Venues range from United Nations to courtrooms in Asia, South Africa, and United States

VARIOUS DATELINES
Allegations of graft figured in several stories from the international media last week. Among the coverage:

• The chief of the United Nations’ internal watchdog bureau accused the organization of being lax on corruption. According to the Reuters news agency, the remarks by Inga-Britt Ahlenius came as she presented a U.N. committee with a report by a task force that has probed allegations of graft linked to contracts enforced by the world body. Ahlenius, head of the Office of Internal Oversight Services, claims that 250 separate investigations by her office uncovered “a serious problem” of defective internal controls that leave the agency vulnerable to “waste, abuse, fraud, and corruption.”
• A court case in Miami is focusing a spotlight on corruption in Venezuela, according to press reports. Testimony in the trial of businessman Franklin Duran has involved repeated allegations that millions of dollars were funneled to the government of Hugo Chavez. According to the Washington Post, the testimony exposed allegations that “top government officials have profited from a corrosive web of corruption in the oil-rich country…. Kickbacks, bribes, and secret payoffs have become a feature in the socialist administration, which had claimed a break from the past but instead has seen several officials implicated in multimillion-dollar corruption schemes, according to testimony and conversations taped by the FBI.” According to the Miami Herald, a prosecution witness testified last week that he and the defendant had purchased an office building in Caracas for $4.5 million so they could sell it to the Venezuelan Finance Ministry for $9.5 million — kicking back $4.5 million to senior officials of the agency and pocketing half a million dollars in the process.
• Thailand’s Supreme Court last week convicted — in absentia — former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra of corruption charges related to a land deal. Thaksin, who has been in exile since being overthrown in a bloodless coup related to public outrage over graft allegations, was sentenced to two years in jail, reports the Bangkok Post. But carrying out the sentence is another matter, notes the paper: Thaksin currently is seeking asylum in Britain, which has the final say in whether he will be extradited, and related procedures are expected to be long and complex.
• The former vice mayor of Beijing has been given a suspended death sentence for bribery and corruption. Prosecutors allege that Liu Zhihua, who was in charge of construction projects in preparation for the Olympics, pocketed about a million dollars in kickbacks in return for providing favors in contracts and loans, the official state news agency Xinhua reports. Liu’s death sentence was delayed two years, according to the Jurist, probably meaning that the Liu will receive life imprisonment if he exhibits good behavior.
• Jacob Zuma, the head of South Africa’s ruling party and the leading candidate in that country’s upcoming presidential election, may face revived corruption charges. The Voice of America reports that a South African court granted a prosecutor’s request to appeal a recent ruling dismissing charges against Zuma. Zuma, who was accused of taking bribes from a French arms company, denies any wrongdoing.
• The murder of a crusading journalist has focused international attention on corruption in Croatia, reports the Associated Press. The nation’s prime minister vowed to relentlessly pursue the killers of Ivo Pukanic, who was killed when a bomb exploded near his car. Pukanic’s magazine had published several articles exposing alleged corruption in politics and business. Stanching corruption has been one of the demands imposed by the European Union, which is considering admitting Croatia in 2010.

Sources: Bangkok Post, Oct. 25 — Washington Post, Oct. 24 — Miami Herald, Oct 24 — International Herald Tribune, Oct. 24 — Jurist, Oct. 24 — Reuters, Oct. 24 — Voice of America, Oct. 24 — AP, Oct. 24 — Xinhua, Oct. 19.

For more information, see: Related Newsline story, Oct. 20 — Related Newsline story, Oct. 20 — Related Newsline story, Oct. 6 — Related Newsline story, Sep. 29 — Related Newsline story, Sep. 8.