Elisa Plance

Former RIT Dubai President Removed as Lybian Prime Minister

Less than one month after entering office as Libya’s prime minister, Mustafa Abushagur was removed from power on Sunday, October 7. The former RIT professor was expelled from his position after the Libyan General National Congress (GNC) rejected the two Cabinet proposals he had submitted. Abushagur had 25 days from his September 12 election to put forth an acceptable Cabinet. As the deadline passed, the Congress held a vote of no confidence, according to the Democrat and Chronicle. The vote was 125 to 44 in favor of removal, with 17 abstentions.

Speaking on a short broadcast on Libya al-Wataniya TV, Abushagur did not contest his removal, but warned that an alternate prime minister should be found quickly, and instability was likely if he was not replaced soon, according to the D&C. The country will be run by the GNC until a new Prime Minister is approved.

Abushagur served as an RIT professor between 2002 and 2008, and taught a variety of different engineering courses. He became the president of RIT Dubai when it opened in 2008.

Massacre at Nigerian College Campus

An estimated 25 people were killed, and 15 left injured, in the aftermath of a group attack on the dormitories of Federal Polytechnic college in Mubi, Nigeria late Monday, October 1. During the incident, which ended early Tuesday, attackers identified victims by name before shooting or stabbing them.

Student elections occurred prior to the massacre and purportedly contributed to religious and ethnic tensions between rival groups. According to the New York Times, Nigerian college fraternities sometimes use gang violence in an attempt to control campus politics. Al Jazeera reports that the attackers’ choice of victims and identification of them led emergency responders to believe that this attack was likely a response to election results.

As a result of the killings, exams have been postponed, and the institute has been closed until further notice.

Rochester Officers Under Investigation

Officers Ryan Hartley and Rob Osipovitch of the Rochester Police Department have been officially withdrawn from road patrol duties and assigned elsewhere until further notice, after the officers allegedly lied about gathering evidence in two separate drug investigations. In a Thursday, September 27 Democrat and Chronicle article, Police Chief James Sheppard stated that “a thorough and impartial review of the investigation, arrest and subsequent prosecution” will determine their consequences. Their department is currently under review for inconsistencies in testimonies regarding the gathering of evidence in drug investigations.

According to the D&C, Hartley’s case deals with an undocumented visit to the home of Christopher Charles McNair back in March, on the grounds of suspected possession of illegal substances. According to McNair’s lawyer, the search was unwarranted and unrecorded in police paperwork. In another unrelated case, Osipovitch and Hartley were charged with an improper stop, search and seizure of illegal substances from a defendant’s car.

Both of the investigations in question led to charges being filed against the defendants, but the charges were subsequently dismissed in both cases. Officer Sheppard has stated an intention to maintain an open investigation, with information made available to the public.