18/03/2025

TUESDAY | MAR 18, 2025

FOLLOW

ON YOUTUBE

8

Malaysian Paper

/theSunMedia /

200 Venezuelans deported despite court order

Call for swift ruling on president’s fate SEOUL: The South Korean opposition party yesterday urged the country’s Constitutional Court to rule swiftly on suspended president Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment, saying delays were “irresponsible” and causing social unrest. Yoon was impeached by lawmakers over his disastrous Dec 3 declaration of martial law, and the court last month held weeks of tense hearings to decide whether to formally strip him of office. Despite experts predicting a verdict by mid-March, the Constitutional Court has yet to rule – making Yoon’s case the longest deliberation in its history. Some 100,000 people took to Seoul’s streets over the weekend, police said yesterday, with protests demanding Yoon’s immediate removal from office, alongside large gatherings in his support. “The nation and its people have reached their limits. Tension and patience have already been pushed beyond their bounds,” opposition MP Kim Min-seok told a party meeting yesterday. “We await a responsible decision from the Constitutional Court. Any further delay would be abnormal and irresponsible.” Police have said they were prepared to mobilise “all available equipment” to prevent unrest when the court announces the impeachment verdict. Yoon’s supporters have already stormed a Seoul court once, smashing its doors and windows after a judge extended Yoon’s detention, and authorities have warned of violence around the impending verdict. “We are discussing closure of nearby shops and gas stations on the day of the verdict,” a police official said. In addition to the impeachment verdict, Yoon also faces a criminal trial on charges of insurrection for declaring martial law, making him the first sitting president to stand trial in a criminal case. He was detained in a dawn raid in January on insurrection grounds, but was released in early March on procedural grounds. – AFP Chagos islanders to sue UK govt LONDON: Two British women born on the Chagos Islands are set to take legal action against the UK government, saying the territory should remain in UK hands and not be turned over to Mauritius. Bernadette Dugasse and Bertrice Pompe, who were both born on Diego Garcia, have begun a bid to take the Foreign Office to court over the proposed deal to cede sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. The agreement, which includes a plan to lease back the strategically important US-UK military base on Diego Garcia at British taxpayers’ expense, appears to have been backed by US President Donald Trump, but is opposed by the Conservatives. Dugasse and Pompe say the islands should remain under British control, and both want the right to return to live where they were born after Chagossians were forced to leave the central Indian Ocean territory by 1973 to make way for the base. Access to the Chagos Islands is restricted, with permits required ahead of travel. Lawyers for the two women have sent a pre-action letter to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, claiming that the Chagossian people have unlawfully not been given a say in the future of the islands, despite being the native inhabitants. They also say they do not trust Mauritius to treat the Chagossians fairly, and that they would face “severe obstacles” as British citizens who do not hold Mauritian nationality, including possible racial discrimination and the loss of the possibility of returning. – Bernama

o White House says judge has no authority

flights carrying migrants processed under the law should return to the US. The following day, El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele posted footage on X showing men being hustled off a plane in the dark of night amid a massive security presence. “Oopsie ... Too late,” Bukele posted above a headline, “Fed judge orders deportation flights carrying alleged Venezuelan gangbangers to return to the US.” Bukele followed the comment by a laughing-so-hard-I’m-crying emoji. His statement was reposted by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who also thanked Bukele for his “assistance and friendship”. In her statement, Leavitt said “the written order and the Administration’s actions do not conflict” and that courts “generally have no jurisdiction” over the president’s “powers to remove foreign alien terrorists from US soil and repel a declared invasion.” The US Department of Homeland Security and the Salvadoran government did not respond to requests for comment. The State Department declined to comment. – Reuters

jurisdiction over how a president conducts foreign affairs. The turn of events represented a remarkable escalation in Trump’s challenge to the US Constitution system of checks and balances and the independence of the judicial branch of government. When asked whether his administration had violated the court order, Trump deferred to the lawyers. “I can tell you this, these were bad people,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, referring to the alleged gang members. In a Saturday evening hearing, Boasberg blocked the use of the law for 14 days, saying the statute refers to “hostile acts” perpetrated by another country that are “commensurate to war”. Trump said he was justified in using the Act because he saw the increase in immigration in recent years as similar to war. “This is war. In many respects it’s more dangerous than war because, you know, in a war they have uniforms. You know who you’re shooting at, you know who you’re going after.” Boasberg said during the hearing that any

NEW YORK: The Trump administration has deported alleged members of a Venezuelan gang from the US despite a court order forbidding it from doing so, saying in an extraordinary statement that a judge did not have the authority to block its actions. The deportation followed a move by Judge James Boasberg to block President Donald Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act wartime powers to rapidly deport more than 200 alleged members of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang that has been linked to kidnapping, extortion and contract killings. “A single judge in a single city cannot direct the movements of an aircraft ... full of foreign alien terrorists who were physically expelled from US soil,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. She said the court had “no lawful basis” and that federal courts generally have no

Salvadoran police officers escort alleged gang members deported by the US at a detention centre in Tecoluca. – REUTERSPIC

Pope seen celebrating mass in photo VATICAN CITY: The Vatican released the first photograph of Pope Francis on Sunday since his hospitalisation over a month ago, showing the pontiff celebrating mass earlier in the day from the chapel in his hospital suite. Taken from behind Francis’ right side, his face is not fully visible but his eyes are open as he looks in a downward direction.

well-wishers while acknowledging his fragile health. “I am sharing these thoughts with you while I am facing a period of trial, and I join with so many brothers and sisters who are sick, fragile at this time, like me,” wrote Francis. “Our bodies are weak but, even like this, nothing can prevent us from loving, praying, giving ourselves, being for each other in faith, shining signs of hope,” he said. The message marked the second Sunday of Lent, a 40-day period of prayer and reflection leading up to Easter. Francis has improved steadily over the past week, with the Vatican saying on Saturday his condition continued to be stable, although he still required therapy to be administered from the hospital. – AFP

“This morning Pope Francis concelebrated the Holy Mass in the chapel of the apartment on the 10th floor of the Gemelli Polyclinic,” the Vatican press office wrote in the photograph caption. Concelebration is the joint celebration of mass by senior clerics. Since his hospitalisation, Francis has been unable to preside over mass at St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. Nor has he personally delivered the Angelus prayer that follows the mass to the faithful gathered in St Peter’s Square. But earlier on Sunday, in an Angelus message published by the Vatican, he thanked

The release of the photo was significant, as the Argentine pope has not been seen in public since being admitted to Rome’s Gemelli Hospital on Feb 14 for pneumonia in both lungs, which for weeks doctors considered critical. The photo showed the 88-year-old pope bare-headed without his customary white skullcap and wearing a white robe and purple stole. He is seated in a wheelchair in front of a simple altar with a crucifix on the wall. The Vatican said it had been taken on Sunday morning.