Tag Archives: oceania

Australian duo dodge death penalty for murder of Melbourne dad in luxury Bali villa

Two Australian men will each spend more than a decade in a Bali prison after they were found guilty of the gangland-style murder of a Melbourne father in June last year.

Zivan Radmanovic, 32, died in a hail of bullets in the bathroom of a luxury villa on June 14 while on holiday with his partner, sister-in-law and her partner, Sanar Ghanim.

A Denpasar court today found Australian men Paea I Middlemore Tupou and Mevlut Coskun guilty of premeditated murder, attempted premeditated murder, and illegal possession and use of firearms.

READ MORE: Who is Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran's new Supreme Leader?

A Denpasar court today found Australian men Paea I Middlemore Tupou and Mevlut Coskun guilty of premeditated murder, attempted premeditated murder, and illegal possession and use of firearms.

They were each sentenced to 16 years in Korobokan prison.

Premeditated murder carries a maximum penalty of death under Indonesian law.

Their co-accused, Sydney plumber Darcy Jenson, is still waiting on his verdict and possible sentence.

The trial heard the gunmen were sent to Bali to threaten Ghanim over a debt after being offered money by an Australian man they've refused to identify.

Police allege Jenson organised the hit and Coskun and Tupou carried out the shooting, breaking into the villa with a sledgehammer in the early hours of June 14.

Tupou has admitted to shooting Radmanovic, but claims he thought he was his friend, Sanar Ghanim – the ex-partner of gangland figure Carl Williams' stepdaughter.

Coskun testified he shot Ghanim, who survived his injuries.

READ MORE: How can Aussie travellers get to Europe now major Middle East airports are shut?

They claim they never meant to kill anyone, while Jenson says he only learnt of the crime after he was arrested.

Police claim the pair escaped on motorbikes before getting into a car with Jenson, and dumping the guns in a river.

The trio were arrested and charged after an international manhunt.

Co-accused, Sydney plumber Darcy Jenson (left) is still waiting on his verdict and possible sentence.

Radmanovic's widow, Jazmyn Gourdeas, who hid under bed sheets during the shooting, was flanked by the pair's 13-year-old son as she watched the sentencing from a Denpasar courtroom.

Outside court, Gourdeas' laywer, Sary Latief, said her client was disappointed with the sentence.

"They had high hopes for the judges to give higher sentences," Latief said.

"The victim's wife is speechless. Really felt like the Indonesian justice system doesn't really care."

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Iran strikes neighbours, names new leader after Tehran pummelled

The Middle East has woken to fresh rounds of air and drone strikes, after Iran named a new supreme leader and the growing conflict took a significant toll on sharemarkets and pushed oil prices to fresh highs.

Dramatic photos showed Tehran being hit by air strikes, with a hit on an oil refinery lighting up the night sky.

Multiple neighbouring nations, including Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, reported hits or interceptions from missiles and drones from Iran, while Lebanon was pummelled again by Israel as the latter continued its campaign against Hezbollah.

READ MORE: Fourth teenager charged with murder after 'tragic' attack on security guard

Meanwhile, the USA told officials and their families to leave Saudi Arabia, and a seventh US military member also died from earlier injuries.

New leader named

Iranian state TV has said Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the country's late supreme leader, has been named his successor.

The second son of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had long been considered a contender to take over as supreme leader, even before an Israeli strike killed his father at the start of the war, and despite never being elected or appointed to a government position.

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Iran's powerful paramilitary Revolutionary Guard answers to the supreme leader, and the younger Khamenei will have the central say in war strategy.

US President Donald Trump told America's ABC he wanted a say about who comes to power once the war is over; a new leader "is not going to last long" without his approval, he said.

Oil fields attacked

Saudi Arabia's Defence Ministry said its forces destroyed four more drones that were attacking the vast Shaybah oil field.

The kingdom sharpened its warnings to Iran, telling Tehran it would be the "biggest loser" if it continues to attack Arab states, and dismissed comments by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Saturday claiming Tehran had halted its attacks on Gulf Arab states.

READ MORE: China warns 'flames of war' spreading, but welcomes Xi-Trump meeting

"The Iranian side has not implemented this statement in practice, neither during the Iranian president's speech nor afterwards," Saudi Arabia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

"Iran has continued its aggression based on flimsy pretexts devoid of any factual basis."

It added the Iranian attacks mean "further escalation which will have grave impact on the relations, currently and in the future".

READ MORE: Fears of fuel shortage drive apps, bargain hunters as farmers warn of running out

iran

Attacks in Gulf states continue

Qatar's Defence Ministry reported a missile attack on the country early on Monday.

Meanwhile, fire broke out at an oil facility in the United Arab Emirates following an attack in Fujairah, one of the UAE's seven emirates, authorities said.

The fire in the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone was extinguished, they said.

An Iranian drone attack also hit a residential area in Bahrain and wounded 32 Bahraini civilians, including children as young as two years old, authorities said.

The attacks occurred in Sitra Island close to energy infrastructure, the National Communication Centre said.

READ MORE: Who is Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran's new Supreme Leader?

In Lebanon, videos also show a fire at Beirut's Ramada hotel and damage to an apartment at the hotel after an Israeli attack.

The Israeli military also said it had destroyed the headquarters of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' air force.

US State Department also issued an order for non-emergency staff and families to leave Saudi Arabia.

The expected order was formally issued on the same day the US military announced an American service member has died of injuries sustained during an Iranian attack on the kingdom.

Family members of Australian officials posted to the United Arab Emirates have been ordered to leave due to the deteriorating security situation.

READ MORE: Fire tears through Kuwait City government building as Iran strikes neighbours

'We set the terms' says Hegseth

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth gave an interview saying Trump will set "the terms of surrender" with Iran.

He didn't reveal what those terms might be.

Asked on CBS' 60 Minutes what to elaborate, Hegseth said, "It means we're fightin' to win. It means we set the terms.

"We'll know when they're not capable of fighting. There'll be a point where they'll have no choice but to do that," he said.

Hegseth said the nation is still investigating a strike on an Iranian school that killed at least 168 children.

"We're still investigating, and that's where I'll leave it today," he said.

– with CNN, Associated Press

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Ex-MP mostly cleared of child sex charges, jury deadlocked on two counts

A former Liberal MP may face a second child abuse trial after a jury cleared him of some but not all charges related to a 13-year-old boy.

Rory Amon was found not guilty of four counts of child rape, two counts of attempted child rape and two counts of indecent assault of a child today after three days of deliberations.

However, jurors sitting in the NSW Supreme Court trial could not reach a verdict for further charges of rape and indecent assault of a child.

READ MORE: Australia suffers $120 billion wipeout as oil prices skyrocket

The deadlocked jury was discharged.

Amon kept his eyes downcast and maintained a blank expression as the jurors found him not guilty of eight charges.

He was later seen stepping from the dock with a large grin, hugging his barrister.

The 36-year-old had pleaded not guilty to all charges and denied any criminal conduct.

Amon admitted meeting the teen once for sex in 2017 but denied claims of a second meeting soon after.

He testified he held an honest and reasonable belief that the teen was over the age of 16.

The pair met online on an adults-only website.

The trial was told that the boy inflated his age when signing up to the gay hook-up app and again while talking with Amon.

Amon, then 27 and aspiring for a life in politics, and the boy moved their discussion to Snapchat, where explicit messages and images were sent, before meeting in person.

The jury heard Amon turned up to the teen's apartment block, wearing a tracksuit and ugg boots, before the pair moved to a small, dirty bathroom under the building.

Amon had seen the teen in explicit photos, under street lights and then in the lit bathroom before the light was turned off, the Crown argued.

That would have made it obvious to Amon that the youth was under 16, the jury was told.

"He told me he was 17 and nothing I saw changed that belief," Amon testified.

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Former Liberal MP Rory Amon arriving at Supreme Court.

Arrested in August 2024, Amon pleaded not guilty to five counts of having sexual intercourse with a child, two counts of attempted sexual intercourse with a child and indecent assault charges.

Eight of the charges related to the boy's claims of a second meeting with Amon in the car park bathroom in July 2017.

Jurors were told the boy told friends, his mother, a school counsellor and his psychologist about the incident soon afterwards.

He made a formal complaint to police five years later.

The two briefly reconnected on Grindr in 2022 when Amon sent him more images, including one wearing his volunteer firefighters uniform.

At the time he first contacted the youth in 2017, Amon was working full-time for federal Mackellar MP Jason Falinski.

He would go on to serve two terms on Northern Beaches Council before being elected as the Liberal MP for the state seat of Pittwater in 2023.

The charges killed Amon's fledgling career in state politics, forcing his expulsion from the Liberal Party and his resignation after his election in March 2023.

His exit also had implications for the state Liberals, which lost the formerly safe seat to a teal independent at the subsequent by-election.

Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732)

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