Corruption is Everywhere - Zelensky Attempts to UnCorrupt One of the Most Corrupt Countries in the World; Guatemala; Vatican

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Ukraine’s Zelensky accused of mounting ‘coup’ in seeking to dissolve

Constitutional Court that struck down corruption law

30 Oct 2020 14:26

By Jonny Tickle

People attend a protest outside the building of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine calling for prosecution of the judges who have found many provisions of the Law On Principles of Prevention and Combating Corruption to be illegal, in Kyiv, Ukraine.

© Sputnik / Stringer

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has submitted a bill to break up the country’s Constitutional Court, after its judges controversially canceled an anti-corruption law punishing public servants for lying about their income.

On October 27, Ukraine’s Constitutional Court struck down a law that would punish government officials for inaccurately declaring personal assets, part of the country's post-Maidan bid to supposedly stamp out corruption. The ruling stated that the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) had no right to punish public servants for lying on their asset forms, also reversing a law that publicly published their declarations online.

According to the NACP, the judges acted in their own personal interest. In particular, judges Irina Zavgorodnyaya and Sergey Golovaty have been accused of lying in their own paperwork, meaning they would have fallen afoul of the law their court has rejected.

Speaking to the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine on Thursday, the president stated that the ruling “undermines the social contract in Ukraine” and “creates a real threat to national security.”

Later that evening, Zelensky submitted a bill to dissolve the court and reverse its decision. The draft law, submitted to the Rada and numbered 4288, would declare the ruling “null and void” and would “cease the authority of the current composition of the Constitutional Court” as it had “acted in its private interests.”

The court's decision threatens billions of dollars in financial aid due to be received from the IMF, which has been promised to the country on the understanding that Ukraine would ramp up its anti-corruption efforts and implement reforms. European Union MEPs have also threatened Kiev with cuts to aid and with possibly ending a visa-free regime that allows Ukrainians to move freely through the Schengen Area.

The ruling has also created unrest in sections of Ukrainian society and, on Friday afternoon, demonstrators gathered outside the country’s highest court to protest the decision.

In response to Zelensky’s attempt to dissolve Ukraine’s Constitutional Court, the body’s chairman Alexander Tupitsky accused the president of producing a bill that bears “signs of a constitutional coup.”

The court's self-serving decisions were effectively a constitutional coup. Zelensky's move is the right thing to do, and very courageous. Will he live long enough to see it through in a country where corruption has long been a way of life?

Is Washington Taking Corruption in Guatemala Seriously Again?

OCTOBER 30, 2020

ANALYSIS - Written by Héctor Silva Ávalos

In what appears to be a show of support from Washington for Guatemala’s anti-corruption fight, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that the visa of Felipe Alejos Lorenzana, a vice president of congress facing corruption charges, has been suspended.

Pompeo announced the measures taken against Alejos Lorenza and former congresswoman Delia Bac in an October 28 statement, explaining they both had “undermined the rule of law in Guatemala.”

Bac was a lawmaker until January 2020 and has been accused of embezzling around 2 million quetzales ($256,000) to pay for a new road to connect a spa she had built in a remote part of southern Sacatepéquez department. However, while Bac no longer has immunity, a recent decision by the Supreme Court of Justice (Corte Suprema de Justicia — CSJ) continues to protect her from criminal prosecution.

SEE ALSO: The Legacy of How Guatemala Destroyed its Own Anti-Corruption Crusade

The case of Alejos Lorenzana is more politically sensitive. It is directly related to the campaign Guatemalan elites have led against the now-defunct International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (Comisión Internacional contra la Impunidad en Guatemala — CICIG) and an anti-impunity unit (Fiscalía Especializada Contra la Impunidad — FECI) within the Attorney General’s Office.

The CICIG and FECI investigated Alejos Lorenzana between 2016 and 2018 for his alleged participation in a large-scale corruption scheme that involved charging illegal fees to private companies in exchange for speeding up payments for public works contracts. This case, dubbed “Traficantes de Influencias” (Influence Peddlers), was one of many to spin off from the famous 2015 La Línea investigation that led to the resignation of then-president Otto Pérez Molina.

On four separate occasions, FECI requested a preliminary trial for Alejos Lorenzana that would have stripped him of his political immunity. These were all rejected by the CSJ to seemingly protect Alejos Lorenzana, who was re-elected last year and once again appointed vice president of congress.

Alejos Lorenzana is believed to have played an essential role in protecting former president Jimmy Morales (2016-2020) from the CICIG and FECI as they investigated alleged acts of corruption and illegal campaign financing. According to an investigation by No Ficción, he was one of Morales’ closest allies in congress and directly maneuvered to protect him.

Alejos Lorenzana was also a key part of the campaign by Guatemalan politicians and entrepreneurs to oust the CICIG, which eventually succeeded in late 2018.

‘Unafraid’ Pope to escalate Vatican corruption fight

By AFP

Pope Francis is preparing to ramp up his fight against corruption in the Vatican, he said in an interview on Friday, weeks after the shock ousting of a cardinal over embezzlement accusations.

“I have had to change many things, and many more will soon change,” the Argentine pontiff told Italy’s Adnkronos news agency when asked about his anti-corruption strategy.

Pope Francis, elected in 2013 on a mandate of cleaning up after a series of scandals in the centuries-old institution, has reformed laws and fired top financial officials to bring the Vatican into line with international standards on transparency and money laundering.

In September, the 83-year old forced the resignation of Italian Cardinal Angelo Becciu, a close adviser who has been accused of syphoning off funds destined for the poor to family members — a charge he denies.

The pope’s reforms have met fierce opposition, particularly among the Church’s old guard.

Of course they would from those abusing the system and afraid of being found out.

Francis said in the interview that he had been warned years ago that if he ever became pope he should get a dog, and make sure it tasted all of his food — and survived — before eating it himself.

“Am I reckless? A bit careless? I wouldn’t know,” he said. “I don’t fear consequences against me. I’m not afraid of anything.”

The Vatican has been dogged by scandals in recent years, including the 2017 conviction of the ex-head of a Vatican-run hospital for funnelling a fortune from a foundation to renovate a cardinal’s apartment.

And the Vatican bank, known as the IOR, was for decades embroiled in controversies, with one of its former presidents ordered to stand trial on charges of embezzlement and money laundering in 2018.

And then the biggest scandal, the murder of Pope John Paul, who was the last Pope to want to clean up the scum in the Vatican, was never a scandal because it was covered-up so well, and no media wanted to turn over that rock to see what was under it. David Yallop's book 'In God's Name', is the only documentation of the murder and cover-up.