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Kaieteur News
Saturday June 28, 2013
Brazil MP jailed for corruption
Brazil truckers call for 72hour strike starting Monday
A Brazilian congressman sentenced to 13 years in jail for corruption has given himself up after two days on the run. Natan Donadon is the first serving congressman to be jailed in Brazil since military rule came to an end in the 1980s. Mr Donadon was convicted three years ago of siphoning off nearly $4m (£2.6m) from the State Assembly in Rondonia, in Brazil's Amazon region. The Supreme Court threw out an appeal on Wednesday and ordered his arrest. "For the first time in Brazilian history a congressman is arrested after losing a final appeal," said analyst Ricardo Roqueti from the Max Weber Centre in the capital, Brasilia. "Other politicians were detained before, but either they were released later or they were struck off before serving a sentence," said Mr
Roqueti. Congress has begun proceedings to expel Mr Donadon, who on Thursday was thrown out of his centrist PMDB party, which is part of the governing coalition, Mr Donadon gave himself up to federal police agents at a bus stop in Brasilia and has now been taken to the Papuda penitentiary. His brother, Marcos Donadon, a politician in the Rondonia State Assembly, has been convicted of the same crime. He was arrested on Wednesday at an airport in Rondonia, reportedly as he attempted to escape to neighbouring Bolivia. Earlier this week, Brazil's Senate approved a proposal that introduces tougher punishment for corruption. According to the proposed bill, which needs to approved by the lower house of Congress, corruption would become a "heinous crime" and those found guilty
of it would not be eligible for parole or amnesty. Public anger against corruption and impunity has prompted millions of Brazilians to take to the streets in the past month. The protests began in the city of Sao Paulo when local authorities put up transport fares by 10%. But the demands for the fare hikes to be revoked turned into a nationwide movement, which turned violent in several cities. Protesters have been demanding better public health care, transport and state education. Many complain about the high costs of preparations for next year's football World Cup and the 2016 Olympics in Rio. Huge protests are due to take place on Sunday in Rio de Janeiro, where the Brazilian football team face Spain in the final of the Confederations Cup - a dress rehearsal for the 2014 World Cup.
SAO PAULO (Reuters) Brazil’s trucking union is calling for a 72-hour strike starting Monday, potentially slowing the movement of record soy, corn and sugar crops to ports, although unlikely to stop exports. MUBC, as the most influential truckers union in Brazil is known, encouraged all sectors involved in transporting cargoes in the country to participate in a “passive protest” starting 6 a.m. (1000 GMT) on Monday, in a written statement posted online. Threats of a general strike in Brazil, which saw its largest protests in 20 years last week over issues ranging from
education to corruption in politics, are generally considered overblown, with pledges of participation waning. The trucking union’s demands include a subsidy for diesel fuel, exemption on highway toll payments for drivers and the creation of a new federal government department of cargo transportation. The threats comes as the last of Brazil’s record soybean harvest is on the way to the ports and traffic from sugar and corn crops is picking up. Unlike the United States, the western hemisphere’s other grains powerhouse,
Brazil relies overwhelmingly on trucks to move commodities and has not developed many trains or waterways. The MUBC last went on strike for a week in July of 2012, disrupting the flow of goods in the country’s heavily populated southeast and spurring fears of higher food prices. The main ports of Paranagua and Santos did not report snags in the flow of bulk commodities to foreign markets and most exporting companies keep grains in private storage units to minimize the effect of interruptions to ground transport.
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad - CMC – A reporter, who was dismissed in 2009 for refusing to disclose the source of his information for a story, has been awarded TT$600,000 by the Industrial Court for wrongful dismissal. Darryl Heeralal sued the Trinidad Express after he was dismissed for failing to submit his source to the then editorin-chief Omatie Lyder on June 29, 2009 for the story that concerned a probe into a shootout between police and bandits in Wallerfield, east of here in August 2007. The shootout led to the death of five people, including Wendy Courtney, a mother of five children, who was shot by a stray bullet as she lay in her bedroom. Heeralal was dismissed after he refused to reveal his source to Lyder when the
police officers sued the Express for defamation after their matter was dismissed after a preliminary inquiry. In his evidence, Heeralal said in refusing to reveal his source he had expressed concern to Lyder about confidentiality within the newsroom and wanted that issue addressed before he would reveal his source. “An entire arm of national security could have been compromised and there were death threats,” he said. But the newspaper argued that the employee had failed to comply with a legitimate instruction and therefore there was a loss of trust. But in its ruling, the Industrial Court said the reasons for dismissal were “not valid,” given the circumstances of the case, and that Heeralal “was denied
the basic principles of a fair opportunity to be heard”. The Banking, Insurance and General Workers Union (BIGWU), which is the bargaining body for print journalists, at the newspaper, asked the court for Heeralal to be reinstated or be granted damages of TT$750,000. But the court did not award the full amount.Heeralal told reporters while he was pleased with the ruling, he wanted the opportunity to clear his name, which he had built during his 11 years at the newspaper. “Trinidad is one of the very few places where freedom of the press is constitutionally enshrined. The meat of journalism is sources. If a journalist has to be forced to reveal his sources, then journalists will stand on nothing.”
Journalist wins case against Trinidad Express
AG has no trust in cops
Trinidad Guardian Attorney General Anand Ramlogan is confident a compromise will be reached with police to allow for his cellphone and other electronic devices to be handed over soon to investigate the Section 34 email matter. But he is insisting that only an international IT expert will be allowed to look at them because he is not confident the police will ensure the information remains confidential. In fact, he fears his confidential information might be leaked and used against him on a People’s National Movement platform. Ramlogan said so in response to questions from reporters during Thursday’s post-Cabinet news
‘Only foreign IT expert will get my devices’ conference at the Prime Minister’s office in St Clair. “In the current climate there are current international best practices, protocols and procedures that must be followed in circumstances such as these,” he said. He said his lawyer Pamela Elder, SC, had refused to hand over his devices Thursday because the proper arrangements were not in place for their safety and integrity. Once proper arrangements were put in place, the devices would be handed over, he said. But he insisted no local investigator will be allowed to look at the devices. “I have no difficulty [with] an international IT
expert whose credibility and reputation are beyond reproach and question going through my stuff,” Ramlogan said. “The agreement is, that is the only person that can go through the equipment. I have no difficulty with that, but I have a serious problem with anybody else going through your business that contains anything and everything.” Ramlogan said his reason for adopting that stance was obvious. “We are all human beings and we have a private life, a personal life, but more than that, we have a professional life as a government minister. I am the AG of the country, I sit on the National Security Council.”