Thursday, August 11, 2022

Brazilians march in 'defense of democracy' ahead of elections

Protesters fear that far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro, who is lagging behind his leftist rival Luiz Inacio Lula da Silvain in the polls, will not respect the result of October's vote.

Le Monde with AFP
Published on August 11, 2022 
 \


Thousands of Brazilians took to the streets of Sao Paulo on Thursday, August 11 in "defense of democracy," after President Jair Bolsonaro's sustained attacks on democratic institutions, weeks ahead of elections. Demonstrations were also planned for Rio de Janeiro and Brasilia.

The demonstrations were sparked by fears the far-right leader, lagging in opinion polls, would not respect the outcome of October's vote given his repeated attempts to cast doubt on Brazil's electoral system.

"After 200 years of independence in Brazil, we should be thinking about our future, but we are focused on preventing a regression," University of Sao Paulo rector Carlos Gilberto Junior told a gathering of hundreds of academics, business and trade union leaders and civil society members.Read more Subscribers only Jair Bolsonaro officially launches his re-election campaign

Outside the campus, thousands held up banners denouncing Bolsonaro and proclaiming: "Respect the vote, respect the people." Some were dressed as electronic voting machines, which Mr. Bolsonaro has claimed make cheating easier.

"Our president has already given indications that he will do everything possible to prevent elections," architect Sabrina Cunha, 62, told news agency Agence France-Presse. "I was from the student movement during the military dictatorship (1964-1985), I know what awaits us," she added.

At the university gathering, a video was shown of Brazilian artists reading a petition "in defense of the democratic state of law." The document has garnered more than 900,000 signatures since being posted online two weeks ago. "We are living a moment of great peril for democratic normality, of risk for institutions, with insinuations of non-compliance with election results," reads the text.


An LGBT activist dressed as an electronic voting machine at a demonstration at Sao Paulo University
 ANDRE PENNER / AP


Voters in Brazil cast their ballots electronically at voting stations. But Mr. Bolsonaro has long argued for a paper printout to be made of each vote cast, suggesting the absence of a paper trail enables cheating. He has not provided any evidence of electoral fraud, and the Superior Electoral Court insists the system is fair and transparent. Last month, Mr. Bolsonaro repeated his claims at a meeting with foreign ambassadors, prompting the US embassy to later say Brazil's electoral system was a "model for the world."Read more 

His repeated attacks have led analysts to fear he may refuse to accept defeat, like his former American counterpart Donald Trump, whose supporters stormed the US Capitol after he lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden.

Several Brazilian business associations have also published public letters of concern, including the Brazilian Federation of Banks and the Federation of Industries of the State of Sao Paulo. This is seen as a setback for Mr. Bolsonaro, who drew much support from the business sector in the 2018 election.

According to the latest opinion poll by the Datafolha Institute, published on July 28, Mr. Bolsonaro lags 18 points behind former leftist president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the favorite to win the election.
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Removing 'camouflage,' Brazil football referee comes out


Douglas MAGNO, with Rodrigo ALMONACID in Sao Paulo
Thu, August 11, 2022 


Growing up, he never liked football, but Igor Benevenuto played it anyway to avoid being teased with homophobic jokes -- something all too common in his hometown in southeastern Brazil.

He wasn't much good as a player, but found a passion for refereeing -- and the perfect "camouflage" to hide his homosexuality. Until now.

Last month, the Brazilian premier league official came out publicly on a football podcast, joining a very short list of trailblazing referees to publicly identify as gay.

Benevenuto, 41, was already well-known in Brazil. A trained nurse as well as a FIFA-certified referee, he had made headlines at the height of the coronavirus pandemic when he hung up his whistle to take a job in a public hospital, joining the front lines of the fight against Covid-19.

Now, Benevenuto says, after a lifetime hiding his sexuality, he wanted to get the "emotional burden" off his chest and do his part to change the machismo that permeates Brazilian football.

"I want to show that football is also a space that shapes who we are as a society, and that anyone can exist there, regardless of color, sexual orientation or anything else," he told AFP in an interview from the city of Belo Horizonte, his hometown.

"It's your right, and it has to be respected."

Few football referees have come out as gay. They include Jorge Jose Emiliano dos Santos, also from Brazil, in 1988; Jesus Tomillero of Spain, in 2015; and Tom Harald Hagen of Norway, in 2020.

Benevenuto says the decision has been life-changing.

"I had lived my entire life hiding myself from other people, hiding my attraction to men," he says.

"I had never lived a fully happy life."

- Creating a 'persona' -


Benevenuto remembers the word used in his childhood neighborhood for boys who didn't play football: "faggot."

It made him hate the game. But he played it anyway, trying to fit in.

Then as a 13-year-old watching the 1994 World Cup, he became fascinated with the referees' colorful uniforms.

Instead of playing in his neighborhood matches, he started refereeing them.

"It was a way to be involved in football as a form of camouflage, to create a persona to hide my sexuality," he says.

"What did refereeing give me? Authority, strength. The role of being the guy in charge, the one who sets the rules. It was extremely masculine, despite being a secondary job in football."

He found a passion for it.

Benevenuto made his professional debut in 2009 in the Minas Gerais state championship. He went on to work in Brazil's top-flight league and the national cup, developing a specialty in VAR (Video Assistant Referee).

He earned his accreditation from world football governing body FIFA last year.

Despite his ambivalent relationship to the game, he has found a home there, says Benevenuto, who is compact and athletic, with a rigorous work ethic and no-nonsense style on the pitch.

"I don't love football. That's for the fans," he says.

"But I've learned to like it. Without football, I couldn't referee."

- High price -


Homophobic chants still ring out regularly in football stadiums in Brazil, a country where attacks on LGBTQ people happen on a daily basis.

The sport is still full of prejudice, Benevenuto says.

"Homosexuals are afraid to be themselves, afraid of having problems with fans, of being verbally and physically attacked, of not being able to work because there is so much prejudice among management," he says.

He has had slurs hurled at him by fans and club directors -- though not players or coaches, he says with a measure of relief.

He has no regrets, he says.

"I had never been a complete person. I couldn't have relationships. I was isolated. I lived in fear of being asked about my personal life," he says.

"Now I live openly. And I'm at peace in my relation to football."

raa/jhb/wd/to
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POLITICAL ECONOMY OF SPORTS
Who owns French football clubs?

For the past 10 years, foreign investors have gradually taken over top-level French football. Out of the 20 Ligue 1 clubs of the 2022-2023 season, 10 are owned by foreign investors.

By Matthieu VlassoulPublished on July 30, 2022

Last June, a press release from Olympique Lyonnais (OL) announced that the club owned by French businessman Jean Michel-Aulas since 1987 would be purchased by American businessman John Textor. The new owner promised to compete with Paris-Saint-Germain's domination, stating in a press conference that he has "invested [his] own funds." Of the 523 million euros obtained, Mr. Textor is already planning on injecting 86 million in the summer transfer window. Mr. Aulas is expected to remain OL's president for the next three seasons, but he is no longer the majority shareholder.

This takeover is part of a pattern that has been observed for 10 years now in French professional football: a wealthy foreign investor coming in to take over a club's ownership.

Ligue 1 club owners
Saint-Etienne, Bordeaux and Metz were relegated this year. Toulouse, Ajaccio, and Auxerre were promoted from Ligue 2.
Ligue 1 club owners
Saint-Etienne, Bordeaux and Metz were relegated this year. Toulouse, Ajaccio, and Auxerre were promoted from Ligue 2.
  • Various motives: diplomacy, business, or sporting results
In France, the year 2011 was marked by the purchase by investors of two of the biggest Ligue 1 clubs. They had deep pockets and planned to inject financial sums unheard of in the French league. In 2011, Colony Capital, the majority shareholder of Paris-Saint-Germain with more than 95 % of the shares, was losing money. The fund sold 70% of its shares to Qatar Sports Investment, part of the nation's sovereign wealth fund. The nation uses football's soft power to improve its reputation. During the 2010-2011 season, PSG's budget was almost doubled, from 80 to 150 million euros, and has not stopped rising since.

In 2011, the Principality of Monaco sold two-thirds of the shares of AS Monaco to Russian businessman Dmitri Rybolovlev for one symbolic euro, after several refusals. At the time, according to an administrator of the Monegasque club, the princely family did not want to continue to "totally finance the club," whose accounts were in bad shape. The Russian businessman's investments eventually paid off and transformed Monaco into a top club, upon its return to Ligue 1 in the 2013-2014 season, at which point the club's budget was increased by 100 million euros.A decade-long race

While French professional clubs have increased their budgets over the years, the gradual arrival of foreign investors has more than doubled the average budget of clubs in Ligue 1, which have risen from €52 million in 2011 to €116 million in 2022.

Today, the top five Ligue 1 budgets (Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Monaco and Lille) belong to teams owned by foreign investors: Americans, Russians, Luxembourgers or Qataris. In 2022, foreign capital will represent three quarters of the total budget of Ligue 1 clubs.

French professional football is being outbid financially by foreign investors, just like the English Premier League or the Italian Serie A, which are also coveted by foreign capital. While this was still impossible 20 years ago, in the early days of football as business, the gaps are widening between clubs in the same division, like the giant PSG and its 620 million euros against AC Ajaccio – which is moving to Ligue 1 next season – and its 8.5 million euros last season, although a relative increase in the budget was confirmed by the club's president. The combined budget of Ligue 1 clubs in 2000 was 915 million euros, compared to nearly 2.4 billion euros next season. The combined budget of Ligue 1 clubs in 2000 was 915 million euros, compared to nearly 2.4 billion euros next season.

Foreign capital represents three-quarters of the total budget of Ligue 1 clubs.
Ligue 1 clubs budgets for the 2021-22 season. In green, foreign-owned clubs, and in yellow, French-owned clubs

Foreign capital represents three-quarters of the total budget of Ligue 1 clubs.

Ligue 1 clubs budgets for the 2021-22 season. In green, foreign-owned clubs, and in yellow, French-owned clubs
Budget by club
Paris-Saint-GermainOlympique lyonnaisOlympique de MarseilleAS Monaco FCLOSC LilleGirondins de BordeauxStade Rennais FCOGC NiceAS Saint-EtienneFC NantesStade de ReimsFC LorientFC MetzRC Strasbourg AlsaceMontpellier HSCRC LensAngers SCOStade brestois 29ES Troyes ACClermont Foot 63Toulouse FC*AC Ajaccio*AJ Auxerre*
100 M€300 M€500 M€700 M€


These amounts make it increasingly difficult for small clubs to keep up with the level of financial competition. For example, Angers SCO, which is experiencing budget difficulties and is under scrutiny by French football's financial authorities, will have to change its majority shareholder in order to reclaim management of the club. On May 18, Saïd Chabane told his employees that he would sell his shares, probably to American investment group GFC, for between 65 and 75 million euros, according to L'Equipe.Buying a club: a risky investment

The takeover of French clubs by foreign capital has followed the same pattern for the last 10 year. Clubs with declining performances (PSG, Bordeaux...) or in a poor financial situation (Angers, Monaco...) are bought by investors hoping to move them up in the rankings.

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These buyouts are not safe investments for investors, but rather bets on the future of the clubs, as was the case with Girondins de Bordeaux, which, despite a large recent financial injection, failed to stay in first division. On the other hand, the 100 million euros in revenue that PSG received in the 2010-2011 season has turned into 556 million for the 2020-2021 season under the leadership of the club's president, Nasser Al-Khelaïfi, in the form of television rights, along with ticket and merchandise sales.

While foreign capital has been pouring in to buy French professional clubs over the past decade, French investors are losing interest in foreign sports clubs. Under Mr. Aulas' ownership, OL Group did acquire the Seattle Reign, the club where Megan Rapinoe plays. But now, the group is now owned by John Textor.

Matthieu Vlassoul

Translation of an original article published in French on lemonde.fr; the publisher may only be liable for the French version.


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Tunisian comedian threatens to leave country after police attack

Lotfi Abdelli filmed a heated exchange with the police in the middle of his performance at the International Festival of Sfax. His one-man show had to end early.

By Lilia Blaise (Tunis (Tunisia) correspondent)
LeMONDE
Published on August 10, 2022 

The scene was not a planned part of the evening's program. In the middle of a one-man show, on Sunday, August 7, at the International Festival of Sfax, the comedian Lotfi Abdelli filmed himself, on stage, following a heated exchange with plainclothes officers. "Did I insult the police? Did I say mean things?" he asked, phone in hand, using an audience of several thousand people as witnesses, while the general confusion on stage led to the show's early end. The incident was broadcast live on Facebook.

"I am permanently leaving the country... you have stolen the little hope I had," the performer announced the next day. The cancellation of the show at Sfax following a verbal altercation between the performer and police officers has quickly revived the debate on freedom of expression in Tunisia. The Tunisian League of Human Rights issued a statement condemning the police's "interference" in the show and "the attack on the right of expression and creativity."

A provocative comedian with 2 million followers on Instagram, Mr. Abdelli is no stranger to using rude puns in the Tunisian dialect. And he spares no one: not political figures, nor institutions. Though the audience may appreciate it, the authorities are increasingly wary.
'Guardians of morality'

Sunday night, the sketch that started the fire was about Mr. Abdelli's grandmother's unpaid electricity bills. The comedian told off the police, the government, the president and the Tunisian Electricity and Gas Company (STEG), using his middle finger by touching his genitals. Outraged, the police officers who were present to maintain security threatened to leave the area.

On Tuesday, the spokesperson for the Response Unit Branch Officers' Union, Mohamed Messai, accused the performer of "inciting hatred toward police officers." Another union announced that the police would boycott security for shows that offend morality.Read more Subscribers only Tunisia: 'The presidential project of a new Constitution is dangerous'

However, the tone was completely different from the Ministry of the Interior, which issued a statement the same day pledging that they would continue to ensure security at festivals. The ministry recalled that "an obscene gesture by the comedian" during the show in Sfax had "angered the police," but that Mr. Abdelli and his team had then been escorted to their hotel without incident. Nevertheless, the prosecutor's office has opened an investigation because, according to several witnesses, the performer's producer, Mohamed Boudhina, was allegedly attacked after the show. Police unions have denied this version of the events.

The incident has inflamed online debate in Tunisia on freedom of expression, some lamenting that it is now being threatened. "The police pose as guardians of morality in an already worrisome situation for freedoms," said lawyer Wahid Ferchichi, president of the Association for the Defense of Individual Liberties. He added, "Everyone knows this comedian's flair, and Tunisian audiences accept many things that are considered indecent if they're said on stage. The reaction of the police unions is shocking."
'Look where the country is headed!'

Since the coup on July 25, 2021, through which President Kais Saied claimed full powers for himself by establishing an emergency government, Parliament has been dissolved, the High Judicial Council has been abolished and replaced by a new one appointed by the head of state and civilians have been prosecuted before military courts. This concentration of powers within the presidency was finally ratified in a referendum voted on July 25. The new Constitution, which combines an all-powerful president and religious conservatism, was approved by 94% of voters – with a turnout of 30.5%.

Mr. Abdelli has not hidden the fact that he was in favor of voting "yes" on the referendum. That support did not prevent him, on Sunday night in Sfax, from challenging President Saied. "Look where the country is headed!" he said after his altercation with the police.

The rest of the comedian's summer shows have been canceled by his production team, believing that the comedian is no longer safe. Some fear the return of a police state. Lotfi Hamadi, a commentator with tens of thousands of followers on social media, posted a reminder on Facebook of the incidents that took place in 2013 between the police and Tunisian rappers. One of them, Weld 15, wrote a song called "Boulicia Kleb" ("Cops Are Dogs") and was sentenced to two years in prison for insulting an officer. The rapper was also beaten up by the police after one of his concerts.

As for Mr. Abdelli, he had to cancel several shows in 2020 following a controversy over a joke about the underwear of a female politician, MP Abir Moussi. At the time, the comedian said the president expressed his support and refused any form of censorship.Read more Kais Saied's dangerous plan for Tunisia

Lilia Blaise(Tunis (Tunisia) correspondent)

Translation of an original article published in French on lemonde.fr; the publisher may only be liable for the French version.
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CYBER HACKER
Morocco court approves extradition of Frenchman to the US

August 9, 2022 

Paul Raoult, 63, the father of detained Sebastien Raoult, shows a phone bearing a portrait of his son in Epinal, eastern France, on August 1, 2022
 [JEAN-CHRISTOPHE VERHAEGEN/AFP via Getty Images]

August 9, 2022

The Supreme Court of Morocco approved the deportation of French citizen Sebastien Raoult to the United States, where he is wanted in a case of computer hacking. His family is demanding he be repatriated to France.

The decision stated that the Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation (Supreme Court) in Rabat is "approving the extradition of the wanted Sebastian Raoult to the judicial authorities of the United States of America who demanded him."

A Moroccan source close to the file explained that "the court's decision remains an opinion of approval and not an extradition order, as its implementation is up to the Moroccan government."

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, explained that "the implementation of the deportation would be following a decision by the prime minister, based on advice from a specialised committee that includes representatives of the ministries of justice and foreign affairs."

Moroccan police arrested 21-year-old Raoult on 31 May upon his arrival at Rabat-Salé Airport from France, where he was being pursued by the International Police (Interpol) at the request of the American judiciary.

The FBI suspects Raoult belongs to a hacker group called "Chinese Hunters", whose members are accused of committing "profitable" hacking operations targeting companies including Microsoft.

READ: Egypt asks Interpol to issue Red Notices to 4 Egyptian journalists in Turkiye

The US authorities are demanding his extradition, accusing him of involvement in a "conspiracy of electronic fraud", "electronic scam" and "serious identity theft", according to the French magazine Le Nouvel Observateur, which revealed the news of his arrest.

However, his lawyer, Philip Ohayon, is calling for his deportation to France to be prosecuted based on an "investigation opened by the French judiciary" and not the American one. Raoult's defence is based on the fact that "he lived only in France and Morocco, and if there was piracy, it took place from France."

Ohayon said on Tuesday that the decision of the Moroccan Court of Cassation "increases our determination to obtain a decision to extradite Sebastien Raoult to France."

"We consider that France has abandoned him," he added.

However, French Minister of Justice Eric Dupont-Moretti said last week that "there is no possibility of interfering now in the case that currently belongs to the Moroccan judiciary, based on a petition from its American counterpart."

If convicted by the US judiciary, Raoult could face a sentence of up to 116 years in prison, according to Le Nouvel Observateur.
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Drought tightens its grip on Morocco

Kaouthar Oudrhiri
Thu, August 11, 2022


Mohamed gave up farming because of successive droughts that have hit his previously fertile but isolated village in Morocco and because he just couldn't bear it any longer.

"To see villagers rush to public fountains in the morning or to a neighbour to get water makes you want to cry," the man in his 60s said.

"The water shortage is making us suffer," he told AFP in Ouled Essi Masseoud village, around 140 kilometres (87 miles) from the country's economic capital Casablanca.

But it is not just his village that is suffering -- all of the North African country has been hit.

No longer having access to potable running water, the villagers of Ouled Essi Masseoud rely solely on sporadic supplies in public fountains and from private wells.


"The fountains work just one or two days a week, the wells are starting to dry up and the river next to it is drying up more and more," said Mohamed Sbai as he went to fetch water from neighbours.


The situation is critical, given the village's position in the agricultural province of Settat, near the Oum Errabia River and the Al Massira Dam, Morocco's second largest.

Its reservoir supplies drinking water to several cities, including the three million people who live in Casablanca. But latest official figures show it is now filling at a rate of just five percent.

Al Massira reservoir has been reduced to little more than a pond bordered by kilometres of cracked earth.

Nationally, dams are filling at a rate of only 27 percent, precipitated by the country's worst drought in at least four decades.
- Water rationing -

At 600 cubic metres (21,000 cubic feet) of water annually per capita, Morocco is already well below the water scarcity threshold of 1,700 cubic metres per capita per year, according to the World Health Organization.


In the 1960s, water availability was four times higher -- at 2,600 cubic metres.

A July World Bank report on the Moroccan economy said the decrease in the availability of renewable water resources put the country in a situation of "structural water stress".

The authorities have now introduced water rationing.

The interior ministry ordered local authorities to restrict supplies when necessary, and prohibits using drinking water to irrigate green spaces and golf courses.

Illegal withdrawals from wells, springs or waterways have also been prohibited.

In the longer term, the government plans to build 20 seawater desalination plants by 2030, which should cover a large part of the country's needs.

"We are in crisis management rather than in anticipated risk management," water resources expert Mohamed Jalil told AFP.

He added that it was "difficult to monitor effectively the measures taken by the authorities".

Agronomist Mohamed Srairi said Morocco's Achilles' heel was its agricultural policy "which favours water-consuming fruit trees and industrial agriculture".
- Key sector -

He said such agriculture relies on drip irrigation which, although it can save water, paradoxically results in increased consumption as previously arid areas become cultivable.

The World Bank report noted that cultivated areas under drip irrigation in Morocco have more than tripled.

It said that "modern irrigation technologies may have altered cropping decisions in ways that increased rather than decreased the total quantity of water consumed by the agricultural sector".


More than 80 percent of Morocco's water supply is allocated to agriculture, a key economic sector that accounts for 14 percent of gross domestic product.

Mohamed, in his nineties, stood on an area of parched earth not far from the Al Massira Dam.

"We don't plough the land anymore because there is no water," he said, but added that he had to "accept adversity anyway because we have no choice".

Younger generations in the village appear more gloomy.

Soufiane, a 14-year-old shepherd boy, told AFP: "We are living in a precarious state with this drought.

"I think it will get even worse in the future."

kao/agr-fka/srm/hc
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THE PARTY OF AUSTERITY
Federal Tories racing to the 'extremes,' says former B.C. premier Christy Clark


Thu, August 11, 2022 



OTTAWA — Former British Columbia premier Christy Clark on Wednesday endorsed Jean Charest to be the next leader of the federal Conservatives at a time when she says the party is racing to the extremes.

She also expressed choice words for a pitch from a front-runner in Alberta’s United Conservative Party leadership contest who has vowed to introduce legislation to ignore federal laws.

“I think that is bats--t crazy,” Clark said of Danielle Smith’s proposed Alberta Sovereignty Act.

Clark’s comment followed an impassioned speech she delivered in Edmonton to a room of conservatives gathered to discuss the need for the federal party to stick closer to the political centre.

The event was hosted by Centre Ice Conservatives, an advocacy group that formed at the start of the Tories’ leadership contest to encourage candidates to focus on issues like the economy. It argues that championing affordability measures resonate with mainstream Canadians more than others like fighting pandemic-related health restrictions, which has become a rallying cry for many across conservative movements.

Its co-founder Rick Peterson ran in the party’s 2017 leadership contest and has said the new group will not endorse a candidate in the current race.

Clark was the keynote speaker at Wednesday’s event and only waded into commenting on the contest to replace Alberta Premier Jason Kenney as UCP leader when asked to by an audience member.

Clark, who formerly led the centre-right BC Liberal Party, spoke for roughly 20 minutes about the need for political leaders to focus on what Canadians have in common and not stoke division.

She accused Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of dividing the country when he said the views of the "Freedom Convoy" protesters who blockaded roads and highways last winter to oppose COVID-19 vaccine mandates were unacceptable.

Clark said politicians who divide create opportunities for others to do the same.

“Now we’re watching the Conservative Party of Canada make its race for the extremes to play to the very edges of the political divide,” she said.

“I think some days their rhetoric is just as bad or even worse.”

Her comments come as party members have less than one month left to cast their ballots to pick the next leader.

The race, which began in February, has been a fight for the party's soul and future direction.

The main rivalry has been between longtime Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre, who is running on a broad campaign message of “freedom,” and ex-Quebec premier Jean Charest, who has condemned the convoy as breaking the rule of law.

Of the 678,000 Conservative members able to vote in the race, the party reports that around 174,000 ballots have been returned ahead of the deadline Sept.6.

Speaking Wednesday, Clark said she recently received her ballot in the mail and will vote in the contest.

“I think Jean Charest would be a fantastic prime minister,” she said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 11, 2022.

Stephanie Taylor, The Canadian Press
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CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M
South Korea to pardon Samsung's Lee, other corporate giants
GET OUT OF JAIL FREE

KIM TONG-HYUNG
Thu, August 11, 2022 


 Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong walks out from a detention center in Uiwang, South Korea, Aug. 13, 2021. South Korea's president will pardon billionaire Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong a year after he was released on parole after serving 18 months in prison over his involvement in a massive corruption scandal that triggered waves of protests and toppled a presidency. The decision by President Yoon Suk Yeol was announced by his justice minister on Friday, Aug. 12, 2022. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man, File)



SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea's president will formally pardon Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong, one year after he was released on parole from a prison sentence for bribing former President Park Geun-hye as part of the massive corruption scandal that toppled Park's government, the justice minister announced Friday.

Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin and two other top business leaders will be pardoned as well, extending South Korea’s history of leniency toward convicted business tycoons and major white-collar crimes. They are among some 1,700 people President Yoon Suk Yeol will pardon on Monday, a national holiday celebrating Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule at the end of World War II.

The pardon of Lee, who was released on parole in August 2021 with a year left on his 30-month term, underscores Samsung’s huge influence over a country that relies on its technology exports. He was convicted of bribing Park and her close confidante, who both were sentenced to lengthier prison terms, to win government support for a 2015 merger between two Samsung affiliates that tightened Lee’s control over the corporate empire.

Lotte’s Shin received a suspended prison term in 2018 on similar charges of bribing Park, whom then-President Moon Jae-in pardoned in December. Other business leaders to be pardoned are Chang Sae-joo, chairman of Dongkuk Steel Mill, and former STX Group Chairman Kang Duk-soo.

Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon said the pardons of the business tycoons were aimed at “overcoming the economic crisis through encouraging business activity.” Yoon earlier told reporters that his pardons could help create “breathing room” for struggling domestic livelihoods.

Lee, 54, runs the Samsung group in his capacity as vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, one of the world’s largest makers of computer memory chips and smartphones. He was freed by Moon’s government, which then defended its decision on unspecified concerns related to the economy and the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a statement released through Samsung, Lee said he expresses his sincere gratitude for “receiving an opportunity to start anew.”

“I want to express my apologies for causing concerns for many people because of my shortcomings. I will work even harder to fulfill my responsibilities and duties as a businessperson,” Lee said.

Lee still faces a separate trial on charges of stock price manipulation and auditing violations related to the 2015 merger.

Opinion polls have indicated South Koreans – years removed from the angry protests in late 2016 and 2017 that ousted Park from office – largely favored granting Lee a pardon, reflecting Samsung’s influence in a country where it provides smartphones, TVs and credit-cards people use, the apartments they live in and the hospitals where they are born or go to die.

Business leaders and politicians had also called for Lee’s pardon, which they said would allow Samsung to be bolder and quicker in business decisions by fully reinstating his rights to run the business empire. South Korea’s law bans people convicted of major financial crimes from returning to work for five years following the end of their sentences.

Critics say Lee has always been in control of Samsung, even when he was behind bars, and pretty much fully resumed his management duties following his parole. Former Justice Minister Park Beom-kye, who served under the Moon government, had defended Lee’s involvement in Samsung’s management following his parole, insisting that his activities weren’t in violation of the five-year ban because the billionaire heir wasn’t receiving wages from Samsung.

Park Geun-hye was convicted of a broad range of corruption crimes, including colluding with her longtime confidante, Choi Soon-sil, to take millions of dollars in bribes and extortion from Samsung and other major companies while she was in office.

She faced a prison term of more than two decades before Moon pardoned her in December, citing a need to promote unity in the politically divided nation. Choi remains in jail.

Chang was released on parole in 2018 with about six months left on a 3 1/2-year prison term over charges that he embezzled millions of dollars in corporate funds and used some of it to gamble in Las Vegas.

South Korea’s Supreme Court last year confirmed a suspended prison sentence for Kang, who headed STX from 2003 to 2014, on charges of embezzling corporate funds and other crimes.





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