Venezuela: Socialist Party loses in the National Assembly

By Kaitlyn Degnan
Impunity Watch, South America

 

CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuela’s opposition coalition, Democratic Unity, has defeated the Socialist Party in the election for the National Assembly for the first time in 17 years. According to the National Electoral Council’s official results, the coalition won 109 out of 167 seats in the Assembly. Indigenous representatives allied with the coalition won an additional 3 seats. The ruling Socialist party will retain 55 seats.

Venezuela’s National Assembly (Photo courtesy of TIME).

The supermajority gives the coalition significant power: they can remove Supreme Court justices, pass laws and even draft a new constitution.

The Democratic Unity coalition has said that its first move upon being sworn into office will be to provide amnesty for about 70 opposition members who were jailed following political violence this year. This includes Leopoldo Lopez, whose trial and conviction made headlines worldwide.

Maduro and his supporters are blaming the loss on an “economic war,” swearing to defend the “social gains” implemented by their party over the past decade and a half.

The coalition sees the country’s economy as the biggest issue they will have to face. Venezuela’s current economic situation is considered by some to be “the worst crisis in its history.” Inflation has reached 159%, and unemployment is projected to reach 18.1 % by 2016. Venezuela’s economy has suffered in recent drops in oil prices – which don’t appear to be climbing anytime soon.

“Everything should be aimed at finding a solution to the crisis and toward actions that allow Venezuela to recover economically,” according to Henriques Capriles, leader of the Justice First party, which won the most seats of any part in the coalition.

However, the legislature has limited influence over the economy – most of the control lays with Maduro.

Coalition members have also talked of exploring options to remove Maduro from office, which the legislature could do through a recall election, a constitutional amendment or a complete constitutional overhaul. However many in the coalition, including Capriles, have said that removing Maduro would come only after making strides to solve economic issues.

 

 

For more information, please see:

TeleSur – What to Expect from a Counterrevolutionary National Assembly – 7 December 2015

Venezuela Analysis – Venezuelan Opposition Sweeps Parliamentary Elections – 7 December 2015 

Los Angeles Times – Venezuela socialists’ defeat opens door to friendlier ties with U.S. – 8 December 2015 

New York Times – Opposition in Venezuela Now Has to Fix the Ills that Led to Its Victory – 8 December 2015

Wall Street Journal – Venezuela’s Opposition Secures Supermajority Against Ruling Party – 8 December 2015

Time – These 5 Facts Explain Why Venezuela is in Big Trouble- Still – 11 December 2015 

Press Release: US Department of Justice Uncovers 60 New Wire Transfers through the US Banking System Connected to Magnitsky Case

14 December 2015 – New court documents show that the US Department of Justice has traced 60 new wire transfers through the US banking system connected to the $230 million tax rebate fraud that Sergei Magnitsky exposed in Russia. The news comes from a civil money laundering case in New York involving Prevezon Holdings, owned by a son of former vice premier of Moscow Regional government and current vice president of Russian Railways Pyotr Katsyv.

The US Government alleges that Prevezon engaged in laundering the proceeds from the $230 million fraud in Russia, uncovered by Sergei Magnitsky, and international transportation of stolen property.

The news of 60 new US bank wire transfers connected to the crime Magnitsky uncovered is a major new development in the case. Previously, the US Government disclosed only four transactions it traced, through several intermediary shell companies, to Prevezon, owned by 38-year old Denis Katsyv, totalling US$2.75 million. The purpose of these four wires was described in documents as payments to Prevezon for “bath sets” and “auto spare parts” – goods Prevezon never delivered. Senders to Prevezon account in these four transactions were two Moldovan companies and a BVI company with no known legitimate business activity.

“These four transactions …were only part of a pattern of at least sixty-four wire transfers through U.S. banks amounting to millions more in property derived from the Russian fraud and subsequent money laundering,” said Preet Bharara, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, in the new filing.

In addition to United States Attorney Preet Bharara for Southern District of New York, the case USA v Prevezon is led by four Assistant United States Attorneys Paul Monteleoni, Margaret Graham, Jaimie Nawaday, and Cristine Phillips.

“An elaborate fraud against the Russian Treasury resulted in the payment of approximately 5.4 billion rubles to three companies that had been fraudulently misappropriated from the Hermitage Fund, a foreign investment fund,” says the US Department of Justice’s filing.

“After the 5.4 billion rubles were paid, a network of shell companies inside and outside Russia laundered these proceeds. Certain of these transfers passed through the United States, either on their way to defendant Prevezon Holdings, or on their way to two other shell companies, Castlefront and Megacom Transit. Four transfers totaling approximately $2.75 million were routed into and out of the United States in this way. These constituted international transportation of stolen property in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2314,” says the US Government’s filing in the USA v Prevezon case.

“The further laundering engaged in by Megacom and Castlefront, in sending the funds through another company to Prevezon, and by Prevezon, in investing the funds first in Europe and then into New York real estate, constituted money laundering,” further says the US Government in its filing.

A year prior to the US Department of Justice’s action, Swiss General Prosecutor froze about US$7 million on bank accounts connected to Denis Katsyv in Switzerland in a related criminal money laundering investigation into proceeds of the Russian fraud uncovered by Sergei Magnitsky. Denis Katsyv unsuccessfully challenged the decision of Swiss Prosecutor to freeze his accounts in Swiss courts.

Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer, uncovered the largest publicly-known corruption case in Russia involving the theft of $230 million, and testified about it naming complicit Russian officials. He was arrested by some of the implicated officials, held in pre-trial detention for 358 days, and killed in Russian police custody on 16 November 2009. After Sergei Magnitsky’s death, the Russian government promoted and honoured officials involved in his detention and death.

For more information please contact:

Justice for Sergei Magnitsky

+44 207 440 1777

e-mail: info@lawandorderinrussia.org

www.lawandorderinrussia.org

Twitter: @KatieFisher__

www.facebook.com/russianuntouchables

Press Release: Russian Prosecutor Chaika Makes Unhinged Allegations Against Bill Browder, Offering No Explanation on Murder and Abuse of Office Allegations Involving His Two Sons

14 December 2015 – This morning, Russian newspaper Kommersant published a highly emotional statement by Russian General Prosecutor Yuri Chaika in response to a 43-minute video expose of corruption and criminality involving his two sons and relatives of senior prosecutors in his office.

The “Chaika” movie was produced by Russian anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny and his Foundation for Fight against Corruption. It has been viewed 3,358,619 times on Youtube since its release on 1 December 2015.

“I’m very impressed with the investigation which went into making this movie and applaud Alexei Navalny and his colleagues for their bravery in exposing the shocking allegations against Chaika and his family, but I had nothing to do with the investigation, financing or production of this film,” said Bill Browder, author and Head of the Magnitsky Justice Campaign.

“Chaika’s 7 pages of unhinged allegations that I am a CIA agent who was running a special operation designed to destroy Russia looks like the emotional ranting of someone who has been caught red-handed and is desperately looking for an escape route,” continued Mr. Browder.

Most significantly, Chaika’s 7-page letter offers no explanation on the vast business empires of his two sons that were allegedly built on abuse of office of the network of prosecutors’ offices Russia-wide, raids on businesses with threats of jail-time and criminal prosecutions, rigging tenders and scaring competitors with prosecutorial probes. It also ignores the allegations that one of his sons took over a state shipping company after a manager who tried to prevent the takeover was killed. The investigation into that man’s death was closed finding no crime occurred. Prosecutor Chaika also made no comment about the international real estate holdings and assets, including a five-star Greek hotel, a Swiss villa and Swiss bank accounts, belonging to his sons and relatives of his senior colleagues in the Prosecutor’s office.

“After watching this movie, it’s clear that Prosecutor Chaika has serious and grave allegations to answer to. It’s simply not credible for him to say that he can ignore them because a foreigner who is regarded as Putin’s number one enemy was supposedly behind them,” said Bill Browder, author of “Red Notice: How I Became Putin’s Number One Enemy.”

“Even if only a fraction of allegations in this movie are true, this would further confirm that Russia is truly being run like a mafia state by mafia-like officials,” said Bill Browder.

For more information please contact:

Justice for Sergei Magnitsky

+44 207 440 1777

e-mail: info@lawandorderinrussia.org

www.lawandorderinrussia.org

Twitter: @KatieFisher__

www.facebook.com/russianuntouchables

www.billbrowder.com

Human Trafficking Investigator Seeks Asylum In Australia

By Samuel Miller
Impunity Watch Desk Reporter, North America and Oceania

SYDNEY, Australia — Thailand’s top police investigator in charge of human trafficking has fled to Australia, telling Australian media that he feared for his life after his findings implicated influential people who want to silence him. Major General Paween Pongsirin was appointed to investigate trafficking networks within Thailand after the discovery of mass graves at migrant camps earlier this year.

Workers Excavate Suspected Mass Graves in Thailand. (Photo Courtesy of BBC News)

Major General Paween arrived in Australia several days ago on a tourist visa via Singapore, and said he planned to seek asylum.

Thailand has long been a major international hub for human trafficking and people smuggling, with human rights groups accusing Thai officials of turning a blind eye to the multimillion dollar trade. Some have gone even farther, raising questions about the extent of collusion between crime syndicates and the authorities in Thailand.

General Paween was appointed to be chief investigator of a suspected Rohingya trafficking network after at least 30 graves, believed to contain the bodies of trafficked Rohingya, were discovered in May in the southern part of Thailand. The Rohingya, an oppressed linguistic and ethnic minority in Myanmar, began to flee the country after clashes with the state’s Buddhist community in 2012.

In October, Major General Paween’s investigation was halted, despite his own pleas that his work was unfinished, with many more suspects at large. Major General Paween said he had faced growing demands from powerful people to suspend his investigation, which featured people in the Thai establishment, including the Army, the Navy, the police, and local and national politicians.

His investigation resulted in more than 150 arrest warrants issued, including for politicians, policemen and military figures.

He was then ordered to move to the deep south, where amid an ongoing insurgency traffickers operate more freely, and where he said he and his family would be at great risk of reprisals.

Thailand’s southern border with Malaysia is considered to be a hotbed of human trafficking.

Paween said he hadn’t planned his escape before leaving Bangkok and as a result finds himself in Australia with little money and facing a lengthy asylum application process. Australia declined to comment on Major General Paween’s possible asylum application.

Trial for 88 suspected human traffickers, including government figures, civilians, police and military officers, will begin next March.

For more information, please see:

Reuters — Thai police trafficking investigator seeks asylum in Australia: media – 11 December 2015

BBC News — Thailand trafficking: Top policeman seeks Australia asylum – 10 December 2015

CNN — Thai human trafficking investigator seeks asylum in Australia – 10 December 2015

Denver Post — Thai trafficking investigator flees to Australia – 10 December 2015

NY Times — Fleeing Thailand, Top Investigator of Human Trafficking Says He Fears for His Safety – 10 December 2015

The Straits Times — Thai cop who implicated officials in human trafficking seeks asylum in Australia – 10 December 2015

Canadian PM Forges New Relationship With First Nation Peoples

By Samuel Miller
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America and Oceania

OTTAWA, Canada — On Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau laid out his plan to reset Canada’s relationship with its indigenous people during his address to a group of First Nations leaders. In an appeal to First Nations chiefs, Trudeau has promised an inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women.

Prime Minister Trudeau Meets With First Nations Chiefs. (Photo Courtesy of The Star)

The public inquiry will be “top priority” of the Liberal government, the newly elected leader said.

In a statement given this morning, Prime Minister Trudeau said, “It is time for a renewed, nation-to-nation relationship with First Nations peoples, one that understands that the constitutionally guaranteed rights of First Nations in Canada are not an inconvenience but rather a sacred obligation.”

“History has shown that that taking an adversarial approach is not only ineffective, but it can be profoundly damaging. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the government’s relationship with First Nations.”

Trudeau’s speech, delivered to a special assembly of chiefs from the Assembly of First Nations, is part of a broader promise to reset the fractured relationship between Ottawa and Canada’s Aboriginal Peoples. “What’s needed is nothing less than a total renewal of the relationship between Canada and First Nations peoples,” he said.

Also announced Tuesday, the Liberal government has launched the consultation phase of its national inquiry into Canada’s missing and murdered indigenous women. The party is pledging to meet with victims’ families across the country to ensure the probe is relevant to those who have been affected most by the tragedies.

Calls for an inquiry have grown since a review found 1,181 indigenous women had been murdered or gone missing since 1980.

“We have made this inquiry a priority for our government because those touched by this national tragedy have waited long enough. The victims deserve justice; their families deserve an opportunity to heal and to be heard.”

Trudeau said another government priority will be to make “significant investments” in First Nations education. First Nations have long complained that their school system is under-funded when compared to other public school systems.

The Canadian government forced more than 150,000 First Nation children to attend these state-funded church schools from the 19th Century until the mid-1990s. The schools sought to integrate the children into mainstream Canadian society, but in doing so rid them of their native culture.

Quebec Grand Chief Matthew Coon Come is hopeful about the new government’s approach.

“The previous government certainly showed no respect, limited consultations, continued to push policies without the consent and involvement of the First Nations of this country. Here, we now have a new prime minister who is stepping forward, actually coming to our assembly. I think that in itself is a great message.”

For more information, please see:

BBC News — Justin Trudeau makes appeal to First Nations chiefs – 8 December 2015

CBC News — Trudeau lays out plan for new relationship with indigenous people – 8 December 2015

CTV News — ‘We have much work to do’: Trudeau touts new relationship with First Nations – 8 December 2015

National Post — Trudeau says Canada will forge ahead with a ‘total renewal’ of relationship with First Nations – 8 December 2015

The Globe and Mail — Liberals reveal first details of inquiry into missing and murdered – 8 December 2015

The Star — Trudeau commits to ‘nation-to-nation relationship’ with First Nations – 8 December 2015