:15:19. > :15:25.judge in Ohio has sentenced aerial Castro to life in prison for holding
:15:25. > :15:35.three women captive -- aerial Castro. -- Ariel Castro. He
:15:35. > :15:40.
:15:40. > :15:45.addressed the court shortly before he was sentenced. I am a person,
:15:45. > :15:50.just sick, I have an addiction, just like an alcoholic has an addiction.
:15:50. > :16:00.Alcoholics are not in control of their addiction, I couldn't control
:16:00. > :16:08.
:16:08. > :16:18.mind. I would like to apologise to the victims. I am truly sorry for
:16:18. > :16:22.
:16:22. > :16:29.what happened. I am trying to answer my own questions. I don't know why.
:16:29. > :16:39.I had everything going on for myself. I had a job and a home, my
:16:39. > :16:47.musical talent, I had everything going on for me, your honour. I had
:16:47. > :16:54.a good history with working, providing. I can -- I hope they can
:16:54. > :16:59.just find it in their hearts to forgive me.
:16:59. > :17:08.Let's go to our correspondent who joins us from Cleveland. He avoided
:17:08. > :17:11.the death penalty in a plea bargain. We also heard from the
:17:11. > :17:18.victims themselves which painted a very different picture from the
:17:18. > :17:25.statement he read out. The judge in this case has just
:17:25. > :17:30.wrapped up his long sentencing, he said you still pose a grave danger
:17:30. > :17:34.to the community, you don't deserve to be out in our community, you are
:17:34. > :17:38.too dangerous, those his remarks to Ariel Castro. He has been sentenced
:17:38. > :17:46.to life in prison, without the possibility of parole, after
:17:46. > :17:53.pleading guilty to 937 charges. Those include kidnap, sexual assault
:17:53. > :17:59.and torture. We will not be seeing very much of him after this. He had
:17:59. > :18:03.given a rambling statement earlier on in which he blamed everybody else
:18:03. > :18:09.for his travails, it seems, including his ex-wife, the pressures
:18:09. > :18:13.of his job and so on. He said I am not a monster, I am just sick and he
:18:13. > :18:20.likened his situation to a love of pornography, and said it was a bit
:18:20. > :18:27.like an alcoholic seeking drink. I don't know how that will go down.
:18:27. > :18:31.Clearly deluded statement he gave and one point he actually turned to
:18:31. > :18:39.address the shell night he was in the court just behind him --
:18:39. > :18:45.Michelle might. She refused to return his gaze -- Michelle Knight.
:18:45. > :18:49.He was quite clearly deluded man and his assertion towards the end of his
:18:49. > :18:53.remarks that a lot of the sex that took case in his house was
:18:53. > :19:00.consensual, apart from the fact it is out and is, that will be seen as
:19:00. > :19:05.evidence he was deeply deluded. But not psychiatrically ill, because
:19:05. > :19:12.that was made clear in the middle of this trial. What have the victims
:19:12. > :19:16.themselves, what sort of lives are they able to rebuild now?
:19:16. > :19:24.There was an FBI agent who gave evidence and said they had managed
:19:24. > :19:27.to rebuild their lives to a large extent, these three women. They are
:19:27. > :19:33.clearly quite exceptional individuals. We also heard from a
:19:33. > :19:42.doctor who made a similar claim will stop he said they would -- they had
:19:42. > :19:45.in heroic in the way they had dealt with the serpents fancies and the --
:19:45. > :19:49.circumstances, and the mental progress they have made since the
:19:49. > :19:53.release, who thought was quite remarkable. A lot of people have
:19:53. > :20:00.been making the point that this is something that these three women
:20:00. > :20:09.will have to live with for the rest of their lives.
:20:09. > :20:12.You are watching BBC News. Our headlines, we start with the
:20:12. > :20:16.fugitive American whistle-blower, Edward Snowden, who has been granted
:20:16. > :20:20.temporary asylum in Russia. The White House is disappointed. Lloyds
:20:21. > :20:25.Banking Group which is part owned either taxpayer is back in the black
:20:25. > :20:31.for the first time in three years. Ariel Castro who kidnapped three men
:20:31. > :20:34.and -- three women and subjected them to a decade of sexual and
:20:34. > :20:44.physical abuse has been sentenced to life in prison without trial --
:20:44. > :21:01.
:21:01. > :21:08.parole. from Italy. It is regarding Silvio
:21:08. > :21:11.Berlusconi. The top court, five judges have been looking at the case
:21:11. > :21:16.in terms of fraud and tax fraud will stop they have confirmed
:21:16. > :21:22.Berlusconi's tax fraud conviction stands, and ordered a review of a
:21:22. > :21:27.political ban. This is a case which Blake -- dates back several years.
:21:27. > :21:32.There have been two days of argument, but crucially this
:21:32. > :21:35.threatens the fragile coalition government that is now in place in
:21:35. > :21:40.Italy. Berlusconi has no official role in the government but he is
:21:41. > :21:45.influential. 76-year-old Silvio Berlusconi and three others were
:21:45. > :21:50.convicted in October last year of tax fraud. This is all to do with
:21:50. > :21:54.buying television rights of the network owned by Silvio Berlusconi.
:21:54. > :21:58.He was then sentenced to four years in prison with a five-year ban on
:21:58. > :22:03.public office which was confirmed in another appeal earlier this year. In
:22:03. > :22:07.the last few weeks it is highest court of five judges have confirmed
:22:07. > :22:15.that conviction and ordered a review of the ban on his political career.
:22:15. > :22:20.More on that as soon as we can. Let's turn to events in Zimbabwe
:22:20. > :22:25.because President Robert the garden with -- Robert Gabi Grob party says
:22:25. > :22:35.it has on an emphatic victory in the election on Wednesday if no official
:22:35. > :22:36.
:22:36. > :22:41.results have yet to be released. His main ramble -- rival said
:22:41. > :22:46.intimidation and ballot rigging were right. He called the election farce
:22:46. > :22:51.and the result null and. Let's speak to a Zimbabwean who lives in
:22:51. > :23:01.London. During 2008 she supported her mother who was standing as an
:23:01. > :23:08.independent candidate in the upper house. Are we entering a dangerous
:23:08. > :23:13.time when you look back to what happened in 2008? Violence followed
:23:13. > :23:17.the election result. It seems to have been largely
:23:17. > :23:23.peaceful so far, although there are these allegations of rigging. But I
:23:23. > :23:30.think they have been peaceful and was the same as 2008, until there
:23:30. > :23:34.was this one off until we have the act shall fact -- run-off will stop
:23:34. > :23:43.-- run-off until we had at shall fact it is.
:23:43. > :23:49.It seems in certain strongholds of the rival they have lost to
:23:49. > :23:56.Mugabe's party. You acknowledge there is significant support for
:23:56. > :24:02.Robert Mugabe. There has been a lot of change that
:24:02. > :24:07.has happened in 2008. 2006, 2007, hyperinflation, a political
:24:07. > :24:11.environment that was polarised, it landed up in this terrible situation
:24:11. > :24:16.of cholera in which hundreds of people died, and the last few years
:24:16. > :24:26.have seen the thing possibility -- seen something of stability due to
:24:26. > :24:29.work on the economy and much must -- stability. There have been slow
:24:30. > :24:37.changes, academic reports showing the land redistribution has been
:24:37. > :24:41.positive, and there has been a Dilshan -- disillusionment of
:24:41. > :24:47.constituents and politicians in general so it is a muddy water.
:24:47. > :24:55.The international election observers have been chosen from quite
:24:55. > :25:02.polarised countries, no Britain or America, but the South Africans,
:25:02. > :25:05.they will be giving the verdict on the legality and transparency of
:25:05. > :25:15.these elections tomorrow. How significant will that be bearing in
:25:15. > :25:16.
:25:16. > :25:22.mind South Africa brokered that unity government five years ago?
:25:22. > :25:28.I had understood the elections were free, and my sense is that South
:25:28. > :25:33.Africa will say the same. Environment in 2008 in the run-off
:25:33. > :25:36.where there was widespread intimidation at in the countryside
:25:36. > :25:41.and people were locked in the houses, under a curfew state, that
:25:41. > :25:48.was not a free or fair time. You were arrested then. Did you fear
:25:48. > :25:53.for your security and safety but what happened to your mother was to
:25:53. > :25:57.mark that was for something very minor, there are lots of rules, you
:25:57. > :26:01.are not allowed a camera in a polling station, be out without your
:26:01. > :26:06.IDE, so I was arrested on very rocky errors.
:26:06. > :26:10.Many people will have suffered that situation, but that was not harsh or
:26:10. > :26:16.extreme in that during the run-off there were 250 people who were
:26:16. > :26:21.actually killed. It wasn't as extreme as that, and that ever it is
:26:21. > :26:24.not present right now. We have seen how we can slip towards violence and
:26:24. > :26:30.is a choice being made to be more peaceful.
:26:30. > :26:40.What should the West do if other African countries say these results
:26:40. > :26:40.
:26:41. > :26:44.stand, if Morgan Shand I, should more punishments be meted out for is
:26:44. > :26:47.about way? Obviously the allegations have to be
:26:47. > :26:54.investigated properly. In terms of similar people seem to
:26:54. > :27:00.be saying there are question marks over this, what should the West do
:27:00. > :27:07.if that is the final conclusion? Do I think sanctions are a helpful
:27:07. > :27:09.solution to the problem? I would say no. The situation, how it affects
:27:09. > :27:14.individual people, the hyperinflation was largely due to
:27:14. > :27:21.some criminal and corrupt elements in government but also due to the
:27:22. > :27:29.fact that as a country that hasn't been running with any credit, and I
:27:29. > :27:38.suppose we want to encourage a situation where people don't revolt,