HEADLINE NEWS

Thursday 26 May 2011

CCTV footage shows the victim of a fatal stabbing at a train station in Sydney's south-west pulled the knife out of his own chest and stabbed his alleged killer.



Brandon Nunu Asiata, 16, managed to stab the 22-year-old man in the face, head, wrist and leg before he collapsed and died on the platform at Bankstown railway station in front of commuters yesterday evening.

The boy's 15-year-old brother was stabbed in the leg.

The alleged killer, Mosa Julius Mbele, has been charged with murder over the stabbing death.

Superintendent Dave Eardley says Mbele has faced a bedside court hearing in hospital. Mbele has serious stab wounds.

"Earlier this afternoon, the 22-year-old Bankstown man was remanded in custody charged with the murder of the 16-year-old boy," he said.

"He's currently remaining in hospital being treated. As soon as he's able, he'll be transferred to the care of Corrective Services."

Friends say they cannot understand why the 16-year-old was stabbed to death.

Some are gathering at the station dressed in red to remember him, while hundreds have left tributes on Facebook.

RailCorp says there was one security guard there, who acted appropriately, when the fight broke out.

Police say they had spoken to the victim in the past month.

Friends say the boy was a good person who made them laugh.

Brandon Asiata's cousin, Julia Kepu, says she warned him not to go to the train station last night.

She says Brandon had promised he would not go.

"I'm still shocked by what's happened. I couldn't even make it down the stairs to put his flowers down for him," she said.

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Sunday 15 May 2011

Belgrade court approved a plea bargain Monday allowing Serbia's biggest folk music star, the widow of the Serbian warlord known as Arkan, to avoid jail time over charges of embezzlement and illegal weapons.

Belgrade court approved a plea bargain Monday allowing Serbia's biggest folk music star, the widow of the Serbian warlord known as Arkan, to avoid jail time over charges of embezzlement and illegal weapons.

Under a deal some saw as evidence that the rich and famous get preferential treatment in Serbia's legal system, Svetlana Raznatovic, best known by her stage name Ceca, will serve a year under house arrest and wear an electronic surveillance bracelet.

She will also pay a 1.5 million euro ($2.16 million) fine.

"This plea bargain is an insult to common sense and justice," said Marko Karadzic, a Belgrade-based human rights activist.

Ceca (pronounced TSE-tsa) gained fame in the 1990s Balkans with her patriotic folk tunes set to a techno beat. She married nationalist warlord and mafia boss Zeljko (Arkan) Raznatovic and the two became the country's most prominent couple after then Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic and his wife.

Serbian prosecutors indicted Svetlana Raznatovic, her sister and two associates in March on charges of embezzling four million German marks (two million euros) and $3.5 million from murky sales of 10 players from Belgrade's Obilic soccer club, which she owned in the early part of the last decade. The prosecution alleged Raznatovic and her associates sold soccer players to foreign clubs and shared profits without paying taxes or declaring the deals through the Obilic club.

Ceca took over the club, previously owned by Arkan, after a rival gang gunned him down in 2000 in the lobby of a swanky Belgrade hotel.

Judge Sladjana Markovic said that the plea bargain was aimed at preventing a long trial after an eight-year investigation.

"Raznatovic is a single mom ... Her sister is a family woman, the Obilic club did not file charges and the two did not commit any crimes since 2002, a testimony to their good character," Markovic said.

Dragan Krgovic, Raznatovic's lawyer, highlighted the money element of the plea deal. "The state will cash in 1.5 million (euros) and ... this is a real bargain for the state and prosecutors," he said.

Some ordinary citizens disagreed. "This is an outrage, it shows crime pays ... how can I tell my children to be honest and hard working?" said Dragisa Savic, 44, a security guard.

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