign up to a payment arrangement or face bankruptcy. Bankruptcy would force his exit from Victorian parliament, setting up an expensive by-election in his marginal state seat of Hawthorn in Melbourne's east. With a final deadline approaching, former Liberal premier Jeff Kennett has written to the party's administrative committee to encourage it to foot the bill rather than offering a loan. In the letter, seen by AAP, Mr Kennett said he believed the committee was about to meet to discuss the issue and listed 10 points for its consideration. He labelled Mr Pesutto's situation "sheer hell" and stressed the matter could be quickly resolved if the party pays the outstanding claims against him. "Regardless of what you think of John personally, what he said, the judgement, the consequences are much greater than an individual," he wrote. "In principle and in practice. It is wrong to ask him to foot the bills, to bankrupt him and his family. "Wrong to ask him to borrow money from the capital funds we might have at our disposal." A GoFundMe campaign for Mr Pesutto's cause has raised more than $210,000. Mr Kennett acknowledged the court decided some of Mr Pesutto's words were "inappropriate" and "defamatory", but argued the party should be meeting all of his costs as he was acting as its "agent" at the time. He called for the administrative committee to act decisively, declaring it was not the "Liberal way" to leave Mr Pesutto to fend for himself. "Remember money can always be replaced, a change of government cannot," Mr Kennett said. "Please put personalities to one side and put the Party's interest front and centre." Mrs Deeming, who was expelled from the Liberals' parliamentary ranks before returning in December after Mr Pesutto lost the leadership, declined to comment on Mr Kennett's intervention. The upper house MP has previously foreshadowed she may pursue cost recovery through Mr Kennett and Mr Pesutto's other defamation defence donors if the Hawthorn MP declares bankruptcy. Mr Pesutto said he was doing "everything possible" over the next weeks to repay what he owes Mrs Deeming. A senior Liberal figure has piled pressure on the party to come to the rescue of former state leader John Pesutto over his unpaid multimillion-dollar legal bill. Mr Pesutto was ordered to pay $2.3 million in legal costs to first-term Victorian MP Moira Deeming after their high-stakes defamation battle. The Federal Court found he defamed Mrs Deeming by implying she was associated with neo-Nazis who gatecrashed a controversial Melbourne rally she attended in 2023. Her lawyers issued a bankruptcy notice to the court on Monday, leaving Mr Pesutto 21 days to pay the debt, sign up to a payment arrangement or face bankruptcy. Bankruptcy would force his exit from Victorian parliament, setting up an expensive by-election in his marginal state seat of Hawthorn in Melbourne's east. With a final deadline approaching, former Liberal premier Jeff Kennett has written to the party's administrative committee to encourage it to foot the bill rather than offering a loan. In the letter, seen by AAP, Mr Kennett said he believed the committee was about to meet to discuss the issue and listed 10 points for its consideration. He labelled Mr Pesutto's situation "sheer hell" and stressed the matter could be quickly resolved if the party pays the outstanding claims against him. "Regardless of what you think of John personally, what he said, the judgement, the consequences are much greater than an individual," he wrote. "In principle and in practice. It is wrong to ask him to foot the bills, to bankrupt him and his family. "Wrong to ask him to borrow money from the capital funds we might have at our disposal." A GoFundMe campaign for Mr Pesutto's cause has raised more than $210,000. Mr Kennett acknowledged the court decided some of Mr Pesutto's words were "inappropriate" and "defamatory", but argued the party should be meeting all of his costs as he was acting as its "agent" at the time. He called for the administrative committee to act decisively, declaring it was not the "Liberal way" to leave Mr Pesutto to fend for himself. "Remember money can always be replaced, a change of government cannot," Mr Kennett said. "Please put personalities to one side and put the Party's interest front and centre." Mrs Deeming, who was expelled from the Liberals' parliamentary ranks before returning in December after Mr Pesutto lost the leadership, declined to comment on Mr Kennett's intervention. The upper house MP has previously foreshadowed she may pursue cost recovery through Mr Kennett and Mr Pesutto's other defamation defence donors if the Hawthorn MP declares bankruptcy. Mr Pesutto said he was doing "everything possible" over the next weeks to repay what he owes Mrs Deeming. A senior Liberal figure has piled pressure on the party to come to the rescue of former state leader John Pesutto over his unpaid multimillion-dollar legal bill. Mr Pesutto was ordered to pay $2.3 million in legal costs to first-term Victorian MP Moira Deeming after their high-stakes defamation battle. The Federal Court found he defamed Mrs Deeming by implying she was associated with neo-Nazis who gatecrashed a controversial Melbourne rally she attended in 2023. Her lawyers issued a bankruptcy notice to the court on Monday, leaving Mr Pesutto 21 days to pay the debt, sign up to a payment arrangement or face bankruptcy. Bankruptcy would force his exit from Victorian parliament, setting up an expensive by-election in his marginal state seat of Hawthorn in Melbourne's east. With a final deadline approaching, former Liberal premier Jeff Kennett has written to the party's administrative committee to encourage it to foot the bill rather than offering a loan. In the letter, seen by AAP, Mr Kennett said he believed the committee was about to meet to discuss the issue and listed 10 points for its consideration. He labelled Mr Pesutto's situation "sheer hell" and stressed the matter could be quickly resolved if the party pays the outstanding claims against him. "Regardless of what you think of John personally, what he said, the judgement, the consequences are much greater than an individual," he wrote. "In principle and in practice. It is wrong to ask him to foot the bills, to bankrupt him and his family. "Wrong to ask him to borrow money from the capital funds we might have at our disposal." A GoFundMe campaign for Mr Pesutto's cause has raised more than $210,000. Mr Kennett acknowledged the court decided some of Mr Pesutto's words were "inappropriate" and "defamatory", but argued the party should be meeting all of his costs as he was acting as its "agent" at the time. He called for the administrative committee to act decisively, declaring it was not the "Liberal way" to leave Mr Pesutto to fend for himself. "Remember money can always be replaced, a change of government cannot," Mr Kennett said. "Please put personalities to one side and put the Party's interest front and centre." Mrs Deeming, who was expelled from the Liberals' parliamentary ranks before returning in December after Mr Pesutto lost the leadership, declined to comment on Mr Kennett's intervention. The upper house MP has previously foreshadowed she may pursue cost recovery through Mr Kennett and Mr Pesutto's other defamation defence donors if the Hawthorn MP declares bankruptcy. Mr Pesutto said he was doing "everything possible" over the next weeks to repay what he owes Mrs Deeming.
Perth Now
21 hours ago
- Politics
- Perth Now
'Sheer hell': elder pleads for Liberals to save Pesutto
A senior Liberal figure has piled pressure on the party to come to the rescue of former state leader John Pesutto over his unpaid multimillion-dollar legal bill. Mr Pesutto was ordered to pay $2.3 million in legal costs to first-term Victorian MP Moira Deeming after their high-stakes defamation battle. The Federal Court found he defamed Mrs Deeming by implying she was associated with neo-Nazis who gatecrashed a controversial Melbourne rally she attended in 2023. Her lawyers issued a bankruptcy notice to the court on Monday, leaving Mr Pesutto 21 days to pay the debt, sign up to a payment arrangement or face bankruptcy. Bankruptcy would force his exit from Victorian parliament, setting up an expensive by-election in his marginal state seat of Hawthorn in Melbourne's east. With a final deadline approaching, former Liberal premier Jeff Kennett has written to the party's administrative committee to encourage it to foot the bill rather than offering a loan. In the letter, seen by AAP, Mr Kennett said he believed the committee was about to meet to discuss the issue and listed 10 points for its consideration. He labelled Mr Pesutto's situation "sheer hell" and stressed the matter could be quickly resolved if the party pays the outstanding claims against him. "Regardless of what you think of John personally, what he said, the judgement, the consequences are much greater than an individual," he wrote. "In principle and in practice. It is wrong to ask him to foot the bills, to bankrupt him and his family. "Wrong to ask him to borrow money from the capital funds we might have at our disposal." A GoFundMe campaign for Mr Pesutto's cause has raised more than $210,000. Mr Kennett acknowledged the court decided some of Mr Pesutto's words were "inappropriate" and "defamatory", but argued the party should be meeting all of his costs as he was acting as its "agent" at the time. He called for the administrative committee to act decisively, declaring it was not the "Liberal way" to leave Mr Pesutto to fend for himself. "Remember money can always be replaced, a change of government cannot," Mr Kennett said. "Please put personalities to one side and put the Party's interest front and centre." Mrs Deeming, who was expelled from the Liberals' parliamentary ranks before returning in December after Mr Pesutto lost the leadership, declined to comment on Mr Kennett's intervention. The upper house MP has previously foreshadowed she may pursue cost recovery through Mr Kennett and Mr Pesutto's other defamation defence donors if the Hawthorn MP declares bankruptcy. Mr Pesutto said he was doing "everything possible" over the next weeks to repay what he owes Mrs Deeming.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Explosion kills Russian veteran who led airstrikes on Ukraine port city
A retired Russian commander who led airstrikes on the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol died in a blast early Thursday in Stavropol in southern Russia, authorities said. Zaur Gurtsiev, 34, received several medals for participating in Russia's grueling assaults on the cities of Mariupol and Avdiivka. Authorities did not say what caused the explosion, but also did not rule out that Ukraine was responsible. Videos posted by Russian Telegram channels showed two men, one of them Gurtsiev, standing together in a residential neighborhood before a blast. A string of high-profile Russian servicemen have been killed in Russia since the Kremlin launched its full-scale military offensive on Ukraine in February 2022. In December, the head of the Russian military's biological and chemical weapons unit, Lt. General Igor Kirillov, was killed along with his deputy in an explosion in Moscow, Russia's Investigative Committee said at the time. More recently, in April, an explosive device in Moscow killed a senior Russian general, General-Lieutenant Yaroslav Moskalik, the deputy head of the main operational directorate of the military's general staff, according to Russia's investigative committee. Kyiv has in some cases claimed responsibility or reveled in the attacks, calling them "legitimate targets" given Moscow's three-year offensive has killed tens of thousands. Ukrainian security forces told CBS News after Kirillov's death that Security Service of Ukraine killed him in a special operation, a claim that could not be independently verified but sparked Russian calls for revenge against Ukrainian leaders. "Our hero, veteran of the special military operation and participant in the Time of Heroes programme, Zaur Alexandrovich Gurtsiev, has died," said Stavropol region governor Vladimir Vladimirov, using Russia's term for its Ukraine offensive. "All versions are being considered, including the organisation of a terrorist attack involving Nazis from Ukraine," he added, echoing the Kremlin's claim that it is fighting neo-Nazis in Ukraine. The veteran's 29-year-old acquaintance died alongside him, Stavropol law enforcement said. The Time of Heroes is the Kremlin's programme aimed to boost the careers of veterans stringently chosen to become part of Russia's future elite. Gurtsiev was serving as Stavropol's deputy mayor. He had commanded Moscow's air assault on the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, a bustling Black Sea city devastated by Russian airstrikes. Russian forces rolled into Mariupol at the beginning of 2022 and imposed a brutal siege for nearly three months that resulted in 8,000 deaths, according to Human Rights Watch. The siege included a deadly airstrike on a theatre where civilians were hiding. Ukraine does not typically comment on clandestine operations on the enemy's territory. SpaceX loses contact with its Starship, spins out of control Post-WWII Germany's first Jewish cabinet member on finding her "political voice," facing the past Elon Musk says he and Trump administration sometimes have "differences of opinion"
NDTV
5 days ago
- Politics
- NDTV
Russian Veteran Behind Strikes On Ukraine Port City Killed In Blast
Russia: A retired Russian commander who led air strikes on the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol died in a blast early Thursday in Stavropol in southern Russia, authorities said. Zaur Gurtsiev, 34, received several medals for participating in Russia's gruelling assaults on the cities of Mariupol and Avdiivka. Authorities did not say what caused the explosion, but also did not rule out that Ukraine was responsible. A string of high-profile Russian servicemen have been killed in Russia since the Kremlin launched its full-scale military offensive on Ukraine in February 2022. Videos posted by Russian Telegram channels showed two men, one of them Gurtsiev, positioned in a residential neighbourhood before a blast. Kyiv has in some cases claimed responsibility or revelled in the attacks, calling them "legitimate targets" given Moscow's three-year offensive has killed tens of thousands. "Our hero, veteran of the special military operation and participant in the Time of Heroes programme, Zaur Alexandrovich Gurtsiev, has died," said Stavropol region governor Vladimir Vladimirov, using Russia's term for its Ukraine offensive. "All versions are being considered, including the organisation of a terrorist attack involving Nazis from Ukraine," he added, echoing the Kremlin's claim that it is fighting neo-Nazis in Ukraine. The veteran's 29-year-old acquaintance died alongside him, Stavropol law enforcement said. The Time of Heroes is the Kremlin's programme aimed to boost the careers of veterans stringently chosen to become part of Russia's future elite. Gurtsiev was serving as Stavropol's deputy mayor. He had commanded Moscow's air assault on the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, a bustling Black Sea city devastated by Russian air strikes. Russian forces rolled into Mariupol at the beginning of 2022 and imposed a brutal siege for nearly three months that resulted in 8,000 deaths, according to Human Rights Watch. The siege included a deadly air strike on a theatre where civilians were hiding. Ukraine does not typically comment on clandestine operations on the enemy's territory.
New Straits Times
6 days ago
- Politics
- New Straits Times
Blast kills Russian veteran who led air strikes on Ukraine port city
MOSCOW: A retired Russian commander who led air strikes on the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol died in a blast early Thursday in Stavropol in southern Russia, authorities said. Zaur Gurtsiev, 34, received several medals for participating in Russia's gruelling assaults on the cities of Mariupol and Avdiivka. Authorities did not say what caused the explosion, but also did not rule out that Ukraine was responsible. A string of high-profile Russian servicemen have been killed in Russia since the Kremlin launched its full-scale military offensive on Ukraine in February 2022. Videos posted by Russian Telegram channels showed two men, one of them Gurtsiev, positioned in a residential neighbourhood before a blast. Kyiv has in some cases claimed responsibility or revelled in the attacks, calling them "legitimate targets" given Moscow's three-year offensive has killed tens of thousands. "Our hero, veteran of the special military operation and participant in the Time of Heroes programme, Zaur Alexandrovich Gurtsiev, has died," said Stavropol region governor Vladimir Vladimirov, using Russia's term for its Ukraine offensive. "All versions are being considered, including the organisation of a terrorist attack involving Nazis from Ukraine," he added, echoing the Kremlin's claim that it is fighting neo-Nazis in Ukraine. The veteran's 29-year-old acquaintance died alongside him, Stavropol law enforcement said. The Time of Heroes is the Kremlin's programme aimed to boost the careers of veterans stringently chosen to become part of Russia's future elite. Gurtsiev was serving as Stavropol's deputy mayor. He had commanded Moscow's air assault on the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, a bustling Black Sea city devastated by Russian air strikes. Russian forces rolled into Mariupol at the beginning of 2022 and imposed a brutal siege for nearly three months that resulted in 8,000 deaths, according to Human Rights Watch. The siege included a deadly air strike on a theatre where civilians were hiding.
