corruption

Aid relief tents selling for €120 as refugees go unsheltered

Sophie — Wed, 28 May 2008 17:38:52 +0200

Tents that were supposed to be given out to victims left homeless after the devastating earthquake of May 12 have been discovered in unaffected, wealthy areas of the epicentre city of Chengdu, Sichuan province - and, according to web users, they are selling for 1,300RMB (€120). With refugees left unsheltered, protests have broken out over the apparent corruption.

These images were originally published on the Chengdu All-search site. They disappeared - censured? - but later reappeared here.

Red Cross aid packs sold in markets in Rangoon

Sophie — Thu, 15 May 2008 12:46:26 +0200

The online journal Mizzima has just published this photo showing boxes of products emblazoned with the Red Cross logo piled up at a Rangoon market stall ready for sale. Is international aid funding the country's military officials?

Mizzima News, a Burmese information site based in India, says that its correspondents in the country found foreign branded noodles, biscuits, dried meats, tents and mosquito nets in several markets in the capital. According to the site, these are the same products that had been distributed to zones wrecked by the cyclone, which came from foreign aid packages sent by various countries including Thailand, China, the USA and Japan.

Kio, one of our Observers for Burma, confirms to us that products intended for humanitarian aid relief are being sold in markets all over the country. It's impossible to know how the goods got there, but Kio reminds us that each delivery of aid goes through the junta. According to him, the products would have been sold-off by Burmese regime officials.

The newspaper ready to take on the traffickers

Sophie — Wed, 14 May 2008 19:14:08 +0200

One of our Observers in Colombia reacts to the return of El Espectador, an independent newspaper which, according to him, is capable of criticising Colombia's political and social elites and is not afraid of exposing their links to the drugs trade. The paper's return is a welcome relief for the daily Colombian press, which until now has bowed under pressure from the nation's powerful narco industry.

Elections in Italy: "The only candidate was Veltrusconi"

Julien — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 13:53:38 +0200

"Veltrusconi" by associazionebarbarica.org

Italian comedian Beppe Grillo called on the Italian electorate to boycott yesterday's parliamentary elections. On his blog, considered by Technorati as one of the world's top ten most popular, he slates the corruption of Italian politicians and the dependency of the media. Here, he comments on the elections for the Observers.

"Sniper" catches sweetener on film

Julien — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 23:35:54 +0100

These images were taken at the frontier post between Nador (northeastern Morocco) and the Spanish enclave of Melilla. According to the web-user who posted the video, police accept backhanders in return for a less-than-thorough check. The video was posted by “Sniper Nador”, probably named in honour of “Sniper Tarjist”, who posted a similar video last summer. We see a motorist slip something into a policeman's hand, although we can’t make out what. But one thing’s for sure: the Moroccan blogosphere will be taken up with this new fad of being a “sniper”.