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/ 21 October 2008
Enver Surty describes his new job as walking into the eye of the storm. Sello S Alcock caught up with the new justice minister in Cape Town.
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/ 11 September 2008
Incompetent prosecution often frustrates the intention of minimum sentencing legislation.
Justice Department DG received a harsh rebuke from Constitutional Court judges this week over a challenge regarding the dissolution of the Scorpions.
Justice and Constitutional Development Deputy Minister Johnny de Lange has effectively put his hand up for a cabinet role in a Zuma government.
The ANC’s campaign to shut down the Scorpions is being bolstered by direct assistance from Justice Director General Menzi Simelane.
How justice boss asked Vusi Pikoli’s staff to spy on him, helped the ANC with its anti-Scorpions submission, and told Mbeki the NPA was after him.
In a one-party dominant state like SA, officials with political aspirations that suit the ANC are allowed to ride roughshod over our hard-won values.
The Scorpions registered its own investigation into the arms deal with Britain’s BAE Systems earlier this year.
The Ginwala commission of inquiry has exposed massive trust gaps between the cops and prosecutors.
Good news for Jackie Selebi as Ginwala inquiry questions ”complex” deals, writes Adriaan Basson.
Suspended national prosecutions chief Vusi Pikoli was ”bitterly disappointed” at a two-day delay in the inquiry into his fitness to hold office.
Justice department director general Menzi Simelane had been ”blatantly dishonest” with the Ginwala inquiry into suspended head prosecutor Vusi Pikoli.
About 142 court cases linked to xenophobic violence have been opened countrywide, the National Prosecuting Authority said on Tuesday. Spokesperson Tlali Tlali said 102 of these were in Gauteng. Provincial police liaison officers approached said none of the 142 cases had reached the conviction stage yet.
The National Association of Democratic Lawyers called on the government on Monday to appoint a commission of inquiry into the xenophobic violence and offer financial relief to victims. The organisation added that the state should ”offer structural, financial, psychological and any other appropriate relief to all the victims of this violence”.
Public mistrust is mounting against Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, with an opinion poll on Monday showing a majority of Israelis think he should resign over a new probe into corruption allegations. Fifty-nine percent of Israelis want Olmert to step down, according to the survey published by the Yediot Aharonot newspaper.
The Ginwala hearing has made public a controversial letter from President Thabo Mbeki to Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Brigitte Mabandla over the handling of a warrant to arrest police national Commissioner Jackie Selebi. ”Since it was in the public domain and since it had been used, there could be no privilege that could attach to the letter,” Dr Frene Ginwala said.
The African National Congress (ANC) said on Tuesday the Khampepe report highlighted many of its concerns about the Directorate of Special Operations (DSO), which led to its resolution to have the unit moved to the police. ”That report raises the same concerns we are raising, which led to the raising of the ANC resolution,” said the party’s secretary general.
President Thabo Mbeki’s government has approved the disbanding of the elite Scorpions crime-fighting unit, bowing to pressure from supporters of rival Jacob Zuma who accused it of political abuse. Mbeki’s Cabinet adopted two Bills last week paving the way for the end of the Directorate of Special Operations.
Sudan will decide in two weeks whether to charge five people suspected of murdering a United States diplomat and his driver on January 1. Abdeen al-Tahir, a senior Interior Ministry official, told the Sudanese Media Centre the case would be referred to the Justice Ministry for trial in about 15 days.
The Ginwala inquiry has turned down a request for access to submissions on suspended National Director of Public Prosecutions Vusi Pikoli, the inquiry said on Wednesday. ”I have declined a request from Independent Newspapers that I make all submissions made to the inquiry available to them,” said a statement issued on behalf of inquiry leader Frene Ginwala.
United States authorities arrested an American engineer on Tuesday on suspicion of giving secrets on nuclear weapons to Israel during the 1980s, the Justice Department said. Ben-Ami Kadish was suspected of reporting to the same Israeli government handler as Jonathan Jay Pollard, who is serving a life term on a charge of spying for Israel.
Campaigners pressing for tougher controls on the sale of guns in the United States notched up a big victory this week when Wal-Mart, the country’s largest seller of firearms, agreed to a 10-point plan designed to prevent weapons falling into the hands of criminals.
The African National Congress (ANC) on Tuesday accused the Democratic Alliance (DA) of a persistent hatred towards it following a meeting between the parties on the future of the Scorpions. ”The only thing the DA and the Scorpions have in common is their persistent hatred of the ANC,” ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe said.
The Presidency and Justice Ministry on Friday claimed to have no knowledge of Scorpions boss Leonard McCarthy’s attempts to resign. They also claimed to know nothing about President Thabo Mbeki’s reported refusal to accept the resignation letter. ”There’s no such thing,” said Presidential spokesperson Mukoni Ratshitanga.
A newly declassified 2003 Justice Department memo gave United States military interrogators broad authority to use extreme methods in questioning al-Qaeda detainees, US media said on Wednesday. The memo argued that the US president’s wartime authority exempted them from laws banning cruel treatment.
A scanner costing R43-million — the first of 18 — has been put into operation at Durban harbour’s container terminal, the South African Revenue Service (Sars) said on Tuesday. Leonard Radebe, head of customs at Sars, said the scanner would improve turnaround times at the congested Durban terminal.
A decision on what disciplinary measures, if any, will be taken against Scorpions boss Leonard McCarthy over the Browse Mole report is expected ”soon”, the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development said on Thursday. ”A recommendation has been made to the minister and she will act,” said spokesperson Zolile Nqayi.
The Cabinet has dismissed renewed allegations of President Thabo Mbeki’s involvement in arms-deal corruption as baseless and mere speculation. Wednesday’s fortnightly Cabinet meeting had noted media reports regarding the investigation by German authorities into the allegations of corruption in the arms deal.
Violence at the hands of security forces, lynchings and vigilantism against criminals, are tarnishing Mozambique’s human rights record, according to a new report by the United States. The US State Department’s country report on human rights, launched in Maputo, said there had been a rise in vigilante killings.
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/ 27 February 2008
Thailand, trying to recover from two years of political turmoil, braced for the return of ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra from nearly 18 months in exile on Thursday, with his battle against an array of opponents far from over. Rivals ranging from the royalist establishment to street-protest leaders will confront Thaksin.
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/ 24 February 2008
A 26-year-old engineer has been sentenced to three years in prison for creating a fake profile of the younger brother of Moroccan King Mohammed VI on the popular internet networking site Facebook. A court in Casablanca on Friday convicted Fouad Mourtada of ”usurping the identity of HRH Prince Moulay Rachid”.
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/ 22 February 2008
The government remains committed to protecting and strengthening the role of traditional leaders in South Africa, President Thabo Mbeki said on Friday. Addressing the opening session of the National House of Traditional Leaders in Cape Town, he said the major challenge revolved around the implementation of legislation and programmes across the country.