Corruption Featured in World-Press Headlines
Dec 8th, 2008 • Posted in: NewsIndonesia starts school to teach ethics; Thailand roils with protest after voting-fraud allegations; 15 police officers in Chicago area are charged with helping drug runners
VARIOUS DATELINES
Allegations of corruption figured in a variety of news reports last week. Among the top stories:
- In a bid to stanch rampant corruption, Indonesia has started a new school to instill ethical values. Reuters reports that the Pangeran Diponegoro Anti-Corruption School, named after an Indonesian hero, will encourage students to behave honestly and refrain from cheating. The nation’s attorney general, who started the school, told Reuters that he believes Indonesia’s tolerance of corruption could be changed via education. Indonesia consistently ranks as one of the world’s most corrupt countries.
- Thailand has been gripped by nationwide protests in the aftermath of a court ruling that found fraud in last December’s general election. The decision forced the removal of Thailand’s prime minister and a new round of elections, reports the Bangkok Post. Complicating matters was the return to Thailand of the ex-wife of another ousted prime minister. Pojaman Shinawatra returned to Thailand even though she faces three years in jail on a tax change, the BBC reports. No reason was given for her return, though the Singapore Straits Times reports that some speculate it could be linked to the pending formation of a new government. Her former husband, Thaksin Shinawatra, was removed from office in a bloodless coup in 2006 and fled the country. He later was tried in absentia and convicted of corruption charges.
- Federal authorities in Cook County, Illinois, unsealed charges against 15 law enforcement officers, alleging that the officers were engaging in robbery, extortion, and distribution of narcotics and weapons, the Chicago Tribune reports. An FBI sting resulted in the arrest of one Chicago officer, 10 Cook County corrections officers and sheriff’s deputies, and four police officers from the community of Harvey, Illinois, south of Chicago. The FBI says the officers were providing protection for what they thought were a dozen large-scale shipments of cocaine and heroin.
Sources: Singapore Straits Times, Dec. 6 — BBC, Dec. 5 — Reuters, Dec. 4 — Bangkok Post, Dec. 3 — Chicago Tribune, Dec. 3.
For more information, see: Related Newsline story, Nov. 17 — Related Newsline story, Oct. 27 — Related Newsline story, Sep. 15 — Related Newsline story, July 21 — Related Newsline story, May 12.
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