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/ 7 November 2007
Police torture and brutality are rife and High Court orders are openly disregarded in Zimbabwe, pointing to a ”grave constitutional crisis”, according to a report released on Wednesday. The most worrying aspect is open attacks on members of the legal profession, said advocate Andrea Gabriel.
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/ 31 October 2007
South African police are investigating alleged abuses at billionaire United States television magnate Oprah Winfrey’s all-girl leadership academy, a police spokesperson said on Wednesday. Rapport newspaper has reported a matron at the school allegedly fondled one of the pupils, and grabbed a girl by the throat and threw her against a wall.
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/ 30 October 2007
United States State Department investigators looking into the shooting deaths of 17 Iraqis in Baghdad last month offered immunity deals to Blackwater security guards. The investigators from the agency’s investigative arm did not, however, have the authority to offer such immunity grants.
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/ 30 October 2007
Israel’s attorney general (AG) told the government on Monday it could not cut electrical power to the Gaza Strip as part of its sanctions against the Hamas controlled territory, although he did approve other measures. Israel began implementing economic sanctions on Sunday in what it said was a response to Palestinian rocket fire on Israeli towns.
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/ 23 October 2007
The Johannesburg High Court has not mislaid the file in the matter between PetroSA and Imvume Management, the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development said on Tuesday. ”The file is in fact in the possession of the registrar of the filing section of the Johannesburg High Court …,” department spokesperson Zolile Nqayi said in a statement.
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/ 23 October 2007
Europe’s top court on Tuesday overturned a German law that protects Volkswagen against takeovers, allowing Porsche to tighten its grip on the wheel of the continent’s biggest carmaker. The European Court of Justice ruled against the "Volkswagen Law", thereby upholding Porsche’s claim to voting rights in line with its 31% stake in VW.
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/ 23 October 2007
The government was acting according to provisions laid out in the law following the suspension of Vusi Pikoli, the department of Justice and Constitutional Development said on Tuesday. Spokesperson Zolile Nqayi said the department had taken note of last week’s comments by the Johannesburg Bar Council.
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/ 15 October 2007
The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) plans to ask the Public Protector to investigate whether the Scorpions’ investigating unit has a political agenda and is abusing its power, the league said on Monday. Spokesperson Zizi Kodwa said the ANCYL was in the process of making an appointment with the Public Protector to discuss its concerns.
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/ 12 October 2007
The Dutch government will ban the sale of hallucinogenic mushrooms, a spokesperson for the Justice Ministry said Friday, rolling back one element of the country’s permissive drug policy after a series of well-publicised negative incidents. The decision will go into effect within several months, Wim van der Weegen said.
South African President Thabo Mbeki came under mounting pressure over the weekend to explain his suspension of the country’s top prosecutor, a controversial move weeks before a crunch vote on his leadership of the African National Congress (ANC).
Recent crime statistics show that whatever is being done to fight crime in South Africa is not working, an expert said on Friday. ”It shows us that there is something wrong with our approach to this fight,” researcher Johan Burger said at the Institute of Security Studies seminar on the country’s crime-prevention strategy.
Acting National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) Mokotedi Mpshe has taken steps to cancel both an arrest and search warrant for police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi. The National Prosecuting Authority said in a statement it would like ”to clarify the status of the arrest and search warrants”.
President Thabo Mbeki ordered a safety review on Friday of all South Africa’s mines after a successful operation to rescue thousands of workers who were trapped underground. A statement from his office said Mbeki had called on Minister of Minerals and Energy Buyelwa Sonjica to conduct an across-the-board audit following the accident.
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/ 24 September 2007
President Thabo Mbeki has suspended Vusi Pikoli, the National Director of Public Prosecutions, it was announced on Monday. Mokotedi Mpshe was named as acting director. The move to suspend Pikoli — met with shock and disbelief by opposition political parties — comes amid a bitter turf war between the police and the Scorpions that has escalated to Cabinet level.
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/ 21 September 2007
Thailand is seeking to block clips on YouTube that accuse the chief royal adviser of masterminding last year’s bloodless coup. The government, which lifted a five-month ban on YouTube in August after it agreed to block clips deemed offensive to King Bhumibol Adulyadej, was seeking a court order to block two video clips.
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/ 18 September 2007
The vacancy rate in the Presidency, which comprises the offices of President Thabo Mbeki, Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka and Minister in the Presidency Essop Pahad, is 25% and staff turnover stands at 13,5%. CEO for the Presidency Trevor Fowler said the high turnover was a result of public-service salary structures, which could not compete with those in the private sector.
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/ 16 September 2007
There was a constitutional need for a single judiciary in South Africa, Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke said in Johannesburg on Saturday. The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development said Moseneke made these comments at a two-day Magistrate’s Conference.
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/ 13 September 2007
Former intelligence director general Billy Masetlha, charged with withholding information from Inspector General of Intelligence Zolile Ngcakani, went out of his way to provide such information, the Hatfield Community Court heard on Thursday during testimony by Masetlha.
Fraud, theft and unauthorised spending are on the rise in government departments, according to a Public Service Commission (PSC) report tabled at Parliament on Tuesday. The PSC’s Report on Financial Misconduct for the 2005/06 Financial Year says this cost the taxpayer at least R45-million at the time.
United States President George Bush finally lost his battle to hang on to the Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales, on Monday after months of unremitting congressional pressure over a series of scandals that included the firing of nine state prosecutors, wire tapping and torture. Bush blamed the Democrats, accusing them of dragging a decent and talented man through the mud.