Extract from Independent article available at [
www.findarticles.com]
'
Cult holding boy offers to swap him for access
Independent, The (London), Jul 17, 2000 by Paul Lashmar
THE LEADER of a religious cult that is believed to have abducted a teenager said yesterday he would appeal against a decision to make the boy a ward of court.
David Mackay, an Australian who leads the Jesus Christians cult, said he was willing to return Bobby Kelly, of Essex, in exchange for continued access to the 16-year-old. But he also said he did not know the whereabouts of the boy.
Last week the High Court made Bobby a ward of court to his grandmother Ruth Kelly, with whom he lives, after he abruptly left home to join the fundamentalist Christian cult just hours after meeting its members. The court order makes Bobby's grandmother his legal guardian.
But Mr Mackay argued that a 16-year-old was old enough to make his own decisions and he was prepared to challenge the order in court next week. He said: "The thing that concerns us is that such a court order would never have been taken out if someone didn't think we were evil people. Before that we had the total support of his grandmother."
Extract from [
theword.com.au]
Two men have recently come down from Sydney, and are holding a vigil outside the Kenyan High Commission (in the QBE building, 33-35 Ainslie Ave.) They arrived on Thursday the 25th of August and plan to stay on to bring attention to a trial scheduled for the 2nd of September. This is their message.
A Plea to the Media (and to the Australian Government.)
A number of Australians have recently been charged with smuggling or
possessing drugs in foreign countries. The evidence in at least one case
is suspect, and the penalties (even if they are guilty) have been extreme.
Nevertheless, the Australian Government, although notoriously unhelpful in
such situations, has been coaxed into providing defence lawyers, making
public statements at the highest levels (in the latest cases, just hours
after the arrests were made), and even making some representations to
foreign governments on behalf of its citizens.
In contrast, an Australian missionary couple with a ten-year-old son, will
be facing trial in Kenya next week (September 2nd) on charges of
kidnapping (maximum penalty: seven years in prison) which are known to be
totally false by the Australian Government, the Kenyan Government, the
police prosecutor, the magistrate, the media in Kenya, and the general
public; and yet the Australian Government has formally stated that it will
do nothing more than "monitor" the situation.