Angola vows to bring back billionaire Isabel dos Santos over graft claims

January 20, 2020 By Agence France-Presse


Angolan prosecutors vowed on Monday to use “all possible” means to bring back Isabel dos Santos, the former president’s billionaire daughter, after thousands of leaked documents revealed new allegations she siphoned off hundreds of millions in public money.

Dubbed Africa’s richest woman, dos Santos is accused of using her father’s backing to plunder state funds from the oil-rich but impoverished southern African country and — with the help of Western consulting firms — move the money offshore.

She stopped living in Angola after her authoritarian father Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who ruled the country for nearly 40 years, stepped down in 2017 for his anointed successor Joao Lourenco.

She now spends her time between London and Dubai.

“We will use all possible means and activate international mechanisms to bring Isabel dos Santos back to the country,” prosecutor general Helder Pitra Gros told public radio.

“We have asked for international support from Portugal, Dubai and other countries,” he added.

The 46-year-old dos Santos is already being investigated as part of an anti-graft campaign launched by Lourenco, who has vowed to root out corruption.

Prosecutors last month froze bank accounts and holdings owned by the businesswoman and her Congolese-Danish husband Sindika Dokolo, a move dos Santos described as motivated by a groundless political vendetta.

Gros’ remarks came after a trove of 715,000 files dubbed the “Luanda Leaks” on Sunday revealed how the eldest daughter of the former president allegedly moved the vast sums into overseas assets.

The award-winning New York-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) behind the release alleged the international system has allowed powerful individuals like her to move assets around the world, without questions.

 

PUBLICO/AFP/File / FERNANDO VELUDO Prosecutors

 have already frozen the bank accounts and holdings 

owned by dos Santos and her Congolese husband Sindika Dokolo

“Based on a trove of more than 715,000 files, our investigation highlights a broken international regulatory system that allows professional services firms to serve the powerful with almost no questions asked,” the ICIJ wrote.

The group said its team of 120 reporters in 20 countries was able to trace “how an army of Western financial firms, lawyers, accountants, government officials and management companies helped (dos Santos and Dokolo) hide assets from tax authorities”.

– ‘Highly coordinated attack’ –

Dos Santos took to Twitter to refute the claims, launching a salvo of around 30 tweets in Portuguese and English, accusing journalists involved in the investigation of telling “lies”.

“My fortune is built on my character, my intelligence, education, capacity for work, perseverance,” she wrote.

Born in Baku, Azerbaijan, and educated in Britain, dos Santos — scornfully nicknamed “the princess” — was named Africa’s first female billionaire in 2013 by Forbes, which estimates her current wealth at $2.1 billion.

Her lawyer dismissed the ICIJ findings as a “highly coordinated attack” orchestrated by Angola’s current rulers, in a statement quoted by The Guardian newspaper.

Dos Santos herself told BBC Africa the file dump was part of a “witch hunt” meant to discredit her and her father.
 

AFP/File / Adalberto ROQUE Former Angolan president 

Jose Eduardo Dos Santos ruled for nearly 40 years before stepping down in 2017

She headed Angola’s national oil company Sonangol until her father’s successor forced her out after becoming president in 2017.

“Red flags really went up when she was appointed head of the state oil company at a time when her father still had significant influence,” said Daniel Bruce, who heads the UK branch of anti-corruption campaign group Transparency International.

“You could see there were major conflicts of interest starting to emerge,” he added.

Dos Santos said on Wednesday that she would consider running for president in the next election in 2022.

– Western consultants –

The ICIJ investigation said Western consulting firms such as PwC and Boston Consulting Group were “apparently ignoring red flags” while helping her stash away public assets.

“Regulators around the globe have virtually ignored the key role Western professionals play in maintaining an offshore industry that drives money laundering and drains trillions from public coffers,” the report said.

Its document trove included redacted letters allegedly showing how consultants sought out ways to open non-transparent bank accounts.

London-based firm PwC*** was among those advising her businesses.

The consultancy said it had “immediately initiated an investigation” in the wake of the “very serious and concerning allegations.”

“We have also taken action to terminate any ongoing work for entities controlled by members of the dos Santos family,” it added in a statement.

The Boston Consulting Group did not immediately respond to an attempt to get comment by AFP.

One confidential document allegedly drafted by Boston Consulting in September 2015 outlined a complex scheme for the oil company to move its money offshore.

The investigation also published a similar 99-page presentation from KPMG.

“UK firms… have played a role both in helping her to amass this fortune but also to invest the proceeds of these suspicious deals,” said Bruce.

“There are questions to answer,” he added. “Particularly for those who helped her acquire property.”

Dos Santos and Dokolo have invested in several luxurious London houses and amassed an impressive collection of valuable artwork.

Her husband, a well-known collector of African arts, developed that passion from his billionaire banker father Augustin Dokolo Sanu.

*** PwC IS PRICE WATERHOUSE COOPER  ACCOUNTING 

Documents reveal how 'Africa's richest woman' stole fortune from her country 

Issued on: 20/01/2020

Isabel Dos Santos, daughter of Angola’s former President and Africa's richest woman, sits for a portrait during a Reuters interview in London, Britain, January 9, 2020. Picture taken on January 9. © REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo

Text by:NEWS WIRES|

Video by:Camille NEDELEC

An award-winning investigative team published a trove of files Sunday allegedly showing how Africa's richest woman syphoned hundreds of millions of dollars of public money into offshore accounts.

The New York-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) worked with newspapers such as Munich's Suddeutsche Zeitung to reveal the "Panama Papers" tax haven scandal in 2016.

Its latest series called "Luanda Leaks" zeros in on Isabel dos Santos, the daughter of former Angola president Jose Eduardo dos Santos.

Angola's prosecutors last month froze the bank accounts and assets owned by the 46-year-old businesswoman and her Congolese husband Sindika Dokolo, which she described as a groundless political vendetta.

"Based on a trove of more than 715,000 files, our investigation highlights a broken international regulatory system that allows professional services firms to serve the powerful with almost no questions asked," the ICIJ wrote.

The group said its team of 120 reporters in 20 countries was able to trace "how an army of Western financial firms, lawyers, accountants, government officials and management companies helped (dos Santos and Dokolo) hide assets from tax authorities".

Dos Santos took to Twitter to refute the claims, launching a salvo of around 30 tweets in Portuguese and English, and accusing journalists involved in the investigation of telling "lies".

"My fortune is built on my character, my intelligence, education, capacity for work, perseverance," she wrote. 

She also blasted "the racism and prejudice" of SIC-Expresso, a Portuguese TV station and newspaper, and member of the ICIJ, "that recall the colonial era when an African could never be considered equal to a European".

Dos Santos's lawyer dismissed the ICIJ findings as a "highly coordinated attack" orchestrated by Angola's current rulers, in a statement quoted by The Guardian newspaper.

Dos Santos herself told BBC Africa the file dump was part of a "witch hunt" meant to discredit her and her father.

The former president's daughter headed Angola's national oil company Sonangol. Forbes magazine last year estimated her net worth at $2.2 billion.

Her father's successor Joao Lourenco forced her out of the oil company after becoming president in 2017.

Dos Santos said on Wednesday that she would consider running for president in the next election in 2022.

Western consultants 

The ICIJ investigation said Western consulting firms such as PwC and Boston Consulting Group were "apparently ignoring red flags" while helping her stash away public assets.

"Regulators around the globe have virtually ignored the key role Western professionals play in maintaining an offshore industry that drives money laundering and drains trillions from public coffers," the report said.

Its document trove included redacted letters allegedly showing how consultants sought out ways to open non-transparent bank accounts.

One confidential document allegedly drafted by Boston Consulting in September 2015 outlined a complex scheme for the oil company to move its money offshore.

The investigation also published a similar 99-page presentation from KPMG.

None of the companies named issued immediate statements in response to the investigation.

(AFP)

Luanda Leaks point to international complicity as Isabel dos Santos faces scrunity

Angolans are calling for an international investigation into the world-wide dealings that allowed Isabel dos Santos, the daughter of the former president, to become the richest woman in Africa. 

No Angolan ever believed that the fortune amassed by Isabel dos Santos, daughter of former President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, was acquired by legal means. But even the most skeptical might have been surprised by the extent of international connivance in the plundering of the country's resources as exposed by the recent leak of documents concerning "Africa's richest woman."

The New York-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) on Sunday published a trove of files allegedly showing how dos Santos syphoned hundreds of millions of dollars of public money into offshore accounts. The more than 715,000 files — dubebd "Luanda Leaks" — were investigated by 120 reporters in 20 countries, including Germany.

Germany's involvement

German public broadcasters NDR and WDR, together with the daily Süddeutsche Zeitung, found that the beverage company Sodiba, owned by dos Santos and her husband, Sindika Dokolo, received a loan of €50 million ($55 million) from a subsidiary of the German development bank KfW without a prior comprehensive examination of the business. The loan was used by dos Santos to purchase a beer brewing plant and two bottling lines from German company Krones AG in 2015. Dos Santos' father allegedly used his influence to get the investment project approved.

Human rights activist and researcher Rafael Marques de Morais believes the current drive against corruption in Angola is legitimate

Human rights activist and researcher Rafael Marques de Morais says that it is "only fair" that countries like Germany now help investigate how international actors enabled the former president's 46-year-old daughter to acquire a vast fortune estimated at over $3 billion. "[German chancellor] Angela Merkel is visiting Angola [in February] and that issue must be raised: How come funds provided by the German government were also used to add to her [dos Santos'] wealth?"

"This is a major case of international corruption," de Morais told DW, adding: "It was the world that projected Isabel dos Santos as the richest and most successful businesswoman when she was a thief." According to the ICIJ, the leaked documents show how "Western financial firms, lawyers, accountants, government officials and management companies helped hide assets from tax authorities."

The stolen billion

According to the leaked files, in recent years dos Santos and her husband founded more than 400 companies in 41 jurisdictions, among them tax havens like Malta, Mauritius and Hong Kong. These companies continuously benefited from public contracts, consulting services and loans in Angola.

President Joao Lourenco was received in Berlin by his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier in 2018

In late December, Angolan authorities froze dos Santos' assets in the African country following allegations by prosecutors that she and her husband had embezzled more than $1 billion from state companies Sonangol and Sodiam. Isabel dos Santos was put in charge of Sonangol by her father in 2016. She was later fired from this position by her father's successor, Joao Lourenco.

Isabel dos Santos contonues to deny any wrongdoing. "My fortune is built on my character, my intelligence, education, capacity for work, perseverance," dos Santos wrote on social media platforms. She insists that both the current investigation in Angola and "Luanda Leaks" are politically motivated and coordinated attacks against her.

'Corruption is killing the country'

Some analysts have voiced suspicions that current president is not so much motivated by the fight against corruption than by a need to consolidate his power after succeeding long-time ruler Jose Eduardo dos Santos.  Robert Besseling, the executive director of EXX Africa — a company that assesses business risks — told DW that he believed economic interests were at stake too: "[The government] seem to be pressuring associates, family and business to give up the assets of key companies in Angola and elsewhere at the very moment when there is a privatization agenda, where the government is seeking to sell a large share of the economy," he said.

Rafael Marques de Morais disagrees. Severely persecuted for his anti-corruption activism during the dos Santos era, he believes that Lourenco is truly bent on cleaning up the country. However, this is also in his own best interest: Angolans are increasingly upset about the deep economic crisis in the oil-rich country, which was also precipitated by the plundering of its resources by a corrupt elite. The discontent does not bode well for President Lourenco's party, the MPLA, which has ruled the country since independence 45 years ago. "Dos Santos was in power for 38 years and he privatized the state mostly in favor of his children. That's why there is an investigation into corruption. And corruption must end in Angola, because it is killing the country," de Morais said.

Angola's huge wealth in natural resources has failed to trickle down to the population

The need to reform the judicial system

There are many investigations now taking place against current and former government officials. A number of generals and members of parliament have been indicted and some jailed. "There is an effort by the government to really bring on as many cases as the judicial system can handle." A major problem, however, is the lack of reform of Angola's judicial system. "All the judges and prosecutors currently in office have been appointed by dos Santos himself," de Morais explains.

The immunity granted to former President dos Santos, who now resides in Spain for what are said to be medical reasons, expires in 2022. "After that, it is expected that he will have to respond in court for his misdeeds," according to de Morais. Despite the controversy, last week, Isabel dos Santos said she would consider running for president of Angola in the 2022 election.

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Several killed as protesters battle security forces in Baghdad

Issued on: 20/01/2020 
  

An anti-government protester flashes the victory gesture as he stands before flaming tires at a make-shift roadblock during a demonstration in the central Iraqi city of Najaf on January 19, 2020. AFP - HAIDAR HAMDANI

Text by:NEWS WIRES

Three Iraqi protesters were killed in the capital as thousands of anti-government demonstrators sought to shut streets across the country on Monday, their deadline for authorities to implement long-awaited reforms.

Rallies have rocked Iraq since October but fearing they would lose momentum amid spiralling regional tensions protesters last Monday told the government it had one week to meet their demands or they would escalate their demonstrations.

Protesters sought to ramp up pressure on the government on Monday with pop-up rallies away from their main gathering place in Baghdad's iconic Tahrir (Liberation) Square.

Hundreds descended on nearby Tayaran Square, where they clashed with security forces who fired tear gas and live rounds to disperse them, an AFP journalist said.

Three protesters were killed, medics told AFP, two of them by live rounds and the third by a tear gas canister that pierced his neck.

More than 50 other people were wounded, the medics said.

Young men wearing helmets and gas masks in an attempt to protect themselves from flying gas canisters erected barricades to try to push riot police back.

Protesters have called for early elections under a new voting law, an independent prime minister to replace outgoing premier Adel Abdel Mahdi and for all corrupt officials to be held accountable.

Late Sunday young protesters began sealing off highways and bridges across the capital Baghdad and Iraq's south, torching tyres and setting up makeshift barricades.

They tried to do the same early Monday in the capital but security forces acted fast, with the military saying it had reopened a major Baghdad thoroughfare and arrested nine young men who had attempted to seal it off.

Protests slam 'procrastination'

Fearing widespread rallies, provincial authorities across southern Iraq announced an official holiday on Monday.

But young people hit the streets in the southern cities of Kut, Nasiriyah, Baqubah, Amara and the holy city of Najaf, setting tyres on fire.

In the protest hotspot of Diwaniyah, they shut key roads both inside and leading out of the city.

"The procrastination of the government and the political class for more than three months now has prompted us to take escalatory steps to pressure them to meet our demands," Mohammad Faeq, a 28-year-old protester, told AFP.

Since October, around 460 people have lost their lives to protest-related violence and another 25,000 have been wounded, according to an AFP count.

Authorities do not provide updated casualty figures.

Demonstrators have feared their movement would be eclipsed by the geopolitical storm brewing between neighbouring Iran and the United States, both close partners of Iraq.

A US drone strike near Baghdad's airport on January 3 killed top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani, prompting Iranian rocket strikes on an Iraqi base housing US troops and triggering fears of a wider conflict.

Iraqi political figures have since ramped up their calls for foreign forces -- including some 5,200 US troops -- to leave the country.

UN warns of 'foreign interference'

On Monday, the United Nations' top official in Iraq Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert said ignoring the demands of protesters would only fuel "anger and distrust".

"Any steps taken so far to address the people's concerns will remain hollow, if they are not completed," she said in a statement.

"Domestic unity, cohesion and determination are urgently necessary to build resilience against narrow partisan interests, foreign interference and/or criminal elements which actively seek to hinder Iraq's stability," she added.

Protesters also worry that a mass rally to be organised Friday by firebrand Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr to demand the ouster of US troops could drown them out.

Last week, Sadr urged Iraqis to hold "a million-strong, peaceful, unified demonstration to condemn the American presence and its violations".

While protesters have criticised the US, they have directly accused Iran of hindering Iraq politically and economically.

Tehran holds major sway in Iraq, building up close ties with a variety of political and military players over decades.

Protesters say Iran's overreach has contributed to rampant corruption and poor services.

The World Bank says one in five people lives below the poverty line in Iraq, which is OPEC's second-biggest crude producer.

While the rallies initially railed against the economy, they quickly escalated to demand a total overhaul of government.

Protesters scored one win in December with the resignation of Abdel Mahdi but he has stayed on in a caretaker role and political parties have thus far failed to agree on a successor.

Demonstrators have publicly rejected names circulating as possible replacements and are furious that other sweeping reforms have not been implemented.

(AFP)

Children go missing as Central American migrants clash with Mexican police

Issued on: 21/01/2020
 Migrants, part of a caravan travelling to the U.S, cross the Suchiate river from Tecun Uman, in Guatemala, to Ciudad Hidalgo, as seen from Ciudad Hidalgo, Mexico, January 20, 2020. © REUTERS/Jose Torres

Text by:NEWS WIRES

Mexican security forces fired tear gas at rock-hurling Central American migrants who waded across a river into Mexico earlier on Monday, in a chaotic scramble that saw mothers separated from their young children

The clashes between hundreds of U.S.-bound Central Americans and the Mexican National Guard underscores the challenge President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador faces to contain migration at the bidding of his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump.

The mostly Honduran migrants numbered around 500, according to Mexico's National Migration Institute (INM). They were part of a group of several thousand people that had set off last week from Honduras, fleeing rampant gang violence and dire job prospects in their homeland.

Video footage showed scattered groups of migrants throwing rocks at a few members of the National Guard militarised police who were on the banks of the river attempting to thwart illegal crossings, while hundreds of others ran past into Mexico.

Five National Guard police were injured in the clashes, the INM said.

"We didn't come to stay here. We just want to cross to the other side," said Ingrid, 18, a Honduran migrant. "I don't want to go back to my country because there is nothing there, just hunger."

A Reuters witness spoke to at least two mothers whose young children went missing amid the chaos, as the migrants on Mexican soil scattered in an attempt to avoid being detained by Mexican officials.

The INM said it had detained 402 migrants and transferred them to immigration stations where they will receive food, water and shelter. The INM will return them to their home countries via airplane or bus if their legal status cannot be resolved.

A spokeswoman at the INM said the institute had no reports of children going missing amid the clashes.

The Reuters witness said that several kilometers from the border, Mexican immigration authorities had filled a bus and pickup trucks with detained migrants.

The Honduran Ambassador to Mexico, Alden Rivera, said that Mexican authorities have some 1,300 Hondurans in migration centers and will start deporting them back home by airplane and bus on Tuesday.

Trump has threatened to punish Mexico and Central American countries economically if they fail to curb migrant flows, resulting in a series of agreements aimed at making good on Trump campaign promises to curb immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Wading across the river 

Over the weekend, at least 2,000 migrants had been camped in the Guatemalan border town of Tecun Uman, opposite Ciudad Hidalgo on the Mexican side.

The migrants appeared to grow impatient on the bridge over the Suchiate River that connects the two countries, after some were denied permission to cross by assembled Mexican migration officials.

The INM said it informed the migrants it could not allow them to cross into Mexican territory to "transit" through and blamed the group's organizers for "ignoring the risk to minors and at-risk people" by crossing the river.

Mexico has offered migrants work in the south, but those who do not accept it or seek asylum will not be issued safe conduct passes to the United States, and most will be deported, the interior ministry said.

Mexican authorities had already received nearly 1,100 migrants in the states of Chiapas and Tabasco, the ministry said on Sunday.

According to Guatemala, at least 4,000 people entered from Honduras since Wednesday, making for one of the biggest surges since three Central American governments signed agreements with the Trump administration obliging them to assume more of the responsibility for dealing with migrants. 

(REUTERS)

Anti-establishment Thai party survives first dissolution bid

Issued on: 21/01/2020 

Bangkok (AFP)

A stridently anti-military Thai party survived a first legal attempt to disband it Tuesday over alleged sedition -- including links to the Illuminati, a secret group conspiracy theorists say is seeking global domination.

The Constitutional Court ruled Future Forward -- a pro-democracy party which vehemently opposes the army-aligned establishment -- had not shown any intent to overthrow the constitutional monarchy.

Dismissing the charge, a judge on the nine-member bench said there was no sign key executives and the party "had taken actions against the constitutional monarchy".

The ruling sparked jubiliation at party headquarters, with supporters cheering "long live democracy" and "hell to dictatorship".

But FFP -- Thailand's third largest party which draws on a deep well of youth support -- still faces further threats of dissolution.

It is loathed by the pro-military establishment for its criticism of the army's role in politics and for pushing policies such as an end to conscription and a cut in defence spending.

The same court is still considering a second charge over alleged illegal loans by its charismatic billionaire founder Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, who also faces a barrage of cases against him.

"We believe those cases are politically motivated," Thanathorn said to cheers at a press conference after the ruling.

He vowed to push for amendments to the 2017 army-scripted constitution, which analysts say tilted last year's election in the favour of military-backed parties.

Calling an end to the "legal war" against Future Forward, secretary general Pitabutr Saengkanokkul said dissolving parties was "not useful to Thailand's democracy".

Thailand's recent political history has been shaped by the courts, which routinely abolish parties and unseats premiers in what critics say are politically motivated cases.

The kingdom has disbanded five parties since 2007 -- a move that "kicks out political talent", analyst Thitnan Pongsudhirak of Chulalongkorn University told AFP.

The court considered allegations that speeches by senior FFP members were seditious, as well as a spurious claim the party was linked to the Illuminati, a secret society whose existence has never seriously been proven.

That part of the complaint centered on whether the party logo -- an upside-down triangle -- resembled the symbol of the alleged republican-leaning group traced back to 18th-century Europe.

Thailand's ultra-wealthy monarchy is at the apex of power and is buttressed by harsh royal defamation laws and the backing of the army.

The kingdom remains in a political quagmire with the country split over the arch-royalist government of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha, a former army chief who seized power in a 2014 coup.

Newly formed Future Forward only came onto Thailand's political scene in 2018, drawing the support of millions of mostly young Thais weary of pro-establishment forces in government.

burs-apj/dhc/fox

© 2020 AFP
Thai court acquits opposition party of attempting to overthrow monarchy

Issued on: 21/01/2020 

Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit (C), leader of the opposition Future Forward party, sits with party officials at their headquarters in Bangkok on January 21, 2020, to watch the ruling by Thailand's Constitutional Court on whether the party carried out "actions" against the constitutional monarchy. AFP - ROMEO GACAD

Text by:NEWS WIRES

Thailand’s Constitutional Court on Tuesday acquitted the country’s third-biggest political party of seeking the overthrow of the country’s constitutional monarchy, a case that had highlighted ongoing political divisions in the Southeast Asian nation.

The court ruled that the Future Forward Party showed no intention of committing the offense, and that the complaint had not been filed according to the correct legal procedure.

The party still faces the threat of dissolution under another pending charge of breaking election laws by taking a large loan from its leader. The party was founded in 2018 during military rule, and takes progressive positions that are anathema to Thailand’s royalist ruling elite.

The party’s surprising finish in an election last year and its popularity among young people rattled the government, which is led by the same people who staged a military coup in 2014.

The case drew special attention because the complaint had sought to link the party to the mythical conspiracy own as the Illuminati, which is alleged to be an elite organization seeking world domination.

The complaint, filed last year by lawyer Natthaporn Toprayoon, listed statements by party officials supposedly critical of Thai traditions, and pointed out that its logo is an inverted triangle, which if turned right-side up resembles the alleged symbol of the Illuminati. It claimed the Illuminati had sought to overthrow European monarchies and influence the U.S. Declaration of Independence.

The case was one of a series filed against the party and its leader, Thanathorn Juangroongruangkrit. In November, the Constitutional Court stripped Thanathorn of his lawmaker status, ruling that he violated a regulation on media ownership.

Critical of the military

There is a widespread belief that one way or another, the party will end up being disbanded, with its leaders banned from political office for several years.

The party has taken positions explicitly critical of the military for its interference in politics. It also seeks to amend the constitution, drafted after the 2014 coup, to make it more democratic.

The party’s initial support came from youth and young professionals, but it proved to have wider appeal in many parts of the country.

The army staged coups in 2006 and 2014, allowing an election last March after five years of military rule. While in power, it amended the constitution and other laws to try to ensure that pro-democracy parties could not take power.

The military and the courts are the two main pillars of the Thai establishment, and have consistently acted to curb threats to the status quo.

The court’s ruling on Tuesday ordered Future Forward to revise its regulations to be clearer in order to comply with the constitution’s stating that any political party must not oppose the constitutional monarchy.

The opposition party’s popularity was underlined last month when several thousand of its supporters rallied in Bangkok, the nation’s capital, in one of the largest political demonstrations since the 2014 coup.

“I think it shows that people will not tolerate dictatorship anymore,” Thanathorn said at the time of the large turnout.

(AP)

Thai court acquits opposition party of opposing monarchy

The ruling means major Thai opposition Future Forward Party will not be banned on charges of sedition. However, the party still faces several more legal challenges that could yet see it dissolved.

THE KING IS WEARING A COWBOY HAT OZZIE STYLE

Thailand's Constitutional Court on Tuesday found the opposition Future Forward Party not guilty of seeking to overthrow the monarchy.

The party, led by Thanathon Juangroongruangkrit, showed no intention of committing the offense, the court ruled.

The court did find that the party should revise the wording in its constitution so it clearly states it does not oppose the constitutional monarchy.

"This should not have been a case in the first place. I would like to stress that neither Thanathorn, myself, nor the party, want to undermine the constitutional monarchy," said Piyabutr Saengkanokkul, the party's secretary-general.

Lawyer alleged Future Forward violated the constitution

The case was brought by lawyer Natthaporn Toprayoon who charged the leaders of the party in July 2019 with violating section 49 of the constitution. This section forbids actions seeking to overthrow the constitutional monarchy.

He also charged that the party had links to the Illuminati due to a symbol in its logo.

"I have no intention of wanting to see the party disbanded," said Natthaporn before the court ruling.

"I want people to recognize that we are all Thais and we should protect the monarchy because we are able to live today because of the monarchy" he added.

However, the party could still be banned under another pending charge of breaking election laws by taking a loan from its leader.

Read more: Opinion: Thailand's democratic dictatorship

What is the Future Foward Party?

The progressive party was formed in 2018 on a platform calling for an end to the military's influence on Thai politics, including seeking to reform the constitution which was drafted after a military coup in 2014. Future Forward came third in national elections last year, winning 6.2 million votes from a mainly younger electorate.

Its leader, the auto-parts billionaire Thanathorn Juangroongruangkrit is facing a number of allegations, including that Future Forward Party accepted loans from Thanathorn, breaking electoral laws governing party funding.

The Constitutional Court also disqualified Thanathorn from acting as lawmaker last year, ruling he violated a regulation on media ownership.

Read more: Thailand election highlights a divided society

kmm/rt (Reuters, dpa, AP)

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Morales announces his candidate for Bolivian presidential race

Issued on: 20/01/2020

Bolivian president Evo Morales (L) and Economy Minister Luis Arce Catacora during a ceremony at the Palacio Quemado presidential palace in La Paz to launch USD 500 million in bonds on October 23, 2012. AFP - AIZAR RALDES
Text by:NEWS WIRES

Luis Arce, credited with steering Bolivia through years of economic growth, will be a presidential candidate in May elections, Bolivia’s exiled former leader Evo Morales said on Sunday.

Bolivians will choose a new president May 3, more than six months after a disputed ballot sparked violent street protests and the resignation of Morales, who fled to Mexico and then Argentina.

Bolivia’s interim government has banned Morales himself from standing and has issued a warrant for his arrest should he return.

Arce, 56, who also fled his homeland after Morales’s downfall, was a major part of successive Morales governments after 2006 that slashed the poverty rate and presided over rapid economic growth fuelled by gas exports.

Bolivia became one of Latin America’s fastest-growing economies, but Arce had to temporarily step aside in 2017 for health reasons.

He will be backed in the election by Morales’s Movement for Socialism (MAS) party, the former leader said in Buenos Aires.

Arce’s vice presidential candidate running mate will be former foreign minister David Choquehuanca, 58, Morales said.

'Continuation of process of change'

Arce is “a combination of the city and the countryside to continue the process of change,” said Morales, Bolivia’s first indigenous president.

“Our peasant movement does not exclude people and does not marginalize people.”

He led the country for almost 14 years until his resignation on November 10, but in December said he was convinced his party would win the next ballot.

Recent polls have shown the MAS has about 21 percent support, followed by centrist former president Carlos Mesa with about 14 percent.

Morales, a socialist, told AFP on December 24 that he was forced from power by a US-backed coup d’etat aimed at gaining access to the South American country’s vast lithium resources.

The government of interim President Jeanine Anez said it would launch a corruption probe into nearly 600 officials of Morales’s administration, including ministers.

(AFP)

Bolivian Congress to vote on Morales' resignation

Issued on: 21/01/2020 

La Paz (AFP)

Bolivia's Congress is to convene Tuesday to debate the validity of ex-president Evo Morales' resignation, with a vote expected on whether to accept or reject it, a leading lawmaker said.

Senate speaker Eva Copa, a member of the former president's Movement for Socialism party MAS, summoned lawmakers from both houses of Congress to "consider the resignations of Evo Morales and Alvaro Garcia Linera from the posts of president and vice-president."

The congress is constitutionally bound to examine the resignation to decide on its validity.

MAS senator Omar Aguilar told journalists that Congress would vote "whether to accept or reject the resignations."

Morales resigned under pressure from the armed forces on November 10 after rioting greeted his re-election following contested October 20 polls.

The Organization of American States (OAS) later pointed to widespread irregularities. The right-wing interim government has scheduled a new election for May 3.

Morales, who is living in exile in neighboring Argentina, insists he is still president until Congress declares otherwise.

Morales' five-year term officially runs until Wednesday.

© 2020 AFP

David Olney death: Nashville singer dies on stage from apparent heart attack after ‘apologising to audience’

Fellow musicians who were sharing a stage with Olney gave moving accounts of what happened

Roisin O'Connor @Roisin_OConnor

Nashville singer-songwriter David Olney has died during a performance on stage.

The Americana artist, whose music was recorded by Emmylou Harris, Linda Ronstadt, Steve Young and others, died of an apparent heart attack while performing at the 30A Songwriters Festival in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida.

According to fellow singer-songwriter Scott Miller, who was performing with Olney, the 71-year-old stopped in the middle of a song, said “I’m sorry”, and “put his chin to his chest”.

“He never dropped his guitar or fell [off] his stool,” Miller wrote on Facebook. “It was as easy and gentle as he was.”

Amy Rigby, who was also on stage with Olney at the time, wrote a separate Facebook post with her own moving account of what happened.

“He was very still, sitting upright with his guitar on, wearing the coolest hat and a beautiful rust suede jacket... I just want the picture to be as graceful and dignified as it was, because it at first looked like he was just taking a moment,” she wrote.

“We all lost someone important last night.”

Olney became a key member of Nashville’s music scene after moving there from his native Rhode Island in 1973. Regarded as an “Americana pioneer”, he produced more than 20 albums, including 2018’s This Side or the Other.

A festival producer Russell Carter wrote: “David was loved and highly respected by all who knew him, including his fellow musicians and his multitude of fans."

Olney is survived by his wife and two children.

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I'm the 'teacher of the year' who took a knee at the football game attended by Trump. This is why I did it


As a gender-nonconforming lesbian, I know what it feels like to be discriminated against. But I know I have more to learn — and I know that teachers need to be more than just allies

Kelly D Holstine Minnesota

Getty Images

As the first notes of the National Anthem were ascending into the stands of the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in New Orleans at the College Football Championship game last Monday night, I followed in the footsteps of so many incredible advocates and activists before me and dropped to one knee. And even though my leg was shaking, it felt like taking this opportunity to stand up (or kneel, in this case) for marginalized and oppressed humans was the right thing to do. As a country, we are not serving the needs of all of our inhabitants, and I believe that complacency and inaction will not bring about the change that we so desperately need

The 2019 State Teachers of the Year were hosted by the College Football Playoff Foundation (an incredible program that “is dedicated to elevating the teaching profession by inspiring and empowering teachers”) and were honored on the field.

At the rehearsal, we were given the choice to either put our hand over our heart or to stand quietly. But these choices didn’t feel like enough to me. Not everyone is given the same opportunity to have a voice and platform in the way that State Teachers of the Year are, and I take that responsibility seriously.



By taking a knee, I stood up for people who are harmed due to their race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, and/or their status as a citizen; I stood against political leaders who are xenophobic, homophobic, racist, trying to take away the rights of women, and failing to protect our animals and environment; and I stood with all of the educators who are diligently trying to decrease the educational equity gap in our country.

Many have reached out with messages of support and hope. However, I also have received violent threats and angry messages that are similar in tone to the ones I received after I protested a visit with the President last May. My belief remains that those who are trying to isolate me, shame me, and coerce me into being quiet must be terrified of losing all the ways they benefit from existing systems of oppression. They are furious with me for advocating for the very people that they need to stay oppressed.

Standing up against the words and actions of the current administration does not make me anti-American. People seem to be confusing patriotism with (white) nationalism when they say this. I care deeply about where we have been in this country and where we are going. And I am grateful that I can legally exercise my First Amendment rights in order to communicate that we still have a lot of work to do.

US cheerleader takes a knee during national anthem

As a gender-nonconforming lesbian, I know what it feels like to be discriminated against. But I do not know what it feels like to be a black person, an indigenous person, or a person of color. And I will admit that my confidence in anti-racist work is not as strong as it is with my LGBTQ+ advocacy work. But I believe passionately that it's not enough for educators to just be allies; they need to be advocates, too.

I need to be willing to step into my fear of making mistakes and remain open to learning. And as Minnesota’s Commissioner of Education, Mary Cathryn Ricker, says, “We can’t expect [humans] to conform to our comfort.” As LGBTQ+ humans, we need heterosexual and cisgender advocates to stand with us while we fight for our rights. People of the Global Majority also need white people to stand with them. And we all need to be advocating for intersectional equity. Additionally, I deeply respect that the symbolism of taking a knee is deeply rooted in the civil rights movement and I want to honor that history.

I would not have had the courage to participate in this protest without the support of 2020 Minnesota State Teacher of the Year, Jess Davis. She helped me to process, research, and make the decision to kneel. She even kneeled with me in solidarity from her home in Minneapolis. Jess was willing to pay the cultural tax (that so many people of color have to pay) to help me, a white person, to understand the nuances of anti-racist work. And for her support and brilliance, I am grateful.

There are a myriad of ways that people are “taking a knee” in their own lives. Whether it is subtle and private or overt and visible, it all matters. When we are willing to step into our personal discomfort and “take a knee” as a way to stand up against prejudice and discrimination, then, and only then, can we build a country that truly supports every single heart.

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Panama begins exhuming remains of victims of 1989 US invasion

Issued on: 21/01/2020 

Panama City (AFP)

Authorities in Panama on Monday began exhuming a mass grave containing the remains of unknown civilians killed during the 1989 US invasion of the Central American country.

The move follows a decades-long effort by families of missing people to identify remains buried in a common grave in the capital's Jardin de Paz cemetery.

"Finally, after 30 years, it is possible by judicial means, to recover unknown bodies buried in a common grave," said Jose Luis Sosa, who heads a commission investigating human rights violations committed during the invasion.

"Families have been looking for their relatives for the past 30 years and the state has not given them an answer," Sosa said.

The exhumations follow the reopening of investigations into the circumstances in which civilians were killed during the December 20, 1989 invasion.

Officials said the exhumations would be carried out to identify the remains and determine the cause of death. The work is likely to last about two months.

Then-US President George H.W. Bush sent 27,000 US troops into Panama on December 20, 1989 to capture Manuel Noriega, the country's military dictator, who had been indicted in the United States for drug trafficking.

More than 500 people were killed in the invasion, according to official figures, though some organizations put the number of dead in the thousands.

© 2020 AFP

After an asylum seekers’ camp in northern Paris was cleared last November, France plans to continue to break up others across the country. Although the number of places in shelters has doubled, with over 108,000 beds available for asylum seekers, makeshift camps are still scattered around the capital's ring road, where several thousand people are living in squalid conditions. FRANCE 24’s team reports.