In
law,
treason is the
crime that covers some of the more serious acts of
disloyalty to one's
sovereign or
nation.
Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social
superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife (treason
against the king was known as
high
treason and treason against a lesser superior was
petit treason). A person who commits treason
is known in law as a
traitor.
Oran's Dictionary of the Law (1983) defines treason as:
"...[a]...
citizen's actions to help a
foreign
government overthrow, make
war against, or seriously injure the [parent
nation]." In many nations, it is also often considered treason to
attempt or conspire to overthrow the government, even if no foreign
country is aided or involved by such an endeavour.
Outside legal spheres, the word "
traitor" may also
be used to describe a person who
betrays
(or is accused of betraying) their own
political party,
nation,
family,
friends,
ethnic group,
team,
religion,
social class, or other group to which
they may belong. Often, such accusations are controversial and
disputed, as the person may not identify with the group of which
they are a member, or may otherwise disagree with the group leaders
making the charge. See, for example,
race
traitor.
At times, the term "traitor" has been levelled as a political
epithet, regardless of any verifiable
treasonable action. In a
civil war or
insurrection, the winners may deem the
losers to be traitors. Likewise the term "traitor" is used in
heated political discussion typically as a
slur against
political dissidents, or against officials
in power who are perceived as failing to act in the best interest
of their constituents.
In certain cases, as with the German
Dolchstoßlegende, the accusation
of treason towards a large group of people can be a unifying
political message.
In
English law,
high treason was punishable by being
hanged, drawn and quartered
(men) or
burnt at the stake
(women), the only crime which attracted those penalties (until the
Treason Act 1814). The penalty was
used by later monarchs against people who could reasonably be
called traitors, although most modern jurists would call it
excessive. Many of them would now just be considered
dissidents.
In
William Shakespeare's play
King Lear (circa 1600), when the
King learns that his daughter
Regan has
publicly dishonoured him, he says
They could not, would not do
't; 'tis worse than murder: a conventional attitude at that
time. In
Dante Alighieri's
Inferno, the ninth and
lowest circle of
Hell is reserved for traitors;
Judas Iscariot, who betrayed
Jesus, suffers the worst torments of all: being
constantly gnawed at by one of Lucifer's own three mouths. His
treachery is in fact so notorious that his name has long been
synonymous with
traitor, a fate he shares with
Benedict Arnold,
Marcus Junius Brutus (who too is
depicted in Dante's
Inferno, suffering the same fate as
Judas along with
Cassius Longinus),
and
Vidkun Quisling. Indeed, the
etymology of the word
traitor
originates with Judas' handing over of Jesus to the Roman
authorities: the word is derived from the Latin
traditorem
which means "one who delivers."
Australia
Section 80.1 of the Criminal Code, contained in the schedule of the
Criminal Code Act 1995, defines treason as
follows:
- "A person commits an offence, called treason, if the
person:
- :(a) causes the death of the Sovereign, the heir apparent of
the Sovereign, the consort of the Sovereign, the Governor-General
or the Prime Minister; or
- :(b) causes harm to the Sovereign, the Governor-General or the
Prime Minister resulting in the death of the Sovereign, the
Governor-General or the Prime Minister; or
- :(c) causes harm to the Sovereign, the Governor-General or the
Prime Minister, or imprisons or restrains the Sovereign, the
Governor-General or the Prime Minister; or
- :(d) levies war, or does any act preparatory to levying war,
against the Commonwealth; or
- :(e) engages in conduct that assists by any means whatever,
with intent to assist, an enemy:
- ::(i) at war with the Commonwealth, whether or not the
existence of a state of war has been declared; and
- ::(ii) specified by Proclamation made for the purpose of this
paragraph to be an enemy at war with the Commonwealth; or
- :(f) engages in conduct that assists by any means whatever,
with intent to assist:
- ::(i) another country; or
- ::(ii) an organisation;
- :that is engaged in armed hostilities against the Australian
Defence Force; or
- :(g) instigates a person who is not an Australian citizen to
make an armed invasion of the Commonwealth or a Territory of the
Commonwealth; or
- :(h) forms an intention to do any act referred to in a
preceding paragraph and manifests that intention by an overt
act."
A person is not guilty of treason under paragraphs (e), (f) or (h)
if their assistance or intended assistance is purely humanitarian
in nature.
The maximum penalty for treason is
life imprisonment.
Section 24AA of the
Crimes Act 1914 creates the related offence
of
treachery.
New South Wales
The
Treason Act 1351, the Treason Act 1795 and the Treason Act 1817 form part of the law of
New South
Wales
. The
Treason Act
1795 and the
Treason Act 1817
have been repealed by
section 11 of the
Crimes Act 1900, except in so far as they
relate to the compassing, imagining, inventing, devising, or
intending death or destruction, or any bodily harm tending to death
or destruction, maim, or wounding, imprisonment, or restraint of
the person of the heirs and successors of
King George III of the
United Kingdom, and the expressing, uttering, or declaring of
such compassings, imaginations, inventions, devices, or intentions,
or any of them.
Section 12 of the
Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) creates an offence
which is derived from section 3 of the
Treason Felony Act 1848:
Section 16 provides that nothing in Part 2
repeals or affects anything enacted by the
Treason Act 1351 (25 Edw.3 c.2). This
section reproduces section 6 of the
Treason Felony Act 1848.
Victoria
The offence of treason is created by
section 9A(1) of the
Crimes Act 1958.
Canada
Section 46 of the
Criminal Code of Canada has two
degrees of treason, called "high treason" and "treason." However,
both of these belong to the historical category of
high treason, as opposed to
petty treason which does not exist in Canadian
law. Section 46 reads as follows:
- "High treason
- (1) Every one commits high treason who, in Canada,
- :(a) kills or attempts to kill Her Majesty, or does her any
bodily harm tending to death or destruction, maims or wounds her,
or imprisons or restrains her;
- :(b) levies war against Canada or does any act preparatory
thereto; or
- :(c) assists an enemy at war with Canada, or any armed forces
against whom Canadian Forces are engaged in hostilities, whether or
not a state of war exists between Canada and the country whose
forces they are.
- Treason
- (2) Every one commits treason who, in Canada,
- :(a) uses force or violence for the purpose of overthrowing the
government of Canada or a province;
- :(b) without lawful authority, communicates or makes available
to an agent of a state other than Canada, military or scientific
information or any sketch, plan, model, article, note or document
of a military or scientific character that he knows or ought to
know may be used by that state for a purpose prejudicial to the
safety or defence of Canada;
- :(c) conspires with any person to commit high treason or to do
anything mentioned in paragraph (a);
- :(d) forms an intention to do anything that is high treason or
that is mentioned in paragraph (a) and manifests that intention by
an overt act; or
- :(e) conspires with any person to do anything mentioned in
paragraph (b) or forms an intention to do anything mentioned in
paragraph (b) and manifests that intention by an overt act."
It is also illegal for a Canadian citizen to do any of the above
outside Canada.
The penalty for high treason is life imprisonment. The penalty for
treason is imprisonment up to a maximum of life, or up to 14 years
for conduct under subsection (2)(b) or (e) in peacetime.
France
Article 411-1 of the French Penal Code defines
treason as follows:
- "The acts defined by articles 411-2 to 411-11 constitute
treason where they are committed by a French national or a soldier
in the service of France, and constitute espionage where they are
committed by any other person."
Article 411-2 prohibits "handing over troops belonging to the
French armed forces, or all or part of the national territory, to a
foreign power, to a foreign organisation or to an organisation
under foreign control, or to their agents". It is punishable by
life imprisonment and a fine of 750,000
euros.
Generally parole is not available until 18 years of a life sentence
have elapsed.
[5441]
Articles 411-3 to 411-10 define various other crimes of
collaboration with the enemy, sabotage, and the like. These are
punishable with imprisonment for between thirty and seven years.
Article 411-11 make it a crime to incite any of the above
crimes.
Besides treason and espionage, there are many other crimes dealing
with national security, insurrection, terrorism and so on. These
are all to be found in Book IV of the Code.
Germany
The German law differentiates between two types of treason: "High
treason" (
Hochverrat) and "treason"
(
Landesverrat).
The high treason, defined in the Section
81[5442] of the German
criminal code is defined as a violent attempt against the
existence or the constitutional order of the Federal Republic
of Germany
, carrying a penalty of life imprisonment or a fixed
term of at least ten years. In less serious cases, the
penalty is 1-10 years in prison. The German crimal law also
criminalizes the high treason against a German state. Preparation
of both types of the crime is criminal and carries a penalty of up
to five years.
The other type of treason,
Landesverrat is defined in
Section 94
[5443]. This is basically the crime of
espionage. The crime carries a penalty of one to
five years in prison. However, in especially severe cases, life
imprisonment or any term of at least of five years may be
sentenced.
Ireland
Article 39 of the
Constitution
of Ireland (adopted in 1937) states that "treason shall consist
only in levying war against the State, or assisting any State or
person or inciting or conspiring with any person to levy war
against the State, or attempting by force of arms or other violent
means to overthrow the organs of government established by the
Constitution, or taking part or being concerned in or inciting or
conspiring with any person to make or to take part or be concerned
in any such attempt."
[5444]
The Treason Act 1939 gave legislative effect to Article 39, and
provided for the imposition of the death penalty on persons
convicted of committing treason within the state and on citizens
convicted of committing treason against Ireland outside of the
state. The Act also created the ancillary offences of encouraging,
harbouring and comforting persons guilty of treason, and the
offence of misprision of treason. No person has been charged under
this Act.
The Criminal Justice Act 1990 removed the death penalty for
treason, setting the punishment at life imprisonment, with parole
in not less than forty years.
[5445]
For other offences against national security, see the
Offences against the
State Acts 1939-1998.
Before 1937
Section 1(1) of the Treasonable Offences Act 1925 (enacted under
the 1922 Constitution) defined treason as:
- (a) levying war against Saorstát Éireann, or
- (b) assisting any state or person engaged in levying war
against Saorstát Éireann, or
- (c) conspiring with any person (other than his or her wife or
husband) or inciting any person to levy war against Saorstát
Éireann, or
- (d) attempting or taking part or being concerned in an attempt
to overthrow by force of arms or other violent means the Government
of Saorstát Éireann as established by or under the Constitution,
or
- (e) conspiring with any person (other than his or her wife or
husband) or inciting any person to make or to take part or be
concerned in any such attempt. [5446]
The maximum punishment was death. The Act also defined the offences
of misprision of treason and of encouraging, harbouring, or
comforting any person engaged in levying Saorstát Éireann or
engaged, taking part, or concerned in any attempt to overthrow by
force of arms or other violent means the Government of Saorstát
Éireann as established by or under the Constitution of 1922.
The Treasonable Offences Act 1925 was the first comprehensive and
permanent measure designed to deal with offences against the state.
Section 3 reenacted portions of the
Treason Felony Act 1848, while
sections 4 and 5 dealt, respectively, with the usurpation of
executive authority and assemblies pretending to parliamentary
functions. Section 6 prohibited the formation of pretended military
or police forces and section 7 proscribed unauthorised
drilling.
Although
Gardaí prosecuted
a number of persons under section 1.1(d) in 1925 and 1926, the
Minister for Justice,
Kevin
O'Higgins, believed that such serious charges were not
'desirable in the present conditions'. Rather more bluntly, in
March 1930
Eoin O'Duffy, the Garda
Commissioner, wrote that the prospect of charging IRA members with
'levying war against the State' or with usurping executive
authority would make a 'laughing stock' of the Gardaí.
Before
Irish independence, treason was
governed under the laws of the United Kingdom
. Many historical Irish nationalist
insurgents now considered heroes or freedom fighters in
contemporary Ireland were executed for treason against the British
or English Crown.
New Zealand
New Zealand
has treason laws that are stipulated under the
Crimes Act 1961. Section 73
of the Crimes Act reads as follows:
- "Every one owing allegiance to Her Majesty the Queen in right of New Zealand commits
treason who, within or outside New Zealand,—
- :(a) Kills or wounds or does grievous bodily harm to Her
Majesty the Queen, or imprisons or restrains her; or
- :(b) Levies war against New Zealand; or
- :(c) Assists an enemy at war with New Zealand, or any armed
forces against which New Zealand forces are engaged in hostilities,
whether or not a state of war exists between New Zealand and any
other country; or
- :(d) Incites or assists any person with force to invade New
Zealand; or
- :(e) Uses force for the purpose of overthrowing the Government of New Zealand; or
- :(f) Conspires with any person to do anything mentioned in this
section."
The penalty is life imprisonment, except that the maximum for
conspiracy is 14 years. Treason was the last
capital crime in New
Zealand law, with the death penalty not being revoked until 1989,
years after it was abolished for
murder.
Very few people have been prosecuted for the act of treason in New
Zealand and none have been prosecuted in recent years.
Russia
Article
275 of the Criminal Code of
Russia [5447] defines treason as "espionage,
disclosure of state secrets, or any other assistance rendered to a
foreign State, a foreign organization, or their representatives in
hostile activities to the detriment of the external security of the
Russian Federation
, committed by a citizen of the Russian
Federation." The sentence is imprisonment for 12 to 20
years. It is not a capital offence, even though murder and some
aggravated forms of attempted murder are (although Russia currently
has a moratorium on the death penalty).
Subsequent sections provide for further offences against state
security, such as armed rebellion and forcible seizure of
power.
Switzerland
According
to article 265 of the Swiss Criminal
Code, high treason consists of attempting to violently do one
of the following: change the federal or a cantonal
constitution, remove the constitutional authorities of the state or
prevent them from exercising their office, or separate territory
from the confederation
or a canton. It
is punishable by imprisonment for not less than one year.
United Kingdom
The British law of treason is entirely
statutory and has been so since the
Treason Act 1351 (25 Edw. 3 St. 5 c. 2).
The Act is written in
Norman
French, but is more commonly cited in its English
translation.
The Treason Act 1351 has since been amended several times, and
currently provides for four categories of treasonable offences,
namely:
- "when a man doth compass or imagine the death of our lord the
King, or of our lady his Queen or of their eldest son and
heir";
- "if a man do violate the King’s companion, or the King’s eldest
daughter unmarried, or the wife of the King’s eldest son and
heir";
- "if a man do levy war against our lord the King in his realm,
or be adherent to the King’s enemies in his realm, giving to them
aid and comfort in the realm, or elsewhere"; and
- "if a man slea the chancellor,
treasurer, or the King’s justices of the one bench or the other,
justices in eyre, or justices of assise, and all other justices
assigned to hear and determine, being in their places, doing their
offices".
Another Act, the
Treason Act 1702
(1 Anne stat. 2 c. 21), provides for a fifth category of treason,
namely:
- "if any person or persons ... shall endeavour to deprive or
hinder any person who shall be the next in succession to the crown
... from succeeding after the decease of her Majesty (whom God long
preserve) to the imperial crown of this realm and the dominions and
territories thereunto belonging".
By virtue
of the Treason Act 1708, the law of
treason in Scotland
is the same
as the law in England, save that in Scotland the slaying of the
Lords of Session
and Lords of
Justiciary and counterfeiting the Great Seal of Scotland remain treason
under sections 11 and 12 of the Treason Act 1708
respectively. [5448] Treason is a reserved matter about which the Scottish
Parliament
is prohibited from legislating. Two acts of the
former Parliament of Ireland
passed in 1537 and
1542 create further
treasons which apply in Northern Ireland
.
The
penalty for treason was changed
from death to a maximum of imprisonment for life in 1998 under the
Crime And Disorder Act.
[5449] Before 1998, the death penalty was
mandatory, subject to the
royal prerogative of
mercy. Since the abolition of the
death penalty for murder in 1965 an execution
for treason was unlikely to be carried out.
Treason laws were used against Irish insurgents before
Irish independence. However,
IRA and other
republican guerrillas were not
prosecuted or executed for treason for levying war against the
British government during the
Troubles.
They, along with
loyalist militants,
were jailed for
murder, violent crimes or
terrorist offences.
William Joyce was the last person to
be put to death for treason, in 1946. (On the following day
Theodore Schurch was executed for
treachery, a similar crime, and
was the last man to be executed for a crime other than murder in
the UK.)
As to who can commit treason, it depends on the ancient notion of
allegiance. As such, all
British nationals (but not other
Commonwealth citizens) owe allegiance
to the Queen in right of the United Kingdom wherever they may be,
as do Commonwealth citizens and aliens present in the United
Kingdom at the time of the treasonable act (except diplomats and
foreign invading forces), those who hold a British passport however
obtained, and aliens who - having lived in Britain and gone abroad
again - have left behind family and belongings.
See also the
Treason Felony Act
1848.
International influence
The
Treason Act 1695 enacted, among
other things, a rule that treason could be proved only in a trial
by the evidence of two witnesses to the same offence. Nearly one
hundred years later this rule was incorporated into the
U.S. Constitution, which
requires two witnesses to the same overt act. It also provided for
a three year time limit on bringing prosecutions for treason
(except for assassinating the king), another rule which has been
imitated in some common law countries. The
Sedition Act 1661 made it treason to
imprison, restrain or wound the king. Although this law was
abolished in the United Kingdom in 1998, it still continues to
apply in some
Commonwealth
countries.
United States
To avoid the abuses of the English law (including executions by
Henry VIII of those who
criticized his repeated marriages), treason was specifically
defined in the
United States
Constitution, the only crime so defined.
Article III
Section 3 delineates treason as follows:
Treason against the United States, shall consist only
in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies,
giving them Aid and Comfort.
No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the
Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession
in open Court.
The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishment of Treason,
but no Attainder of Treason shall work
Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except
during the Life of the Person attainted.
However,
Congress has, at
times, passed statutes creating related offenses which undermine
the government or the national security, such as
sedition in the 1798
Alien and Sedition Acts, or
espionage and
sedition in
the 1917
Espionage Act, which do not
require the testimony of two witnesses and have a much broader
definition than Article Three treason. For example, some well-known
spies have been convicted of espionage rather than treason.
The Constitution does not itself create the offense; it only
restricts the definition (the first paragraph), permits Congress to
create the offense, and restricts any punishment for treason to
only the convicted (the second paragraph). The crime is prohibited
by legislation passed by
Congress. Therefore the
United States Code at states "whoever,
owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or
adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the
United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason and shall suffer
death, or shall be imprisoned not less than five years and fined
under this title but not less than $10,000; and shall be incapable
of holding any office under the United States." The requirement of
testimony of two witnesses was inherited from the British
Treason Act 1695 (Since 1945, however, this
has been abolished in British law and treason cases are now subject
to the same rules of evidence and procedure as a murder trial, but
the US requirement still stands barring an
amendment).
In the history of the United States there have been fewer than 40
federal prosecutions for treason and even fewer convictions.
Several men were convicted of treason in connection with the 1794
Whiskey Rebellion but were
pardoned by President
George
Washington. One of American history's most notorious traitors,
in which his name is considered synonymous with the definition of
traitor, is
Benedict Arnold. The
most famous treason trial, that of
Aaron
Burr in 1807 (See
Burr
conspiracy), resulted in acquittal. Politically motivated
attempts to convict opponents of the
Jeffersonian Embargo Acts and the
Fugitive Slave Law of
1850 all failed. Most states have provisions in their
constitutions or statutes similar to those in the U.S.
Constitution.
There have been only two successful
prosecutions for treason on the state level, that of Thomas Dorr in Rhode Island
and that of John Brown in Virginia
.
After the
American Civil War, no
person involved with the
Confederate States of America
was tried for treason, though a number of leading Confederates
(including
Jefferson Davis and
Robert E. Lee) were indicted. Those who had been
indicted received a blanket amnesty issued by President
Andrew Johnson as he left office in 1869.The
Cold War saw frequent associations between
treason and support for (or insufficient hostility toward)
Communist-backed causes. The most memorable of
these came from Senator
Joseph
McCarthy, who characterized the
Franklin Delano Roosevelt and
Harry Truman administrations as "twenty
years of treason."
McCarthy also investigated various
government agencies for Soviet
spy rings;
however, he acted as a political fact-finder rather than criminal
prosecutor. The Cold War period saw few prosecutions for
treason.
On October 11, 2006, a federal grand jury issued the first
indictment for treason against the United States since 1952,
charging
Adam Yahiye Gadahn for
videos in which he spoke supportively of
al-Qaeda.
Treason in Muslim countries
Early in
Islamic history, the only
form of treason was seen as the attempt to overthrow a just
government or waging war against the State. According to the Quran
the prescribed punishment ranged from imprisonment to the severing
of limbs and the death penalty depending on the severity of the
crime, however even in cases of treason the repentance of a person
would have to be taken into account. However contrary to popular
belief Apostasy was not considered Treason, and there is no example
of punishment during Prophet Muhammed's time.
Currently, the consensus among major Islamic schools is that it is
considered treason if a muslim converts(see also
Apostasy in Islam). The penalty is death.
Many Islamic theologians believe that the death penalty is
acceptable punishment for treason and other "mischeif in the
land".
In the nineteenth and early twentieth century, the Iranian Cleric
Sheikh Fazlollah Noori
opposed the
Iranian
Constitutional Revolution by inciting insurrection against them
through issuing Fatwahs and publishing pamphlets arguing democracy
will bring vice to the country. The new government executed him for
treason in 1909.
In Malaysia, it is treason to commit offences against the
Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s person,
waging, attempting to wage war or abetting the waging of war
against the
Yang di-Pertuan
Agong, a Ruler or
Yang
di-Pertua Negeri. All these offences are punishable by hanging,
which derives from the English treason acts (a former British
colony, Malaysia's legal system is based on English
common law).
In
Algeria
, treason is defined as the following:
- attempts to change the regime or actions aimed at
incitement
- destruction of territory, sabotage to public and economic
utilities
- participation in armed bands or in insurrectionary
movements
In Palestine, it is treason to give assistance to Israeli troops or
sell land to Jews (irrespective of nationality) and Israeli
citizens under the
Palestinian
Land Laws. Both crimes are capital offences subject to the
death penalty.
In
Bahrain
, plotting to topple the regime, collaborating with
a foreign hostile country and threatening the life of the Emir are
defined as treason and punishable by death. The
State Security Law of 1974 was
used to crush dissent that could be seen as treasonous, which was
criticised for permitting severe human rights violations in
accordace with article one:
If there is serious evidence that a person has
perpetrated acts, delivered statements, exercised activities, or
has been involved in contacts inside or outside the country, which
are of a nature considered to be in violation of the internal or
external security of the country, the religious and national
interests of the State, its social or economic system; or
considered to be an act of sedition that affects or can possibly
affect the existing relations between the people and Government,
between the various institutions of the State, between the classes
of the people, or between those who work in corporations
propagating subversive propaganda or disseminating atheistic
principles; the Minister of Interior may order the arrest of that
person, committing him to one of Bahrain's prisons, searching him,
his residence and the place of his work, and may take any measure
which he deems necessary for gathering evidence and completing
investigations.The period of detention may not exceed three years.
Searches may only be made and the measures provided for in the
first paragraph may only be taken upon judicial writ.
List of people convicted by country
Related offences
There are a number of other crimes short of treason which are
concerned with protecting the state:
Further reading
- Elaine Shannon and Ann Blackman, The Spy Next Door : The
Extraordinary Secret Life of Robert Philip Hanssen, The Most
Damaging FBI Agent in US History, Little, Brown and Company,
2002, ISBN 0-316-71821-1
- Ben-Yehuda, Nachman, "Betrayals and Treason. Violations of
trust and Loyalty." Westview Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8133-9776-6
- Ó Longaigh, Seosamh, "Emergency Law in Independent Ireland,
1922-1948", Four Courts Press, Dublin 2006 ISBN 1-85182-922-9
See also
External links
References
- Online Etymology Dictionary
- Crimes Act 1961 - Section 73
- justice.govt.nz
- As was widely pointed out in the press at the time, if the
allegations that James Hewitt had an affair with Princess Diana whilst
she was married to Prince Charles had been substantiated, it
would have amounted to the crime of treason. [1] Queens consort Anne Boleyn, Catherine Howard and Caroline of
Brunswick were prosecuted for treasonable adultery.
- American to Be Indicted for Treason, Fox News,
October 12, 2006
- http://alislam.org/quran/tafseer/?page=244®ion=EN
- http://www.ahmadiyya.org.uk/FAQ/islam/index.html#Q7
-
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2006/mar/20/afghanistan.islam
-
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-500087/Imams-daughter-hiding-conversion-Christianity-sparked-death-threats.html
- http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,188903,00.html
-
http://freecopts.net/english/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=998&Itemid=9
- http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=10161
- http://www.frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=5062