by Carola Sole with Sebastian Smith in Rio de Janeiro © Agence France-Presse SAO BERNARDO DO CAMPO, Brazil (AFP) — Ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Brazil’s polarizing election frontrunner and leftist icon, was negotiating his surrender after dramatically skipping a first deadline Friday to start his 12-year prison sentence for corruption. Holed up with thousands of cheering supporters in the metalworkers’ union building in his hometown of Sao Bernardo do Campo, near Sao Paulo, […]
Tag: corruption
Brazil’s Lula given 24 hours to start prison sentence
by Paula Ramon © Agence France-Presse SAO PAULO, Brazil (AFP) — Brazil’s former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, once one of the most popular politicians on the planet, was given 24 hours to surrender to police Thursday and start a 12 year prison sentence for corruption. The order from Judge Sergio Moro, head of Brazil’s huge “Car Wash” anti-graft probe, came as a complete surprise given that lawyers had earlier said the leftist former two-term […]
Brazil’s Lula closer to prison after Supreme Court votes
by Damian Wroclavsky with Sebastian Smith in Rio de Janeiro © Agence France-Presse BRASILIA, Brazil (AFP) — Brazil’s former president and current election frontrunner Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva looked increasingly likely to face prison Wednesday after a key judge on the divided Supreme Court voted against allowing him to delay a sentence for corruption. After more than five hours of deliberations, the Supreme Court justices had voted 5-1 in favor of denying Lula his request […]
Tensions run high ahead of Brazil court’s ruling on Lula prison
by Damian Wroclavsky with Sebastian Smith in Rio de Janeiro © Agence France-Presse BRASILIA, Brazil (AFP) — Tensions ran high Tuesday in Brazil ahead of a Supreme Court ruling on whether former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva should start a 12-year prison sentence for corruption, potentially upending this year’s presidential election. The court showdown scheduled for Wednesday has become a focal point for Brazil’s deeply divided electorate ahead of the October polls, in which Lula […]
Corruption verdict on S. Korea’s Park to be televised live
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — The corruption verdict and sentencing of South Korea’s former president Park Geun-Hye will be televised live, Yonhap said Tuesday, in a case that could see her jailed for 30 years. The 66-year-old Park, daughter of a former dictator, was ousted from power in March 2017 following months of street protests. She has been in police custody for almost a year over a wide-ranging corruption scandal, which exposed shady links between […]
Peru’s new president sworn in after impeachment drama
by Francisco Jara © Agence France-Presse LIMA, Peru (AFP) — Martin Vizcarra was sworn in as Peru’s new president Friday, catapulted to the post when Pedro Pablo Kuczynski resigned to avoid impeachment. Vizcarra, who had been serving as both vice president and his country’s ambassador to Canada, took the oath of office and donned the red-and-white presidential sash before the Peruvian Congress. The ceremony came shortly after lawmakers voted to accept Kuczynski’s resignation, rather than push […]
Sarkozy blasts lack of ‘physical evidence’ in corruption case: French media
PARIS, France (AFP) — Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy blasted what he said was a lack of evidence for the corruption charges against him over allegations that late Libyan dictator Moamer Kadhafi funded his 2007 election campaign, in his court statement published Thursday. The morning after he was charged in one of France’s most explosive political scandals in years, the 63-year-old rightwinger said he had been in “living hell” since the allegations first emerged in 2011. […]
China widens Xi’s corruption crackdown
by Ryan Mcmorrow © Agence France-Presse BEIJING, China (AFP) — Millions of Chinese public sector workers will be exposed to the harsh policing tactics of the Communist Party as President Xi Jinping brings his corruption crackdown to China’s sprawling bureaucracy. The campaign to clean up the party’s pervasive corruption has arguably been Xi’s most popular initiative, pressuring its 89 million members to toe the line — with more than 1.5 million officials punished in the […]
Prosecutors seek 30 years’ jail for ousted S. Korea president
by Park Chan-kyong © Agence France-Presse SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korean prosecutors on Tuesday demanded a 30-year-jail sentence for former president Park Geun-hye, sacked over a wide-ranging corruption scandal which exposed shady links between big business and politics and prompted massive street protests. The 66-year-old daughter of a former dictator was dismissed in March 2017 and has now been in custody for almost a year. “We ask the court to hand down 30 years in prison […]
Netanyahu confidant agrees to testify against him
by Jean-Luc Renaudie © Agence France-Presse JERUSALEM, Undefined (AFP) — One of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s closest confidants has agreed to testify against him in a graft probe, Israeli police said Wednesday, in a fresh threat to his long tenure. Two new corruption investigations announced this week, hot on the heels of a police recommendation that Netanyahu face charges in two other cases, have fuelled growing speculation he could be forced to step down or call […]
Romania’s president defends anti-graft body after abuse allegations
BUCHAREST, Romania (AFP) — Romania’s centre-right President Klaus Iohannis defended on Thursday the country’s anti-corruption body and its head Laura Codruta Kovesi, who is facing dismissal calls from the left-wing majority over alleged “abuses”. “The DNA (anti-graft organisation) and its management are doing a good job and the attack on them by people in conflict with the law only confirms it,” Iohannis said at a press conference. He said he would soon be meeting with justice […]
Lawyer who prepared criminal complaint vs De Lima appointed to PACC
(Eagle News)– The lawyer who prepared the criminal complaint against Senator Leila de Lima has been appointed to the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission. President Rodrigo Duterte named Eduardo Bringas as executive director of the agency in an order dated Feb. 7. Earlier, Duterte appointed Dante Jimenez of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption at the helm of the PACC. De Lima, who is facing drug-related cases in connection with her alleged involvement in the drug trade […]





