Nick Clegg has now promised anyone who is proven to have abused human rights will not be allowed into Britain.
He told the BBC’s Andrew Marr show he found the scenes of “savagery” from Syrian “revolting” and “stomach churning” and added new changes to government legislation would affect those visiting.
He said: “As it happens, as a government we have recently changed the rules about who we allow into this country and who we refuse entry to.
“For the first time we are saying if there’s evidence you have abused human rights, and there’s independent evidence to show that is the case, you will not be allowed to come into this country.
“As far as the Government is concerned – I can’t talk for the Olympic Organising Committee – we have recently said very clearly if you’ve abuse human rights and that is shown to be the case you are not welcome in this country.”
When asked specifically if those connected with the Syrian massacre would not be here for the Olympics, he said “of course”, adding he was not able to give specific names.
He added: “We have changed our policy in a very big way recently, never happened before; if you have abused human rights you cannot come into this country."
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office would not comment on individual cases, but Whitehall sources have indicated that General Joumaa can expected to be barred from the UK as he is closely identified with troops loyal to President Assad who are estimated to have killed 10,000 people since the start of the 15-month insurgency.
Syria’s athletes could still be allowed to compete, as they were exempted from serving in the armed forces.
Locog, the games’ organisers, are in the process of receiving the names of all athletes, officials, guests and delegates being sent to London by each of the countries taking part.
The names are being passed on to the Home Office and Foreign and Commonwealth Office for checking against lists of individuals whose presence in this country is deemed undesirable, or who appear on the records of international bodies such the EU and International Criminal Court as being suspected of human rights abuses.
A London 2012 spokesman said: “All National Olympic Committees submit names of athletes, support staff, officials, media and guests to us. These then go through Home Office checks. This process has started but we do not comment on individual applications.”
Jeremy Browne, the Foreign Office minister, said in a letter to Denis MacShane, the Labour MP and former Europe minister, last week: “Where there is independent, reliable and credible evidence that an individual has committed human rights abuses the individual will not normally be permitted to enter the UK.”
Some leaders, such as President Assad and Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe, are already banned from travelling to the EU.
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
'Tear up the sentencing guidelines and jail EVERY looter': Crackdown on looters revealed - Daily Mail
Two thirds of 1,179 defendants remanded in custody
By Louise Boyle
Magistrates have been ordered to send all those involved in last week's riots and looting to jail, a court heard today.
Chair of the bench at Camberwell Green Magistrates Court, Novello Noades, revealed the instructions while sentencing one looter to six months in prison.
London courts had allegedly been emailed by a clerk within HM Courts and Tribunals Service, telling them to ignore normal guidelines which might have recommended non-custodial sentences for riot-related cases.
Send them down: A judge at Camberwell Court in south London said it received 'general guidance' that sentencing guidelines should not apply in the case of looters
Almost two thirds of the 1,179 defendants appearing before the courts on charges relating to last week's disturbances have been remanded in custody.
The 65 per cent remand rate compares with just ten per cent for serious offences in 2010, according to the Ministry of Justice.
The majority of charges related to burglary, theft and handling, violence and violent disorder offences.
Tonight,Scotland Yard revealed that the number of people charged in relation to the London riots has now reached 940, while the number of arrests in the capital also swelled over the weekend, reaching 1,635.
The new figures in relation to disorder and looting in London were released as Scotland Yard said extra officers would continue to police the streets.
Over the weekend approximately 16,000 police officers were on duty over a 24-hour period. Extra officers are also out tonight, providing a 'highly visible presence' as the policing operation continues.
Strict instructions: Magistrate Novello Noades
Ms Noades said: 'Our directive for anyone involved in the rioting is a custodial sentence. That is the directive we have had - it is a very serious matter.'
Father of three Daniel Anderson, 25, was jailed after two stolen guitars, an amplifier, flatscreen TV and hair clippers that were taken from a Croydon shop were found at his flat.
His solicitor made a request for probation but Mrs Noades said all those involved in the trouble on London's streets would be jailed.
Bruce Reid, defending, said: 'Can I ask what directive that you refer to?'
Justices clerk Claire Luxford replied: 'It's general guidance - not a directive as such - that the sentencing guidelines in cases such as these are not applied.'
Jailing Anderson for six months, Ms Noades said: 'What was happening on our streets last week was anarchy.
'The very fabric of society was at risk, and anyone involved must be dealt with as severely as we possibly can.'
Miss Luxford later said: 'We have received an email from a justice’ s clerk for Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunal Service in the London area saying that when sentencing guidelines were written no one envisaged events like these, and therefore they do not apply.'
A spokesman for Her Majesty's Courts Service said: 'Sentencing is a matter for the independent judiciary.
'Justices' clerks and legal advisers in magistrates' courts have a responsibility to give advice to magistrates on sentencing guidelines.
Running wild: Looters on the streets of Croydon last week caused thousands of pounds worth of damage
'Accordingly magistrates in London are being advised by their legal advisers to consider whether their powers of punishment are sufficient in dealing with some cases arising from the recent disorder.
'Magistrates are independent and not subject to direction from their legal advisers.'
Anderson, who works for a cable company and has three children aged five, three and one, pleaded guilty via video link from Bromley police station.
He told officers he had seen looters hiding the goods in a bush outside his Croydon flat and later moved them into his flat in two or three trips.
Mrs Noades sits as a local magistrate and is the wife of former Crystal Palace chairman Ron Noades.
The millionaire couple live in a luxury mansion in Surrey which was once used as a filming location for the series Footballers' Wives.
A spokesperson for the magistrate said: 'Ms Novello Noades, the Bench Chair, is mortified she used the term ''directive'', she knew there wasn't one and accepts it is entirely her mistake in language.'
Sentencing: The magistrate recommended custodial sentences at Camberwell Magistrates Court in south London
Experts also warned today that simply jailing young people involved in the riots risked turning opportunistic looters into hardened criminals.
The Criminal Justice Alliance, which represents around 60 organisations, said society had become over-reliant on prison, which should be reserved for those who have committed serious offences.
RIOT JUVENILES 'COULD BE NAMED'
Young people who took part in riots and looting could be named in court.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) issued the guidance after Home Secretary Theresa May asked prosecutors to name juveniles involved in the disturbances.
The CPS said although it is 'wholly wrong to exercise the power as an additional punishment or for 'naming and shaming', it adds that there is a strong public interest in naming convicted youths involved in significant public disorder and serious offences.
A spokesman said: 'We have issued guidance to prosecutors that states they should ask the court to lift the anonymity of a youth defendant when they believe it is required in the public interest that the youth be identified.
'Legislation permits the court to do so after conviction. These representations will be made on a case-by-case basis.'
Vicki Helyar-Cardwell, the group's director, said: 'Over the last week people will have been shocked by the way the rioters trashed and looted their own neighbourhoods, with seeming disregard for the very places that they live.
'Whatever sentences are meted out, both the offenders and the victims will continue to live together in these neighbourhoods, and so we must start to repair this harm.'
She called for victims and members of the public to be given a say in how offenders could make amends in their communities.
'It brings everyone involved in a crime together to talk about the impact, and what needs to happen to repair the harm caused.
'Restorative justice is very popular amongst victims and can help those hurt by crime feel a sense of closure.
'Importantly, it reduces the likelihood of reoffending, and can make substantial reductions in repeat offending for violent and property crime.'
Ms Helyar-Cardwell added: 'Imprisoning young people could turn some opportunistic looters into hardened criminals.
'Half of all prisoners go on to reoffend within a year of release, and for young offenders the rate is even higher.
'We need to reserve prison for serious offences, making sure effective alternatives such as restorative justice are in place that can command the confidence of victims and communities.
'The rioters should be confronted with the real human impact of their behaviour. Restorative justice is a means of doing this.'
Two men and a teenage boy appeared in court in Birmingham today charged with murdering a group of friends who were struck by a car as they protected their community from looters.
Court appearance: An artist's impression of today's hearing for Adam King, (left), Joshua Donald (centre) and the 17-year-old, who cannot be identified
Haroon Jahan, 21, and brothers Shazad Ali, 30, and Abdul Musavir, 31, were all hit by a car in the early hours of last Wednesday during riots in Birmingham. They were all pronounced dead in hospital.
Today, Joshua Donald, 26, Adam King, 23, and a 17-year-old, who cannot be named, appeared before a judge at Birmingham Crown Court for a preliminary hearing.
Donald, of Kelsall Croft, Ladywood, and the youth, from Edgbaston, appeared by video-link. King, of no fixed address, was in the dock.
All three defendants are charged with three counts of murder.
Source: www.dailymail.co.uk
Lloyd's Of London Preparing For Greek Euro Exit - ibtimes.co.uk
Richard Ward said Lloyd's had put in place a contingency plan to switch euro underwriting to multi-currency settlement if Greece abandoned the euro, and that it could have to take writedowns on its 58.9 billion pounds investment portfolio if the euro zone broke up.
"With all the concerns around the euro zone at the moment, we've got to be careful doing business in Europe and there are a lot of question marks over writing business in the future in euros," Ward told the UK newspaper.
"I don't think that if Greece exited the euro it would lead to the collapse of the euro zone but what we need to do is prepare for that eventuality," he said.
Europe accounts for 18 percent of Lloyd's 23.5 billion pounds of gross written premiums, mainly in France, Germany, Spain and Italy, the newspaper said.
Source: www.ibtimes.co.uk
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