"Fiat Justitia Ruat Caelum"

Israeli court convicts ex-PM Olmert in bribery case

(Reuters) - An Israeli court convicted former prime minister Ehud Olmert of bribery on Monday over his ties to a real-estate deal while in his previous post of Jerusalem mayor, likely ending any prospect of a political comeback.

Olmert, a centrist credited internationally with working towards a peace settlement with the Palestinians, had denied wrongdoing in the Holyland apartment complex deal, as well as other corruption allegations that forced his resignation as premier in 2008.

Olmert, 68, who could face up to 10 years in prison when sentencing is handed down at a later date, will appeal the verdict, his spokesman Jacob Galanti said.

In 2012, Olmert was acquitted of major charges in separate cases involving his links to a U.S. businessman while he was Jerusalem mayor and an Israeli cabinet minister.

Prosecutors alleged he accepted more than $228,000 from developers of the Holyland project.

Handing down the conviction on Monday, Judge David Rozen told Tel Aviv District Court the case "exposed governance that grew more corrupt and rotten over the years", with bribes paid to public officials.

In recent months, Olmert has been critical of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's policies toward the Palestinians and confronting Iran's nuclear program, fuelling speculation he intended to return to politics.

A lawyer by profession, Olmert began his political career in the 1970s as a legislator who targeted organized crime in Israel.

He served as mayor of Jerusalem from 1993 to 2003 and as prime minister from 2006 to 2009, staying in office in a caretaker capacity until after a general election that brought right-winger Netanyahu to power.

As prime minister, Olmert waged war against militants in Lebanon in 2006 and the Gaza Strip in 2008.

He said he had achieved significant progress in talks with the Palestinians aimed at securing a final peace deal, offering an Israeli withdrawal from much of the occupied West Bank. But no agreement was reached.

Current U.S.-brokered peace talks between the Netanyahu government and the Palestinians have faltered, with Washington struggling to keep negotiations going beyond an original April 29 target date for a deal.

Olmert was among 13 defendants in the Holyland case, which revolved around the construction of a hulking, hilltop housing project widely regarded as Jerusalem's worst eyesore.

One of the accused, Shula Zaken, was Olmert's former long-time aide who last week offered to turn state's witness against him.

(Writing by Dan Williams, Editing by Jeffrey Heller, John Stonestreet)

Philippines files case to UN in South China Sea dispute

The Philippines has submitted evidence to a UN tribunal hearing its case against China's territorial claims in the South China Sea.

Both sides have overlapping claims in the sea, leading to severe tensions.

China has refused to take part in the arbitration and warned that the case will damage bilateral ties.

The latest move comes a day after a Philippine ship evaded Chinese vessels to bring supplies to troops stationed on a disputed shoal.

China claims a U-shaped swathe of the South China Sea - creating multiple overlaps with areas claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan.

The Philippines says that China's claims are illegal under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

In January, the Philippines asked the UN's Permanent Court of Arbitration to consider its case. It is thought that the court may not reach a decision before the end of 2015.

'Damage to relations'

Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said that more than 40 maps and "nearly 4,000 pages" of evidence had been submitted to the tribunal.

"It is about defending what is legitimately ours... it is about guaranteeing freedom of navigation for all nations," he said, adding that it would help "preserve regional peace, security and stability".

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said last week that China would not accept the arbitration, and that the Philippines should "stop going any further down the wrong track so as to avoid further damage to bilateral relations".

China was "committed to managing and resolving relevant issues... through dialogue and consultation," he added.

On Saturday, a Philippine government ship slipped past Chinese coast guard vessels to reach the disputed Second Thomas Shoal, known as Ayungin in Manila and Ren'ai Reef in Beijing.

Philippine troops are stationed on a beached, rusting military ship that analysts say has become a symbol of the country marking its territory.

On 9 March, China prevented two Philippine vessels from reaching the shoal. Philippine officials said the ships carried supplies for the troops on the shoal, but China said the ships carried construction supplies.

Following the incident, Philippine planes air dropped supplies onto the shoal.

BBC News:

Pakistan court indicts Musharraf for treason

A court in Pakistan has indicted former military ruler Pervez Musharraf on treason charges relating to his imposition of emergency rule in 2007. Musharraf has pleaded not guilty.
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The charges against Musharraf include suspending the constitution, declaring a state of emergency and purging the judiciary. Musharraf, who ruled Pakistan between 1999 and 2008, pleaded not guilty to each of the five charges as they were read out.

The case is the first time in Pakistan that any acting or former army chief has been charged with treason; it is considered a blow to the country's powerful military.

Musharraf had been absent from most of the special court's tribunal hearings in recent months due to security threats and ill health. His lawyer, Ahmed Raza Kasuri, said the three-member tribunal had ordered Musharraf's arrest if he did not appear at Monday's hearing.

Musharraf and his lawyers claim that the charges are politically motivated, coming after the re-election of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who Musharraf deposed upon seizing power.

The ex-president declared a state of emergency in November 2007, before an expected ruling by the Supreme Court on the legality of his re-election a month earlier as president, while he was also the army chief. Musharraf then arrested and fired Pakistan's top judges, including the chief justice, who challenged the decision.

Musharraf is best-known in the West for leading Pakistan into its uneasy alliance with the US in the "war on terror." The Taliban have repeatedly threatened to kill him.

After he returned from self-imposed exile in March 2013 to run in the general election last May, Masharraf has faced a range of charges, including charges relating to the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in late 2007.

jr/msh (AP, AFP, dpa) DW

Mediation authority transfers Shoprite case to labour court

The Commission for Mediation and Arbitration (CMA) on Wednesday transferred a case involving workers of the Shoprite-Checkers Ltd and the management to the court of labor after the two parties failed to agree amicably.

Over 100 Shoprite workers at the supermarket’s branches in Kariakoo and Mlimani city areas in Dar es Salaam last week boycotted their work in a move to pressurize the management to pay them their benefits as well as determine their future, whether the new enterprise would absorb them.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with The Guardian Sunday in Dar es Salaam, the deputy director for the CMA Shanes Nungu said the commission issued a certificate No. 5 as per section 98(2) of the mediation and arbitration Act to allow the two parties to move forward to settle their disputes.

He said this was after the CMA failed to settle the matter which has been handled by them over a month ago without reaching a consensus with workers demanding terminal benefits of more than Sh700 million. 

“Once two parties have failed to agree amicably within 30 days, CMA has the right to transfer the matter to the court of labour for hearing whereby evidence has to be tendered prior for judgment,” he noted.

Elaborating on the certificate No. 5 which the CMA has issued, he said it entails a summary report of the nature of dispute which in the case of Shoprite workers and their management is under ‘termination and operation requirement’.

Workers of the Shoprite-Checkers Ltd had launched a claim to CMA over a month ago accusing their management for failure to settle down their basic payments of arrears upon hearing that the two supermarkets in Dar es Salaam had been sold to a Kenya-based Nakumatt company.

As three days remain before Nakumatt takes over the supermarket, confusion has reigned as hundreds of its employees at Kamata and Mlimani City in Dar es Salaam are kept in the dark about the payment of their terminal benefits.

Efforts by this reporter to reach the General Manager for Shoprite-Checkers Ltd Tanzania Branch Johann Koegelenberg for clarification proved futile. But two weeks ago, he said his company was finalising the process of privatisation with Nakumatt. 

According to workers’ spokesman Bahati Kalolo, they are demanding the benefits which  include a house rent assistance of Sh500,000, transport costs of personal effects to the place of domicile of Sh2 million to each worker.

Others are a golden handshake. equivalent to three months of the basic salary for each year of service since 2001 and a notice of terminating the contract of employment covering two months’ salaries for each employee.

Other miscellaneous payments of arrears include salary increase, payments for treatments, leave allowances which according to them have been accumulated to the tune of over 500 million since 2008.

Investigations by The Guardian on Sunday has it that workers are worried about how it would be with their new contracts once it gets expired from the former employer who does not want to settle down their accumulated payments, and yet Nakumatt Ltd which bought the company’s shares had to start its operations on Tuesday next week. 

Kenya’s largest retail chain Nakumatt has acquired three stores belonging to South Africa’s Shoprite in Tanzania in a multi-billion-shilling deal which has to be completed by end of this month. 

The acquisition gives Nakumatt a bigger presence in Tanzania where it debuted in December 2011 with the 34,000-square feet Nakumatt Moshi outlet.

The deal involves the takeover of three Shoprite outlets  one in Arusha and two in Dar es Salam  and is valued at Sh4 billion.

Shoprite opened its first shop in Tanzania in 2001 and its exit comes a few months after the Tanzanian government warned it against rampant importation of products from South Africa.

SOURCE: GUARDIAN ON SUNDAY

Kenyan national in court over 6.8 billion/- TCRA loss

BY KARAMA KENYUNKO

27th March 2014

Kenyan national Nelson Onyango (43) yesterday appeared at the Kisutu Resident Magistrate Court in Dar es Salaam charged with seven counts including fraudulent use of communication network, causing a loss of more than 6.8bn/- to Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority (TCRA).

The prosecution side was led by Principal State Attorney Tumaini Kweka, accompanied by TCRA Senior Legal Officer Jonnes Karungura, State Attorney Mwanaamina Kombakono, and Inspector of Police Jackson Chinunda.

Reading the charges State Attorney Kweka alleged that the accused committed the offence contrary to section 122 (a) and (b), of the Electronic and Postal Communication Act of 2010  and its  Regulation 7 (1), (2), (a) and (b).

Before Resident Magistrate Devotha Kisoka it was alleged that on diverse dates between July 2010 and November 2013 at Kariakoo the accused unlawfully and with intention to avoid payments, transmitted international telecommunications traffic without a gateway license from TCRA. 

Kweka also alleged that on the same date and place the accused unlawfully operated international gateway telecommunications traffic without a licence.

He further claimed that between January and November last year at Kariakoo the accused used unregistered SIM cards with different numbers. 

Kweka claimed that on unknown date, the accused also imported communication equipment including SIM boxes without having a licence issued by TCRA.

On the fifth and sixth counts the accused is accused of installing, maintaining and using electronic communication equipments of four SIM boxes with different serial numbers and several HPs without having a licence issued by TCRA.

It was further alleged that between July 2010 and November 2013 the accused being unlicenced operator terminated getaway International Telecommunication Traffic by using unlicensed gateway thus causing pecuniary loss of 6,842,880,000/- to TCRA.

The accused pleaded not guilty and was remanded for failure to meet bail conditions which required the accused to deposit 3.4bn/- in court and have three sureties, one from a government institution, another one accepted by the court while the third surety was to sign a bond of 50m/-.

Kweka informed the court that investigation of the case has not been completed. The case was adjourned to April 8, this year for another mention.

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

Sulaiman Abu Ghaith: Bin Laden's son-in-law convicted

Osama Bin Laden's son-in-law Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, who was an al-Qaeda spokesman after 9/11, has been convicted of terrorism-related charges at a trial in New York.

He could face life in prison when he is sentenced in September for conspiracy to kill Americans and aiding al-Qaeda.

The Kuwaiti clergyman was captured in Jordan last year and brought to the US.

He is the highest-ranking al-Qaeda figure to face trial on US soil since the attacks.

The jury returned a guilty verdict on three charges: conspiracy to kill Americans, conspiring to provide support to al-Qaeda, and providing support to al-Qaeda. The verdict came after about five hours of deliberation.

Videos showing Abu Ghaith threatening America with no end to the "storm of airplanes'' were shown to jurors, but he argued his role was a purely religious one, aimed at encouraging all Muslims to rise up against their oppressors.

He testified that Bin Laden had asked him to be al-Qaeda's spokesman on the night of the 9/11 attacks.

On Monday, during closing arguments, Assistant US Attorney John Cronan highlighted what he said was the importance of Abu Ghaith's post-9/11 status.

"Going to that man was the very first thing Osama Bin Laden did on September 11 after the terror attacks," he said. "The defendant committed himself to al-Qaeda's conspiracy to kill Americans, and he worked to drive other people to that conspiracy."

Denying he was an al-Qaeda recruiter, Abu Ghaith insisted he had agreed to meet with Bin Laden in a cave on the night of September 11 out of respect for Bin Laden's standing as a sheikh.

One witness at the trial was a British man who was supposed to join Richard Reid in the attempted shoe-bomb airline attack of December 2001. The man left the plot after his parents warned him against involvement in terrorism.

He did not know Abu Ghaith, but prosecutors introduced evidence to show Abu Ghaith knew of such detailed plans for more air attacks on the US, as he promised in his videos.

Abu Ghaith's defence lawyers argued there was "zero evidence" that the 48-year-old former teacher knew about any conspiracies and that the prosecution case was based purely on "ugly words and bad associations."

In a surprise move, the cleric took the witness stand in his own defence, denying he helped plot al-Qaeda attacks and claiming he never became a formal member of the group.

Abu Ghaith, who is one of the highest-ranking al-Qaeda linked figures to face a civilian jury on terrorism-related charges, is married to Bin Laden's eldest daughter Fatima.

Bin Laden, a founder of al-Qaeda, was killed by US forces in May 2011 at his hideout in Pakistan.

As in several other terrorism trials held in American civilian courts, the jury remained anonymous.

BBC News:

UN: Egypt mass trial of 529 Morsi supporters illegal

[JURIST] The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) [official website] on Tuesday expressed acute concern after an Egyptian court on Monday sentenced [JURIST report] 529 supporters of deposed president Mohammed Morsi [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] to death for inciting violence and protest. The OHCHR reportedly takes issue with the court's failure [UN News Centre report] to offer more than perfunctory procedural protections, in violation of international law. The verdicts, which came after only two sessions, are subject to appeal. Experts suggest that the harshness of the rulings illustrates the lengths to which Egypt's courts have been politicized and due process has been ignored during a crackdown on Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood [JURIST news archive] supporters following the president's removal in a military coup last July. During the first of the two trial sessions in Minya, the judge rejected requests by defense lawyers for more time to review trial documents for the defendants, leading to furious arguments. Defense lawyers were barred by security forces from the second session on Monday when verdicts and sentences were read.

Political conflict in Egypt has been ongoing since the 2011 revolution [JURIST backgrounder] that ousted former president Hosni Mubarak from power. Much of that conflict has occurred recently between supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood and the former government of Morsi, and supporters of the new government in place since his ouster in July 2013, especially since the organization's formal ban [JURIST reports] in September. On March 18, an Egyptian court sentenced [JURIST report] four police officers for their role in the deaths of 37 Islamists. Opponents have criticized the light sentences handed down to the officers. A day earlier, an Egyptian prosecutor referred [JURIST report] Morsi's youngest son, Abdullah Morsi, to trial on allegations of drug use and possession. In February, the Cairo Criminal Court convicted [JURIST report] 26 people of forming a terrorist group with intent to attack the Suez Canal.


Moi Girls Eldoret principal charged with abuse of office

Moi Girls High School, Eldoret Principal Jane Jelagat Rotich has been charged with abuse of office.

Ms Rotich was charged alongside the school’s accountant, David Kiptanui Limo on Wednesday.

They appeared before Eldoret Law Courts Senior Principal Magistrate Samuel Mokua who read the charges filed by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC).

In the first count, Ms Rotich is accused of failing to comply with procurement laws.

It is alleged that on diverse dates between May and December, 2012 being the Accounting Officer of Moi Girls High School Eldoret, she failed to comply with the Public Procurement and Disposal Act 2005 in the procurement of the school bus registration number KBT 545N.

EACC further accused the principal and Mr Limo of abuse of the authority of their office by improperly issuing a Local Purchase Order of Sh10.5 million to Kenya Grange Vehicles Industries Limited for the purchase of the bus while no tender had been awarded to the said company.

In the Third Count, the court heard that Ms Rotich on October 11, 2012, paid Sh5 million to Kenya Grange Vehicles Industries Limited for the purchase of the school bus.

She faced another count of issuing Sh6.45m to the company on December 19, 2012.

Defence lawyer Kipnyekwei Javan said his clients have been cooperating with EACC since investigations tarted but they needed time to go through prosecution documents before the hearing starts.

“Investigations in this case have been ongoing since 2012 and the Accused have always fully complied with the authorities. We request for more time to be able to go through all the prosecution documents which are bulky to avoid a situation whereby we come into court without facts,” Kipnyekwei said.

Miss Oduor for EACC told the court that the anti-corruption agency had already recorded statements from 23 and there was sufficient evidence to support the case against the two accused.

The accused were released the two on Sh1 million bond each with a surety of the same amount.

Mokua said the hearing of the case will run concurrently between June 30, July 1 and July 2.

The two accused were arrested on March 25, 2014 but were released after paying Sh20,000 bond and were required to present themselves in court on Tuesday.

Daily Nation: 

Turkish court orders government agency to lift Twitter ban

[JURIST] An administrative court in Ankara, the capital of Turkey, issued a temporary injunction Wednesday ordering the country's telecommunication authority (TIB) [official website; in Turkish] to lift its ban on the use of the social media website Twitter [corporate website]. The ban on Twitter was imposed [JURIST report] last week under orders from Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] on the grounds that the social media site had failed to remove allegations of government corruption from the site. Materials that he wanted removed included leaked audio recordings [recordings, in Turkish] of a voice, resembling Erdogan's, instructng his son to dispose of large amounts of money during a police search. Turkey's Constitutional Court [official website], the nation's highest court, is expected [Al Jazeera report] to further investigate the ban.

Internet freedom remains a controversial issue around the world and has garnered attention over the past few years. Last month, Turkish President Abdullah Gul [official website], approved legislation that heightened Internet restrictions [JURIST report] by granting the country's telecommunications authority the ability to block websites or remove content without a court's approval. Last year a Canadian human rights group unveiled research [JURIST report] indicating that a number of nations are using American-made Internet surveillance technology which could be used to censor content and track their citizens. In 2012, the UN Human Rights Council passed its first-ever resolution to protect free Internet speech [JURIST report], which was approved by all 47 members of the council, including China and Cuba, which have been criticized for limiting Internet freedom.

Pakistani live animals ‘smuggler’ jumps bail

A PAKISTANI national who is charged with smuggling live wild animals worth $ 113,715 from the country, Mr Kamran Ahmed, is still at large and efforts to arrest him have proved futile.

Senior State Attorney, Ms Eveta Mushi, told Moshi Principal Resident Magistrate in charge, Mr Simon Kobelo, that they were still trying to apprehend the accused in fulfillment of an arrest warrant which was issued on Monday afternoon by the same court.

When Magistrate Kobelo was ready in his chambers to proceed with the matter it transpired that even Mr Kamran’s advocate, Mr Edmund Ngelema, was not present, although he had sent a message earlier that he would be in court. He did not turn up on Monday either.

The Pakistani, who is co-charged with Tanzanians Hawa Mang’unyuka, Martin Kimathi and Michael Disha with smuggling more than 100 animals through the Kilimanjaro International Airport (KIA) on November 26, 2010, was known to have skipped bail since Monday as he did not turn up when the case was up for hearing.

Ms Mushi, who is assisted by Senior State Attorney, Mr Joseph Maugo, said they were also in the process of getting documents filed by Mr Kamran’s sureties so that the law may take its course.

Magistrate Kobelo adjourned the matter to April 17 when it would come up for another, stressing that the warrant of arrest he had issued on Monday was still in force while bail conditions for other accused persons still applied.

The ‘Daily News’ could not establish the names and properties or amounts of money that was agreed upon by the sureties, because the case file was not in the courtroom.

It was later learnt later that the file was with the High Court which set the bail conditions for Kamran. The animals in question, including four giraffes, were exported to Qatar in a military plane without proper documents.

This is not the first time that Kamran has missed attending court, because on February 26 the case had to be adjourned after Counsel Ngalema told the court that his client was too ill to come to court.

Reports about Kamran falling ill came some hours after the 20th prosecution witness had testified how the live animals were loaded into a Qatar military plane without the necessary documents in the presence of the first accused person.

In criminal cases, the accused have to be present during the whole trial even if they are represented by a counsel. Kamran is facing another criminal case in Arusha in which he is charged with being in possession of fake United States dollars. He is also out on bail in the case.

Daily News:

Five Madoff associates found guilty for connections to Ponzi scheme

[JURIST] A federal jury in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York [official website] on Monday returned a guilty verdict for five former associates of Bernard Madoff [JURIST news archive] on charges they aided and profited from the Ponzi scheme that defrauded billions of dollars from investors. The former co-workers include: ex-director of operations Daniel Bonventre, former executive assistant Annette Bongiorno, ex-manager of company bank accounts JoAnn Crupi, and computer programmers Jerome O'Hara and George Perez. The five-month trial [Reuters report] was the first criminal trial resulting from the 2008 Madoff Ponzi scheme and the defendants will be sentenced in late July. The jury rejected the defendants' central argument that only Madoff was aware of the fraud and they found the co-workers knowingly [NYT report] aided in the financial conspiracy.

Legal action continues from the fallout of the 2008 Madoff Ponzi scheme. In January a federal judge approved a settlement [JURIST reports] between the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York [official website] and JPMorgan Chase over the bank's failure to report internal suspicions regarding Madoff's Ponzi scheme. In September 2013 a judge for the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York [official website] ruled [JURIST report] that victims can only recover the principal amount invested without accounting for inflation over the past five years and excluding interest. Last April a judge for the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit [official website] rejected a suit [JURIST report] by victims against the US Securities and Exchange Commission [official website].

Barbados to scrap mandatory death sentence for murder

The government of Barbados has announced plans to abolish its mandatory death sentence for murder.

Attorney-General Adriel Brathwaite said he expected strong opposition to the plan, as many on the Caribbean island believe the death penalty is an appropriate punishment.

Barbados has not executed anyone since 1984, despite the legislation.

Amnesty International and other human rights groups say the provision is too harsh and breaches international law.

Mr Brathwaite has said the government will engage the population in a big public debate before the proposal is tabled in parliament.

"Barbadians generally feel that once you commit murder you should forfeit your lives, but that is until one of their family members is involved," said Mr Brathwaite.

"I know it will be a battle but .... I believe that it is a better path for the country," he added.

Most English-speaking countries in the Caribbean allow capital punishment, but legal executions are rare in the region.

The last execution was carried out in Saint Kitts and Nevis in 2008. The previous case was in the Bahamas in 2000.

French, Dutch and British dependencies in the Caribbean have banned capital punishment.

BBC News:

Germany’s top court curbs political influence on public broadcaster ZDF

The German Constitutional Court has ruled that the two boards of public broadcaster ZDF have to reduce their share of politicians and other people connected to the state. The court has also demanded more transparency.
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German public broadcaster ZDF has been ordered to reduce to one-third the number of directors involved in politics or state institutions in its two supervisory boards by the end of June 2015, Germany's highest court, the Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe ruled on Tuesday.

The judges emphasized the "dictate of being independent of the state" for all broadcasters and their supervisory boards.

The court's vice president, Ferdinand Kirchhof, cited Germany's Basic law, which guarantees freedom of the press and media. He said public broadcasters must not become "organs of the state." Instead they should aim to "mirror" society in a "varied" way.

At present, nearly half of the members of ZDF's board of directors as well as of the administrative council are politicians, largely from the two largest parties, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Social Democratic Union (SPD).

The court also called for a "minimum degree of transparency" with regards to the boards' activities.

The state of Rhineland-Palatinate and the city-state of Hamburg had launched a lawsuit after the administrative council, which was dominated by Christian Democrats at the time, decided not to renew the contract of ZDF's former editor-in-chief, Nikolaus Brender - against the wishes of ZDF's director general at the time, Markus Schächter.

Critics have also pointed out that decisions were often made not in scheduled meetings of the two boards, but, beforehand, in informal gatherings by the two main parties known as “circles of friends.”

ng/kms (KNA, epd, dpa, Reuters) DW

Ex-Madoff employees found guilty of conspiracy

Five former employees of disgraced Wall Street financier Bernard Madoff have been found guilty of conspiring to help him carry out his Ponzi scheme.

The verdict was announced by a US federal jury in New York after a trial that lasted nearly six months.

The employees are Daniel Bonventre, Annette Bongiorno, Joann Crupi, Jerome O'Hara and George Perez.

Mr Madoff was convicted in 2009 and sentenced to 150 years in prison for running a $65bn (£40bn) fraud scheme.

Some experts estimate that investors lost about $20bn.

"As the jury unanimously found, these five defendants played crucial roles in constructing and maintaining the house of cards that was the Madoff investment fraud," US Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement.

He added that the convictions demonstrate that "this largest-ever Ponzi scheme could not have been the work of one person".

'Important role'

According to various reports, Ms Bongiorno was Mr Madoff's long-time secretary, while Mr Bonventre was his director of operations for investments and Ms Crupi an account manager.

Mr O'Hara and Mr Perez were both computer programmers.

"These defendants each played an important role in carrying out the charade, propping it up, and concealing it from regulators, auditors, taxing authorities, lenders, and investors," Mr Bharara said.

The five are the latest aides of Mr Madoff to be convicted for their role in the scheme.

Mr Madoff's brother, Peter Madoff, was sentenced to 10 years in prison in December 2012 for his role in the fraud.

Peter Madoff agreed to the 10-year sentence as part of a plea deal which stripped him of his assets, savings, home and personal property, as well as all future assets and income.

However, Bernard Madoff has repeatedly denied that his brother had any involvement in the scheme.

Mr Madoff's "investment fund" was once thought to be the biggest hedge fund in the world.

BBC News:

Uganda: Court throws out Sebatindira election case

The High Court in Kampala has thrown out with costs a case that sought to over-turn the election of Uganda Law Society (ULS) president Ruth Sebatindira. The case arose in March last year just three days after Ms Sebatindira was elected into office. Her victory was challenged by fellow lawyer, Mr Simon Tendo Kabenge.

Mr Kabenge claims he was interested in running for the same position but instead ULS discriminated against him before turning down his candidature. But while dismissing the complaint, Justice Stephen Musota held that Mr Kabenge used a wrong procedure of judicial review to challenge the outcome of an election.

“The motion before me is incompetent for seeking constitutional declarations in the High Court as well as award punitive or exemplary damages,” Justice Musota ruled. “The circumstances under which the complaints by the applicant (Mr Kabenge) arose do not warrant proceedings under judicial review,” he added.

Daily Monitor:

Egypt court sentences 529 Morsi supporters to death

[JURIST] An Egyptian court on Monday sentenced 529 supporters of deposed president Mohammed Morsi [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] to death on charges of killing and attacking policemen in one of the largest mass trials to be held in the country in decades. The verdicts, which came after only two sessions, are subject to appeal [AP report] and likely to be overturned, according to legal experts. Experts also say that the harshness of the rulings illustrates the lengths to which Egypt's courts have been politicized and due process has been ignored during a crackdown on Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood [JURIST news archive] supporters following the president's removal in a military coup last July. During the first of the two trial sessions in Minya, the judge rejected requests by defense lawyers for more time to review trial documents for the defendants, leading to furious arguments. Defense lawyers were barred by security forces from the second session on Monday when verdicts and sentences were read.

Trials against Morsi supporters have been held as the Egyptian government attempts to re-stabilize. In February Egyptian authorities ordered 242 supporters of former president to face new trials [JURIST report] in relation to the violent protests against the new government. Earlier that week the International Bar Association's Human Rights Institute [advocacy website] urged [JURIST report] Egypt to promote judicial and prosecutorial independence. Also in February, Egypt's interim president Adly Mansour [BBC profile] created [JURIST report] a higher court body to allow appeals of military tribunal rulings. Earlier that month, an Egyptian court acquitted [JURIST report] an Al Jazeera television cameraman and 61 others accused of participating in demonstrations in Cairo last July. In January Egyptian prosecutors charged [JURIST report] 20 Al Jazeera journalists with joining or conspiring with a terrorist group and broadcasting false images. Recently the Egyptian government took a major step in governmental reform through the drafting of a new constitution, which was ratified [JURIST report] by 98 percent of voters in January.


Ruto required at ICC as crucial witness testifies

Deputy President William Ruto will be required to be physically present in The Hague when his trial resumes after the Easter recess.

He will have to sit through the testimony of the 14th prosecution, “Witness 28” who has been described as being key to the prosecution’s case.

The pre-trial chamber judges are said to have heavily relied on the testimony of the “Witness 28” when they confirmed the charges against Mr Ruto and former radio presenter Joshua Sang.

“We are now turning to direct the attendance of Mr Ruto throughout the testimony of Witness 28,” Presiding Judge Chile Eboe-Osuji said when issuing the order early March.

A lawyer with knowledge of the charges facing Mr Ruto and Mr Sang said the pre-trial judges consisting of presiding judge Ekaterina Trendafilova, Hans-Peter Kaul and Cuno Tarfusser had, by majority “taken Witness 28’s testimony as gospel truth even though he was not cross-examined” when they committed the two to trial for crimes against humanity for their alleged role as key perpetrators of the 2007/08 post-election violence.

In the ruling excusing Mr Ruto from continuous presence in the ICC, the ICC judges had indicated that the deputy president’s physical presence in the court could be needed on any of these occasions, namely, when a victim is testifying, when the judges so direct and also when certain evidence is being adduced by any witness.

“During our excusal decision that we granted pursuant to rule 134 condition number nine (of the Rules of Procedure), we gave conditional excusal and the ninth condition is any other attendance directed by the chamber either proprio motu or at the request of a party or a participant as decided by the chamber, now proprio motu the chamber has preliminarily directed for presence of Mr Ruto,” Judge Osuji had said.

Witness 28 is said to have indicated in his statement that he was present at one or more of the planning meetings that were attended by Mr Ruto and Mr Sang at the former’s home in Sugoi ahead of the chaos.

The defence denies his testimony saying that on the day the witness claims to have been present at the planning meetings, Mr Ruto was away in the Coast while Mr Sang was in Nairobi. The witness is likely to testify for seven days.

Fatou Bensouda 

Meanwhile, ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda wants summons issued against eight witnesses who were supposed to testify against Mr Ruto and Mr Sang but have either recanted their testimonies or completely refused to cooperate further with the prosecution.

Some of these witnesses are said to be in the country while others are still in safe houses abroad.

Attorney General Prof Githu Muigai had in February this year told the ICC that the government has no power to compel witnesses who have expressed unwillingness to continue cooperating with the prosecution.

“The Government of the Republic of Kenya submits that while it is feasible under the laws of Kenya for witnesses to voluntarily appear before the Court sitting at an appropriate location of its choice in Kenya (in situ or by means of video-link technology) for purposes of testifying before the Court, the Government of the Republic of Kenya submits that under its national law, in particular

The International Crimes Act, No. 16 of 2008, a witness cannot be compelled to appear and testify before the Court regardless of where the Court is sitting,” the AG said in a written response to the prosecution’s request that witnesses who gave their statements and later withdrew be compelled to appear before the ICC.

Since the trial of Mr Ruto and Mr Sang started in The Hague, 13 witnesses have testified. The prosecution had indicated at the start of the trials that it had more than 40 witnesses who include victims, expert witnesses and individuals who took part in the planning meetings for the post-election violence.

Daily Nation:

TRA loses in Sh3.8bn appeal

Dar es Salaam. 

Tanzania Revenue Authority’s attempt to collect $2.4million (about Sh3.8bn) tax from Wentworth Gas Limited flopped recently after a tax appeals board declared the move unlawful. TRA has, for the past three years, been embroiled in a tax dispute with Wentworth, formerly Artumas Group and Partners (Gas) Ltd, after the gas firm assigned 54.6 per cent of its interest in the Mnazi Bay Gas Project to three other firms.

The taxman believed Wentworth avoided charging VAT on the amount it received from the transaction with the three firms. In September 2009, Wentworth granted its working interest in the Mnazi Bay Project to Cove Energy Tanzania Mnazi Bay Limited (Cove Energy) and Les Etablissments Maurel and Prom SA (Maurel & Prom) in what is know in the gas and oil industry as Farm-In-Agreement (FIA).

Wentworth argued that it could not charge VAT on the transaction because the FIA was exempted from VAT under Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) between the government of Tanzania and Wentworth.

When TRA became aware of the FIA in September 2011, it carried out a VAT assessment and hit the company with a $2.4million tax demand. TRA argued that the transaction was not exempt from VAT because it has not been listed under the second schedule to the VAT Act.

In its recent decision, Tax Revenue Appeals Board concurred with Wentworth that a clause in the Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) relieved the company from paying some taxes including the VAT. The board also agreed that article 24 (a) of the PSA allowed the PSA holder to assign or transfer its rights, privileges, duties or obligations to another entity after the government consented it. “Article 24 (d) exempts any such assignment from any transfer or related taxes, charges or fees which may arise from the assignment,” observed the board.

During the hearing of the dispute, TRA argued that Maurel and Prom and Cove Energy was not exempted from VAT because they were not part of the PSA. They were not established under the PSA, TRA said.

“Our interpretation of this article is that once a company assigns its rights, privileges, duties or obligations, the assignee assumes the rights, privileges, duties and obligations of the company under the agreement. This means the two entities become parties to the PSA,” said the board.

The Citizen:

High Court blocks $75m IPTL pay as Malaysians speak out

The High Court on thursday granted an injunction barring the withdrawal of $75 million (Sh121 billion) escrow monies paid to VIP Engineering and Marketing, a local company that had at one time owned 30 per cent of the Independent Power Tanzania Limited (IPTL).

Liquidators of the IPTL’s majority shareholders, Mechmar of Malaysia, through their lawyers, IMMMA Advocates, have filed an application at the High Court seeking an injunction to stop the withdrawal and use of the $75 million paid to VIP Engineering and Marketing in January this year.  High Court Judge Fauz Twaib gave the order after the plaintiff—Mechmar, currently in liquidation, filed a suit together with an application for injunction on March 17, 2014.

In the main suit, Mechmar is seeking orders against VIP Engineering and IPTL for payment of contractual and damages of $52.5 million which is 70 per cent of $75 million, the total value of the IPTL asset which has been extracted from the company in breach of the Articles of Association.

The plaintiff also wants contractual damages of reduction value of the plaintiff shares in the company valued at $175 million.

In addition to the suit, the plaintiff filed an application for injunction for orders to “restrain VIP Engineering or any person pursuant to the order control for instructions from taking possession of exercising beneficial and/or legal right.”

The case came for hearing on Wednesday, this week, before the ruling was issued yesterday in favour of Mechmar, hence introducing a new twist in the IPTL sale saga.

New development from Malaysia

 Nearly a week after The Citizen published the version of Pan Africa Power Solutions Tanzania Limited (PAP), detailing how the company acquired the Independent Power Solutions Tanzania Limited (IPTL), Mechmar liquidators have come out to explain what really transpired behind the scenes and in the corridors of justice.

Mechmar Corporation Berhad (MCB) is a Malaysian company incorporated in Kuala Lumpur, which used to own 70 per cent of the IPTL in Tanzania until it was placed under receivership in 2008 and late in May 2012, put under liquidation.

In a letter they wrote to The Citizen on March 18, this year, the liquidators of Mechmar, a company which PAP claims to have bought in 2011 and therefore acquiring the right to own 70 per cent share of IPTL, have disowned Mr Harbinder Singh Sethi.

PAP was in em-safariPG02-210314 corporated with the capital of Sh5 million divided into 5,000 shares worth Sh1,000 each, according to Brela’s letter signed by Mr E. Kakwezi, Principal Assistant Registrar of Companies.

The shareholders of PAP are Mr Sethi whose physical address is Plot No. 887, Mrikau Street, Masaki in Dar es Salaam, holder of 2,500 shares; and Simba Trust that holds 2,500 shares. Simba Trust, according to the Brela letter to The Citizen, gives its physical address as: 3 Ribbonwood Street, SunnyBank Hills QLD 4109, Australia.  Reacting to claims by PAP Executive Chairman, Mr Sethi and his legal counsel, Joseph Makandege, said the Malaysian liquidators stated categorically that the man who claims to have fully and legally acquired IPTL is not the Mechamar’s custodian in Tanzania.   

In their letter, the Malaysian liquidators state that PAP didn’t buy the 70 per cent IPTL shares from an offshore company, Piperlink, registered in British Virgin Island as Mr Sethi and his counsel claimed in Dar es Salaam last week.

The Malaysians move comes amid a threat by PAP to sue The Citizen over allegations that the company and its directors have been defamed by a series of articles the paper published earlier this month.

The revelation also raises key questions on the saga surrounding the acquisition of IPTL amid Mr Singh’s claims that he didn’t come to Tanzania to make money, but rather, to “help the country”.

Mechmar liquidators through their lawyers, Mr Lim Lit and Mr Andrew Heng, say in their letter: “To the contrary, Sethi and his legal counsel were placed on formal notice of our appointment as Mechmar’s joint liquidators, the corresponding vesting of Mechmar’s global interests in the liquidators and requesting that he (Sethi)/or his legal counsel refrain from holding himself/themselves out as Mechmar’s legal representative(s). A copy of the joint liquidators’ letters to Sethi and his counsel are attached.”

According to the letter, Malaysian High Court through an order dated April 16, 2012, confirmed that only the joint liquidators could represent Mechmar within IPTL—casting doubt on whether earlier claims that PAP had legally acquired 70 per cent shares in the Tegeta-based power plant are authentic.

 The articles aforementioned (published last week in  The Citizen), quote PAP’s legal counsel as saying Mechmar’s shareholding interest in IPTL was acquired by Mr Sethi from a company known as Piper Link Investments Limited (Piper)…This is in conflict with the following facts:

•  In 2008, Standard Chartered Bank Hong Kong Limited (“SCB”) appointed one Martha Kaveni Renju (the share receiver), as receiver over the entire ordinary issued share capital of IPTL, which includes the shares held by Mechmar as well as those of VIP Engineering and Marketing Limited (VIP). Following the share receiver’s appointment, Mechmar no longer had any rights to deal in Mechmar shares in IPTL.

•  In 2010, the share receiver applied to the High Court in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) seeking orders restraining the completion of a purported sale of Mechmar’s shares in IPTL to Piper. The application succeeded. The BVI High Court recognised the share receiver as the proper legal custodian of the shares, a position she maintains to this clay.

• The share certificates in question were delivered by Piper to the High Court in the British Virgin Islands in accordance with an earlier freezing order and order for custody dated 8th November, 2010.

• In parallel proceedings in Malaysia, the country’s high court granted an interim injunction, on 4th  October 2010, preventing any dealings by Mechmar in its shares in IPTL…This was followed by a restraining order granted by consent on 12th August 2011 preventing Mechmar from dealing in its shares in IPTL until redemption of SCB’s outstanding debt. Both, the BVI and Malaysian jurisdictions fully recognised SCB’s security over Mechmar’s shares in IPTL and the legal rights of the share receiver.

The Citizen on Friday:

Kenyan Supreme Court stops swearing-in of Meru governor

The Supreme Court on Friday stopped the swearing in of the Speaker of Meru County to replace ousted Meru governor Peter Munya.

Supreme Court judges Jackton Ojwang and Smokin Wanjala ordered the status quo to be maintained pending their ruling on March 26 whether to stay the execution of the Court of Appeal judgement or not.

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) cannot declare the gubernatorial seat vacant.

The Speaker of the Meru county assembly was scheduled to be sworn-in on March 26 to replace Mr Munya on a temporary basis.

“ We direct that the status quo be maintained until we give our ruling on the application by Mr Munya on March 26 seeking to stay the implementation of the judgement of the court of appeal which cancelled the election of the governor,” the two-judge bench ruled.

Pending the outcome of the application filed by Mr Munya the IEBC cannot call fresh elections until the main appeal challenging the election of Mr Munya is determined.

Serve IEBC

The judges ordered the Registrar of the Supreme Court to extract their order and serve it to IEBC and the respondents.

The application to suspend the implementation of judgement of Mr Justice Alnashir Visram, Lady Justice Jamila Mohammed and Mr Justice Otieno Odek was certied urgent by Justice Wanjala on March 20.

Lawyers Okongo Omogeni, Stephen Njiru and Tom Ojienda who challenged the judgement said “the appeal raises triable legal issues and is not frivolous.”

Prof Ojienda told the judges that Mr Munya is entitled to hold a public office under Article 38 of the Constitution.

The governor’s lawyers asked the judges to save the tax payer over Sh300million which will be spent in the by-election.

Prof Ojienda also asked the judges to dismiss submissions by lawyer Muthomi Thiankolu that “ allowing the appeal will open a flood gate of appeals from the counties.”

He said there were very few petitions challenging election of the 47 governors.

“ I urge this court to cease the moment and set the law on elections straight. No flood gates will be opened at all,” stated Prof Ojienda.

Rights violated

Mr Thiankolu asked the judges to dismiss the appeal saying all the grounds raised in the application were wrong and the lawsuit was an arguable case with chances of success.

Mr Omogeni stated that the rights of Mr Munya were grossly violated both at the High Court and Court of Appeal.

Saturday Nation:

Michigan gay-marriage ban quashed

A US federal judge has struck down a ban on gay marriage in the state of Michigan.

Two Detroit-area nurses successfully argued that the ban violated their rights under the US constitution.

One local official said she would start issuing marriage licences to same-sex couples from Monday, but the state is planning to lodge an appeal.

Seventeen states and the District of Columbia currently issue licences for same-sex marriage.

'Equal protection'

The case was brought two years ago by partners Jayne Rowse, 49, and April DeBoer, 42, who want to get married.

"Many Michigan residents have religious convictions whose principles govern the conduct of their daily lives and inform their own viewpoints about marriage," US District Judge Bernard Friedman wrote in Friday's decision.

"Nonetheless, these views cannot strip other citizens of the guarantees of equal protection under the law."

Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette promptly moved for an appeal to uphold the state's ban on gay marriage, which was approved by voters in 2004.

Bans on gay marriage have been quashed in recent months in Texas, Utah, Oklahoma and Virginia, though appeals have put those cases on hold.

BBC News:

Thailand's Constitutional Court rules general election invalid

Thailand's Constitutional Court has ruled the 2 February general election invalid, officials say.

The snap poll was called by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra amid major anti-government protests in Bangkok.

The ruling party was expected to win, but the opposition boycotted it and protesters disrupted voting, meaning the election has not been completed.

The vote was unconstitutional because it did not take place on the same day across the country, the court said.

Polls were not held in a number of constituencies because protesters had blocked candidate registration.

The court, which ruled to void the election by six votes to three, was responding to a motion by a law lecturer who had challenged the election on a number of points.

It is not clear when a new election will be held.

But protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban, deputy prime minister when the opposition were in power, said another election would face similar problems.

"If a new election date is declared, then we'll take care of every province and the election won't be successful again," he said late on Thursday.

A spokesman for the ruling Pheu Thai party, Prompong Nopparit, said the party would play by the rules "no matter how much we are bullied".

"The reason this election is nullified is because the polls were blocked by the protesters, weren't they? We've played by the rules all along, but what about the other side?" the Associated Press quoted him as saying.

'People's council'
The anti-government protests began in November 2013. At the height of the demonstrations, protesters shut down key road junctions in Bangkok and blockaded government ministries.

Numbers have fallen in recent weeks, however, and the protesters are now mainly occupying a city-centre park.

At least 23 people have died and hundreds have been injured in the course of the demonstrations.

The protesters, who are mainly urban and middle class, want Ms Yingluck's government replaced by an unelected "people's council".

They allege her brother, ousted leader Thaksin Shinawatra, controls her administration and say Shinawatra family money has corrupted Thai politics.

Ms Yingluck and Pheu Thai remain very popular in rural areas, however, leaving Thailand deeply polarised.

These are the worst protests to hit Thailand since 2010 when "red-shirts" - those who supported Mr Thaksin and opposed the then opposition-led government - shut down parts of Bangkok for several weeks.

About 90 people were killed over the course of those protests, which were ended by a military crackdown.

The South East Asian nation has been embroiled in a cycle of political unrest since the military removed Mr Thaksin from office in a 2006 coup.

BBC News:

3 held over attempt to ferry drugs via DHL

POLICE in Dar es Salaam are holding a Tanzanian and two Nigerians who were trying to transport a half kilogram of suspected narcotic drugs through a courier firm, DHL, to Liberia.

The Dar es Salaam Special Zone Police Commander, Mr Suleiman Kova, told a news conference in the city that the suspects packed the drugs in text book covers.

They were arrested on Tuesday at the DHL offices at the Mlimani City Shopping Mall. Mr Kova named the suspects as Nigerian nationals Sunday Nnabufae Chaidikaobi (42) and Franklin Anochili Indubusi (41); and a Tanzanian woman, Hadija Ngoma (43), all residents of Kimara Temboni in the city.

The trio was arrested after the police were tipped off by informers who reported the presence of the suspects who were preparing to hand over a parcel containing three English language text books, in which they have concealed the drugs to the courier services firm ready for transportation to some destination.

Commissioner of Police Kova also reported that the suspects confessed to designing more sophisticated ways to smuggle drugs out of the country, after security agencies had stepped up surveillance to net traffickers.

He said the value and types of drugs is not yet known until the government chemist is through with the checks. The suspects will be charged to the court of law after the investigation has been completed.

Meanwhile, Mr Kova confirmed that police are holding two businessmen of Indian origin, Adil Yusuf (24) and Mehul Kava (24), both residents of Kariakoo, over their involvement in the kidnapping of children of a businessman, Mr Aunally Jaffer.

“The suspects planned to kidnap the businessman’s two daughters, Shamima Aunally and Halifa Aunally, with the intention of asking for a 500m/- ransom to release the children,’’ he said.

Mr Kova reported that the suspects were arrested while preparing to finalise their mission, but ended in a police trap at Jet Lumo in Dar es Salaam.

The suspects confessed to committing the crime, according to the police commander.

Mr Kova said police are investigating the incident before handing them over to the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) for further legal action. The children have since been returned home.

Daily News:

Brazil launches price-fixing probe into 18 companies

Brazil has said it is investigating corruption and price-fixing allegations against 18 companies, including Siemens of Germany and Alstom of France.

Brazil's antitrust agency accused the firms of being part of a cartel to fix prices for the construction and upkeep of metro and train networks, including in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo.

Siemens said it had "zero tolerance for any kind of illegal conduct".

Alstom said it was "taking the allegations very seriously".

Brazil's Administrative Council for Economic Defence (Cade) said the 18 companies were part of a cartel involved in 15 projects valued at $4 billion (£2.4bn) in total, with contracts in the Brazilian Federal District and the states of Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio Grande do Sul.

Cade is part of Brazil's justice ministry, responsible for investigating anti-trust cases.

"Cade has started (...) administrative proceedings to investigate alleged cartel conduct in the bidding for trains and metros between at least 1998 and 2013," it said in a statement on its website.

"Eighteen companies and 109 employees of these companies are accused of involvement in illegal (activities)."

'Cooperation'
According to Cade, the companies adopted "several anti-competitive strategies", such as the prearrangement of offers tendered in bidding processes, and bribed dozens of officials to secure the contracts.

At times, it alleged, the cartel would also determine which company would win a bid by putting only one forward to tender an offer.

In a statement sent to the Associated Press (AP) agency, Siemens said it was "collaborating'' with the investigations, which it said would "lead to a more ethical and transparent business environment in Brazil".

In another statement seen by AP, Alstom said it was "taking the allegations very seriously" and "carrying out its own thorough investigation".

Cade has also named companies from Spain, Canada, South Korea and the United States, among other countries.

It said the firms that allegedly formed part of the cartel would be summoned to present their defence.

BBC News:

South Africa opposition files graft charges against Zuma over home upgrade

South Africa's main opposition party has laid corruption charges against the president over the use of state money to improve his private rural residence.

The move follows a report by South Africa's top corruption fighter accusing President Jacob Zuma of unethical conduct over the upgrade.

The changes to Mr Zuma's private home, including a pool and cattle enclosure, cost taxpayers about $23m (£13.8m).

Police are now obliged to investigate the Democratic Alliance's complaint.

It will then be passed on to the National Prosecuting Authority which will decide whether there is a formal case to answer.

The refurbishment of the residence in Nkandla, in Mr Zuma's home province of KwaZulu-Natal, has turned into a major political controversy in South Africa as the country approaches elections in May.

'Politicking'

A government probe in December cleared President Zuma, who came to office in 2009, of any wrongdoing, saying the improvements were needed for security reasons.

"We are laying charges because we want the president to be held personally liable," said Mmusi Maimane, the national spokesman for the Democratic Alliance (DA).

The report released by Public Protector Thuli Madonsela on Wednesday said Mr Zuma should repay costs for some of the unnecessary renovations from which he had "benefited unduly".

But she said that while it could be "legitimately construed" that Mr Zuma had misled parliament, he made a "bona fide mistake" over which part of the renovations he was referring to.

Mr Maimane led a DA delegation to file eight charges against the president at the police station in Nkandla, near Mr Zuma's home.

Referring to the Nkandla compound, he said: "I am angered because what we see behind us is corruption of the highest order.

"If we allow this president to continue today we are systematically allowing corruption to thrive in South Africa."

He told the BBC's Focus on Africa radio programme that he genuinely believed their charges would result in a court case.

"Private citizens are well within their rights [to lay charges] when they are concerned, particularly here when there's such a public interest in the matter… we are acting on behalf of the people of this republic," he said.

The political party recently formed by the controversial former African National Congress (ANC) youth leader Julius Malema has also laid charges against Mr Zuma.

Economic Freedom Fighters spokesperson Mbuyiseni Ndlozi told the BBC that charges of fraud, racketeering, corruption and theft of public money in relation to Nkandla had been laid at Sunnyside Police Station in the capital, Pretoria.

Earlier, Gwede Mantashe, the secretary general of the governing ANC, said officials implicated in Ms Madonsela's report should be brought to book.

But he dismissed the DA's earlier calls for Mr Zuma to be impeached saying opposition parties were trying to "sensationalise" the report.

"It is politicking," he said.

BBC News/Himalayan Times:

Four men found guilty of gang-raping photojournalist in Mumbai

(Reuters) - Four men were found guilty on Thursday of the gang-rape of a photojournalist last year in Mumbai, an attack that sparked street protests in the city and raised fresh questions about attitudes to women in the world's largest democracy.

Women's safety in India has been under the spotlight since the gang-rape and murder of a student on a bus in Delhi in 2012, which provoked nationwide protests and the introduction of tougher sexual assault laws, yet an ongoing stream of high-profile attacks has raised concerns that little has changed.

The four men convicted of gang-rape are due to be sentenced on Friday, prosecution lawyer Ujjwal Nikam told reporters outside the Mumbai court where the case was heard.

Under the stricter laws brought in last year, the men face a life sentence. It was not immediately clear whether they would appeal against the verdict.

"Today's verdict will send a strong message to criminals," R. R. Patil, home minister for Maharashtra, the state where Mumbai is located, told reporters outside the court.

A juvenile charged for his involvement in the case is being tried separately.

The photojournalist was attacked at dusk on August 22 while on an assignment with a male colleague at an abandoned textile mill in Lower Parel, an up-and-coming district where trendy bars and offices have sprouted on the sites of old factories.

The attack provoked a public outcry partly because Mumbai, India's financial capital and the home of its flamboyant film industry, is considered one of the country's safest city for women.

A 51-year-old Danish tourist was also gang-raped in December in Delhi's busy backpacker district by men whom she asked for directions to her hotel. A Swiss tourist was gang-raped in the state of Madhya Pradesh last year while on a camping trip with her husband.

(Additional reporting by Mansi Thapliyal in MUMBAI; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel and Michael Perry)

Mbeya: Woman earns 3 years for torturing boy

Mbeya. 

A primary court in Mbeya Urban has sentenced Mwanahawa Nassoro, 32, to three years in prison after she was found guilty of torturing and wounding a three-year-old child (name withheld).

Ms Nassoro, who is an aunt to the child, was arraigned to answer charges of torturing and wounding the boy, whom she was living with at her home.

The child was admitted to Mbeya Referral Hospital last week, complaining of severe pain resulting from torture.

Delivering the verdict, magistrate Salome Mwakyosi said she was satisfied with the evidence and testimonies against the accused.

“Apart from the evidence which proves beyond reasonable doubt that she committed the offence, the accused did plead guilty on the charges against her,” she said.

It was earlier alleged that Ms Nassoro committed the offence on March 12, this year.

Prosecution alleged that the accused beat up the child, who she locked in her house for several hours without offering him food.

It was further alleged that local leaders, who came to discover the boy was suffering,, apprehended the woman and handed the accused over to a nearby police station.

The prosecution presented four witnesses, including the child himself, who gave his testimony after his condition had improved, to prove their case against the accused.

In a yet interesting but heart wrenching scenario, when the magistrate asked the child about who tortured him, the boy only pointed a finger at the accused three times without uttering any word.

The Citizen:

Uganda: Amnesty law hindering crimes trial - government

KAMPALA. 

Government is caught up in a dilemma of enforcing the amnesty law it enacted or its revocation to pave way for the trial of former Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebel commander, Thomas Kwoyelo.

Principal State Attorney Patricia Mutesi yesterday told the Supreme Court that the Amnesty Act is in contravention of the Constitution because it interferes with the independence of the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP), a department mandated to institute criminal proceedings.

“The Amnesty Act had good intentions and purpose but the effect of the very law shields the grave violation of Uganda’s obligation under international treaties,” argued Ms Mutesi.

Ms Mutesi was representing the Attorney General (AG) in the appeal challenging the 2011 order of the Constitutional Court directing the immediate release of Mr Kwoyelo.

She faulted the court for failing to consider the status and effect of the Geneva Convention Act and asked the court to order the trial of Mr Kwoyelo to resume forthwith.

The court held that Mr Kwoyelo is entitled to receiving amnesty just like others who renounced rebel activities after he had applied for it.

Mr Kwoyelo appeared before a panel of seven judges led by Bart Katureebe.

Other judges on the panel are: Galdino Okello, Benjamin Odoki, Dr Esther Kisaakye, John Tsekooko, Jotham Tumwesigye and Christine Kitumba. 

Mr Kwoyelo, was charged with 53 cases of crimes against humanity in connection with the two-decade civil war which claimed thousands of lives.

He denied the charges before the International Crimes Court in Gulu.

Mr Kwoyelo, through his lawyers, Mr Caleb Alaka, Mr Nicholas Opiyo and Mr John Onyango, asked the court to dismiss the appeal by government, arguing that there is no international uniform standard which prohibits the grant of amnesty to him.

“Laws are made to address specific issues in historical problems and in this case, the Amnesty Act was enacted to resolve the northern Uganda crisis. Therefore such a law cannot be unconstitutional, given its contribution towards the silencing of gunshots,” argued Mr Alaka.

Daily Monitor:

Italian court confirms two-year public office ban for Berlusconi

Italy's top appeals court has confirmed a two-year public office ban for former premier Silvio Berlusconi over a conviction for tax fraud. The ruling also means he cannot run as a candidate in EU elections this May.
......................................

Italy's highest appeals body, the Court of Cassation, upheld a two-year ban from public office for center-right leader Silvio Berlusconi late Tuesday.

The ruling is linked to the tax fraud conviction he was handed last October with a four-year prison sentence, which was commuted to one year. He was found guilty of fraudulent accounting at his family media firm, Mediaset.

Berlusconi's lawyer Niccolo Ghedini said he was "extremely disappointed" by the ruling.
The ruling also weakens the 77-year-old's hopes of running as a candidate in elections for the European Parliament in May.

Tuesday's decision was not expected to have a huge impact as Berlusconi was already stripped of his seat as a senator in November. Berlusconi, however, has continued to lead his Forza Italia party - the largest parliamentary opposition to Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's coalition government - from outside parliament.

Berlusconi has said he will appeal to Italy's constitutional court against the tax fraud verdict. He has also already appealed to the European Court of Human Rights against his expulsion from the Senate.

The scandal-prone politician is also fighting a seven-year jail sentence handed down last year for paying for sex with an underage prostitute and abusing his office to cover it up.

The billionaire media tycoon has denied all wrongdoing and has said he is the victim of politically motivated prosecutors and judges.

hc/jm (Reuters, AFP, AP) DW

Chinese ‘poacher’ fails to pay 9bn/- fine, jailed 20 years

A CHINESE national, Yu Bo (45), was jailed for 20 years after failing to pay a 9bn/ fine for possessing government trophies worth over 978m/- unlawfully.

The verdict has come at a time when the government has vowed to leave no stone unturned in the effort to curb poaching in the country. Senior Resident Magistrate Devota Kisoka of the Kisutu Resident Magistrates’ Court in Dar es Salaam convicted the Chinese on his own plea of guilty.

She said that she was imposing such severe sentence to serve as a lesson to others who might be tempted to engage in poaching or act as accomplices to the crime.

“The accused person is sentenced to pay 9,781,204,900/-. In default, he should serve 20 years imprisonment,” the magistrate declared after considering the mitigation factors and plea for leniency.

Bo had told the court that it was his first time to be convicted in a criminal case, further saying that he had several dependants. But the prosecution, led by Senior State Attorney Faraja Nchimbi, prayed for a severe sentence “due to the seriousness of the offence.”

Case details had it that the convict entered the country for business purposes on November 26, last year. Shortly after his arrival, he initiated communications with a syndicate of poachers within and outside Tanzania for the purpose of poaching elephants and other animals, including ground pangolins.

In the process, the convict and other poachers who are yet to be arrested managed to collect 81 elephant tusks and two ground pangolin scales, which were eventually hidden at Mwenge in Kinondoni District.

The accused had neither authority nor permit from the Director of Wildlife Division allowing him to possess the said ivory tusks and the ground pangolin scales. On the evening of December 30, last year, Bo loaded the government trophies on a pick-up vehicle.

Together with a variety of wood carvings, Bo then ferried the said trophies to the Dar es Salaam Port with intent to ship them to the People’s Republic of China. On arrival at port’s gate at around 20:30pm, he sought permission to go to one of the ships.

Daily News:

JURIST - Paper Chase

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