Nasheman

India's largest selling Urdu weekly, now also in English

You are here: Home / Archives for Uncategorized

VVIP chopper scam: Kejriwal says Modi is scared of arresting Sonia

by

arvind-kejriwal

New Delhi: Launching an attack on the Narendra Modi government and the Congress on the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper scam, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday said the Prime Minister does not have “enough courage” to arrest Sonia Gandhi and that the two parties have an “alliance in corruption“.

Questioning the Congress on the issue of PM’s alleged “fake” degree, Mr. Kejriwal said the two parties had a “setting” that the BJP government will not arrest Ms. Gandhi in the chopper scam and the Congress will not raise the matter of Mr. Modi’s educational qualification.

“The Italian court order also has names of Sonia Gandhi, Ahmed Patel, certain officers and Congressmen, but Modi is not able to gather enough courage to arrest Sonia Gandhi, to ask her even two questions, to interrogate her…

“Modiji you have been made PM to take action not to leave the task for Italy court…Our chest would also be of 56 inch if you would have sent her to jail…when my PM says that Italy’s court is taking Gandhi’s name and not him….I want to ask Modiji why are you scared of her?” Mr. Kejriwal said, addressing a rally at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi.

Questioning the progress of the investigation in the chopper deal, Mr. Kejriwal alleged that there hasn’t been an “inch” of movement on the probe, despite the Modi government coming to power on the assurances that the corrupt will be taken to task.

“What investigation did they do in AgustaWestland case in two years? The Italian government completed investigation, filed the cases in court, judgment came and those who were involved in paying bribe were sent to jail.”

“When Anna agitation started, people wanted to change the government… they knew that both Congress and BJP are two sides of the same coin, but Modiji gave such wonderful speeches before Lok Sabha polls that people’s hopes were build that corruption will end,” Mr. Kejriwal said.

Noting that during the poll campaigns, Mr. Modi said that he will take action against Congress president’s son-in-law Robert Vadra for alleged irregularities in the land deal, but despite being in power for two years, and having state governments in Haryana and Rajasthan, he (Mr. Vadra) hasn’t been interrogated even once.

“Modi had said that the corrupt will be sent to jail. It has been two years and not a single person has been sent to jail…the country has been cheated and hence we had to again gather against their ‘alliance’ four years after we had gathered at the same place to protest the corruption of these two parties,” he said.

Mr. Kejriwal said while the CBI raided his office, it could not even interrogate Mr. Vadra.

“They got a CBI raid conducted on me but could not get anything beyond four mufflers in a day long raid. But there is no raid on Sonia Gandhi. Why is Modi scared of her? Before elections he used to say Vadra is Congress’ son-in-law, now it looks like even Modi has adopted him.

“The papers of his (Mr. Vadra’s) land scam are lying in Rajasthan. They have government in Haryana, Rajasthan and Centre. What are they waiting for? Why is there no action against him? CBI hasn’t called him even once because Modi doesn’t have courage.

“You arrest her, interrogate her for two days, the truth will come out automatically.

“Amit Shah says Soniaji please you tell us who who all took bribe. Manohar Parrikar says Soniaji you please tell who all have taken bribe. Is any interrogation conducted like this? If you would have told earlier that you both (Congress and BJP) were hand in glove nobody would have voted for you,” Mr. Kejriwal said.

He said that both parties possessed “secrets” of each other and claimed that the details of Mr. Modi’s degrees were given to them by Congress leaders from Gujarat, who were not “permitted” to raise the issue earlier by the Gandhi family.

“There is a very good setting. Modi has assured Congress that he will just abuse them but not arrest Gandhi in Agusta issue and Sonia Gandhi has assured him that his degree’s issue will not be raised by Congress.

“UPA was in power for 10 years and during those years they have kept secrets of Modi’s all scams. Modi knows that if Gandhi is arrested, Vadra is arrested, his secrets will also be in public domain,” he said.

Raising the degree issue once again, Mr. Kejriwal said the country will continue to respect him if he accepted that his degree was “fake”, but people will not tolerate fraud and forged degrees.

He said his party MLAs were arrested over trivial issues and demanded that Mr. Modi should also be treated like former Delhi Law Minister Jitendra Singh Tomar, who was arrested in an alleged fake degree row.

“His one such secret is his degree. He said in his affidavit that he did BA from DU and MA from Gujarat. I am not saying you need to be educated to be PM, people without degrees can also be talented….If he is 12th pass, we have no issues…if he says that the country would still respect him…but if he does cheating and fraud, forged degrees, country will not tolerate,” he said.

Over 300 AAP supporters detained

Over 300 AAP supporters and some party leaders were on Saturday detained as they on Saturday took out a protest march towards the residence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi alleging a BJP-Congress alliance in corruption.

Following a rally at Jantar Mantar, where Mr. Kejriwal and its top brass attacked Mr. Modi and his government, groups led by Sanjay Singh and Kumar Vishwas went to gherao residences of the Prime Minister and the Congress president.

Mr. Kejriwal left the venue before the protest march began.

Several AAP MLAs, including Deputy Speaker of the Delhi Legislative Assembly Bandana Kumar, participated in it.

Police, which had made extensive preparations by putting up three layers of barricades, detained senior AAP leaders Ashutosh, Mr. Sanjay Singh, Dilip Pandey along with party volunteers, and took them to Parliament Street police station.

“Over 300 people were detained from the first layer of barricade in Parliament Street as they started their march from Jantar Mantar. And over 100 were detained in the morning. They were a separate group who had reached near Tughlaq Road police station, which is near the PM’s residence, to protest.

“The protesters were detained under Section 144 of CrPC. They have all been taken to Parliament Street police station,” DCP, New Delhi, Jatin Narwal said.

(Agencies)

Donald Trump becomes presumptive Republican nominee

by

Path clear for controversial billionaire as main rivals Cruz and Kasich bow out of race for US presidential nomination.

[Reuters]

[Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

Donald Trump has gone from long-shot contender to the Republican party’s presumptive nominee for president with a crushing win in Indiana that forced his main rivals Ted Cruz and John Kasich out of the race.

Addressing jubilant supporters at Trump Tower in New York after romping to his seventh straight state-wide victory, the real estate mogul promised them: “We’re going to win in November, and we’re going to win big, and it’s going to be America first.”

Kasich announced he dropped out of the Republican presidential race on Wednesday evening.

Trump won at least 51 of 57 possible delegates awarded in Indiana, according to the Associated Press news agency delegate tracker. His victory in the state pushed him to 1,047 delegates of the 1,237 needed to clinch the nomination, compared with 153 for Kasich.

Cruz had 565 delegates before suspending his campaign.

“This phenomenon is just amazing,” Peter Mathews, a political analyst, told Al Jazeera. “Trump seems to have got free television time. He got an estimated $1bn of free time during the election.”

Trump’s immediate challenge is to unite deep fissures within the Republican Party as many party loyalists are appalled at his bullying style, his treatment of women and his signature proposals to build a wall on the border with Mexico and deport 11 million illegal immigrants.

 

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus called Trump the party’s presumptive nominee in a tweet and said, “We all need to unite and focus” on defeating Clinton.

The former reality TV star himself called for unity in a speech at a victory rally that was free of his usual bombast and flamboyance.

Calling Indiana a “tremendous victory”, he immediately directed fire at Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton.

“We’re going after Hillary Clinton,” he said. “She will not be a great president, she will not be a good president, she will be a poor president. She doesn’t understand trade.”

Clinton upset

Clinton on Tuesday suffered an upset in Indiana as her rival Bernie Sanders mounted a come-from-behind victory, denying the former secretary of state a feather in her cap as she seeks their party’s presidential nomination.

Sanders, a self-declared socialist, beat Clinton by 53.2 percent to 46.8 percent with about three quarters of precincts reporting – although Clinton remained well ahead in the overall delegate battle for the nomination.

“Bernie Sanders was behind several points just a few weeks ago. Thousands were turning up to his rallies even in thunderstorms to hear what he had to say,” Al Jazeera’s Alan Fisher, reporting from Indianapolis, said.

“A narrow victory in Indiana is enough to re-inject his campaign with momentum and for him to say that he is going to take it all the way to Democratic convention in Philadelphia in the summer.”

As the race was called overwhelmingly in Trump’s favour, Cruz conceded to supporters in Indianapolis that he no longer had a viable path forwards.

“We left it all on the field in Indiana,” Cruz said. “We gave it everything we’ve got, but the voters chose another path.

“And so with a heavy heart, but with boundless optimism for the long-term future of our nation, we are suspending our campaign.”

Al Jazeera’s Fisher said that Indiana had become a pivotal point in the race.

“On the Republican side, Cruz lost the primary by a significant margin. His appeal to voters simply did not work,” he said.

Trump, who has never held public office, is likely to formally wrap up the nomination on June 7 when California votes, although Ohio Governor John Kasich had vowed to stay in the race as his last challenger.

Wildfire forces evacuation of Canada’s Fort McMurray

by

Massive blaze sweeps through oil sands region and prompts biggest evacuation in the history of Alberta state.

wildfire

by Al Jazeera

The entire population of the Canadian city of Fort McMurray was ordered to leave their homes late on Tuesday as a massive wildfire swept through Alberta province’s oil sands region.

More than 80,000 residents were ordered to flee after an earlier evacuation order was extended to tens of thousands more people as flames continued to make their way into the city.

No casualties have been reported but damage has been extensive, with petrol stations exploding and a hotel and one of the town’s many motor home parks going up in flames, local media said.

The air over the city was thick with black smoke.

“All of Fort McMurray is under a mandatory evacuation order,” Alberta emergency services said, after previously indicating that the northern edge of the fire was “growing rapidly”.

Scott Long, of Alberta Emergency Management, said the flames had burned a number of structures, but couldn’t say how many.

The airport was still open but the hospital had to close.

Alberta Premier, Rachel Notley, said officials were doing all they could to ensure people’s safety and said they were looking into the possibility of an airlift for residents with medical issues.

“I know that it’s a very scary time,” Notley told a press conference.

“Our focus is completely and entirely right now on ensuring the safety of people, of getting them out of the city and ensuring that they are safe and secure.”

Authorities urged residents to head towards evacuation centres as the city reeled from what Notley called the province’s largest ever evacuation.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that he had called Notley to offer federal aid to the province.

“My thoughts are with people affected by the fire in Fort McMurray tonight. Stay safe and remember to follow evacuation orders,” he tweeted.

Helicopters and firefighters

Long lines of cars travelled north via the city’s main highway, while flames ravaged the embankment on the side of the road. Police closed the southbound lanes.

“Be patient, drive safely and please give way to emergency vehicles,” an evacuation notice read.

The fire, which was contained south of Fort McMurray until Monday, was pushed towards the city by 50km/hr winds and quickly reached homes, helped by a drought in Alberta.

The province saw record temperatures of nearly 30C.

The fire quickly expanded, with blazes forming in several places, forcing the city’s evacuation.

Bruce Mayer, assistant deputy minister of agriculture and forestry, said nine air tankers, a dozen helicopters and about a hundred firefighters were battling the flames, with reinforcements on the way.

Some 160 police officers were mobilised to implement the evacuation, according to Notley.

Oil companies, crucial to the region’s economy, set up emergency shelters in their huge bungalow communities for Canadian and foreign workers.

Far-right AfD says Islam not welcome in Germany

by

Religion not compatible with constitution, says anti-immigration party which also proposes banning minarets and burqas.

Anti-immigration parties which regard Islam unwelcome in Germany have been buoyed by Europe's refugee crisis [Reuters]

Anti-immigration parties which regard Islam unwelcome in Germany have been buoyed by Europe’s refugee crisis [Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

Members of the far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD) have backed an election manifesto that says Islam is not compatible with the constitution.

Delegates at the party’s conference on Sunday also supported a call to ban minarets on mosques and the burqa.

Set up three years ago, the AfD has been buoyed by Europe’s refugee crisis, which saw the arrival of more than one million, mostly Muslims, in Germany last year.

The party has no MPs in the federal parliament in Berlin but has members in half of Germany’s 16 regional state assemblies.

Opinion polls give AfD support of up to 14 percent, presenting a serious challenge to Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives and other established parties in the lead-up to the 2017 federal election.

Most mainstream parties have ruled out any coalition with the AfD.

‘Islamic symbols’

In a noisy debate on the second day of a party congress, many of the 2,000 members cheered calls from the podium for measures against “Islamic symbols of power” and jeered a plea for dialogue with Germany’s Muslims.

“Islam is foreign to us and for that reason it cannot invoke the principle of religious freedom to the same degree as Christianity,” said Hans-Thomas Tillschneider, an AfD lawmaker from the state of Saxony-Anhalt, to loud applause.

Merkel has said freedom of religion for all is guaranteed by Germany’s constitution and has said on many occasions that Islam belongs to Germany.

Up to 2,000 leftwing demonstrators clashed with police on Saturday as they tried to break up the first full AfD conference.

About 500 people were briefly detained and 10 police officers were lightly injured, a police spokesman said.

The chapter of the AfD manifesto concerning Muslims is entitled “Islam is not a part of Germany”.

The manifesto demands a ban to minarets, the towers of a mosque from where the call to Muslim prayer is made, and the burqa, the all-encompassing body garment worn by some conservative Muslim women.

Germany is home to nearly four million Muslims, about five percent of the total population.

Many of the longer established Muslim community in Germany came from Turkey to find work, but those who have arrived over the past year have mostly been fleeing conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Last month the head of Germany’s Central Council of Muslims compared the AfD’s attitude towards his community to that of Adolf Hitler’s Nazis towards the Jews.

Bulgarian town bans women from wearing full-face veils

by

Local government of Pazardzhik adopts measure to fine those from the Muslim minority who defy the ban.

A number of European states have taken measures to restrict the wearing of the niqab [File:Reuters]

A number of European states have taken measures to restrict the wearing of the niqab [File:Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

The central Bulgarian town of Pazardzhik has banned the wearing of full-face veils in public in a move the local government said would prevent tension among communities and boost security.

The ban introduced on Wednesday, the first of its kind in the Balkan country, was backed from politicians across the political spectrum in the town of some 70,000 people, where wearing full-face veils had become common among some women from the Muslim Roma minority.

“I am tired to hear that Pazardzhik is the town of the burqas. We want to say aloud that we are not that, but a town of responsible people and we will be associated with other achievements,” Mayor Todor Popov told national radio.

Muslims make up about 12 percent of Bulgaria’s 7.2 million population and most belong to a centuries-old community, largely ethnic Turks, among whom full-face veils are not common.

Popov said fines would be imposed on anyone who defies the ban, which police said was needed because the veils, which cover all but the eyes, hampered quick identification.

Part of the Roma minority practises a conservative form of Islam and its women have started wearing full-face veils in recent years, angering nationalists.

Many Bulgarians are concerned that the refugee inflows into Europe may pose a threat to their predominantly Orthodox Christian culture and help radicalise part of the country’s long-established Muslim minority.

ISIL trial

In February, 13 men – most from Pazardhik’s Roma minority – went on trial charged with helping people join the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group in Syria, propagating an extremist ideology and inciting to war.

Earlier this month, the nationalist Patriotic Front coalition, which backs the government, proposed a nationwide ban on full-face veils, arguing that such clothing was not typical for Bulgarian Muslims.

The nationalists argued that such veils presented a national security risk and the issue had grown in importance following the violent Islamist attacks in Paris and Brussels.

Donald Trump mocks Indian call center, but says India a great nation

by

trump

Washington: Republican presidential front runner Donald Trump has used fake Indian accent to mock a call center representative in India.

At the same time, he described India as a great place, asserting that he is not angry with Indian leaders.

The billionaire from New York said that he called up his credit card company to find out whether their customer support is based in the US or overseas.

“Guess what, you’re talking to a person from India. How the hell does that work?” he told his supporters in Delaware.

“So I called up, under the guise I’m checking on my card, I said, ‘Where are you from?'” Trump said and then he copied the response from the call center in a fake Indian accent.

“We are from India,” Trump impersonated the response.

“Oh great, that’s wonderful,” he said as he pretended to hang up the phone.

“India is great place. I am not upset with other leaders. I am upset with our leaders for being so stupid,” he said.

“I am not angry with China. I am not angry at Japan. I am not angry with Vietnam, India…all these countries.”

Trump mentioned the fake call to India during his remarks on what he described as “crooked banking.”

Delaware, is a hub for the America’s banking and credit- card industry. Topping the list include Bank of America, Citibank Delaware, M&T Bank and PNC Financial Services Group.

“They are making a lot of money,” he said.

“You can’t allow policies that allows China, Mexico, Japan, Vietnam, India. You can’t allow policies that allows business to be ripped out of the United States like candy from a baby,” Trump said in his address.

“The manufacturing jobs are being stolen. Our jobs are being taken. We are losing at every front. There is nothing good. Our country does not win anymore. The jobs are being stripped. Factories are closing. We are not going to let this happen anymore,” he said.

Trump said he has as many as 378 companies registered in Delaware, where the Republican presidential primaries is scheduled on April 26 along with several other states.

He is leading in polls against his other primary rivals.

In his speech, Trump praised Delaware’s status as a tax shelter and slammed President Barack Obama for not using the term “radical Islamists” in the fight against terrorism. “I want to run against crooked Hillary,” he said, reiterating that a Trump vs Clinton race would bring the greatest turn out in the history of the American elections.

“We will stomp on Hillary Clinton no one’s ever done.”

He was also critical of Indian-American South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, who did not endorse him during the primary.

Delaware has 16 delegates. Trump has 845 delegates, followed by Ted Cruz (559) and John Kasich (148).

(PTI)

Pop icon Prince dies aged 57

by

Fans mourn one of the most influential but elusive figures in music, found dead at his Minnesota home.

Prince

by Al Jazeera

Thousands of fans of Prince have gathered for a vigil in Los Angeles after the pop icon was found dead in his home in suburban Minneapolis. He was 57.

A local sheriff said that police deputies called to Prince’s studio found the superstar unresponsive in an elevator at his home on Thursday. Attempts to resuscitate the singer failed, the sheriff told the Associated Press news agency.

An autopsy was scheduled for Friday.

The Minneapolis native rose to fame in the late 1970s with the hits I Wanna Be Your Lover and Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?, and soared over the following decade with such albums as 1999 and Purple Rain.

He was widely acclaimed as one of the most inventive musicians of his era.

The title song from the album 1999 includes one of the most widely quoted refrains of popular culture: “Tonight I’m gonna party like it’s 1999.”

The man born Prince Rogers Nelson stood just 1.57m and seemed to summon the most original and compelling sounds at will, whether playing guitar in a flamboyant style that openly drew upon Jimi Hendrix, switching his vocals from a nasally scream to an erotic falsetto or turning out album after album of stunningly original material.

During last year’s Grammy awards, he showed his political side, speaking up for racial justice and for long-format recordings.

“Albums still matter. Like books and black lives, albums still matter,” he said.

Fiercely independent 

He was also fiercely protective of his independence, battling his record company over control of his material and even his name.

Prince once wrote “slave” on his face in protest at not owning his work and famously battled and then departed from his label, Warner Bros, before returning a few years ago.

In 2004, Prince was inducted into the Rock and Roll of Fame, which hailed him as a musical and social trailblazer.

“He rewrote the rule book, forging a synthesis of black funk and white rock that served as a blueprint for cutting-edge music in the Eighties,” reads the Hall’s dedication.

“Prince made dance music that rocked and rock music that had a bristling, funky backbone. From the beginning, Prince and his music were androgynous, sly, sexy and provocative.”

The singer’s death came two weeks after he cancelled concerts in Atlanta because he was not feeling well.

A small group of fans quickly gathered in the rain on Thursday outside his music studio, Paisley Park, where Prince’s gold records are on the walls and the purple motorcycle he rode in his 1984 breakout movie, Purple Rain, is on display.

The white building, surrounded by a fence, is about 30km southwest of Minneapolis.

Steven Scott, 32, of Eden Prairie, said he was at Paisley Park last Saturday for Prince’s dance party. He called Prince “a beautiful person” whose message was that people should love one another.

“He brought people together for the right reasons,” Scott said.

Japan earthquakes: 100,000 forced from homes

by

Authorities struggle to provide services to tens of thousands of people in areas worst hit by two deadly earthquakes.

Japan's Self-Defence Force search for missing persons at the site of a landslide in Minamiaso, Kumamoto [Takuya Inaba/Kyodo News via AP]

Japan’s Self-Defence Force search for missing persons at the site of a landslide in Minamiaso, Kumamoto [Takuya Inaba/Kyodo News via AP]

by Al Jazeera

Authorities were struggling to get aid to parts of southern Japan after at least 110,000 people were forced from their homes in the wake of two powerful earthquakes.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Monday he wanted to officially designate the southern region a disaster area in a move that would allow the government to spend more on reconstruction.

About 30,000 rescue workers were scouring the rubble for survivors and handing out food to those unable to return to their homes after the quakes that struck Kyushu island from Thursday.

Some 42 people have been killed and 10 are missing. At least 110,000 people have been displaced, according to the Reuters news agency.

About 80,000 homes in Kumamoto prefecture – the worst hit area – still did not have electricity on Sunday, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said.

The US military prepared to join relief efforts as many areas were cut off by landslides and damage to roads and bridges. Forecasts for heavy rains, which would make collapsed buildings more unstable, added to the urgency of the searches.

Some evacuees said that food distribution was just two rice balls for dinner.

“We are doing our best,” Abe told MPs when challenged by the opposition over his handling of the relief effort. “We are striving to improve living conditions for the people who have sought refuge.”

“Today, tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, we will be working toward a full recovery,” Abe said.

Gradually, some roads were being reopened, and men in security guard uniforms were helping to direct traffic in drizzly weather.

Economy rattled

Many whose homes were not seriously damaged looked for shelter as the area was rocked by more than 500 aftershocks.

Local media said most of those missing were from Minamiaso, a mountain village southwest of 1,592-metre Mount Aso, the largest active volcano in the country.

Earthquakes on successive nights struck Kumamoto city and the surrounding region late last week. Nine people died in the first earthquake, and 33 in the second.

The parts of Kyushu affected by the quake include technology hubs and other industrial areas, and the disruptions to transport and logistics were expected to ripple through the economy.

Toyota Motor Corporation said it would shut down most of its vehicle production in Japan over the course of this week because of parts shortages stemming from the earthquakes. Nissan Motor Corporation also halted production at some facilities.

Other companies, including Sony, have announced stoppages at some of their factories in Kyushu.

Japan earthquake forces evacuation of 40,000

by

At least nine killed and nearly 1,000 injured after 6.2-magnitude earthquake strikes 11km east of Kumamoto city.

Japanese media showed residents, some of them wrapped in blankets, huddling in a parking lot [Kyodo News]

Japanese media showed residents, some of them wrapped in blankets, huddling in a parking lot [Kyodo News]

by Al Jazeera

At least nine people have been killed and nearly 1,000 injured after a 6.2-magnitude earthquake knocked down houses and destroyed roads in the southwestern Japan.

The tremor struck 11km east of Kumamoto on Thursday, according to the US Geological Survey, and strong aftershocks continued to shake the area around the city on Friday.

More than 40,000 people were evacuated to schools and community centres, some spending the night outside after the first quake hit around 9:30pm local time.

Roads cracked, houses crumbled and tiles fell from the roof of Kumamoto Castle in the centre of the city.

More than 3,000 troops, police and firefighters were dispatched to the area from around Japan, and Shinzo Abe, prime minister, said more would be sent if needed.

One of the victims in Mashiki died after being pulled from the rubble, and the other was killed in a fire.

Footage from public broadcaster NHK showed firefighters tackling a blaze in a building in Mashiki, a town of about 34,000 people near the epicentre of the quake.

About 16,500 households in and around Mashiki were without electricity, according to Kyushu Electric Power Company.

There were no irregularities at three nuclear plants on the southern major island of Kyushu and nearby Shikoku, the Nuclear Regulation Authority said.

The plant is 130km south of Kumamoto. The operator restarted the reactors last year, the first two units under updated regulations.

In March 2011, a 9.0-magnitude earthquake led to a devastating tsunami that killed 18,000 people along Japan’s northeast coast.

The wave struck the Fukushima nuclear plant, causing a major radiation leakage.  

More than 100,000 displaced people are still unable to return to their homes near the nuclear plant because of the contamination.

 

Panama Papers: El Salvador raids Mossack Fonseca office

by

Documents and equipment seized by authorities in investigation of Mossack Fonseca, firm at centre of data leak scandal.

Documents and equipment were sized but no employees were detained in the raid [EPA]

Documents and equipment were sized but no employees were detained in the raid [EPA]

by Al Jazeera

Authorities in El Salvador have raided the local offices of law firm Mossack Fonseca and seized documents and equipment, according to the office of the country’s attorney general.

The Panama-based law firm is at the centre of an international data leak scandal – dubbed the Panama Papers – that has embarrassed several world leaders and highlighted the shadowy world of offshore companies.

Attorney General Douglas Melendez, who personally oversaw Friday’s raid, said that the government decided to sweep the offices after noticing Mossack Fonseca had removed its office sign late on Thursday, which raised suspicions.

An employee later said the company was planning to move, according to the attorney general’s Twitter feed.

The El Salvador office is not listed on Mossack Fonseca’s corporate website.

El Salvador’s government seized about 20 computers, some documents and interviewed seven employees, but did not detain anyone, Melendez said.

“At this moment we cannot speak about [any] crimes; all we can do at this moment is our job,” he said.

He said that the government would analyse all the confiscated information and examine its financial, accounting and legal aspects.

He said it appears the law firm’s local affiliate helped process information for clients worldwide.

Governments across the world have begun investigating possible financial wrongdoing by the rich and powerful after the leak of more than 11.5 million documents from the law firm that span four decades.

“Most of us pay our taxes because it’s the right thing to do and because we don’t have any other choice,” Nick Bryer, Oxfam’s Head of UK Policy, told Al Jazeera.

“When the world’s richest decide to exploit the loopholes and deploy armies of tax lawyers and accountants to avoid paying their share, the rest of us miss out. We miss out on things which are paid for by taxes, for example schools, roads and health services.

 

“It’s a much bigger issue in a poorer country where budgets are stretched.”

Ramon Fonseca, the founding partner of Mossack Fonseca, said the leak was the result of hacking from a computer overseas rather than an inside job and that he knew which country the hacker attack had come from but was not allowed to disclose it.

The papers have revealed financial arrangements of prominent figures, including friends of Russian President Vladimir Putin and relatives of the prime ministers of Britain and Pakistan and the presidents of China and Ukraine.

Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson, Iceland’s prime minister, was forced to quit office, becoming the first politician brought down by the leaks.

A federal prosecutor has called for an investigationinto Argentina President Mauricio Macri’s links with an offshore company that were revealed in the Panama Papers as well.

KNOW US

GET INVOLVED

PROMOTE

Archives