Day: January 17, 2024
The European Parliament has issued a statement saying it will not observe the presidential elections in Azerbaijan scheduled for 7 February 2024.
‘The European Parliament will not observe this electoral process and consequently will neither comment on the process nor on the results that will be announced afterwards. No individual Member of the European Parliament has been authorized to observe or comment on this electoral process on its behalf,” the European Parliament said.
“Therefore, if any Member of the European Parliament decides to comment on these elections, she/he would do so on her/his own initiative and should not, under any circumstances, represent or commit the European Parliament through any statement or action,” it added.
The Parliament did not provide further details about the reasons of the decision
French football star Karim Benzema has filed a defamation lawsuit against France’s interior minister for accusing him of having links with the Muslim Brotherhood, the BBC reports.
Gérald Darmanin said in October that Mr Benzema “has a notorious link” with the Sunni Muslim Islamist group.
The comment “undermines” his honour and reputation, Mr Benzema’s lawyer said.
The Muslim Brotherhood is banned in several countries, including Egypt, Russia, and Saudi Arabia.
Mr Darmanin’s comment in October came after the player tweeted his support for the people of Gaza as “victims again of unjust bombardments which spare neither women nor children”.
Noting his failure to express similar sympathy for the estimated 1,300 Israeli victims that Hamas killed on 7 October, Mr Darmanin said the former French striker was “well-known for his links with the Muslim Brotherhood”.
Karim Benzema, 36, who plays in Saudi Arabia and is a Muslim, quickly issued a denial and threatened legal action against the minister for slander.
In his 92-page complaint, reported widely in French media on Tuesday, he says he “has never had the slightest link with the Muslim Brotherhood organisation, nor to (his) knowledge with anyone who claims to be a member of it”.
The former Real Madrid star added: “I am aware of the extent to which, because of my notoriety, I am being used in political games, which are all the more scandalous given that the dramatic events since October 7 deserve something quite different from this type of statement.”
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