Posts Tagged ‘corruption’
January 31st, 2012
A
Cuban journalist is facing more than
ten years in prison for alleged corruption offences. José Antonio Torres, a correspondent for Granma, the party newspaper, in Santiago de Cuba, was detained on 11 March, 2011 after writing two articles criticising a major government infrastructure project. In the articles, Torres said experts undertaking the rebuilding of a key aqueduct intended to supply water to the city’s inhabitants, had claimed that “ineptitude” and “poor workmanship” had caused parts of the aqueduct wall’s veneer to fall off. The journalist also wrote that the project should have been “better planned.” Torres was
initially charged with being an “agent of the CIA” and leaking confidential information abroad.
January 4th, 2012
Vietnamese journalist Nguyen Van Khuong was
arrested this week on suspicion of bribery after he ran an expose on corruption among traffic police in his newspaper, Tuoi Tre. The reporter is said to have paid a bribe of 15 million dong (458 GBP) to a police officer to secure the release of an impounded vehicle. The officer in question was arrested after Khuong’s story was published, and Khuong was suspended by the paper on 3 December. Tuoi Tre
quoted him as saying he had made an error in gathering evidence for a series of stories about police corruption, but he did not say he had provided the bribe.
October 17th, 2011
The car of a popular
Bulgarian journalist was
blown up on Thursday, after a makeshift bomb was attached to the vehicle. Sasho Dikov, programme director of the Channel 3 TV station, was not injured by the blast outside his home in a residential area of Sofia. The journalist, who has been a fierce critic of the center-right government said the attack was to intimidate him, and “anyone who speaks the truth.” Dikov said the attack would not stop him from discussing the alleged failure by Prime Minister Boiko Borisov’s government’s to cope with corruption and organised crime.
October 12th, 2011
An
Angolan journalist is facing a year
in prison for libel. William Tonet, editor of the newspaper
Folha 8, was accused of libel after he published allegations of corruption among the country’s military elite. Tonet accused three generals of the Angolan Armed Forces of self-enrichment and power abuse in a 2008 news article. In a court ruling on Monday, the journalist was given five days to pay 10 million kwanzas (€77,000)
in damages, or face a year in prison. The journalist’s lawyer, David Mendes, said the government of Angolan President, Jose dos Santos wants to imprison William Tonet.
September 12th, 2011
Italian journalists face in serious difficulties investigating organised crime and links with business. Cecilia Anesi reports from a conference highlighting the issue
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July 18th, 2011
Two cars belonging to
Vijesti, one of
Montenegro‘s most popular independent daily newspapers, were torched last Thursday. The cars were parked opposite the headquarters of the Montenegrin Intelligence Agency when the attack took place. One
eyewitness reported seeing a young man pour petrol on the cars and throw a spark towards them but police have yet to make an arrest. Vijesti is one of the two biggest Montenegrin newspapers and reports regularly on corruption and government malpractice.
July 11th, 2011
Police in
Malaysia made 1600 arrests at the weekend, as protesters ignored government warnings to cancel
anti-government action. Leaders of the opposition coalition, Bersih, who have led the campaign for a “free and fair” election system, were amongst the thousands detained. An estimated 10, 000 police officers used tear gas and batons against the 50, 000 people who took to the streets of Kuala Lumpar. Crowds chanting, “Reformasi!” (“Reforms”), ‘”God is great” and “Long Live the People” were successfully prevented from gaining access to the to the king’s palace to hand over a memorandum detailing their demands.
July 7th, 2011
As journalists are jailed and fined for reporting on the rape of a human rights campaigner, Abdelgadir Mohammed Abdelgadir reports on press freedom in Sudan
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