ETV Bharat / international
Life sentence for man who killed 6 in stolen car
A man had killed six people by driving into a crowd in Melbourne. The court has sentenced him to life imprisonment on Friday.
Courtesy: APTN
By
Published : Feb 22, 2019, 8:34 PM IST
Melbourne: A man who drove a stolen car into lunchtime crowds in downtown Melbourne killing six people was sentenced to life imprisonment Friday in what the judge described as "one of the worst examples of mass murder in Australian history".
James Gargasoulas, 29, showed little emotion when sentenced in Victoria state's Supreme Court.
Under the terms of his sentence, he will spend at least 46 years in prison before he's eligible for parole.Genna Angelowitsch, a lawyer representing some of the victims' families, told media outside the court that Gargasoulas' sentence was "not harsh enough."Families of the victims filled the courtroom for Justice Mark Weinberg's ruling.Gargasoulas was in a drug-induced psychosis in January 2017 when he killed the six people and injured dozens more in the busy Bourke St. Mall.His victims included a three-month-old baby who was thrown 200 feet from his stroller and a 10-year-old girl.
Also read- Mexican activist murdered for protesting gas pipeline project
(With inputs from APTN)
Melbourne: A man who drove a stolen car into lunchtime crowds in downtown Melbourne killing six people was sentenced to life imprisonment Friday in what the judge described as "one of the worst examples of mass murder in Australian history".
James Gargasoulas, 29, showed little emotion when sentenced in Victoria state's Supreme Court.
Under the terms of his sentence, he will spend at least 46 years in prison before he's eligible for parole.Genna Angelowitsch, a lawyer representing some of the victims' families, told media outside the court that Gargasoulas' sentence was "not harsh enough."Families of the victims filled the courtroom for Justice Mark Weinberg's ruling.Gargasoulas was in a drug-induced psychosis in January 2017 when he killed the six people and injured dozens more in the busy Bourke St. Mall.His victims included a three-month-old baby who was thrown 200 feet from his stroller and a 10-year-old girl.
Also read- Mexican activist murdered for protesting gas pipeline project
(With inputs from APTN)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY: AP CLIENTS ONLY
SHOTLIST:
ASSOCIATED PRESS - AP CLIENTS ONLY
Istanbul - 17 February 2019
1. Various of people waiting at government-run discount market; writing on tarp (Turkish) "Total combat against inflation" and "straight from the producer to the consumer"
2. Mid of spinach at government-run discount market
3. Mid of tomatoes
4. Mid of shoppers with tomatoes in plastic bags
5. Close of tomatoes in plastic bags
6. SOUNDBITE (Turkish) Reyhan Kelleci, Istanbul resident:
"People who live on minimum wage can't go to the neighbourhood bazaar, produce store, the market. We go to the market to buy scallions, scallions are five lira, and in that five lira bunch of scallions are five pieces. When there's no neighbourhood bazaar, we are forced to buy from the market. And markets see this as an opportunity and abuse people's good will. I don't know. These regulated tents have been very good for us."
7. Close of vegetables being weighed
8. Mid of shoppers
9. SOUNDBITE (Turkish) Reyhan Kelleci, Istanbul resident:
"They say eat dry legumes but the price of dry legumes have skyrocketed. Detergent prices have risen. What should we do? Should we not eat or drink, should we die? What should we do? Should we sit at home and wait for our death?"
10. Wide of shoppers at government-run discount market
TURKISH PRESIDENCY POOL - AP CLIENTS ONLY
Kastamonu - 12 February 2019
11. Pan of supporters in a ruling Justice and Development Party rally
12. SOUNDBITE (Turkish) Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's President:
++PART OVERLAID WITH SHOT OF CROWD++
(++referring to opening of government-run discount market++) "Prices were cut in half instantly. And they'll be reduced even further since we'll also sell other products there, from cleaning supplies and whatever else there is in stores. We'll start selling a selection of those (products) in these (government-run discount market) stores. Why? Because they've (referring to sellers) have terrorised, terrorised."
13. Pan of supporters in a ruling Justice and Development Party rally
14. SOUNDBITE (Turkish) Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's President:
++STARTS ON WIDE OF CROWD++
"Therefore, we've taught, are teaching and will continue to teach those who have terrorised food a lesson."
ASSOCIATED PRESS - AP CLIENTS ONLY
Istanbul - 17 February 2019
15. Close of spinach and tomatoes with price tag at government-run discount store
16. Mid of shoppers and sales staff at government-run discount store
ASSOCIATED PRESS - AP CLIENTS ONLY
Istanbul - 20 February 2019
17. SOUNDBITE (English) Selva Demiralp, Koc University economics professor:
"The food inflation right now is partly due to supply restrictions or supply shocks that we had due to weather conditions; partly due to the exchange rate shock and partly due to our weak performance in terms of fighting inflation."
ASSOCIATED PRESS - AP CLIENTS ONLY
Istanbul - 17 February 2019
18. Mid of prices list at government-run discount store
19. Wide of prices list
ASSOCIATED PRESS - AP CLIENTS ONLY
Istanbul - 17 February 2019
20. SOUNDBITE (Turkish) Savas Bag, Istanbul resident:
"Isn't this poverty? People couldn't find cooking gas in the past and got in lines, (but) today people get in line because of poverty."
21. Wide of line at government-run discount store
22. Mid of line
23. SOUNDBITE (Turkish) Savas Bag, Istanbul resident:
"These regulated sales places are nothing. They should go look at the neighbourhood bazaar. This is just an election campaign, nothing else."
24. Mid of spinach in nearby weekly neighbourhood bazaar
25. Close of spinach
26. Mid of peppers in nearby weekly neighbourhood bazaar
ASSOCIATED PRESS - AP CLIENTS ONLY
Istanbul - 20 February 2019
27. SOUNDBITE (English) Selva Demiralp, Koc University economics professor:
"We do know that economic factors have a big impact on the election performance of a government and the high inflation and the resulting deterioration in income distribution is not going to help out the government so the government is essentially trying to fix this situation by helping out the people who are the worst affected from the adverse effects of inflation."
ASSOCIATED PRESS - AP CLIENTS ONLY
Istanbul - 17 February 2019
28. Wide of Yasin Bayer, a seller at weekly neighbourhood bazaar
29. Close of tomatoes at weekly neighbourhood bazaar
30. SOUNDBITE (Turkish) Yasin Bayer, seller at weekly neighbourhood bazaar:
"It's affecting us, unfortunately. Whether we like it or not, it's affecting us right now. (referring to advent of government – run discount markets.) Shopkeepers and the bazaar are experiencing difficulties right now. A sister asks 'how much', I say '8 liras ( approx. 1.50 US dollars)' but they're selling it for 6 liras (approx. 1.33 US dollars) there. Sister, how can we sell it for that price? We have costs. Opening this counter today costs 1,000, 1,500 liras (approx. 188-282 US dollars). Labour, bags, gas."
31. Mid of weekly neighbourhood bazaar
32. Wide of weekly neighbourhood bazaar
STORYLINE:
Shoppers formed a long line in front of an immense tent in an Istanbul neighbourhood that serves as a makeshift government-run market selling spinach, tomatoes and peppers at discounted prices.
Slogans printed on the tarpaulin boasted that the market was engaged in a "total combat against inflation" and that the vegetables came "straight from the producer to the consumer".
Reyhan Kelleci, a 38-year-old Istanbul resident who arrived to get in line was grateful for the stall which sold some of the produce at almost half the price of the local market.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government has set up dozens of these temporary stalls in Turkey's largest cities of Ankara and Istanbul and at least four others in a bid to mitigate the effects of soaring food prices that have stung households.
The discount stalls were quickly set up after Erdogan promised to cut out sellers and middlemen he accuses of exorbitantly increasing prices and has called traitors.
The move comes just over a month before Erdogan faces local elections on March 31, when runaway prices and an economic downturn could cost his ruling party some key municipal seats.
Most affected by the price hikes has been his traditional low-income voter base.
In campaign speeches, Erdogan has portrayed the economic downturn as a foreign plot against the country and has vowed to fight food price hikes in the same way that the country has fought terror groups.
Even though the government blames traders and others for the price hikes, energy, transport and production costs have dramatically increased after the rapid depreciation of the Turkish lira over the summer.
In August, the lira lost as much as 33 percent of its value against the dollar over a diplomatic spat with the United States.
Inflation hovered around 20 percent in January, with food and non-alcoholic beverage inflation at an annual 31 percent - reaching a 15-year high.
Selva Demiralp, professor of economics at Istanbul's Koc University said the soaring food prices were due to a combination of weather conditions, including floods in Turkey's southern Antalya province, last year's exchange rate shock and Turkey's weak performance in fighting inflation.
The government markets buy the produce directly from farmers' cooperatives, eliminating intermediary commissions.
The vegetables on offer are limited and buyers cannot purchase more than 3 kilograms (6.6 pounds) per person.
Unlike regular stores, the government markets can avoid many costs. In Istanbul, the ruling party-run municipality moved some workers employed by its catering and hotelier company to the food stalls. It's unclear if the goods are sold at a loss and what effect these sales have on the state budget.
Erdogan said the government markets would continue until the local elections.
He said however, that the markets could become permanent across Turkey if "opportunists" continue hiking prices.
Intermediaries add commissions to produce prices but they also have a crucial role in funding farmers, offering storage facilities and organizing sales to wholesalers.
Yasin Bayer, a 33-year-old vendor in a bustling weekly market nearby, said the government's move was hurting regular sellers.
Dozens of people who shopped at the market gathered around the AP journalists, airing grief over the rising cost of living.
Most expressed their support for the markets and the government, but others were critical, saying the government markets were an indication of how poorly the economy has been run.
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