Kidnapping and Hostages
Girl, 12, Escapes Captivity, Leading Alabama Authorities to Find 2 Bodies
A 12-year-old girl who had been held captive in a home in rural Alabama was found walking along a nearby road on Monday, which led the authorities to the bodies of her mother and brother inside the residence, the authorities said. The Tallapoosa County Sheriff’s Department said on Tuesday that José Paulino Pascual-Reyes, 37, of […]
Know More
NBA Campaign to Free Brittney Griner Is Mostly Low Key
The N.B.A. is a $10 billion corporation that has the power and reach to promote not just its teams and players but to provoke discussion and debate around social issues. It has used that influence most prominently to fight racism in the United States. Yet when it has come to Brittney Griner, the W.N.B.A. star […]
Know More
Griner Case Draws Attention to ‘Wrongful Detentions’
WASHINGTON — Brittney Griner. Austin Tice. The Citgo 6. And now, potentially, three American military veterans who were captured by enemy forces after traveling to Ukraine to fight Russia. They are among nearly 50 Americans who the State Department believes are wrongfully detained by foreign governments. At least a dozen more Americans are being held […]
Know More
Brittney Griner’s Detention in Moscow Is Latest in Hostage Diplomacy
Brittney Griner, the W.N.B.A. athlete facing criminal drug charges in Russia, may be merely the latest victim of a practice so common it has its own name: hostage diplomacy. The U.S. government classifies Ms. Griner as “wrongfully detained,” meaning that it believes the charges against her are spurious, perhaps intended to pressure Washington over its […]
Know More
After Israel’s Spies Hit Iran Hard, an Intelligence Official Loses His Job
For more than a decade, he was a feared presence in Iran, presiding over a vast intelligence apparatus. He crushed domestic dissent and political rivals, and expanded covert operations beyond Iran’s borders to target dissidents and enemies abroad. Hossein Taeb, a 59-year-old cleric and chief of intelligence for the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, seemed […]
Know More
Haitian Gang Leader Is Charged With Abducting American Missionaries
WASHINGTON — A leader of a notorious street gang responsible for abducting 17 people tied to an American-based missionary group in Haiti last year was indicted by a federal grand jury on Tuesday on charges of conspiracy to commit hostage taking, prosecutors said. Joly Germine, also known as Yonyon, was a top member of the […]
Know More
British Terrorist Receives Life Sentence for Role in Americans’ Deaths
Mr. Kotey declined to comment, instead referring to a lengthy letter he had filed with the court. The letter describes at times feeling sympathy for his captives, but such sentiments, he wrote, were “often brief and momentary.” He called himself a soldier carrying out orders and using harsh tactics that were necessary to fight the […]
Know More
British Militant Convicted for Role in Deaths of Americans
Mr. Kotey, 38, who was part of the Beatles, pleaded guilty in September to multiple charges, saying that he had played a critical role in the kidnapping and detention of American prisoners. He is expected to be sentenced this month. Mr. Elsheikh, who was born in Sudan and raised in London, sat impassively as each […]
Know More
Man Charged in Kidnapping of Bloomberg’s Housekeeper From Colorado Ranch
An armed man broke into the Colorado ranch of the former Democratic presidential candidate Michael R. Bloomberg and kidnapped a housekeeper, asking her for the whereabouts of Mr. Bloomberg’s two adult daughters, the authorities said in court documents filed this week. The man, Joseph Beecher, 48, faces state and federal charges including kidnapping after he […]
Know More