Kazakhgate is the name of a widespread story in the Belgian media, according to which a change in the Belgian Code of Criminal Procedure happened because of some negotiations between the former French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his counterpart in Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev. More specifically, Nazarbayev agreed to buy some 40 helicopters from France only… Continue reading
Edgar Lungu’s decision to appoint Felix Mutati as Finance Minister is a clear message to the IMF and the World Bank: Zambia is again ready to follow IMF’s austerity policies. Mutati, who was minister in Mwanawasa’s and Banda’s governments, played a key role in approving and carrying out IMF’s prescriptions. Zambian economy collapsed as a… Continue reading
Everyone is responsible for his own deeds. It is not Pius Kasolo’s fault that his brothers Anthony Kasolo and Chanda Kasolo conspired to oust Edgar Lungu in 2014. However, if he wants Lungu’s endorsement for President in 2021, Pius Kasolo is forced to denounce his brothers’ political actions. Anthony Kasolo is arguably one of Lungu’s… Continue reading
On 14 April 2011, the Belgian Parliament voted a law that amended the Code of Criminal Procedure. According to the law, it became possible as from 16 May 2011 to enter into transactions with the Public Prosecutor to terminate the public prosecution of offences at all the stages of a criminal procedure. The project of… Continue reading
On 14 April 2011, the Belgian Parliament voted a law that amended the Code of Criminal Procedure. According to the law, it became possible as from 16 May 2011 to enter into transactions with the Public Prosecutor to terminate the public prosecution of offences at all the stages of a criminal procedure. The amendment came… Continue reading
Vucic’s partnership with Blair is an insult to the memory of civilian victims of the 1999 war. On 23 April 1999, a NATO missile killed sixteen workers of the Radio Television of Serbia. A few hours later, UK Prime Minister Tony Blair praised the bombing and called for more such attacks. Alexandar Vucic, at that… Continue reading
Northern Dynasty Minerals is a Canadian company listed on the American Stock Market that currently owns the biggest gold and copper exploitation site in North America: Pebble Project in southwest Alaska, USA. The exploitation of the minerals is, however, unprofitable, given the current standards of regulations in environmental protection. For this reason, up until recently,… Continue reading
Belgian authorities allowed various oligarchs and their families to live and do business in Belgium. They saw no problem with that. Some of them – Patokh Chodiev and Alijan Ibragimov, for instance – even obtained Belgian citizenship. Now, the same authorities blame the oligarchs for being Belgian citizens, and play the card of moral outrage…. Continue reading
On 10 June 2011, Société Générale entered a transaction with the Public Prosecutors in Anvers, Belgium. The French giant agreed to pay 40 million euros; in exchange, the Public Prosecutors dropped all charges against the bank, who thus kept its record clean. OSI proved in a previous piece that this was the first such transaction… Continue reading
