A Russian police officer has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for the murder by beheading of a 20-year-old on the same day that Russia’s  Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev said in his annual police day speech that officers should aim their weapons only at criminals, and not at peaceful citizens. His remarks highlight a series of incidents in the country where police officers have attacked citizens. The man sentenced Monday 9 November was in a friend’s taxi when the driver tried to collect 90 rubles (CHF2 approximately) for a ride that the court heard normally costs 60, in the Urals, and the young client couldn’t pay. The two older men then took him to the toilets on an allotment and proceeded to slice his neck with a pocketknife.

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The Capetown, South Africa sister of Aasiya Hassan, who was beheaded by her husband at the TV station they created near Buffalo, New York, says she was on the phone with Hassan when she was killed, according to CNN. Hassan’s husband, a banker who had recently been served divorce papers, was arrested after leading police to the scene of the crime. The couple had started the station because of her concerns that Muslims were not perceived well in the US. Police were reportedly called to their home on several occasions because of domestic violence.