Foreign

R. Kelly Placed on Suicide Watch at Brookly Detention Centre – Lawyer

By Web News 501

R. Kelly has been placed on suicide watch at the federal detention facility in Brooklyn where he is being held following his sentencing to 30 years in prison on racketeering and sex trafficking charges.

His lawyers, who stated that the singer will be suing the federal prison housing him, insisted that there is no reason for Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center to put the 55-year-old Kelly on suicide watch. 

They added that doing so is causing “real and lasting harm” to the singer. Court documents allege that both before and after the sentencing, the singer was mentally stable and showed no signs of behavior that would justify placing him on suicide watch.

Kelly’s lawyer wrote in an accompanying affidavit; 

“Mr. Kelly impressed upon me repeatedly that he was not suicidal and the conditions of suicide watch at the MDC were extraordinarily stressful and harmful.

“He expressed on multiple occasions that he did not want to be put on suicide watch and that he was not suicidal and had no thoughts of harming himself or anyone else.” 

To ensure he wouldn’t be sent to suicide watch, Kelly’s lawyers told him to email them as soon as he returned to the cell after his sentencing, the documents said. When they didn’t receive an email, the lawyers said, they repeatedly tried contacting the prison but were not able to get an update on Kelly’s location until two days later, when a prosecutor confirmed he had been placed on suicide watch. 

The prosecutor allegedly told Kelly’s legal team that MDC’s legal team said he had been moved “for various reasons, such as age, crime, publicity, and sentencing.”

One of the singer’s lawyers, Jennifer Bonjean told CNN; “The irony of putting someone on suicide watch when they’re not suicidal is it actually causes more harm.

“Mr Kelly was placed on suicide watch for purely punitive reasons in violation of his Eighth Amendment rights

 “MDC has a policy of placing high profile individuals under the harsh conditions of suicide watch whether they are suicidal or not. MDC Brooklyn is being run like a gulag.”

Ms Bonjean added that she had spoken with Kelly following the sentencing and he shared that he was mentally fine, but concerned that authorities would put him on suicide watch as they had after the guilty verdict.

She added; “We are in the process of filing an emergency rule to show cause with the courts.

“MDC Brooklyn’s confinement of Mr Kelly to suicide watch is illegal, and they will be held accountable for it.”

Kelly, 55, was sentenced to 30 years in prison earlier this week for racketeering and other charges related to a criminal enterprise he ran for decades that allowed him to prey on and sexually abuse a number of his fans and others he drew into his inner circle. 

Omotola Oguneye

Foreign

Popular US Singer Bags Life Imprisonment Over Sexual Abuse

By Web News 891

 

Singer R. Kelly has been found guilty of exploiting his superstar status to run a scheme to sexually abuse women and children over two decades.

Eleven accusers – nine women and two men – took the stand over the searing six-week trial to describe sexual humiliation and violence at his hands.

After two days of deliberation, the jury found the US star guilty on all nine charges he was facing.

Sentencing is due on 4 May and he could spend the rest of his life behind bars.

The jury found Kelly, whose full name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, was the ringleader of a violent and coercive scheme that lured women and children for him to sexually abuse.

The singer – most famous for the hit songs I Believe I Can Fly and Ignition (Remix) – was also found to have trafficked women between different US states.

Along with eight counts of sex trafficking, Kelly was found guilty of racketeering – a charge normally used against organised crime associations.

During the trial, prosecutors detailed how his managers, security guards and other entourage members worked to assist him in his criminal enterprise.

The court also heard how Kelly had illegally obtained paperwork to marry Aaliyah when she was 15 in 1994, seven years before the singer died in a plane crash.

The certificate, leaked at the time, listed Aaliyah’s age as 18. The marriage was annulled months later.

Her 1994 debut album, Age Ain’t Nothing But a Number, was produced and written by R. Kelly.

One woman who testified that Kelly imprisoned, drugged and raped her said in a written statement after the verdict that she had “been hiding” from Kelly due to threats made against her since she went public with her accusations.

“I’m ready to start living my life free from fear and to start the healing process,” added the woman, identified in court as Sonja.

Another woman who testified in court, Lizette Martinez, said she was “relieved” by the verdict.

“I’m so proud of the women who were able to speak their truths,” she added.

Legal documents have revealed the mental torment that Kelly subjected his victims to. They were not allowed to eat or use the bathroom without his permission, he controlled what clothes they wore and made them call him “Daddy”.

Gloria Allred, a lawyer who represented several victims, told reporters: “I’ve been practising law for 47 years. During this time, I’ve pursued many sexual predators who have committed crimes against women and children.

“Of all the predators that I have pursued, Mr Kelly is the worst.”

At a news conference outside the court on Monday, prosecutor Jacquelyn Kasulis said that the jury had sent a message to other powerful men like Kelly.

“No matter how long it takes, the long arm of the law will catch up with you,” said Ms Kasulis.

The verdict comes 13 years after Kelly was acquitted of child pornography charges after a trial in the state of Illinois.

Many of the allegations heard in the trial were first laid out in the 2019 documentary Surviving R Kelly.

Victims were sometimes selected from his concert audiences, or were enticed to join him after being offered help with their fledgling music careers after chance encounters with the singer.

But after joining his entourage, they found that they were subjected to strict rules and aggressively punished if they violated what his team had dubbed “Rob’s rules”.

BBC