Kidnapping

Turkish authorities have banned a protest vigil marking the forced disappearances of hundreds of people in the last decades.

A four-hour hostage standoff in central Paris ended with police moving in, arresting the armed suspect and freeing the people held in a ground-floor office, France's interior minister announced late Tuesday.

"All the hostages are safe and sound," Gerard Collomb said in a brief statement. At least two people had been held.

A man named Michael Hunt is arrested after having attempted an "armed kidnapping" of Lana Del Ray after her concert in Orlando on Feb. 2.

The news was reported by the law enforcement authorities on Twitter, writes Monitor.

A Turkish national and former tour guide identified as Umut. S. has filed a lawsuit over child kidnapping after his wife Jessica Marie S., who is a U.S. citizen, abandoned their Istanbul residence to fly back to the U.S., taking the couple’s twin children with her, daily Habertürk reported on Dec. 21.

Citizens' Protection Minister Nikos Toskas on Wednesday congratulated the Hellenic Police for "one of its biggest coups ever" following the rescue on Monday of a Cretan businessman who had been abducted while driving home outside the town of Iraklio on March 30.

The attic in which Cretan businessman Michalis Lempidakis was being held for the past six months had been transformed into a prison cell. Lempidakis, who was shackled with chains, was living the small attic, sleeping on a mattress while the confined area was sunless, as there were no windows. The photos show an old loom, a chair where one of the gang would sit and guard him.

A 54-year-old businessman who was abducted six months ago told investigators after he was rescued on Monday that he had been moved to at least five different hideouts during his incarceration.

More information about the actual police operation are being released continuously.

About three months ago, security officers had tracked down some of the perpetrators of the kidnapping of businessman Michalis Lempidakis in Crete, but they did not make any move until they were sure it was safe for the victim’s life.

The Hellenic Police Special Forces (EKAM) managed to free businessman Michalis Lempidakis after he remained hostage for ransom for six months!

According to the first information, the police raided a used car business near the Zurida bridge in Rethymnon, Crete where they identified the businessman tied up.

Germany's foreign ministry has warned its citizens travelling to Turkey that they risk arbitrary detention even in tourist areas, revising its travel advice after a spate of detentions of German citizens that it considers politically motivated.