Estonian Authorities Have Traced $10 Million of Stolen Russian Government Money Uncovered by Sergei Magnitsky
Press Release
Hermitage Capital
25 January 2013 – Estonian authorities have discovered that $10 million of the $230 million of funds stolen from the Russian government and uncovered by Sergei Magnitsky had been transferred through Estonia according to public prosecutor Piret Paukštys. The discovery of funds was reported by Baltic Business News yesterday (http://balticbusinessnews.
It was also reported that the Estonian authorities had found that ten different companies have been used to transfer the money, according to the Business TASS agency in Talinn (http://www.biztass.ru/news/
According to the Estonian authorities, the money was wired via internet banking to various persons in other jurisdictions.
“The uncovering of the trail of money is a substantial breakthrough in the investigation of the criminal conspiracy exposed by Hermitage and Sergei Magnitsky,” said Hermitage Capital representative.
In total, $230 million that had been paid in taxes to the Russian government by the Hermitage Fund in 2006 was stolen the following year from the Russian treasury by a group of corrupt Russian officials working together with organized criminals. Sergei Magnitsky discovered and testified about the thefts and was subsequently arrested and killed in Russian police custody at the age of 37. Three years later, no one has been convicted for his death.
For further information please contact:
Hermitage Capital
Phone: +44 207 440 1777
Email: info@lawandorderinrussia.org
Website: http://lawandorderinrussia.org
Facebook: http://on.fb.me/hvIuVI
Twitter: @KatieFisher__
Livejournal: //hermitagecap.livejournal.
Human Rights Report Criticizes DC Police on Rape Cases
By Mark O’Brien
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America
WASHINGTON, United States — A report out Thursday from the Human Rights Watch accused the Washington, D.C. police department of failing to investigate roughly a third of reported sexual assaults during a three-year period.
Now, the head of the city’s public safety committee hopes to hold a hearing on the report’s findings.
“This deserves a very cautious and thoughtful review to be sure we don’t respond with window dressing,” said Councilmember Tommy Wells. “We want to find a way to reassure people that have been victimized through sexual abuse that they have a government that will effectively respond to what they need.”
The New York based human rights group released the 197-page report, called “Capitol Offense,” on Thursday. It said that Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department failed to take women’s rape claims seriously or to investigate their allegations properly.
The report found that out of 480 sexual assaults reported between October 2008 and September 2011, at least 171 did not have initial police reports filed or file numbers issued for tracking.
“It was really disappointing that in one of our largest cities that police still seem to have the same attitudes toward sexual assault and [do] not actively pursue these cases more aggressively,” said Sara Darehshori, Human Rights Watch’s senior counsel, in an interview with Reuters.
The police department disputed the findings. D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier released a statement after the report’s release, saying “sweeping allegations that are not backed by facts undermine the credibility of HRW.”
Both sides have requested that federal investigators from the U.S. Justice Department review the report’s findings. A Justice Department spokesperson confirmed the requests to the Washington Post but said no decision has been made.
The Human Rights Watch report contained summary from more than a dozen women. Police said that is a fraction of the 1,500 rapes investigated in the three-year period contained in the report.
Still, the department also said it had acted to remedy some reported shortcomings. Chief Lanier said she wanted police interviews with victims to be recorded to document the detective work. Prosecutors, however, are not so eager.
“While videotaping victims’ statements can be beneficial in some kinds of cases, we believe that the practice carries a risk of adding to the trauma and discomfort already felt by victims of sexual assaults,” Kelly Higashi told the Washington Post. Higashi is chief of the sex offense and domestic violence section of the U.S. attorney’s office.
For further information, please see:
Chicago Tribune — Washington, DC, Police Ignored Some Sex Assaults–Rights Group — 24 January 2013
Salon — Report: DC Police Treatment of Sexual Assault Victims “Traumatizing” — 24 January 2013
Washington Times — Rights Group Faults D.C. Police on Rape Cases — 24 January 2013
Washington Post — Public Safety Chair Wants Hearing on Report that D.C. Police Didn’t Investigate Rape Cases — 24 January 2013
Former Nepalese Colonel Appears Before Court for Torture Charges
By Karen Diep
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia
KATHMANDU, Nepal – Yesterday, former Nepalese Colonel Kumar Lama, 46, appeared at a 40-minute preliminary hearing before Judge Fulford in London’s Old Bailey Court for two charges of torture.
Mr. Lama, a current British resident, is accused of inflicting severe pain or suffering while commanding a Nepalese army barracks in 2005. According to The Guardian, the purported crimes occurred at the Gorusinghe army barracks in Kapilvastu, Nepal, between April 15, 2005 and May 1, 2005.
The charges against Mr. Lama relate to two men, Janak Bahadur Raut and Karam Hussain, under the Criminal Justice Act of 1988, Section 134.
According to France 24, London’s Metropolitan Police clarified that because torture is a crime prosecuted under international jurisdiction, they were required to arrest Mr. Lama. A prior concern was that the alleged crimes occurred in Nepal and therefore, London authorities possessed no right to detain Mr. Lama.
Nonetheless, London’s Metropolitan Police stated that no charges have been brought by the Nepalese authorities, who are currently demanding Mr. Lama’s release.
If jurisdiction holds, Mr. Lama’s case will be the first in Nepal’s history that a serving security officer has been arrested in foreign land in human rights violation case under universal jurisdiction.
The provisional date for the trial is June 2, 2013, in London’s Kingston Crown Court and is an projected to last between four and six weeks. A case management and plea hearing will is set for May 10, 2013. Mr. Lama is currently in custody after the court denied his application for bail.
“We have no option except waiting for the next hearing and subsequent court ruling,” Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Narayan Kaji Shrestha relayed to The Himalayan Times.
To defend Mr. Lama, Nepal’s embassy in England hired London solicitor on criminal justice, Caplan and his Kingsley Napley firm associate, Barness. Prior to his representation of Mr. Lama, Mr. Caplan defended Former Chilean President Augusto Pinochet.
Neither the police nor the Crown Prosecution Service gave additional information regarding the case’s background or the circumstances until said information arrives in court.
Before his arrest last year, Mr. Lama served as a UN peacekeeper in South Sudan and was to return.
For more information, please see:
The Guardian – Nepal torture suspect appears in court – January 24, 2013
The Himalayan Times – London court dismisses Col Lama’s bail plea – January 24, 2013
France 24 – Nepalese colonel to face torture trial in London – January 24, 2013
Zimbabwe: Helicopter Donations and Diamond Fraud Affect Party Politics
By Hannah Stewart
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa
HARARE, Zimbabwe — The last Zimbabwean elections, held in 2008, were marred by violence and allegations of rigged voting. With presidential elections on the horizon, Zimbabwe has had an interesting week between diamonds and helicopters. As South Africa prepared to ship a surplus of military helicopters to Zimbabwe, President Robert Mugabe’s party called for the investigation of multiple provincial leaders’ diamond fraud.
The announcement that the South African military had agreed to donate its surplus of aging French-designed Alouette helicopters to Zimbabwe for “imminent delivery” was met with protests from regional civic campaign groups.
AfriForum, a human rights group, protested South Africa’s military donations. And today a court in South Africa has temporarily halted a delivery of helicopters to the Zimbabwean military. High Court Judge N. B. Tuchten prohibited South Africa’s government from exporting any Alouette helicopters or spares to Zimbabwe until a full hearing could be held on February 19.
Willie Spies, AfriForum’s legal spokesperson, was confident that the order would be upheld next month. “We know that Zimbabwe has got a record of human rights abuses,” Mr. Spies said. Moreover he stated, “We know what happened during 2008 with the second round presidential elections. We know the Zimbabwe Defense Forces are not a neutral defense force committed to defending the Zimbabwean state.”
Furthermore, Mr. Spies said, “[The military is] an aggressive force that’s been used against the people of Zimbabwe to suppress the opposition.”
Earlier on Friday, South Africa’s Mail and Guardian newspaper reported that it had seen confidential minutes of a meeting held two months ago between the defense chiefs of South Africa and Zimbabwe detailing the “disposal of Alouette helicopters and spares”. South Africa’s defense department told the paper the donation was part of an agreement that dated back to 1997.
Coinciding with the controversy surrounding South Africa’s military donation are Mugabe’s efforts to “clean up” his party image. President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party launched an investigation into alleged diamond fraud involving five of its officials, who have exposed the party’s control of the Chiadzwa diamond fields. The case involves more than $750,000 that the five party members allegedly “swindled” from mining companies for ZANU PF activities. The money was then reportedly used in part to finance the officials’ personal lives.
It is already widely speculated that ZANU PF has been using the diamonds fields to generate cash for the party. ZANU-PF has endorsed Mugabe, 88, as its candidate for the presidential vote. The coming election is expected to be hotly contested as it is widely believed that Mugabe’s policies ruined Zimbabwe’s economy.
For more information, please see:
All Africa – Zimbabwe: Zanu-PF Investigating Party Diamond Fraud – 18 January 2013
BBC – South Africa Court Halts Zimbabwe Helicopter Donation – 25 January 2013
Reuters – Zimbabwe Order Diamond Fraud Probe as Elections Looms – 25 January 2013
The Washington Post – Campaigners Try to Stop Zimbabwe Helicopter Gunship Delivery from Neighboring South Africa – 25 January 2013