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French financial prosecutors launch second investigation
into former PM Francois Fillon
3 Sep, 2021 12:27
Former French Prime minister Francois Fillon and his wife Penelope arrive at Paris' courthouse,
on February 26, 2020. © Michel Stoupak/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Ex-French Prime Minister Francois Fillon’s lawyer confirmed on Friday that the retired politician is facing a second investigation by financial prosecutors, as investigators probe whether payments to an assistant broke the law.
Fillon’s legal representative, Antonin Levy, told French television station BFM that the former prime minister was facing an investigation over allegations he used public funds to pay an assistant to help him write his 2015 book ‘Faire’.
“We’re not talking about a novel, nor a fiction. We’re talking about a book that expresses the political vision of a lawmaker,” Levy stated, adding: “If a politician cannot write a political book, what’s the point of being a lawmaker?”
The National Financial Prosecutor’s office (PNF) has not confirmed whether an investigation is underway. Using public funds to pay someone for private gain is a violation of French law.
If a probe has been launched by the financial prosecutors, it would mark the PNF’s second investigation into Fillon in recent years.
In June 2020, Fillon was sentenced to five years in prison, with three suspended, as well as being handed a €375,000 fine ($445,140) after being convicted of embezzlement and concealment of a crime. The charges related to an allegation that he had paid his wife €1 million ($1.19 million) euros over several years to work as his parliamentary assistant. The former leader’s wife, Penelope Fillon, was also given a three-year suspended sentence and a €375,000 fine. Fillon and his wife have denied the charges and are currently appealing the sentence.
According to Fillon’s lawyers, the new investigation dates back to 2017, “the same time as the original probe,” but Levy claims it was kept aside “to discredit” Fillon and “sully further his name” while he is appealing his original conviction.
The French are good at that! They usually have some trumped-up charge in their back pockets against Marine Le Pen which they bring out just before each election.
Prince Charles’ ex-valet steps down as head of his charity, as he
reportedly offered knighthood & citizenship to rich Saudi donor
5 Sep, 2021 13:58
(inset) Michael Fawcett. © Reuters / David Bebber
Michael Fawcett, a close aide of Prince Charles, has recused himself from leading the British royal heir’s foundation, after being accused of trading favours for money donated to the prince’s renovation project.
Fawcett, who used to be a personal valet to Prince Charles and has remained a close and powerful confidant to the presumed future king, has landed in hot water over claims of corruption raised against him. A damning letter he allegedly wrote to an aide of a rich Saudi businessman points to a transactional deal, which involved giving him British citizenship and knighthood as a reward for his generous donations.
In the letter reported by the Mail on Sunday, Fawcett wrote to an aide of Mahfouz Marei Mubarak bin Mahfouz that “in light of the ongoing and most recent generosity of His Excellency,” he is “happy to confirm to you, in confidence, that we are willing and happy to support and contribute to the application for Citizenship.”
The letter states that both applications “will be made in response to the most recent and anticipated support” of the Dumfries House Trust, which Fawcett headed at the time the letter was written in 2017.
Dumfries House is a historic estate in Ayrshire, Scotland, which Prince Charles purchased in 2007 and spent millions of pounds on renovating. Bin Mahfouz donated six-figure sums to the effort and had some parts of the property named after him in recognition. In October 2014, the Saudi businessman was a guest at the manor, when a fountain named in his honour was unveiled by the Prince himself.
The letter also promised assistance with bin Mahfouz’s request for British citizenship and knighthood.
“I can further confirm that we are willing to make [an] application to increase His Excellency’s honour from Honorary CBE to that of KBE in accordance with Her Majesty’s Honours Committee,” the document read, according to Mail.
The abbreviations refer to the third and second highest grades of the Order of the British Empire, the latter of which comes with automatic peerage for British subjects. Bin Mahfouz was given the honorary version of the CBE – a special category reserved for foreign recipients and managed by the Foreign Office – in November 2016.
The honour was reportedly bestowed on the Saudi businessman at a private ceremony at Buckingham Palace from the hands of Prince Charles. The event was not recorded in the Court Circular, which lists official engagements by members of the royal family. Government documents say that the Queen awarded bin Mahfouz his CBE “for services to charities in the UK”.
The Mail alleged that bin Mahfouz was initially offered the fourth grade of the merit, the OBE, but it was upgraded to the CBE thanks to Fawcett’s intervention. The newspaper cited an email from William Bortrick, which said the Prince’s associate “needs to keep to his side of the bargain and sort out the Hon OBE immediately”.
The same email dated 2014 was cited separately by The Times on Sunday as saying that “more money will flow” once the CBE goes through. It also states that bin Mahfouz was promised the merit for donating £1.5 million ($2 million) to the Prince’s restoration projects at Dumfries House and the Castle of Mey, a 15th-century location in Caithness that now serves as one of Charles’ Scottish residences.
Bortrick is an aristocratic insider and alleged “fixer” in Britain, who chairs the prestigious genealogical publisher Burke's Peerage. He was photographed at Dumfries House during the fountain-unveiling event in 2014.
A spokesman for bin Mahfouz denied his participation in any cash-for-influence schemes, stating to the media that in the past “His Excellency had expressed an interest in applying for citizenship but in the end decided not to pursue that further.”
Ahead of the publication of the letter's contents, Fawcett temporarily stepped down as head of the Prince's Foundation, Charles’ charity organisation, pending an inquiry into the allegations. Fawcett was appointed head of the foundation in 2018.
“Michael fully supports the ongoing investigation and has confirmed that he will assist the investigation in every way,” the foundation said.
Fawcett has decades of closeness with Prince Charles. He began service to the British royal family in 1981 as a footman to the Queen, before being transferred to the Prince’s household, ultimately becoming his personal valet. In that capacity, he famously squeezed toothpaste on his royal master’s brush and performed other menial tasks. The Prince once remarked that he can “manage without just about anyone except Michael.”
When you have a pretend democracy, which is common in this part of the world, it is convenient to lock up your political foes for the next couple of elections.
Belarusian opposition figure Kolesnikova handed 11 years behind bars
for role in post-election protest movement against Lukashenko
6 Sep, 2021 10:52
A court in Belarus has sentenced one of the country’s most prominent opposition politicians to more than a decade in prison over allegations that she attempted to overthrow the government of veteran leader Alexander Lukashenko.
On Monday, a judge at Minsk Regional Court handed down the ruling to Maria Kolesnikova, finding her guilty of a range of offenses, including conspiracy to seize power. She will spend 11 years behind bars, while fellow activist Maxim Znak will be locked up for 10 years on similar charges.
Kolesnikova was a key part of the three-woman campaign team that stood against Lukashenko in last summer’s presidential election. Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who stood as the group’s candidate, and activist Veronica Tsepkalo have both since fled the country amid a crackdown on the opposition. However, Kolesnikova reportedly refused efforts to deport her and is even said to have torn up her passport to avoid being sent over the border to Ukraine.
Responding to the decision, Tikhanovksaya wrote online that “Maria and Maksim are the heroes for Belarusians,” saying, “the regime wants us to see them crushed and exhausted.” She posted a video from the courtroom in which the pair can be seen smiling, while Kolesnikova makes a love heart symbol with her hands. The opposition argues the charges are politically motivated.
The only one of the three campaigners to have worked in politics prior to the election, Kolesnikova served as an advisor to Viktor Babariko, who had been one of the Eastern European nation’s most prominent opposition figures. Once tipped as a successor to Lukashenko, Babariko was sentenced to 14 years in jail in July over claims he was involved in a fraud scheme.
Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in cities across Belarus after last summer’s election, which the opposition, and many international observers, say was rigged in Lukashenko’s favor. Activists calling for new polls were met with a heavy-handed police response, with tear gas, stun grenades and widespread arrests.
Also on Monday, local media reported that a 58-year-old Russian woman detained in Belarus would face trial for allegedly slandering Lukashenko. She is said to have tweeted that the veteran leader was responsible for an act of “terrorism and sky piracy” over his government’s grounding of a passenger jet and the arrest of activist Roman Protasevich, in May. If convicted, she faces five years in jail. Protasevich’s girlfriend, a Russian national, is also being held by authorities in the country, and Moscow is understood to be providing consular support.
Former EU commissioner to face bribery charges
linked to €60mn tobacco scandal
6 Sep, 2021 17:05
© Getty Images / C. Devan
Former European Commissioner John Dalli is set to face charges over an attempt by his aide to reverse a ban on snus, a form of smokeless tobacco, in a bribe worth €60 million (over $71 million), prompting the official to resign.
On Monday, the Times of Malta unveiled that Dalli, who formerly served as the European commissioner for health, will appear before court on September 17 over claims of his involvement in a multimillion-euro bribery scandal with a Swedish tobacco company.
Tobacco - Minister for health!!!! Great!
The bribery charges in question link back to Dalli’s aide, Silvio Zammit, who had allegedly tried to obtain a €60 million bribe from Swedish Match to reverse the European Union’s ban on snus in 2012. The sale of snus has been banned in the European Union since 1992, except in Sweden.
Snus (/snuːs/ SNOOSS, Swedish: is a tobacco product, originating from a variant of dry snuff in early 18th-century Sweden. It is placed between the upper lip and gum for extended periods.
Brussels’ Anti-Fraud office, known by the acronym OLAF, was subsequently required to investigate the allegations. The results of the five-month investigation found that there were “a number of unambiguous and converging circumstantial evidences gathered in the course of the investigation” that suggested Dalli was aware of the bribery attempts, yet did not stop them, forcing him to hand in his resignation.
The former official, however, still upholds his innocence, recently slamming the charges as being merely part of a “campaign” against him, and that it is “fraud”.
Dalli has appealed on a few occasions for damages from the European Union’s Court of Justice over his 2012 resignation. In February 2021, the court rejected his claim for €1 million for the European Commission’s alleged “unlawful conduct”.
Zammit was charged in December 2012 with bribery and trading in influence in Malta in relation to the events. Meanwhile, in June 2013, the Maltese police commissioner stated that the country “does not have enough evidence to start criminal proceedings” against the former EU Health Commissioner.
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