Sixteen journalists who had reported on Russian official corruption, unrest in the North Caucasus and organized crime have been killed since 1999, and all but one of the murders remains unsolved, according to a new report from the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
Banks are helping corrupt regimes by doing business with dictators and their families, according a new report by Global Witness, human rights and environmental advocates.
The report, “Undue Diligence,” accuses banks including Barclays, HSBC, Citigroup and Deutsche Bank of working with the dictators of Equatorial Guinea, Liberia and Turkmenistan, as well as the dictators’ family members.
Drug violence in Mexico, trafficking in other Latin American countries and opium production in Afghanistan are all threats to US national security, according to an annual government report on the global drug trade.
Ninety percent of commercial child pornography online originates with organized crime in Eastern Europe, according to a prominent anti-child pornography group.
The dramatic three-month trial of three men accused of aiding in the 2006 murder of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya ended Thursday with the acquittal of all three.
Chechen brothers Dzhabrail and Ibragim Makhmudov and former police officer Sergei Khadzhikurbanov had been accused of helping organize and arrange the contract-style shooting of Politkovskaya. All three could have received life imprisonment if convicted. Prosecutors charge that another Makhmudov brother, Rustam, was the gunman. He remains at large.
Bosnia and Herzegovina slipped in rankings in the 2008 Global Integrity Report, which collects field reports and data related to good governance and anti-corruption institutions in 58 countries. The 2008 report also includes the Global Integrity Index, which offers quantitative assessments of each country based on a set of more than 300 indicators.
A top Bosnian security official arrested in Croatia last month and charged with conspiracy to commit murder was released from custody last week after paying bail of 400,000 kuna (€50,000).
Bosnian deputy security minister Vjekoslav Vuković was released after promising to remain in his home in the central Bosnian town of Kiseljak and to answer any calls from the Croatian court. Vuković had been held in the Croatian port town of Rijeka since his Jan. 16 arrest.
Vuković, 35, is accused of acquiring explosives and other weapons that police believe were to be used to assassinate two men providing security to bars and nightclubs in Rijeka. Police said they thwarted the plans last autumn and arrested two men, but had to wait several months for Vuković to appear in Croatia before they could arrest him as a co-conspirator. Vuković, who holds dual Bosnian and Croatian citizenship, has denied the charges.
Vuković headed a special unit to combat organized crime, terrorism and corruption. The security ministry suspended him from his job after the arrest. Bosnian security minister Tarik Sadović this week imposed a new ministry rule that dual citizens will no longer have access to sensitive information. Many Bosnian Croats hold Croatian citizenship as well; Croat politicians have condemned the rule, because it effectively bars Croats from holding senior positions in the ministry.
Romania’s judicial reforms have backslid, while Bulgaria needs to prosecute organized crime, according to a scheduled report from the European Commission Thursday.
Serbian police arrested 17 people connected to the defense ministry Tuesday on suspicion of fraud, embezzlement and abuse of office.
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