Federal officials will not pursue civil rights violations or other charges against the boot camp guards implicated in the death of a 14-year-old

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. Federal officials will not pursue civil rights violations or other charges against the boot camp guards implicated in the death of a 14-year-old who was hit and kicked by the guards while a nurse looked on, the boy’s relatives and their attorney said Friday.Ben Crump, an attorney for the parents of the teen, Martin Lee Anderson, said they were told of the decision during a meeting with representatives of the U.S. Justice Department. The family’s supporters gathered outside the federal courthouse in Tallahassee during that meeting.

Anderson died Jan. 6, 2006, a day after being hit and kicked by the guards. A videotape of the 30-minute incident attracted national attention and led to the closure of Florida’s boot camps for juvenile offenders. Anderson had just been assigned to the camp after he was caught trespassing at a school, which violated his probation on another charge.
A state court jury acquitted the guards and the nurse of manslaughter on Oct. 12, 2007. Federal authorities then began investigating whether the boy’s civil rights were violated.

The Justice Department said in a news release Friday that investigators did not have enough evidence to pursue criminal charges.

The video showed the seven men punching Anderson and using knee strikes against him. It also showed them pushing ammonia capsules into his nose and dragging his limp body around the camp’s yard. The nurse did not appear to intervene in any way during the incident.A coroner initially ruled that Anderson died because of a fatal hemorrhage related to a previously undiagnosed case of sickle cell anemia trait. Protests of that ruling inspired then-Gov. Jeb Bush to order an independent prosecutor to look into the case.

A subsequent autopsy determined that guards killed Anderson by depriving him of oxygen when they pushed the ammonia tablets into his nose and covered his mouth.

The acquittal in the state’s manslaughter case came after a two-week trial in Panama City. Jurors said they agreed with the contention of the guards’ attorneys that the men were employing widely accepted boot camp tactics and that the death was caused by the sickle cell trait.The family also filed civil lawsuits against the state and Bay County that ultimately resulted in a $7.4 million settlement. (AP)

New Delhi: The government Monday allowed export of 10,000 tonnes of sugar to the European Union (EU)

New Delhi: The government Monday allowed export of 10,000 tonnes of sugar to the European Union (EU), at a time when the UPA regime is desperately trying to bring down prices of the sweetener in the domestic market.The DGFT has allocated a quantity of 10,000 tonnes of white or refined sugar for export to the EU for the fiscal 2009-10 (sugar season October 2009 – September 2010) through state-run trading firm Indian Sugar Exim Corporation. Indian Sugar Exim Corporation, which is the designated agency for export of sugar to the EU, will export the commodity under a preferential quota agreement, a DGFT notice said. Although, officially there in no ban on export of sugar, prior approval from authorities is required, which the Food Ministry is not granting since January 2009. Sugar prices in India have been on a rise due to supply shortage. Sugar prices rose by 58.96 percent in January year-on-year. The exported sugar will be received by the EU duty free, under a special concessions provided for after conclusion of the General Agreement on Trade and Tariff.