Chandana Pradeep, a 30 years old barber who argued with his 45 years old lover when she refused to give him money for alcohol had his penis bitten off in Sri Lanka. Herald Sun May 19, 2012 8:51AM
The barber's case has a preceding infamous New Yorker, John Wayne Bobbit who allegedly mistreated his wife. His Ecuadorian wife, Lorena, in June 23, 1993 cut off nearly half of his penis on grounds of
cheating, abuse, forcing her to get an abortion, and other heinous acts. She threw the penis into a field and was later located after an exhaustive search by the police who then packed in ice, and delivered to the hospital where John Bobbitt was being treated.
According to testimony given by Lorena Bobbitt in a 1994 court hearing, he was intoxicated after a night of partying and then raped her. Subsequently John Wayne Bobbitt was tried for and acquitted of spousal rape. The jury found Lorena not guilty due to insanity causing an irresistible impulse to sexually wound her husband. Lorena underwent a 45-day evaluation period at Central State Hospital, located in Petersburg, Virginia. In 1995, after six years of marriage, Lorena and John divorced.
After the divorce, John continued to have run-ins with the law. He was reportedly arrested seven times for offenses ranging from assault to grand larceny. He appeared in a gimmick adult biopic of his own life, as well as a dominatrix video in order to pay his medical (a nine-hour operation) and legal bills. Eventually he began dating someone new, publicly claiming that they would remain abstinent until they married, but after a while he got thrown in jail for hitting her. Early in 1997, he became a minister at a Las Vegas church, but told Comedy Central's "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" (1996) that a sequel to _John Wayne Bobbit Uncut_ (1997) was not out of the question.
In December 1997, Gallo made news when she was charged with assault for punching her mother, Elvia Gallo, as they watched television. She was eventually found not guilty of assault and her mother continued to live with her. In 2007, she was working at a beauty salon in the Washington, D.C. area and in the same year founded Lorena's Red Wagon organization, which helps prevent domestic violence through family oriented activities.
The Bobbitt case was one of the first cases that brought public attention to the subject of marital rape.
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Political analyst Abdul Razak Abdullah Baginda, who was charged with
abetting in the murder but was acquitted and discharged without his
defence being called on Oct 31, 2008.
Azilah and Sirul were convicted in April 9, 2009 sentenced to death by the Shah Alam High Court .
Found guilty of murdering the 28-year-old Mongolian mother of two in Mukim
Bukit Raja near here 10pm on Oct 19, 2006 and 1am the following day.
There is no
perfect crime. The taxi driver hired by Altantuya for the day did not
appreciate that his passenger was kidnapped under his eyes without
payment for the fare. He took note of the registration plate of the
kidnapper’s car and filed a complaint at the local police station. In a
few days, the police identified the car and realized that it was a
government vehicle. Read More at Margeemar Blog
The duo, who were commandos with the elite Special Action Squad, subsequently filed their appeals in the same month. As at Friday February 10, 2012 the hearing date for the appeals of two police personnel convicted of
the murder of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu has yet to be fixed because
one of them, C/Insp Azilah Hadri has not filed his petition of appeal. Azilah's lawyer J Kuldeep Kumar said the petition could not be filed as he had only received 40 of 57 volumes of the documents. Kuldeep Kumar said the documents were subsequently send to him in stages
in the last six months, adding that he would obtain the remaining 17
volumes of documents from the court.
Opposition leaders have said Najib might also have had an affair with
Altantuya and that there was a connection between her murder and the
controversial multi-billion ringgit Scorpene submarine deal between the
Malaysian government and French arms manufacturer DCNS. They said the onus was now on Najib to prove his innocence in the
RM6.7billion submarine deal following an allegation of a “third person”
in the negotiation that took place in Macau. It is alleged that Altantuya was an interpreter in the deal.
In June 2002, the Malaysian government signed a EUR 1 billion contract
with Armaris (now DCNS) and Spanish naval shipbuilder Izar (now
Navantia) for 2 SSK Scorpenes and associated support and training.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ OK, RPK Switch Sides But Why Are Everyone Surprise? The
pro-government TV3 station aired an exclusive interview with blogger
Raja Petra Kamarudin April 13, 2011, where he claimed that he was merely
writing accusations made by others against Datuk Seri Najib Razak and
his wife over the Altantuya murder case.VIA
RPK: I don’t believe PM’s wife was at Altantuya's murder scene VIA
How Raja Petra lost the plot and became irrelevant VIA
On April 15, 2011 The Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement (MCLM)
president Haris Ibrahim said the timing and "spin-doctoring" by the
mainstream media clearly showed that the BN was using any means it could
to stop Pakatan Rakyat's advance in the Sarawak polls. He also
lambasted Najib for claiming that the Altantuya murder case is closed
following Raja Petra’s alleged “confession”, saying that there are too
many questions left unanswered for it to be done and over with.
“The public have lost faith in our judiciary. Razak Baginda was
acquitted, and the public believe that the two convicted are just
scapegoats.
“Nobody understands why these two lowly police officers, of their own volition, blew this woman to smithereens?
“It (the case) may be closed in the PM’s mind, (but) it is not closed in
the court of public opinion. That is what counts,” Haris said. VIA
Raja
Petra Kamarudin has defended his interview aired with TV3, saying that
it will renew focus on allegations surrounding the Altantuya Shariibuu
murder. VIA
In an e-mail interview with Malaysia Insider on
April 15, Raja Petra insisted that he is not a turncoat. He said that he
will continue to support the opposition – the Pakatan Rakyat.
Immediately following the TV3 interview of Raja Petra, the Prime
Minister Najib Razak claimed that he is thankful that the truth has
finally emerged and he considered the matter closed.
These questions below have been there right since the start of the case
and they will continue to be there for posterity until the truth of the
grisly murder finally emerges.
What were the motives of the two police officers convicted of killing
Altantuya as they appear to have no earlier connection or previous
knowledge of her?
How did they obtain the C4 explosives and who approved the release of this strictly restricted materiel to them?
The third accused Abdul Razak Baginda – who was acquitted of the charge
against him – is a political analyst with known ties to Najib. A
transcript had surfaced of alleged text messages between them. What did
the sms exchanges imply?
Why was DSP Musa Safri never investigated when he gave orders to his
officer Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri to help Razak Baginda? Azilah had
testified in court that Musa told him Razak had a problem because
someone threatened him and he [Azilah] was to lend assistance to Razak.
Why was Altantuya’s record of entry missing from the immigration
records? Have the immigration officers responsible provided a credible
explanation as to how Altantuya’s entry details seemingly disappeared?
Why has the immigration department not carried out an internal inquiry,
and the other higher authorities carried out an independent inquiry,
into this serious breach or if they did, the report not made public?
Why were the three affidavits and video interview of P. Balasubramaniam,
who was engaged by Abdul Razak Baginda as private investigator and who
has since vanished, not investigated? VIA
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Part 5:'I was told Rosmah was happy with my retraction' Part 4: PI Bala - From Bangkok to Kathmandu to Delhi Part 3:Cops grill PI Bala in Bangkok, praise his courage Part 2:PI Bala reveals his final hours in M'sia Part 1:Bala was in town, now on Youtube Press conference at the Holiday Villa London on Wednesday, 07 July 2010
Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officers who were supposed to record former private investigator P. Balasubramaniam statement in London has cancelled their trip. Balasubramaniam had flown to London from India after MACC officers contacted his lawyers to express their intention to interview him in connection with his retraction of statutory declaration and events surrounding the death of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibu. Balasubramaniam's counsel, Manjeet Singh Dhillon intended to highlight a whole series of events surrounding this Altantunya matter if MACC had come to London to interview Bala. According to Dhillon MACC had recorded no less than five statements from Balasubramaniam.
Five statements from Balasubramaniam previously made to MACC
1)Balasubramaniam was hired as a private investigator by Abdul Razak Baginda after it was alleged that Altantunya was harrassing him for non-payment of commission after the purchase of submarines.
2)Abdul Razak Baginda, a former political analyst, who was charged with abetting in Altantuya's murder, was acquitted by the Shah Alam High Court on Oct 31, 2008 after the judge found no prima facie case against him.
3)After the death of Altantunya, Balasubramaniam had made a statutory declaration relating to the murder but withdrew it the day after through a second sworn declaration.
4)"The way Bala was treated after the first SD on 3rd July 2008; he was immediately apprehended, bribed, cajoled, threatened and removed from the jurisdiction of Malaysia," Dhillon asserted.
5)Balasubramaniam admitted that he was apprehensive about returning to Malaysia and alleged that he could be thrown into detention.
The press conference was also attended by Federal Territory Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) chief Zaid Ibrahim, fugitive blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin and members of the alternative media, Bernama reports. Also according to the report of a online news portal, Balasubramaniam said Razak is a scapegoat. He has nothing to do with the murder. VIA
Monday May 24, 2010:Fugitive blogger Raja Petra Raja Kamarudin has turned up in London and threw a challenge to the Malaysian Government to bring him to trial in the United Kingdom. Link
Pakatan Rakyat is taking its fight overseas with the launch of Friends for Pakatan Rakyat (FoPR) club in London. VIA
Americk Sidhu,counsel for P. Balasubramaniam has made a press atatement that The money P. Balasubramaniam is using to pay for his trip to London and his hotel accommodation there is derived from the funds he has received from Deepak Jaikishan at the behest of Rosmah Mansor. VIA
Below is the statement released by Balasubramaniam on what he told the French prosecutor M Ryckewaert at the Direction Centrale de la Police Judiciare DNIF, Nanterre,in Paris on Monday,July 12, 2010.
Areas covered in the interview.
1) My background [including date and place of birth] and my occupation from the time I was with the Malaysian police to the time when I became a private investigator in 1998.
2) The validity of my PI (private investigator) licence.
3) The whole story as to how I was recruited to do a job for Razak Baginda and my interview before the job done by Dhirren Norendra, a lawyer practising in Kuala Lumpur. I was questioned about the scope of my assignment, the target and objectives of my assignment.
4) The background to the Altantuya murder. I briefed them on the events leading up to and after the murder and also told them to read my first SD (statutory declaration) and the Singapore interview. Also the identity of the two police officers convicted of the murder, who they worked for as well as the identity of the various other people identified as being about when Altantunya disappeared and their link to Razak Baginda and/or the PM (prime minister).
5) Razak Baginda's relationship with our present PM, the information and events narrated to me by Razak Baginda including the SMS sent by the PM to Razak Baginda at the point of his arrest for the murder of Altantuya.
6) The Malaysian company, Perimekar, its ownership, and link to Razak Baginda and his wife. Also nature of business undertaken by Perimekar. I told them of the presence of army equipment in Razak Baginda's office. Information concerning Razak Baginda and his present whereabouts.
7) Financial payments by Razak Baginda to Altantuya, including the three US$5,000 payments by Baginda to Altantuya, which included a penalty of US$1,000 because of late banking in. Also the purchase by Razak Baginda of an apartment in Mongolia for Altantuya. Also the background to the US$500,000 payment demanded by Altantuya, how it arose, its link to the Scorpene submarine deal, Altanunya's involvement in the negotiations, and admission and confirmation by Razak Baginda that he should have paid Altantuya the money.
8) How Rosmah Mansor teamed up with Deepak to exile me from Malaysia, the threats to my family after I signed the first SD as well as the involvement of the PM's brother in the events that led to the second SD and my being smuggled out of Malaysia and asked to stay away till Najib Razak became PM.
9) I was asked to retrace the events in Rawang coffee house where Deepak, Dinesh and ASP Suresh were present.
10) The length and time I have been in exile.
11) Details concerning Altantuya's cousin, Ammy, who had knowledge of the Paris dinner where the PM and Razak Baginda were present with Altantuya.
12) The identity of the French individuals involved in the Scorpene deal.
13) My knowledge of any payments by the French to Perimekar and information given to me by Altantuya that her US$500,000 was because of the successful deal concerning the Scorpene submarine transaction.
14) The identity, background and involvement of two Malaysians identified as Major Rahim and Abdul Rahim Saad.
15) Altantuya's family background.
16) My links with Suaram, if any.
17) The need for justice to be served for the Altantuya murder and the truth to be told concerning the Scorpene deal. VIA
A NINE-year-old Brazilian girl pregnant was believed to be sexually abused since she was aged six by her 23-year-old stepfather. She was found to be four months pregnant with a twin after being taken to hospital suffering stomach pains. She was being cared for by a medical and psychological team in the Maternal-Child Institude in the northern city of Recife, close to her hometown of Alagoinha in Pernambuco state.
She underwent an abortion Wednesday, March 04, 2009 at the public university hospital. The director, Fatima Maia said the 15-week-old pregnancy posed a serious risk to the 80-pound (36-kilogram) girl. "She is very small. Her uterus doesn't have the ability to hold one, let alone two children," But Marcio Miranda, a lawyer for the Archdiocese of Olinda and Recife in northeastern Brazil, said the girl should have carried the twins to term and had a Caesarean section. Brazil is home to more Catholics than any other nation and there were complaints from Brazil's Roman Catholic church against the abortion. Abortion is illegal in Brazil except in cases of rape or if the woman's health is in danger.
The 23-year-old stepfather was also allegedly abused the girl's physically handicapped 14-year-old sister. He was arrested on Thursday March 05, 2009 as he attempted to flee to another region in Brazil, and was being kept in protective custody. VIA
Charlene Corley, 47, co-owner of the plumbing and electrical firm C&D Distributors, who supplied parts to the military, is awaiting sentence after pleading guilty on 16 Aug 2007 to defrauding the Pentagon. She faces 20 years in jail. Still awaiting prison term, on Friday 27th February 2009, her lawyer appealed for leniency, claiming that it was all Wooten’s fault and that Corley, as a volunteer, transformed an autistic child into an honor student. Darlene Wooten the other owner and Charlene Corley's twin sister, committed suicide after being contacted by federal investigators. On the day she killed herself, Wooten wrote a check to the government for $4.5 million.
Nothing compared to an extravagant claim by a South Carolina firm: almost $1m for two metal washers worth 19c each. The owners of C&D Distributors of Lexington, South Carolina, submitted online bids to the Defense Department to supply hardware components, plumbing fixtures, electronic equipment and other items to US bases round the world, including Iraq and Afghanistan. The most expensive washers in history were part of $20.5m the company stole from the Pentagon over the last 10 years. C&D fabricated shipping costs into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, as in the case of the washers, although the value of the items purchased rarely topped $100. The company took advantage of an automated system intended to cut out red tape by making speedy payments. It claimed $998,798 for sending the two washers, which could have been put in an envelope and posted through normal mail for a few dollars. Other bills included $445,640 for shipping one elbow pipe worth $8.75, $492,096 for a machine thread plug and $403,436 for six screws worth $59.94.
Picture left:Lock washers are meant for applications where the components of the joint or the threads may permanently deform enough to reduce bolt tension. Properly applied lock washers are not "mashed flat" they are left with some spring in them. There are applications, ex some automobile starter motor mounts, that stipulate the use of lock washers. Lock washers usually have a plain washer under them, next to whatever part is being tightened. Lock washers come in several styles. Spring, Wave, Internal Tooth, External Tooth, Ribbed, lots of different types. Sometimes, the lock washer will have a tab on the inside which fits into a hole in the part being held on. After you tighten the nut, part of the washer is bent over against the nut. This keeps the nut from loosening. Other times there is a groove in the end of the male threaded part and, after tightening, part of the nut is bent into that groove. This is called a Key Nut. These bendy type washers require a new washer or nut every time you disassemble a part. Nuts and bolts can also be locked in place by chemical thread lockers and by safety wire.
This photo, supplied by the Logan County Sheriff's Office, shows Amber Carter, 35, the Ohio fourth grade teacher, who is being charged with misdemeanor prostitution, skipped class after using a school computer to arrange an afternoon tryst at a motel and was arrested Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2009, in Bellefontaine, Ohio.
Amber Carter was arrested Tuesday at a motel parking lot in Bellefontaine in central Ohio and was charged with misdemeanor prostitution and a felony, unauthorized use of property, regarding the computer.
Carter now on administrative leavenever received a reprimand in 13 years at the district.
Bringing home one new baby or even eight is somewhat natural enough. The six boys and two girls -- ranging in weight from 1 pound, 8 ounces to 3 pounds, 4 ounces -- are doing well following their Caesarean-section delivery at the Bellflower hospital, doctors said. They were born nine weeks premature. All eight babies were delivered in five minutes. Baby H, the eight, made headlines for its surprise appearance during the delivery when doctors initially thought the mother was pregnant with seven fetuses. But how's this for overwhelming: The California octuplets born on Jan. 26. have six older siblings at home. The oldest is seven, and the youngest is two.That's fourteen kids, in case you're too stunned to count. Including a set of twins. And what, more all six were conceived using some form of reproductive technology with no supporting father. She used donor sperm provided by a friend; the same man is rumoured to be the father of all six of her children, although he has no involvement with the family. The same fertility specialist provided in-vitro fertilization for all 14 of her children. The mother Nadya Suleman, 33, a divorced single mother, and the six older kids have been living with Suleman in Whittier, California. Suleman said six embryos were implanted for each of her pregnancies. In her latest, two of Suleman's embryos split, resulting in two sets of twins in the octuplets. And just over eighteen months ago, the woman's parents filed for bankruptcy after buying a home for their daughter and her children. The babies' grandfather, Suleman's husband, is planning to return to his native Iraq to work, in order to help support his daughter's brood. How on earth she ever convinced a fertility specialist to transfer so many eggs in the first place considering the babies face serious health risks, of course, and expensive medical treatments, which makes the family's precarious financial situation an issue. The mother will need a lot of help with fourteen kids, eight of whom are infants, and without a father supports.
The Medical Board of California is investigating the fertility doctor to see if they can substantiate if there was a violation of the standard of care. Doctors say the norm is to implant two or three embryos, at most, in women Suleman's age. It is even harder to understand the fertility doctor centre went ahead when she had six kids, knowing that she was a single mom and put embryos into her nevertheless. Doctor is saying she had two ectopic pregnancies, a dangerous condition in which a fertilized egg implants somewhere other than in the uterus. The state documents describe Suleman becoming pregnant with her first child after a 1999 injury during a riot at a state mental hospital where she worked.
Following a public records request to the state Division of Workers' Compensation it is revealed that Suleman collected more than $165,000 in disability payments between 2002 and 2008 for the work injury, which she said left her in near-constant pain and helped end her marriage.
DNA test shows 13-year-old Alfie Patten is not a dad. Chantelle Stedman told Alfie Patten, who was 12 when he slept with her, he was her newborn daughter Maisie's father and that he was the only boy she had ever slept with, but soon after other teens came forward saying they too could be the baby's father, because they claimed to have had sex with the girl. It is still not clear who the baby's father is as at March 27, 2009. VIA
The Mirror reports: (The Mirror has pulled the story from their site on 27 March, 2009) The result will be a blow to Alfie who was "devastated" by the boys' claims and "adored" Maisie. He was convinced he was the dad after a single night of unprotected sex with Chantelle. Before he took the test, he said: "I didn't know about DNA tests before but mum explained it's when they do a swab in your mouth and it tells if you're the dad. So if I have it, they can all shut up." His mum Nicole, 43, added at the time: "It had not even crossed Alfie's mind whether Chantelle had not been faithful to him. He's absolutely devastated that these lads say they slept with her." VIA
Update: Alfie agreed to take the test after two other boys – Richard Goodsell, 16, and Tyler Barker, 14 – claimed they had been involved in a sexual relationship with Chantelle. His father Dennis, 45, who has reportedly boasted about how much money he can make from the situation, is allegedly considering an offer to have the DNA results opened on a television talk show, according to the Daily Star. Richard Goodsell, 16, a trainee chef, has claimed he often shared a bed with Chantelle over a period of three months around the time she became pregnant. His mother Barbie-Jayne, 35, also backs his story. Tyler Barker, 14, also claims to have had a relationship with Chantelle, who appears much older than her years. He told the News of the World: "I slept with Chantelle in her bed about nine months ago and I'm really worried I could be the father. In the UK, there were no restrictions on paternity tests until the Human Tissue Act came into force in September 2006. Section 45 states that it is an offence to possess without appropriate consent any human bodily material with the intent of analyzing its DNA. Legally declared fathers have access to paternity testing services under the new regulations, provided the putative parental DNA being tested is their own.VIA
Picture left: Penny Stedman , mother of 15-year-old Chantelle, at her home in Eastbourne, East Sussex After a night of unprotected sex, an eight year old looking Alfie Patten of 13 became a father on Monday 9 Feb 2009 when his girlfriend Chantelle Steadman gave birth to 7lb 3oz Maisie Roxanne at Eastbourne Hospital, East Sussex. Alfie, who is just 4ft tall didn’t think about how he d his “girlfriend” would afford it. Alfie don’t really get pocket money. His dad sometimes gives him £10. Maisie was conceived after Chantelle and Alfie — just 12 at the time — had a single night of unprotected sex. Alfie’s dad Dennis said Alfie seemed desperate to be a devoted and responsible father. The young couple found out about the baby when Chantelle was 12 weeks pregnant. It is not until six weeks later when Chantelle’s mum Penny, 38, became suspicious about her weight gain and confronted her when the truth spilled out. United Kingdom PM Gordon Brown refused to comment directly on the story but said it was important that the Government did all it could to prevent teenage pregnancies. The age of sexual consent is 16. But Sussex Police said they had looked into the case and decided it was 'not in anyone's interests' for anyone to be prosecuted.
Chantelle and Maisie after been released from hospital are living with Penny, Chantelle’s jobless dad Steve, 43, and her five brothers in a rented council house in Eastbourne. The family live on benefits. Alfie, who lives on an estate across town with mum Nicola Patten, 43, spends most of his time at the Steadmans’ house. Alfie’s dad, is separated from Nicola(They had been married for 14 years after Dennis divorced Nicola. ) who works for a vehicle recovery firm. Alfie's half-sister Nicole, 19, yesterday blamed their father for the 13-year-old having a child so young because he left home for a 19-year-old girl. Dennis ran off with the teenager, who is now 21, two years ago, when Alfie was 11, and is still living with her.
And rumours began circulating in Chantelle's neighbourhood that Alfie was not Maisie's father. Neighbours said Chantelle has been with quite a few lads. They are allowed to sleep over at her house, her parents don't mind. She is treated like an adult and can do what she wants. The Stedmans let the kids run wild on the street until all hours, they have no control over them. She knows lots of boys and never has the same boyfriend for long. Alfie lives with her and seems to think he's the dad but everbody think he should have a DNA test.
Chantelle Stedman can claim no benefits until she reaches 16, her next birthday. But state benefits to support her and her baby will be paid to her mother Penny until then. At a minimum, the family can expect to receive around £30,000 a year - close to £600 a week. Penny, 38, will claim benefits to support herself and her four children including Chantelle. She will also claim on behalf of new-born Maisie. The family may claim benefits on the basis that Penny's unemployed partner Steve is a live-in member of the household.
If so, their claims may look like this:
* Child Benefit: Paid automatically for each child - £72.80 a week. * Council Tax Benefit: Likely to cover the full bill - £30 a week. * Child Tax Credit: Now the main payment to support children of out-of-work or low income mothers. Possible payment for the five Stedman children - £221 a week. * Income Support: If paid to Penny and Steve as a live-in couple - £94.95 a week. * Housing Benefit: Likely to cover the full rent of their council house, together with any service charges. This may be - £150 a week. * Total: £568.75 a week, or £29,575 a year.
Narayan's engineer husband Satish was alseep when his genitals was set on fire by his wife Rajini Narayan, 44. She believed he was having an affair appeared in court on a murder charge Monday 05 Jan 2009. Narayan, 47, died in hospital last week. In the event their double-storey Adelaide home was damaged when his wife doused his genitals with methylated spirit and set them on fire on December 8 last year. The blaze spread when he jumped out of bed and knocked over the bottle of spirits, causing around 700,000 US dollars damage to the house and a neighbouring property. VIA
HEALTH funds have been paying rebates to members who get sexual services which cost $60 were billed as a massage or as acupuncture and attracted a health fund rebate of $40 in Sydney brothels a fraud investigation has found. Health funds uncovered the practice after chasing up Chinese community newspaper advertisements offering to provide "young attractive masseuse with a health fund rebate". Others were identified because all their clients were males aged 36-72 who were charged for acupuncture treatments over consecutive days.
The health fund rebates provided to brothels are just a small part of the fraudulent claims made on private health insurers. Unscrupulous optometrists has a fair share too. Almost half of the optical stores targeted by health fund investigators offered to pretend the sunglasses they sold were prescription items so the customer could claim a health fund rebate. It's estimated fraudulent health fund claims could be adding about 2 per cent to the cost of the health insurance business every year. VIA
21 October 2008-Chief Magistrate Court in Minna, Niger State capital yesterday granted protective bail to Alhaji Mohammed Bello Masaba, restricting him to only 4 wives. Masaba is currently standing trial for allegedly insulting Islamic religious creeds contrary to the state penal code. The magistrate stated that Muslim Youths in Bida home of the octogenarian with 86 wives and over 100 children took to the streets recently not only to denounce his position but passed Fatwa death sentence on him. The trial Magistrate, Ahmed Bima, said granting the accused bail would not be in his best interest and that of the society. He, therefore, ruled that he was granting Bello-Masaba a protective bail, ordering him to stay in Minna during the duration of the trial, with the state government providing him with a suitable accommodation. The case has been adjourned till November 5 for further hearing.
Nigerian Mohammed Bello Abubakar is a short, slightly built,84-year-old, former teacher and Muslim preacher, who lives in Niger State has 86 wives and at least 170 children. He says his wives have sought him out because of his reputation as a healer. Mr Bello Abubakar says there is no punishment stated in the Koran for having more than four wives. Mr Bello Abubakar and his wives do not work and he has no visible means of supporting such a large family. Bello Masaba has refused to explain where he gets the money to feed and clothe such a large family. Every mealtime they cook three 12kg bags of rice which all adds up to $915 (￡457) every day. According to one of his wives, Mr Bello Abubakar sometimes asks his children to go and beg for 200 naira ($1.69, ￡0.87), which if they all did so would bring in about $290 (￡149).
Most of his wives live in a squalid, unfinished house in Bida; others live in his house in Lagos, Nigeria's commercial capital.Most sleep three and more to a room in the dank and crowded home.
"It's all from God," he says. He claims the Prophet Muhammad speaks to him personally and gives detailed descriptions of his experiences. He now faces charges of insulting the religious creed for his inflammatory comments about Islam when he drew attention during his interviews to local journalists and television crews claiming he had special God-given powers and challenged accepted interpretation of the Islamic holy book, the Koran. In years past, he kept quiet and nobody bothered him. His 86 wives are mounting a protest to get their husband out of prison because, they say, they are happy with their unconventional arrangement. He will appear Oct6 in court for the charge. VIA
November 2003, Gary Leon Ridgway (born February 18, 1949), known as the Green River Killer, is one of the most prolific serial killers in American history. The Green River case has already set cost records in King County, with a $12 million price tag over the last two years alone. A death penalty trial for Ridgway would likely be one of the longest and most complex in U.S. history. On November 5, 2003, Ridgway entered a guilty plea to 48 charges of aggravated first degree murder as part of a plea bargain, agreed to in June, that would spare him execution in exchange for his cooperation in locating the remains of his victims and providing other details. In his statement accompanying his guilty plea, Ridgway explained all of his victims had been killed inside King County, Washington, and that he had transported and dumped the remains of the two women near Portland to confuse the police.
Full documentary Video On November 30, 2001, as Gary was leaving a Renton, Washington factory where he worked, he was arrested for the murders of four women whose cases were linked to him through DNA evidence.[1] Two years later he pleaded guilty to 48 counts of aggravated murder, although he says he actually killed 71 women, almost all prostitutes. The murders occurred in the early 1980s. As part of a plea bargain, he was spared the death penalty and received a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Ridgway has been married three times and has one son. He carried his son's photo in his wallet to lure most of his victims into his pickup truck. DOCUMENTS • Prosecutor's summary of evidence (King County, Wash.)PDF link • Plea agreement (PDF, King County)PDF link • Ridgway's statement (PDF, King County)PDF link VIA Read More: External Links - 1) Gary Ridgway 2) Court TV.com: Why not the death penalty?
1st pict.BIZARRE: Sonny Graham got the heart and wife, Cheryl, of transplant donor Terry Cottle. Both men shot themselves in the head. 2nd pict.In this photo provided by Michelle Graham Crozier and taken by Kevin Crozier, Sonny Graham, center, is seen with his daughter Michelle Graham Crozier and his son Gray Graham outside the restaurant, The Steeple Chase, in Vidalia, Georgia on August 12, 2006 3rd pict.Heart transplant recipient Sonny Graham, left, and his wife, Cheryl, pray during a moment of silence in this Dec. 1, 2006 There’s something about Cheryl with four husbands, two suicides, one heart.
RALEIGH (North Carolina) — One morning in south-east Georgia,69-year-old Mr Sonny Graham picked up the shotgun and pulled the trigger on himself.
Almost exactly 13 years before this, Mr Terry Cottle suicide had given Mr Graham whose heart muscle was damaged a second chance at life with the former heart.
But the two men were to share more than just an organ. Nearly a decade after the transplant,Mr Graham married Mr Cottle’s young widow, Ms Cheryl Sweat.
Mr Terry Cottle in 1988 was married and living with his wife and their two young daughters in South Carolina before falling in love with Cheryl — a petite beauty with auburn hair and hazel eyes,his boss's daughter. Cheryl, who had recently had her three-year marriage annulled on grounds that her husband was married to someone else got married to Terry Cottle in May 1989, nine days later after he divorced his wife.(Divorce granted) Picture-FIRST TRAGEDY: Cheryl, with suicidal first hubby Terry Cottle.
After a huge argument on March 15, 1995 where Cheryl told Mr Cottle that she couldn’t stay married to a man who made less money than she did as a nurse, Mr Cottle went to the bathroom and shot himself.Four days later, Cheryl, now a 30-year-old widow, agreed to take him off life support and donate his organs The donor heart went to Mr Remus T “Sonny” Graham who had been waiting more than a year for — Mr Cottle’s.
Graham later confess in a letter he fell in love with Cheryl the first time they met for dinner at a restaurant in January 1997 with Elaine, his wife of 38 years.
The feeling was apparently not mutual — at least, not at first. That April, Cheryl married husband No 3, Mr George Watkins. But by October 2001, Cheryl and Graham had separated from their respective spouses, and had moved in together.
However,in May 2002, Cheryl left. She got married to Husband No 4, Mr John B Johnson, Jr.The union was short-lived following a divorce in August 2004. Then, Cheryl and Graham got married on Dec 8, 2004.
Mr Johnson, husband No 4, says: “One day she hates you and one day she loves you and the next day she hates you. I guess I am lucky to be alive.” Also added thatanyone who gets involved with his ex-wife is in for an emotional roller coaster ride.
In March 2008 Mr Graham’s loaned heart would stop beating for good.Apparently, Mr Graham had run up large debts trying, as he once put it, “to keep Cheryl in the style she wants to live” Those who know her say she did not act like a grieving widow.Shortly after Mr Graham’s death, she posted a man’s photo identifying him as her “new boyfriend” in her MySpace account. A flirtatious message on the man’s webpage, from her account, was dated March 26 — six days before Mr Graham’s death.The man confirmed to The Associated Press that agents from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation had interviewed him. He told them he no longer sees Cheryl.
The Toombs County coroner ruled Mr Graham’s death a suicide; the Georgia Bureau of Investigation still has not closed the case. Interviews by investigators on all three of Ms Cheryl Graham’s surviving exes reveals that Johnson wasn't the only one with a gun story to tell. During a 2005 dispute over custody of their grandchildren, first husband Mr Isaac “Bo” Carter had said that Cheryl threatened to “blow my brains out with her .38 pistol ...” A protective order was granted. VIA More at external links: 2ND HEART & EERIE SECOND LIVES 2 men, 2 suicides, 1 heart and 1 widow
Southeast Asia's seedy reputation Amalee McCoy, Child protection specialist at Unicef in Thailand
Aug. 15 2008 - Even after a number of high-profile arrests of child molesters, Southeast Asia retains its reputation as a haven for pedophiles.
Canadian school teacher Christopher Neil was sentenced for child abuse in Thailand .
He also faces charges in Cambodia.
Christopher Paul NEIL, a Canadian national apprehended in Thailand following INTERPOL’s unprecedented public appeal for help in identifying a man photographed sexually abusing children, has been sentenced by a Bangkok court to 3 years and 3 months in prison. He had pleaded guilty on 12 May to sexually abusing a Thai boy. This is the first of two cases for which Neil was charged.
The court found him guilty of all charges and first sentenced him to 6 years and 6 months, but reduced his sentence on account of his guilty plea. He was also ordered to pay 60,000 Thai Bahts (around 1,800 US dollars) to the family of the victim as compensation. Neil, aged 33, was arrested by the Royal Thai Police on 19 October 2007, just 11 days after INTERPOL launched its global public appeal known as Operation Vico. The appeal was initiated after German police computer experts successfully produced clear images of Neil's face, which had been digitally swirled to disguise his image in more than 200 images of child sex abuse found on the Internet. VIA
Taiwan's former president Chen Shui-bian, 58, faces life imprisonment if convicted on charges of embezzling 104m New Taiwan dollars (£2m) from a special presidential fund, receiving bribes worth at least £6m in connection with a government land procurement deal, and laundering part of the funds by wiring the money to Swiss bank accounts.Thursday 26 March 2009 trial follows two months of pretrial hearings to review key elements in the case against Chen, his wife, Wu Shu-chen, their son, daughter-in-law and several aides and associates. The charges against him and his wife outline a complex scheme in which Chen allegedly allowed Wu to take bribes from businesspeople seeking political favours. Chen has professed ignorance of those alleged transactions, stressing that the former first lady alone managed millions of dollars in political donations and other funds. Unlike America, Hong Kong or Singapore, Taiwan cannot convict a politician simply for failing to prove his wealth has come from legitimate means. The prosecutor must also prove that a deal was struck to hand out political favours in exchange for bribes. Chen has denied the charges against him, saying they are part of an effort by the current president, Ma Ying-jeou, and his Nationalist party to curry favour with rival China. VIA
Update 22 January 2009. Taiwan's former president Chen Shui-bian's son Chen Chih-chung, his daughter-in-law Huang Jui-chin and his brother-in-law Wu Chin-mao all entered guilty pleas Wednesday 21 Jan 2009, in the latest development in a case that has gripped the island since Chen himself was arrested in November. The younger couple promised prosecutors they would send US$21 million back to Taiwan from their Swiss bank accounts and also repatriate another US$17 million from abroad. They also agreed to tell prosecutors the whereabouts of cash and jewellry worth around NT$600 million (US$17.88 million) that was being kept by the former first lady. Some Taiwanese saw the move by the young Chen as an attempt to break ranks with his father, others interpreted it as just part of the family's legal defence strategy aimed at reducing any eventual punishment. VIA
They also agreed to tell prosecutors the whereabouts of cash and jewellry worth around NT$600 million (US$17.88 million) that was being kept by the former first lady.
Taiwan's high court on Wednesday 07 January 2009 rejected an appeal by former president Chen Shui-bian against his detention on corruption charges pending trial. The former president was initially locked up for a month after his November arrest on embezzlement and money laundering charges. He was later released after an appeal from his lawyers and spent two weeks at liberty. Prosecutors twice applied for Chen to be put back in custody, succeeding on the second occasion after claiming he could collude with the other suspects and destroy evidence or flee the island if allowed to remain free. The former president and his wife Wu Shu-chen are accused of embezzling NT$104 million (US$3.15 million) in public funds and accepting a bribe of about US$12 million in a land purchase deal. Prosecutors also allege that Wu took a kickback of US$2.7 million in a construction project. Their son and daughter-in-law have also been charged with money laundering.
A Taiwan court on Thursday 18 December 2008 ruled it would stick to its previous decision to release former president Chen Shui-bian without bail pending trial on corruption charges. Chen, 58, is the island's first former leader to face criminal prosecution. He is charged with corruption and money laundering, with prosecutors alleging he embezzled public funds and took bribes. The court requires the former president to reappear at court whenever needed and his movements are also restricted. The Taipei District Court released Chen without bail on Saturday 13 December 2008 after he had spent more than a month in custody. Prosecutors appealed the decision, saying Chen could flee Taiwan, collude with other suspects and destroy evidence. The prosecutors would have needed more firm evidence against the defendant if they want him to be detained. Thirteen others are charged in connection with the case including Chen's wife, son and daughter-in-law, in a long-running saga which has captivated Taiwan.
Taiwan's detained former president Chen Shui-bian was rushed to hospital on Sunday 16 November 2008, a doctor said, days after he went on hunger strike to protest his arrest on graft allegations. Chen's arrest and detention is the latest development in a long-running corruption probe against the former leader, who has admitted submitting falsified expense forms while in office but said the money was used for "secret diplomatic missions" and not for his personal benefit. Other members of his family have also been implicated in alleged corruption, among them Chen's son-in-law, who last week had his seven-year jail term and a fine of 30 million Taiwan dollars for insider trading upheld by Taiwan's High Court. In a separate money laundering case, prosecutors have alleged that 21 million US dollars was sent to Swiss bank accounts belonging to Chen's daughter-in-law in 2007. The funds have since been frozen. Chen said last week that he was being victimised by the Kuomintang, which succeeded him after eight years in office, because he was the "biggest stone" blocking the island's reunification with the mainland. A court ordered Chen locked up Wednesday 12th Nov 2008, capping 24 hours of high political drama that saw a defiant Chen led away in handcuffs, taken to hospital after saying he had been beaten by police, and then finally put behind bars.
The wheelchair-bound Wu Shu-chen(Taiwan's former first lady) was questioned at her home in an upmarket Taipei district instead of the prosecutor's office due to her frail condition in a corruption probe 15 November 2008. Wu is being questioned on suspicion of graft and forgery over the alleged embezzlement of around 15 million Taiwan dollars (about 450,000 US) during Chen's term in a case which also implicates the former president. Chen's son Chen Chih-chung and daughter-in-law Huang Jui-ching were interrogated on Friday 14th Nov 2008 over the alleged transfer of 21 million US dollars to Swiss bank accounts belonging to Huang in 2007. The funds have since been frozen. The couple have said they were not aware of the source of the funds and were only following the orders of Wu.
TAIPEI - Prosecutors in Taiwan on Tuesday 11 November 2008 sought formal approval to detain former president Chen Shui-bian in connection with a corruption probe, officials said. Chen is accused of money laundering, embezzling government funds, taking bribes and forging documents, a spokesman for the investigation said, adding that the charges carry a minimum five-year jail term. The former president has previously admitted using false receipts to claim money from the state, but insisted those funds were used for "secret diplomatic missions" -- not his personal benefit. The ex-leader, his wife, son, daughter-in-law, and brother-in-law have all been named as defendants in a separate money laundering case. Taiwanese prosecutors say 21 million US dollars was sent to Swiss bank accounts belonging to Chen's daughter-in-law in 2007. The funds have since been frozen. Chen has admitted his wife wired 20 million US dollars abroad from past campaign funds but said she did so without his knowledge. He denies laundering money.
The son and daughter-in-law of former Taiwan president Chen Shui-bian pledged innocence upon their return to Taiwan from the United States early Monday 25 Aug 2008. Chen Chih-chung and his wife Huang Jui-ching are suspected of laundering millions of dollars for the ex-president through overseas bank accounts, but Chen said he had only done what his mother had asked them to do. They flew to the United States this month just days before Taiwan authorities launched a probe into money laundering claims implicating the former first family, following similar moves by Swiss authorities.
Under Taiwanese law, false declaration of donations is subject to a fine of $9,670, but money laundering carries a seven-year prison sentence.
Friday, August 29, 2008- Prosecutors are seeking 2 1/2 years' imprisonment for Yeh Sheng-mao, chief of the Bureau of Investigation under Chen, for allegedly concealing documents given to his bureau by the Egmont Group, an international organization that collects data on suspicious financial activity. The Egmont documents expressed suspicion that the money wired into a Swiss bank account belonging to the daughter-in-law involved money laundering. Yeh retired at the end of Chen's second four-year term as Taiwan's president in May. Chen, former first lady Wu Shu-chen and other relatives have been listed as suspects in the case and are barred from leaving the island but have not been formally indicted. VIA
Shui-bian's son Chen Chih-chung and daughter-in-law Huang Jui-ching walk through arrivals at the Taipei International Airport, early Monday morning, Aug. 25, 2008,
Taiwan ex-president quits party over alleged money laundering 15 Aug 2008
The ex-president has openly confessed Aug. 14 that he had lied about his election campaign expenses and that his wife wired surplus funds from the election campaign contributions into overseas bank accounts but denied any illegal activity, that his wife had wired US$20 million abroad from his past campaign funds without his knowledge.Chen, who had immunity from prosecution while in office, was named as a co-offender in the case and was probed as soon as he stepped down from the presidency May 20. Prosecutors say they are trying to determine whether the funds were indeed donations left over from political campaigns - as Chen insists - or whether bribery might have been involved. Several Nationalist lawmakers have alleged that the ex-president took large bribes in connection with a spate of mergers initiated by the government in 2005, when several small banks took over a number of well-established financial institutions. Taiwanese newspapers also have reported that Chen received millions of dollars in bribes from Taiwan's Far Eastern Group. Both the company and Chen have denied those reports.
27 Aug 2008 Reports here said prosecutor Ching Chi-jen would probe claims that the Chen family had transferred funds to Switzerland via the Singapore bank accounts of the ex-president's brother-in-law Wu Ching-mao. The Taiwanese prosecutor flew to Singapore on Wednesday as part of a probe into alleged money-laundering by former president Chen Shui-bian and his family. According to her, US$21 million was sent to Huang's Swiss bank accounts in 2007 and was used to set up companies registered in the Cayman Islands.
Sat Aug 30, 2008-The former first family is suspected of sending at least T$1 billion ($31.7 million) to Japan, the United States, the Cayman Islands, Singapore and Switzerland, among other places, Taiwan newspapers said, citing the Supreme Court prosecutor's office. "In investigating the former first family's secret accounts overseas, the prosecutor discovered that Chen's family assets had been spread to at least four continents, including 10 countries and regions," the United Daily News said. Earlier this month, Swiss justice officials requested Taiwan's assistance in an investigation into suspected money laundering involving accounts held by Chen's son, Chen Chih-chung, and daughter-in-law, Huang Jui-ching. Swiss authorities have frozen $21 million in the couple's accounts.In Singapore, monetary authorities say they are cooperating with Taiwan investigators over another stash of suspicious funds. VIA Chen maintained that he did nothing illegal.
Chen Shui-bian and his wife Wu Shu-jen, on August 15, resigned from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and apologized, thus: “Today I have to say sorry to all of the DPP members and supporters. I let everyone down, caused you humiliation and failed to meet your expectations. My acts have caused irreparable damage to the party. I love the DPP deeply and am proud of being a DPP member. To express my deepest regrets to all DPP members and supporters, I announce my withdrawal from the DPP immediately. My wife Wu Shu-jen is also withdrawing from the party.” DPP Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen also apologized to the public on behalf of the party: “In regard to Chen and his wife’s decision to withdraw from the party and his desire to shoulder responsibility for his actions as well as to undergo an investigation by the party’s anti-corruption committee, we respect his decision and accept it.” Taiwan prosecutors on August 16 interrogated Wu Shu-chen and asked to explain overseas money transactions. A Kuomintang (KMT) party member alleged that Chen's wife bought jewelry to launder money. Hung Hsiu-chu, KMT, charged that Chen's family opened 4 bank accounts in Switzerland, with total deposits of 32 million U.S. dollars, which Chen remitted through his daughter-in-law, Huang Jui-ching.
On August 17, Supreme Court Prosecutor's Office announced Taiwanese investigators took away boxes of documents, after search of Chen's home in Taipei City, his office, and in Tainan, at the home of his wife's brother Wu Ching-mao. Chen was prohibited by prosecutors from leaving Taiwan. Chen has $ 21 million at overseas banks held in the name of family members.Shih Ming-teh, a former leader of Chen's Democratic Progressive Party accused Chen of laundering at least $ 85 million from an entrepreneur bidding for bank ownership in 2005. Coast Guard Administration spokesman Hsieh Ching-chin said: "We received the order from the special investigation unit around 9:20 pm last night saying former president Chen was barred from leaving the country." Chen's probe concerns NT $ 14.8 million (US $ 480,500) in special expenses from the government, while he was president, and his wife is on trial for corruption and document forgery. Prosecutors found at least NT $ 1.5 million had been spent on diamond rings and other luxury items for his wife.Upon his return to Taiwan, Chen's son claimed that he was a mere "figurehead," and was not directly involved in the transfer of money.
Chen commented upon the public's suspicions that he had engaged in money laundering by colorfully stating: "Money is dry, it cannot be washed (laundered); money is clean, not dirty, it does not need to be washed (laundered)." (錢是乾的，是不能洗；錢是乾淨的，沒有髒，是不需要洗).VIA
Family scandals from 2006 In May 2006, Chen approval rating, as determined by the TSU, fell to 5.8%, after a series of scandals centered around his wife and son-in-law. Additional sources showed his approval rating at around 20%. Support from his own party has also dropped with a few members calling for his dismissal as he had a bad influence on his party and has already caused them to lose the Republic of China presidential election, 2008 .On May 24, 2006, his son-in-law, Chao Chien-ming, was taken into custody by the Taipei police on charges of insider trading and embezzlement by the opposition party. This was a setback for the Chen Shui-bian administration. In related charges, there were accusations from the opposition party that Chen Shui-bian's wife was involved in trading stocks and obtaining Pacific Sogo Department Store's gift certificates illegally in exchange for settling the disputed ownership. On June 1, 2006, Chen declared that he was handing control of governmental matters to Premier Su Tseng-chang and announced he would not be involved in campaigning. He also stated that he was retaining authority on matters that the Constitution required him to retain authority over, presumably foreign affairs and defense policy, as well as relations with mainland China.
On July 20, 2006, Opposition politicians accused that Chen used a total of NT$10.2 million (US$310,000) worth of "fake invoices" to claim expenses after the National Audit Office found irregularities in Presidential Office accounts. The Taiwan High Court Prosecutors' Office is currently investigating over this accusation. In a press release issued by the Presidential Office responded that the president assured the investigators that he did not pocket a single cent of the fund. During questioning at the Presidential Office on the afternoon of August 7, 2006, the president detailed to the prosecutor how he spent the fund and presented relevant receipts and bank remittance statements.
President Chen also lost a libel case brought on successfully by PFP Chairman James Soong. Soong sued the President after Chen repeatedly accused him of secretly meeting the director of the People's Republic of China's Taiwan Affairs Office. Soong successfully sued Chen for NT$3 million.
On November 3, 2006, Chen's wife Wu Shu-chen (吳淑珍) and three other high ranking officials of the Presidential Office were indicted of corruption of NTD 14.8 million (USD$450,000) of government funds using faked documents. Due to the protection from the Constitution against prosecution of the sitting president, Chen could not be prosecuted until he left office, and he was not indicted, but was alleged to be an accomplice on his wife's indictment. The prosecutor of the case has indicated that once Chen leaves office, his office will start the procedures to press charges against Chen. His wife Wu becomes the first sitting First Lady of the Republic of China to face criminal charges since the foundation of the Republic in 1911. In a press conference November 5, 2006, Chen rebutted the charges against his wife and members of his Presidential office. He said that Taiwan government offices advised him to prepare the receipts in such a fashion, and that after 6 years of doing so, it is strange that they would never mention an irregularity if it wasn't the right way to do it. He promised that all of the money actually went to diplomatic missions and did not go into any private pockets. Furthermore, he mentioned that when he took office, he thought his salary was so excessive that he cut his own salary in half, and that reduction is more than the amount he is accused of embezzling, so there is no need for him to take those money. In addition, he said that if the charges against his wife were proven in a court of law just as they were charged, then he would at that time step down as President of the Republic of China. VIA
Copies of Swiss documents obtained by a Taiwan ese lawmaker showed Chen Chih-chung and his wife had transferred US$31 million to Swiss bank accounts in 2007.
Chen is already being investigated for allegedly embezzling US$480,500 in special expenses while president, and his wife is on trial for corruption and document forgery in the same case.
Questioned by prosecutors Friday, the former first lady said the US$21 million in overseas bank accounts under the name of her elder brother, Wu Ching-mao and daughter-in-law was the balance of political contributions for the campaigns of her husband in two mayoral elections and two presidential elections from 1993 to 2004.
The former president denied the money had any connection with the "state affairs fund" case, in which the former first lady was charged with corruption and forgery in November 2006 for using receipts provided by others to claim reimbursements totaling NT$14.8 million from the president's "state affairs fund" between July 2002 and March 2006. VIA
The airport closures that culminated in an eight-day blockade only ended after a court on December 2 dissolved the ruling People Power Party over electoral fraud charges and forced then-premier Somchai Wongsawat from office, creating the opening for the Democrat Party.
Monday 01 December 2008 - Recent grenade attacks which have killed two protesters and wounded dozens more have lead Thai anti-government protesters Monday to end a three-month sit-in at the prime minister's offices, redeploying to help demonstrators tighten their paralyzing grip on Bangkok's airports. Suriyasai Katasila,a PAD spokesman said the movement hoped to hand over the site to the government on Tuesday morning. Their departure from the premier's offices could ease the risk of clashes with protesters from a rival pro-government group who camped out in Bangkok for a second day just a few kilometres from Government House.
Thaksin and his allies draw huge electoral support from Thailand's largely rural northern poor, while the PAD is backed by the Bangkok business elite and middle classes, along with elements in the military and the palace.
New trouble sparks ahead where Government's supporters threatened a blockade of Thailand's Constitutional Court, which is due Tuesday to wrap up a vote fraud case that could disband the ruling party and bar Somchai from politics. Protesters say they will not disperse from the airports until Somchai steps down.
350,000 travellers stranded are stranded and several nations stepped up emergency flights to evacuate frustrated holidaymakers.
02 November 2008 -Four men from Samut Prakan province south of Bangkok who had not attended the pro-government rally had an argument with PAD guards and when they drove away and crashed with a taxi, a gunfire was heard. One man in his early 20s received a gunshot wound in his right shoulder. They were in the capital for a night out and were returning home in the early hours of Sunday morning when they drove past the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) protest camp. Ten of the volunteer PAD security guards were injured last week when a grenade was hurled at their protest camp, heightening fears that political tensions in Thailand were again spiralling towards increased violence. A man was also shot dead last week near the PAD protest site, while a grenade was thrown at the home of a judge. Source:CNA
Video-Thai man shot after row with anti-govt protesters
22 October 2008-Somchai told reporters that he escaped unscathed from the attack on Wednesday, but a bodyguard was hit by a group of angry anti-government protesters pelted Thai Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat with shoes and bottles. The premier nevertheless insisted he would not step down. The powerful army chief last week appeared on television to say that if he were in Somchai's position, he would step down and dissolve parliament to take responsibility for the street violence. Somchai has been in his post for just over a month, but has been under increasing pressure to resign after bloody street battles between police and protesters in Bangkok on October 7 left two people dead and nearly 500 hurt.
17 October 2008-Thailand's powerful army chief, Anupong , on Thursday said that if he were in the premier's position, he would resign as protests against his rule drag on. Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat later told reporters that he planned to remain as prime minister until he had overseen amendments to the constitution - a plan with no timeline and one of the prime reasons for the protests.
16 October 2008-Members of the National Counter Corruption Commission said Somchai was wrong to suspend a corruption investigation into two senior officials while he was a permanent secretary at the justice ministry in 2000. As it is a civil case which can only refer to the justice minister to administer punishment.
12 Oct 2008 -Director of the Central Institute of Forensic Science, Porntip Rojanasunan said police used Chinese tear gas canisters on demonstrators blockading parliament.The Chinese canisters explode when they hit an object before releasing their tear gas. "The way they shoot at the people, they aim the gun directly at people so there could be serious injury," such injuries do not happen with Australian or US-made tear gas, she added. Porntip was originally called in by the army to investigate PAD claims that the police used bombs, but is now doing so for the independent National Human Rights Commission of Thailand . The bloody clashes that followed saw two people killed and 478 injured with published graphic photos of people lying on the ground with their feet or lower legs blown off, while The Nation reported Sunday that one woman was in a vegetative state after suffering head injuries.
10 Oct 2008-Thai protest leaders bailed as turmoil looks set to continue
10 October 2008-Leaders of Thai anti-government protests were swiftly granted bail unconditionally on Friday after surrendering to police but have vowed new rallies, raising fears of mounting turmoil days after deadly street clashes.
The Court of Appeals quashed treason charges against the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) leaders on Thursday and freed two already in custody on bail for the lesser offence of inciting unrest, which still carries up to seven years in jail
Chavalit Yongchaiyudh who resigned as deputy prime minister on Tuesday said that The problem can be solved by three institutions -- the monarchy, which remains politically neutral, the military, which appears to be not interested in intervening, and the government, which stays above the problem. And has view the answer is in a putsch.
The Appeals Court on Thursday quashed treason charges against the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) leaders and revoked arrest warrants on the serious charges of insurrection, paving the way for the seven men, including PAD co-founder Sondhi, to give themselves up. Also Thursday, the Criminal Court freed two other PAD leaders, Chamlong Srimuang and Chaiwat Sinsuwong, on bail for the lesser offence of inciting unrest, which still carries up to seven years in jail, in a ruling greeted by jubilant PAD supporters at Government House as a victory.
The original arrest orders for treason were issued on Aug. 27, the day after PAD protesters armed with golf clubs, stakes and machetes stormed a state television station, broke into ministries and overran the prime minister's official compound. Police have denied PAD claims that they fired explosives into the crowd this week, insisting they only used teargas.
Meanwhile Thailand's Attorney General Friday seeks dissolution of ruling party, asked the country's Constitutional Court to rule on whether or not to dissolve the ruling People Power Party (PPP) follows the Supreme Court's conviction of deputy PPP leader Yongyut Tiyapairat, then House Speaker, for electoral fraud in July. Under Thai law Yongyut's party must take collective responsibility for his wrongdoing. Thanapich Mulpruek, the Attorney General's spokesman referring to all those implicated in the vote-buying scheme seek In the petition to asked the court whether to either dissolve PPP and revoke the political rights of 37 party executives for five years or just revoke the rights of those executives involved in fraud.
Source: ChannelNewsAsia
Video:Thailand protests spark troop deployment - 07 Oct 08
Riots in Thailand force Deputy PM to resign - 07 Oct 08
07 October 2008 Anti-government protesters on Tuesday trapped hundreds of Thai lawmakers and senators inside the parliament building, a minister said, forcing the prime minister to scale a fence to escape the mob. Police fired tear gas early Tuesday and were able to clear a road to allow the lawmakers access to the house for the special session but protesters regrouped and blocked parliament exits as the session went on. The gas disperse attempt injured 190 people as months of political turmoil boiled over into clashes. Angry mobs overturned police vehicles and fired guns. One man had his left foot amputated after it was injured in the chaos. A journalist was among the 190 people who received treatment. One female protester was killed during clashes, an official from a Bangkok hospital said, but did not reveal the cause of death. Eight police officers were shot or stabbed in the unrest, police said. A man was killed in a car bombing near the protest site, although police said it was unclear if the blast was linked to the violence. Attempts by ministers and MPs to negotiate with protesters from the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) group were met with jeers from the crowd near the entrance to the building. Somchai was airlifted away by police helicopter and taken to army headquarters, an official inside the parliament building said. One of Thailand's five deputy prime ministers, Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, resigned over the crackdown, saying his role as chief negotiator with the protesters had been compromised. Government medical officials said 394 people had been injured, with 49 hospitalised. Army spokesman Colonel Sunsern Kaewkumnerd told AFP that unarmed troops from the army, navy and air force were being deployed "across Bangkok, not just at the flash points, to maintain law and order". He also said the army was "concerned'' about the violence against unarmed protesters and that any serious injuries should be investigated. The protest alliance claims Thailand's rural majority _ who gave strong election victories to the ruling People's Power Party _ is too poorly educated to responsibly choose their representatives and says they are susceptible to vote buying. Chamlong, an ascetic Buddhist, is one of nine PAD leaders formally accused of inciting unrest and trying to overthrow the government after the PAD broke into various ministries and a state television station on Aug. 26. He was arrested after he left Government House, where he and thousands of anti-government protesters have been barricaded since late August, to vote in an election for the governor of Bangkok. Another PAD leader, Chaiwat Sinsuwong, remains in custody after being arrested on Friday. However, the remaining seven are still defying arrest behind their barricades inside the compound and vowing not to leave Source Channelnewsasia
17 Sep 2008 Somchai Wongsawat, brother-in-law to ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra, won a majority of votes in parliament Wednesday to become Thailand 's next prime minister, the house speaker said. Somchai won 298 votes in the 480-seat House of Representatives. Opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva took 163 votes. Somchai Wongsawat, 61, married to Thaksin's politically powerful sister Yaowapa, called for reconciliation with the protesters who have occupied the prime minister's offices for the last three weeks in a bid to topple the government. The Stock Exchange of Thailand composite index was down 0.77 per cent after Somchai's election. Opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva urged Somchai to step out of Thaksin's shadow and hold urgent talks with the anti-government protesters. The PAD protesters accuse the ruling party of acting as a proxy for Thaksin, whom they accuse of widespread corruption. Calling for a parliament where 70 per cent of seats would be appointed whichwould weaken the influence of rural voters still loyal to Thaksin for delivering universal health care and low-interest loans to areas long ignored by Bangkok's elite. Thaksin allies in the PPP are fighting their own separate battles, including a vote fraud case that could result in the disbanding of the party. Source Channelnewsasia
14 September 2008 Thailand's acting prime minister, Somchai Wongsawat(brother-in-law of Thaksin Shinawatra), lifted the state of emergency in the capital Sunday amid an ongoing political crisis, as the ruling party holds talks to choose a new candidate to become premier. The ruling People Power Party (PPP) and its coalition partners now plan to nominate a new candidate among the 3(Sompong Amornviwat, deputy leader of the PPP, co-deputy PPP leader Somchai Wongsawat and secretary-general Surapong Suebwonglee. ) ahead of a vote in parliament on Wednesday by lawmakers for a prime minister. The demonstrators, representing Thailand's traditional elite, rejects all three (candidates from the PPP), claim that Samak and the three candidates to replace him are proxies for ousted premier, billionaire businessman Thaksin Shinawatra. Despite his exile, Thaksin still casts a long shadow over Thai politics with his supporters winning elections in December last year and the tycoon consulted about Samak's renomination last week for the top job. The activists are also pushing a broader agenda to scale back Thailand's democracy by reducing the influence of poor, rural voters, who gave Thaksin steadfast support for providing universal health care and low-interest loans. VIA
09 September 2008 The Constitutional Court ruled that Samak had violated the charter by receiving money for his "Tasting and Grumbling" and "All Set at 6 am" cooking programmes, ordered Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej to resign but the governing coalition said it was ready to vote him back into office. Despite the ruling by the nine judges, Samak is not barred from standing again for prime minister, and his People Power Party (PPP) said its six-party coalition was prepared to elect him back to the premiership. Somsak Kosaisuk, one of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD)leaders said the protest will continue the protest in doubt of whether the cabinet will listen to the law. They also want to curtail Thailand's democracy so that only 30 percent of seats in parliament would be elected, which they say would restrict the influence of poor rural voters who have widely supported Samak. VIA
Rationale of PAD wanting only 30 per cent of seats in parliament should be elected, with the rest appointed is to curtail Thailand's democracy so that only 30 per cent of seats in parliament would be elected, which they say would restrict the influence of poor rural voters in places like Udon Thani, who have widely supported Samak. PAD supporters say the change would ensure that Samak's allies cannot return to power.
Most politicians got elected because of votes-buying and return their investments by selling themselves to pass biased resolutions or corrupt budget bills. To win an election, an MP may have to pay about 10 to 30 million bahts for a price of one to five hundred bahts (10-15USD) per head. Unavoidably, military coup returned as vicious cycle. This vicious cycle is a never-ending story. During a relatively more democratic period, middle-class in the cities ignore the poor in the rural areas. Media accept bribes. Corruptions among buraucrats and politicians have been well accomodated in practices of businesses. When it is just over the limit, military would step in. Via
04 Sept. 2008 Thai PM refuses to resign or call elections
02 September 2008 Thailand declared a state of emergency on Tuesday, banning gatherings of more than five people in a bid to clamp down on anti-government protests that erupted into deadly clashes overnight, just hours after street fights broke out between thousands of supporters and opponents of embattled Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej, who has resisted mounting pressure to step down. One person was killed and dozens injured in the violence near the main government complex occupied for a week by activists who want Samak to resign, claiming he is merely a puppet for ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra. The state of emergency also allows the authorities to detain suspects for seven days and would prohibit people from making illegal entries into government offices. Samak appointed the powerful army commander General Anupong Paojinda to head a special team tasked with enforcing the emergency decree, with the national police chief and Bangkok's regional army commander as his deputies. PAD gathers most of its support from Bangkok's traditional elite and a portion of the middle class. Its leaders openly disparage the merit of votes cast by the nation's rural poor, who have thrown their support behind Thaksin and now Samak.In addition to demanding that Samak resign, PAD wants an overhaul of Thailand's system of government, saying only 30 per cent of seats in parliament should be elected, with the rest appointed.VIA
The opposition forced a no-confidence vote while citing amendment of the Constitution to launder Thaksin[2], a failure to address rising food and gas, and a temple dispute with Cambodia. The street protest & disobedience by the PAD has their objective to block the amendment of constitution which has also been one primary way of Thaksin to launder himself and his TRT members from serious corruption charges. Another of PAD's objectives is to back up the courts and the justice system to justly carry out the judging of Thaksin's cases. While PM Samak has been successful to get the police and civil servants under control, various courts remain independent and have issued several verdicts. Constitution court judged that PPP's second-in-command head Yongyuth Tiyapairat, bought votes which would subject the party for resolving soon. Whereas constitution court and administrative court both ruled that his government seriously violated the constitution and might have affected the national soveriegnty in negotiating Preah Vihear Temple with Cambodia. The case brought a termination of his first foreigm minister, Nopadol Patama. Several other ministers found wrongfully informed the Anticorruption Board or Election Governing Board of important info, were discharged when got caught. PM Samak Sundaravej , through the majority in the house of parliament, has finished the budgeting bills for megaprojects. The deals cost so much that the King of Thailand for the first time spoke out to protect and to thank the head of the national bank of Thailand (under threats from the government) that the country was on the brink of disaster because of too high careless expenditures. PM Samak Sundaravej tried using hands of laws through civil charges, criminal charges and police force with violence to remove PAD from the government office on August 29. However, PAD managed to get tempory reliefs from courts enabling them to legally continue the seige of the government office. Some more violence and a fatality clash with 40 people wounded occured when red NoPoKo supported by PPP party moved toward PAD at about 3am of September 2 without adequate police intervention. By the second of half of September 2008, PM Samak Sundaravej would be judged by several courts for his past actions. An appeal court verdict upon a several-years-ago criminal charge of slander could jail him. A constitutional court will return verdict upon a conflict of interest of him being a private employee while holding a PM position. Board of Anti-corruption may fire a charge of abuse of power in Preah Vihear case to Constitutional court. These all could instantaneously terminate PM Samak's political role. While fugitive ex-PM Thaksin and Pojaman would also face verdicts from supreme courts.
Thailand Worse than a coup Sep 4th 2008 Source: The Economist An authoritarian rabble should not be allowed to turf out a deeply flawed but popularly elected government
STANDING up for democracy sometimes entails standing up for some unappealing democrats. Thailand’s pugnacious prime minister, Samak Sundaravej, is an especially hard man to defend. A ferocious rightist, Mr Samak was accused of inciting the policemen and vigilantes who slaughtered dozens of unarmed student protesters in Bangkok in 1976. On becoming prime minister following the election last December that restored democratic rule after a 2006 coup, Mr Samak chose for his cabinet some of the most unsavoury figures linked to the government of Thaksin Shinawatra, the prime minister deposed in the coup. But with the army on the streets of Bangkok again, Mr Samak is for once, if not in the right, then at least less wrong than those calling for his head. His government is deeply flawed. But it would be wrong and dangerous if the authoritarian rabble who have seized Government House in Bangkok forced it out of office. After violent clashes between supporters and opponents of the government, Mr Samak this week declared a state of emergency in Bangkok (see article). The army chief backed his decision, but by mid-week was still ruling out the use of force to clear the squatters out. If the protesters, the woefully misnamed People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD), do succeed, democracy in Thailand—not so long ago a beacon, by Asian standards, of pluralistic politics—will be in grave danger. Some in the crowds at PAD rallies are liberals, appalled both at the abuses of power in Mr Thaksin’s government and the sad signs that Mr Samak’s is no better. The PAD’s leaders, however, are neither liberals nor democrats. A gruesome bunch of reactionary businessmen, generals and aristocrats, they demand not fresh elections, which they would lose, but “new politics”—in fact a return to old-fashioned authoritarian rule, with a mostly appointed parliament and powers for the army to step in when it chooses. They argue that the rural masses who favour Mr Thaksin and Mr Samak are too “ill-educated” to use their votes sensibly. This overlooks an inconvenient electoral truth: the two prime ministers had genuinely popular policies, such as cheap health care and credit.
The palace and a Burmese road to ruin. As in the build-up to the 2006 coup, PAD leaders are trying to oust a popular government on the bogus pretext of “saving” Thailand’s revered King Bhumibol from a supposed republican plot. Some of the PAD protesters reportedly believe their sit-in has the crown’s tacit backing. Almost anywhere else, the police would have removed them, forcibly if necessary, by now. But it is whispered that the PAD has protectors “on high”—hardline army generals and possibly figures in the royal palace (though not the king himself).
This may be nonsense; but by preventing the discussion and hence refutation of such royal rumours, Thailand’s harsh, much-abused lèse-majesté law has the ironic effect of helping them spread. In the official version of modern Thai history, the king is the great defender of peace and democracy, who comes to the rescue at moments of crisis. Now would seem to be one such moment: some wise words from the king could do much to defuse tension. Thais like to believe they are good at seeking compromise to avoid conflict. But there has been little sign of compromise in the past three years, and there is now the risk of a bad one. The elected government might be forced out of office to pacify the PAD’s demagogues, it might be made to share power with the undeserving opposition Democrat party, which has shown little leadership while waiting for power to be handed it on a plate, or, as in Bangladesh, a civilian front might provide a cloak for de facto military rule. It is just possible to imagine a decent compromise in which Mr Samak gives way to a more emollient figure from the ruling coalition—and the PAD and its supporters in the army, the bureaucracy and (if they exist) the royal palace accept the verdict of the people. But the PAD’s leaders may well not stop until they have imposed their own, undemocratic vision of Thailand. In this sense they are even more pernicious than the coupmakers of 2006, who at least promised to restore elected government and, under popular pressure, did so. Prosperous, modern and open, Thailand has so far inhabited a different era from the dark ages in which its dismal neighbour, Myanmar, languishes under a thuggish, isolationist junta. Thailand’s foreign friends should make clear to the Thai elite that toppling elected governments would be a step backwards. As Myanmar has found, it might also court sanctions. Foreign tourists, seeing the unchecked disorder on their television screens, including blockades of some airports, may soon be imposing a boycott of their own.
Video in reverse Chronological order
04 Sept. 2008 Thai PM refuses to resign or call elections
Unions failed Wednessday,Sept 03, to act on calls for a general strike to cut Bangkok electricity and water supplies, apparently fearing it would do more harm than good in a battle to depose Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej. After declaring a state of emergency by Mr Samak, the army refused to act to get protesters out of his office compound. Thitinan Pongsidhirak, political scientist at Chulalongkorn University said Samak may not able to hold his position on much longer.
02Sept2008 Thailand declares state of emergency in Bangkok. Source: Channel NewsAsia
No one was injured when a small bomb went off near Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej's compound on Monday 01 Sept. Source: france24.com
Defiant protesters scuffled with riot police in Bangkok on Friday 29thAug. Source: france24.com
27thAug,2008 Thailand tries to put end to anti-govt protests. Despite government pleas, the threat of arrest, and even the onset of a tropical rain storm, protest leaders refused to budge. Hundreds of protesters briefly formed a human shield around the PAD's most vocal leaders -- media tycoon Sondhi Limthongkul and retired general Chamlong Srimuang -- who sat on the ground in t-shirts reading "Fight for the king." Small scuffles broke out between police and protesters early Wednesday, but for most of the day the police deployed to the compound, some armed with batons and shields, kept away from the demonstrators.
Thai protesters seize state TV, surround govt buildings Tuesday 26thAug2008
7th Sept 2008-Students mass protest for Mr.Samak to step down.
Samak Sundaravej,a well-articulated politician, accepted being the proxy head of fugitive Mr.Thaksin Shinawatra, is a life-long right-wing extremist. In 1973, he ran a prominent several-month-long propaganda, accusing democratic students' movements of being communist rebellious traitors and spies. The event ended in a massacre of hundred of students at Thammasat University in October 1973 and a millitary coup whereas he was awarded an interior minister position in the junta.
Thousands of Thai protesters broke through a barricade and spilled into the main government compound on Tuesday in their campaign to force out the prime minister, police and witnesses said. A coalition of anti-government groups claiming allegiance to the revered monarchy brought about 20,000 protesters onto the streets of Bangkok on Tuesday.
The People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) claim Samak is running Thailand on behalf of ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 coup and is barred from holding office.Samak's People Power Party, which is made up of former allies of ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra, is being investigated for electoral fraud which could see the Constitutional Court dissolve the party.
Thailand's Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej accused protesters who stormed the seat of government on Tuesday of trying to provoke bloodshed and instigate another military coup. Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej told the nation he would only resign if a court ordered him to.
He reminded people that he was comfortably elected in polls last December which returned democracy to Thailand, and said he will seek arrest warrants for at least five of the key protest leaders.
Police will surround Government House, he said, and allow no one to enter until all the protesters have left.
Deputy national police spokesman Major General Surapol Tuanthong said they had been gathering evidence against five PAD leaders since May 25, and would seek arrest warrants on charges of illegal assembly and inciting unrest.
Since taking office, Samak has faced his own series of setbacks. Court decisions forced three top government officials to resign, while the ongoing PAD protests have helped push the stock market down nearly 18 percent since May. The Thai stock market has fallen nearly 18 per cent since late May, and official figures released Monday showed economic growth had fallen from 6.1 per cent in the first quarter to 5.3 per cent in the second quarter. VIA Related Post: 8/07/08thaksin-goes-on-trial-for-corruption
