标签： Oceania

A brewing controversy over a retracted Amnesty International UK briefing that labeled a women’s sexual violence support center founded by author J.K. Rowling as ‘anti-rights’ has prompted Britain’s Charity Commission to review concerns raised about the incident.

Rowling, the 60-year-old creator of the globally successful Harry Potter franchise, has been a prominent public voice in debates over gender identity for years, openly advocating for the preservation of single-sex spaces for women and speaking out against what she describes as overreach from trans activism. The author, herself a survivor of domestic abuse, launched Edinburgh-based Beira’s Place in 2022, a facility that provides free advocacy and support services exclusively to women who have experienced sexual violence and abuse.

Last week, the controversial briefing document titled *A Growing Threat: The Anti-Rights Movement in the UK* was published to Amnesty UK’s website. According to international media reports, the briefing categorized dozens of organizations across the United Kingdom as either ‘gender critical’ or ‘anti-rights’—including Beira’s Place. The document was quickly removed from the platform after drawing public backlash.

Earlier this week, Amnesty UK issued a public statement acknowledging the misstep, saying it regretted the briefing had been uploaded to the organization’s website without completing the internal review processes designed to ensure content aligns with the group’s official positions, maintains accuracy, and retains policy consistency. ‘Its use of language does not reflect the position of Amnesty International UK which is why it was promptly removed,’ the statement read.

For leaders of Beira’s Place, the inclusion on the list remains a shocking and hurtful oversight. Lesley Johnston, chief executive of the center, called the labeling ‘inexplicable,’ adding that the designation was ‘deeply offensive’ to both frontline staff who work daily to support abuse survivors and the women who rely on the center’s services.

Rowling, who has repeatedly pushed back against accusations of transphobia by framing her position as a defense of women’s rights rather than an attack on trans people, has been a frequent target of activism from militant transgender rights supporters in recent years. Following the publication of the now-deleted briefing, concerns about the incident were formally filed with the Charity Commission, the UK’s independent charities regulator.

A representative for the Commission confirmed Thursday that the regulator is currently reviewing the concerns raised to determine what action, if any, it may take as the official oversight body for charity law in the UK. At this stage, no formal investigation has been opened into the matter.

A shocking case of concealed death and neglect has unfolded in Brisbane’s Supreme Court, where a 51-year-old man has been sentenced for the manslaughter of his stepfather, a beloved Yugoslavian migrant who built a new life in Australia. Tomislav Nemes, 69, a retired successful businessman who helped countless new arrivals settle in the country, was discovered mummified and decomposing in his Gold Coast bedroom in early 2023 – 14 months after he died in February 2022.

Court documents detail that for more than a year, Nemes’ stepson Nikola Golem lied to family members, telling relatives that the ailing Nemes was under medical care for a coma and gradually recovering. Prosecutors revealed that for months after Nemes’ death, his wife of nearly 30 years – Dragica Nemes, who was never charged – slept beside his remains, believing the overwhelming stench of decomposition was just toxin release from herbal treatments she and Nemes, both devout Jehovah’s Witnesses who rejected Western medicine, were using. As the odor grew impossible to ignore, Golem stuffed towels along the bedroom door frame to trap it inside the room, court was told.

When authorities finally entered the home, they found Nemes’ body in an advanced state of decay: his upper body had mummified to the point his face was unrecognizable, his lower half had decomposed into the mattress, his right hand bones were exposed, and the room was infested with insects and littered with animal droppings.

The tragedy traces back to 2021, when Nemes – who already lived with diabetes – suffered a serious fall that left him bedbound, reliant on Golem and his mother for daily care. Crown prosecutor Stephanie Gallagher told the court that while Nemes received basic food and pain relief, his severe untreated medical needs were ignored. He developed large, gaping bedsores that likely led to sepsis before his death. Though an exact cause of death could not be confirmed, Gallagher argued that Golem’s deliberate denial of medical care accelerated the death of the already vulnerable man. She added that Golem, who had seized Nemes’ phone months before his death over suspicions he was wasting family money on bad investments, chose to hide the death from his “mentally fragile” mother after Nemes passed.

Nemes was only located after persistent pressure from his two daughters from a previous marriage, Suzanna Beljanski and Elizabeth Marzano, who lived interstate and had not heard from their father in months. When their 2019 last contact stretched into silence, the sisters raised alarms. During a Gold Coast holiday, Beljanski demanded access to the home, but was turned away by Golem and Dragica Nemes. She spent days contacting police and hospitals begging for a welfare check, and finally convinced an officer to climb over the property fence to investigate, leading to the grim discovery.

In emotional statements to the court, the sisters described the lingering trauma of their father’s death. “There is no word in English or in my father’s own language about what it is to have your dad hidden in his bed for 14 months while you search for him,” Beljanski said. Marzano added that she is haunted by the details of his death: “When I think of my father today, the first image that comes to mind is no longer the wonderful life that he lived but the way he died.”

The sisters also painted a portrait of their father as a hardworking, generous man who arrived in Australia as a young migrant from the former Yugoslavia (now Croatia) with next to nothing, and built a successful business while making a point of supporting other new migrants. “Even today, decades later, people still approach our family and tell us their lives in Australia began because dad gave them a chance,” Marzano said. The court also heard that Nemes had raised Golem as his own son for nearly 30 years, helping him through his own lifelong health challenges.

Defense barrister Martin Longhurst explained that Golem suffers severe long-term cognitive impairments after being run over by a lawnmower as a young child. Golem, who uses a wheelchair and wears a padded skull cap after brain surgery to insert a shunt that also causes regular seizures, had no ill will toward Nemes, Longhurst argued. He told the court that Golem was only following Nemes’ own wishes to avoid Western medicine, and became trapped in a web of lies to calm his mother’s concerns, fearing he would face punishment if he revealed Nemes’ death. Longhurst conceded that Golem’s decision to hide the body for more than a year remains “markedly inexplicable” and deeply disturbing.

Justice Rebecca Treston, who called Golem’s actions – particularly the concealment of the body after death – “truly difficult to understand”, noted that the helpless Nemes “was quite simply left to rot.” She sentenced Golem to nine years in prison, with eligibility for parole on August 21, 2026, giving Golem credit for the almost three years he has already spent in pre-sentence custody.

A high-profile Australian businessman facing rape and sexual assault charges has had his alleged controversial response to his former personal assistant’s accusation aired publicly during his ongoing trial at the County Court. The defendant, whose identity remains protected by a court-ordered suppression order, has entered a plea of not guilty to two counts of rape and one count of sexual assault, stemming from an alleged incident in 2023.

Prosecutors have laid out their case against the accused, arguing that the businessman, who is decades older than his accuser, assaulted the woman after the pair met to discuss her potential return to work for him. The meeting followed a prior period of employment during which prosecutors say the woman repeatedly rejected his romantic and sexual advances. Before the alleged assault, the two had spent an evening drinking, watching an Australian Football League match at a friend’s home, and using cocaine, according to prosecution claims.

Following the alleged attack, the woman confronted the defendant, calling him a rapist and punching him in the face. In that confrontation, the businessman is claimed by prosecutors to have responded, “it’s not rape, I was using my fingers,” while also complaining that the punch had broken his nose.

The trial resumed in open court on Friday after multiple days of closed hearings held to allow the alleged victim to give her evidence in private. Law enforcement officers took the stand to recount their response to the initial report of the incident, which came in the early hours of the morning when the woman’s mother contacted police after receiving distressing text messages from her daughter.

Detective Senior Constable James Redman told the jury he first contacted the woman at 2:51 a.m., at which point she declined to share details of what had happened, only confirming she was hiding safely in a spare bedroom at the property. Roughly an hour later, the woman called back to change her mind, and Redman attended the home with two other officers. Redman told the court the accused did not appear to be impaired by alcohol or drugs at the time of their arrival, describing him as a “very charming, charismatic man.” The defendant also told investigators he had previously employed the woman, that she had occasionally stayed overnight at his home in the past, and that he had repeatedly offered to call her a ride home on the night of the incident. Redman added that the defendant did not show any visible signs of injury consistent with the reported punch to the face.

Senior Constable Jordan Frizell, who spoke with the woman after officers arrived, testified that she appeared visibly intoxicated and impaired by substances when first interviewed.

Multiple witnesses also took the stand on Friday to lay out context for the encounter between the defendant and his accuser. A close friend of the accused and his wife told the court the pair had visited their home earlier that same evening to watch the AFL match, leaving around 10:30 p.m. The friend recalled that at one point during the game, the woman rested her left hand on the defendant’s thigh, and he made no move to respond to the gesture. He added that the woman appeared happy and relaxed for the entirety of the visit, and that the defendant had fallen asleep toward the end of the match before being woken up for the pair to leave.

A former friend of the alleged victim also gave evidence, telling the jury the two had a falling out while the woman was employed by the defendant. The former friend said the accuser had become extremely upset when she refused to facilitate an introduction between the defendant and her, sharing a text message from the woman that read, “F–k you, I’ve been so supportive and never asked for anything in return, this meant a lot to me.” Under cross-examination by the defense, the witness denied ever telling the accuser that she felt unsafe around the defendant, and also denied claims that she had regularly socialized and drunk alcohol with him.

In opening remarks to the jury, prosecutor Matthew Fisher explained that the woman first began working for the defendant several years before the alleged incident, and repeatedly turned down his sexual advances before ultimately leaving her role. Fisher told the court the woman had explicitly stated to the defendant, “I don’t want that to be the role I play in your life, I’m not sexually attracted to you. I don’t want to have sex with you, the sooner you understand this the better.”

According to Fisher, the defendant eventually extended a new work offer to the woman, telling her he “missed you not being around,” which prompted the meeting to discuss the role on the night of the incident. After returning from the friend’s home, Fisher said the defendant began kissing and touching the woman against her will, even after she pushed him away and told him she did not consent. Prosecutors claim the defendant continued his advances, telling the woman “you’re so sexy,” “I can’t stop,” and “I need your help to sleep, help me,” before raping her with his fingers and penis.

Around 30 minutes after the alleged assault, the woman approached the defendant to discuss moving past the incident, but fled and slammed a door shut when he reportedly began masturbating in front of her, Fisher added.

Defense barrister Dermot Dann KC, representing the accused, has refuted all prosecution claims, saying his client denies using cocaine and never made any unwanted sexual advances toward the woman. Dann told the jury the defendant was actually trying to convince the woman to return home on the night in question, and that she appeared determined to stay at his property. He also pointed to text messages the woman sent her mother that referenced “recompense” and “trying to resolve things,” and noted that the prosecution’s case relies entirely on accepting the accuser as a credible and truthful witness, a claim the defense disputes.

The trial before the County Court is ongoing.