Kim Jong Un executes 30 officials over
floods in North Korea that killed 4,000
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered up to 30 officials to be executed over their alleged failure to prevent massive flooding and landslides in the summer that resulted in the deaths of some 4,000 people, according to South Korean media.
An official under Kim’s regime said between 20 and 30 leaders in North Korea had been charged with corruption and dereliction of duty, with the state sentencing them to capital punishment, TV Chosun reported.
“It has been determined that 20 to 30 cadres in the flood-stricken area were executed at the same time late last month,” the official told the outlet.
Reports of the executions were not immediately verified by independent outlets.
The North Korean Central News Agency previously reported that Kim ordered authorities to “strictly punish” the officials after catastrophic flooding hit Chagang province in July, claiming about 4,000 lives and displacing more than 15,000 people.
The officials who were executed were not identified, but the report noted that Kang Bong-hoon, the Chagang province provincial party committee secretary since 2019, was among the leaders dismissed by Kim in an emergency meeting during the flooding disaster.
Following the meeting with Kim, former North Korean diplomat Lee Il-gyu told TV Chosun that it was clear that officials in the province were “so anxious that they don’t know when their necks will fall off.”
Kim was seen last month surveying the damaged areas and meeting with residents as he estimated that it would take months to rebuild the flooded neighborhoods.
The North Korean leader also slammed reports from South Korea about the death toll, denying the allegations that thousands were killed.
It’s not the first time reports have emerged of Kim ordering officials to be taken out over a perceived failure.
In 2019, the state allegedly executed Kim Hyok Chol, its nuclear envoy to the US, for failing to negotiate a summit between Kim and then-US President Donald Trump.
It was then revealed that Chol was merely in state custody, CNN reported.
North Korea generally has a high rate of public executions, according to the Korea Times, with the state conducting an average of 10 public executions prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The outlet estimates that the rate has since surged, with at least 100 executions taking place last year.
This has been expected for more than two years
Lebanon's ex-central bank chief Salameh arrested for embezzlement
Lebanon's former central bank governor, Riad Salameh, was arrested on Tuesday following a judicial hearing in the capital Beirut. Salameh has been charged in Lebanon with financial crimes including money-laundering, embezzlement and illicit enrichment. He has denied all wrongdoing.
Lebanon's former central bank governor Riad Salameh was arrested Tuesday after being questioned over alleged embezzlement, a judicial official told AFP.
The public prosecutor "arrested Salameh after questioning him for three hours on suspicions of embezzlement from the central bank exceeding $40 million", the official said, requesting anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media.
It is the first time Salameh has appeared before Lebanon's judiciary since he left his post of 30 years at the end of July last year without a successor.
Widely viewed as a key culprit in Lebanon's dramatic economic crash, Salameh faces numerous accusations, including embezzlement, money laundering and tax evasion in separate probes at home and abroad.
He is wanted by authorities in France for alleged financial crimes, with Interpol issuing Red Notices targeting him. Lebanon does not extradite its citizens.
Salameh has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
Lebanon has frozen Salameh's bank accounts, while Britain, Canada and the United States have slapped sanctions on the former official.
In June, a German court cancelled an arrest warrant against Salameh because he could no longer use his post to suppress evidence, prosecutors said.
The court ruling, however "confirmed the urgent suspicion with regard to the accusations made against the suspect".
(AFP)
Fugitive Filipino mayor arrested in Indonesia
Sept. 4 (UPI) -- Alice Guo, a fugitive and former Filipino mayor, has been arrested in Indonesia, President Bongbong Marcos Jr. of the Philippines said Wednesday.
In a recorded statement, Marcos said the 34-year-old former mayor of Bamban, located about 62 miles northeast of the capital Manila, was arrested at about 1 a.m. local time Wednesday in Jakarta, Indonesia.
"I congratulate all law enforcement personnel who made this apprehension possible," he said. "The public may not know the intricate details of this mission that you have successfully accomplished, but on their behalf, accept my thanks."
Guo is believed to have fled the Philippines for Malaysia in July before moving on to Singapore and then Indonesia the middle of last month. The Filipino authorities have been searching for Guo, who they have accused in criminal complaints of human trafficking and money laundering in connection to an illegal offshore gaming operator.
The Philippines Department of Justice also confirmed Guo's arrest, saying in a statement carried by the official Philippine News Agency that she was currently in the custody of the Indonesian police.
"We will ensure that all legal processes are followed to hold her accountable for any crimes committed," Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said.
"The DOJ is committed to pursuing justice and will continue to coordinate closely with Indonesian authorities to facilitate the necessary legal procedures."
The charges against Guo followed a raid of a Bamban casino operated by Chinese-owned Zun Yuan Technology Inc. in March. Nearly 800 people, more than half being foreigners, were rescued by the authorities, who alleged human trafficking was being perpetrated by the Philippine offshore gaming operator.
On an industrial scale, I would add.
According to the Justice Department, Baofu is the leasing company that was incorporated by Guo that rented the space to Zun Yuan Technology.
Guo was elected mayor of Bamban in 2022, but authorities allege that she never divested from the company. She was dismissed from office last month by the Office of the Ombudsman, which found her to be "guilty of grave misconduct," it said in a statement.
Her sister, Shiela, and a business associate, Cassandra Li Ong, had earlier been arrested in Indonesia and deported to the Philippines in connection to the case.
"Let this serve as a warning to those who attempt to evade justice: Such is an exercise in futility. The arm of the law is long and it will reach you," Marcos said.
Autocratic governments often defeat their political opposition by throwing them in jail. This is what Maduro is doing, but it is liable to backfire in public reaction and certainly geopolitical reaction.
Venezuela’s arrest warrant for opposition leader
condemned by U.S., Brazil
Brazil’s top foreign policy adviser on Tuesday slammed the arrest warrant issued by Caracas for Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez as “very concerning” and said there was a clear “authoritarian escalation” in the country.
Other countries around the Americas, including the United States, Argentina and Peru, also condemned the move.
The Venezuelan attorney general’s office said on Monday that a court had issued an arrest warrant for Gonzalez, the opposition’s erstwhile presidential candidate, accusing him of conspiracy and other crimes amid a dispute over whether he or President Nicolas Maduro won the July 28 election.
Brazil’s Celso Amorim said in an interview with Reuters that if Venezuelan authorities were to go through with Gonzalez’s arrest, “it would be a political arrest, and we do not accept (there should be) political prisoners.”
“There is no denying that there is an authoritarian escalation in Venezuela. We do not feel openness to dialogue, there is a very strong reaction to any comment,” Amorim said, while adding that Brazil still held out hope for a solution to the crisis.
Washington also criticized the warrant, which followed weeks of comments from Venezuelan government officials that Gonzalez and other members of the opposition should go to jail.
“This is just another example of Mr. Maduro’s efforts to maintain power by force and to refuse to recognize that Mr. Gonzalez won the most votes on the 28th of July,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters.
“We’re considering a range of options to demonstrate to Mr. Maduro and his representatives that their actions in Venezuela will have consequences.”
A statement is expected from Gonzalez later on Tuesday. His lawyer Jose Vicente Haro told Colombia’s W Radio earlier in the day that Gonzalez does not plan to request political asylum in another country.
Ruling party officials including Maduro have accused the opposition of stoking violence, commanding fascist groups and working at the behest of imperialist interests abroad.
Criminal probes have been launched into opposition leader Maria Corina Machado and into the opposition’s vote tally website, while several major opposition figures have been detained.
Venezuela’s national electoral authority and its top court have said Maduro was the winner of the election with just over half of the votes, but tallies shared by the opposition show a resounding victory for the opposition.
Brazil and other countries have demanded publication of full voting tallies.
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