Two a penny

.
Freelance journalist Denis Robert is in the witness box Tuesday at the Paris Criminal Court in a trial that has rocked the French political world to its core.

Robert will be questioned on the Clearstream files that came into his possession in 2001, before they were faked to include names of high-profile figures in French politics, including current French President Nicolas Sarkozy , who were accused of taking illegal kickbacks from the sale of French frigates to Taiwan in 1991.

&raquo Special Report on France&#039s trial of the decade
&raquo Who&#039s who in the trial
&raquo How a finance trial turned into a major political scandal
&raquo A glossary of terms in the Clearstream saga
Robert is accused of having handled stolen information and breach of trust.

Bourges was part of an audit mission looking into the accounts at Clearstream just after Robert had investigated the company for possible money laundering.

Also giving evidence is a former intern at accounting firm Arthur Andersen Florian Bourges , who is accused of stealing the offending list from Clearstream and passing it on to Robert. He was told to keep it to himself.

During the audit Bourget noticed certain anomalies, specifically relating to accounts dated 2016 alongside names of non-existent clients.

At the end of the audit, Bourges kept copies of accounts he had seen, including a list of more than 33,000 accounts which he passed on to Robert.

De Villepin is accused of conspiring to include Sarkozy on the Clearstream list when the two men were vying for their party’s nomination to succeed then-President Jacques Chirac.

The case has exposed bitter acrimony between Dominique de Villepin , a former French prime minister, and current French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

As the trial began on Monday, de Villepin, flanked by his wife and children, insisted that the case was being propelled by Sarkozy’s personal animosity towards him.

Case being ‘propelled by Sarkozy’

De Villepin, who vigorously denies the allegations, faces up to five years in jail and a &euro45,000 fine if convicted. I am here because of the dogged determination of one man, Nicolas Sarkozy.

I am here because of one man’s will, he said upon arriving at court.

I will come out of this a free man and exonerated, he told reporters.

I will come out of this a free man and exonerated, he told reporters.

De Villepin’s lawyer, Henri Leclerc, has asked that the court strip Sarkozy of his status as a civil plaintiff, arguing that his client cannot get a fair trial against a sitting head of state.

President of the Republic as civil plaintiff

Lawyers for both sides are facing off over whether Sarkozy’s involvement in the case is allowed under the French constitution.

But Sarkozy’s lawyer, Thierry Herzog, argues that the president is a civil party like any other.

We want to be tried according to fair procedures, Leclerc said on Monday.

Sarkozy insists he only wants the truth to come out.

Sarkozy registered as a plaintiff in 2006 to gain access to the case files and secure his right to seek damages, as have 39 others including Dominique Strauss-Kahn , now the head of the International Monetary Fund. It is high time that we get rid of all of these political manoeuvrings, once and for all. .

Clearstream trial – Dominique de Villepin – France – Nicolas Sarkozy

.

A woman has been sentenced to 10 months’
home detention after swindling her disabled father out of $75,000
to buy a car and pay off drug debts.

Helen Luanna Kiwara, 23, unemployed, appeared in Hastings District Court yesterday and pleaded guilty to two charges of using a document to obtain pecuniary advantage.

The court was told that in January this year Kiwara went to Omakau, Central Otago, to visit her father, James Kahukura, 46, who had received a substantial settlement from ACC following an accident that left him severely disabled. .

She then created a series of false documents, purporting to be from ANZ Bank and Work and Income, which stated she had been approved for a loan and would receive a large payout.

Although she had barely seen him in 23 years, she moved in, claiming she was pregnant and wanted him to know his grandchild, the Otago Daily Times reported.

Defence counsel Trent Petherick said Kiwara had had a difficult time in the years prior to the offending.

Believing the documents to be credible, her father agreed to loan her $75,000.

Judge Geoff Rea said the “most appalling aspect” of her crime was that as soon as she had the money she “bolted” and bought a car and paid off drug debts.

She had been seriously affected after a vicious assault by her stepfather in 2004 and her mother had died of cancer the same year.

Kiwara only narrowly escaped a prison sentence because she had no prior convictions and could pay the money back, he said.

-

.

LATEST:
Wanganui authorities already disagree over the enforcement of a new ban on gang patches, as gang members prepare to march the city’s streets in protest.

Wanganui District Council banned gang insignia from the city at its meeting yesterday, and the bylaw came into force at midnight.

Black Power was planning a mass ride through Wanganui around lunchtime today to protest the bylaw.

The bylaw gives police powers to fine patchwearers $2000 and to take their gang insignia from them.

Acting area commander Inspector Greg Hudson said any arrests today would “depend on the circumstances”.

Member and rally organiser Denis O’Reilly told 3 News the council’s issues with gangs had nothing to do with their patches.

“In each case, we’re going to police it with a commonsense approach.

Police would take a commonsense approach and enforce the bylaw on a case-by-case basis, he said.”

But Mayor Michael Laws told Radio New Zealand gang members who wore their gang patches in protest today would be arrested. To us, it’s no different – it’s business as usual – to a liquor ban.

“Honestly, Wanganui is going to become a very, very uncomfortable place if you’re a gang member or gang associate from now on.

“If there is [a protest] and they’re wearing their gang patches, we’d be delighted to arrest them. . And we’re delighted it’s going to be. uncomfortable for them. .

Wanganui’s gang situation was no worse than anywhere else in New Zealand but the city’s residents had “chosen to, in effect, have a dress code which does not include gang insignia”, he said.”

Meanwhile, Mr Hudson said police would appreciate if the public reported gang members wearing insignia in public.”

He said the bylaw was to protect the majority of residents, and the minority affected by the ban – the gang members – could test the bylaw in court.

“I think it’s the feeling of the community and like any democratic country, anything that makes the community feel safe and enhances their wellbeing has got to be of benefit.

Mr Laws said it was “extraordinarily” rare for Parliament to give a council such power.

BYLAW A ‘TRIUMPH’

Wanganui Mayor Michael Laws has described the bylaw as “a triumph for decency and democracy”.

“It removes gangs’ most powerful and intimidatory weapon.

“To ban gang patches and gang insignia will give a real fillip to Wanganui police and to Wanganui citizens,” he said.

Councillor Rob Vinsen called the move a publicity stunt and unnecessary.

Councillor Rob Vinsen called the move a publicity stunt and unnecessary.

“We haven’t got a gang problem in Wanganui,” Mr Vinsen said.

“The police said there were two incidents in 2009 and there were five incidents last year. . This is a publicity-seeking stunt from mayor Michael Laws, I’m afraid,” he told Newstalk ZB.

.

The five Kelston High schoolboys thumped by an Auckland Rugby Union judiciary last week are to appeal.

Kelston Boys High first XV players were punished much more harshly than their Auckland Grammar opponents for their roles in an ugly brawl at the end of their Auckland secondary schools rugby semifinal two weekends ago.

In contrast four Grammar players had suspensions varying from two weeks to seven weeks and one player had no sanction because no case was proven against him.

The brawl saw both teams taken before the Auckland Rugby Football Union judiciary last week where five Kelston players were suspended from rugby for periods ranging from 10 to 16 months.

This meant a 10 month ban for a Kelston player was effectively the same as a four week ban for a Grammar player, it said. .”

Former All Blacks Michael Jones and Inga Tuigamala have both come out criticising the length of the Kelston suspensions.

Kelston principal Steve Watt today said: “Whilst there is no issue with the condemnation and admonishment inherent in the penalties imposed by the Disciplinary Committee, the extent and the disparity of the penalties imposed have given rise to widespread disquiet and disbelief as to their propriety from not only the local community but also the wider rugby community.”

The school is paying the $1500 for each boy needed to lodge the appeal.

Mr Watt said the appeals lodged today with the Rugby Union were “on the grounds that the penalties imposed on them are manifestly excessive and that the disparity in the length of the suspensions meted out to them by the Disciplinary Committee amount to a miscarriage of justice.

Mr Watt said the boys had faced “unprecedented publicity” and have received counselling.

Mr Watt said lawyers have also contacted the school offering their services for free to assist the boys with their appeals. As I have said before – we can all learn from this inexcusable incident and with the goodwill of all involved, make sure that it doesn’t happen again.

“I am hopeful that the appeal process can be resolved quickly so the school can focus on its primary function of educating boys to become good young men.

.”

Further criticism came when it emerged one of the panel, former policeman Neil Grimstone, has a child attending Auckland Grammar

.

A pregnant Wellington woman had her baby wrongly aborted because an ultrasound was misread by a radiologist in Australia.

A follow-up ultrasound at Hutt Hospital nine days later showed the baby was simply in an unusual position and was still alive.

But by then the woman had been given medication to terminate the pregnancy and the baby later died.

The report, issued to The under the Official Information Act, found the mother, who had difficulties conceiving and had already had two miscarriages, desperately wanted the baby and should have been told the diagnosis might be wrong and given more time to decide.

An external report into the case also criticised the woman’s independent obstetrician for terminating the pregnancy after just one ultrasound, when the scans are known to be inaccurate in such cases.

The hospital says it now has four resident radiologists, but still relies on some remote after-hours cover.

At the time of the incident, Hutt Hospital had a “low number” of radiologists and was forced to send urgent after-hours scans to specialists in Australia. The report says deficient guidelines for using overseas radiologists in such cases “continue to present a serious continuing risk”. An ultrasound was taken and sent to Australia.

The woman, who was 5½ weeks pregnant, went to Hutt Hospital’s emergency department on New Year’s Eve 2007 because she had been bleeding and had abdominal cramps. Ectopic foetuses do not survive and, if not properly treated, the mother can die.

The radiologist there falsely diagnosed an ectopic pregnancy, in which the foetus grows outside the womb. “It should be common knowledge that diagnostic tests are not always accurate and that uncertainty exits,” said Auckland obstetrician gynaecologist Professor Cindy Farquhar.

Clinicians reviewing the case agreed it was difficult to diagnose some types of ectopic pregnancy accurately with ultrasound, which was why the woman’s obstetrician should have waited and requested a second test.

“A single ultrasound is not sufficient to initiate treatment in this case, given the irreversible nature of the treatment and the history of infertility and miscarriages.

“A single ultrasound is not sufficient to initiate treatment in this case, given the irreversible nature of the treatment and the history of infertility and miscarriages. .

The report found:

The Hutt Hospital sonographer who took the ultrasound should have been supervised by a radiologist or ultrasound-qualified obstetrician. It was not.

Ad Feedback –>
loadAd(’300×250′,’STORYBODY’,300,250);

The radiologist’s report should have been seen as interim until it was signed off by a New Zealand-based radiologist. Given that the mother was healthy and that there was no urgency, she should have been kept under observation and a second test requested, which would have shown the baby was healthy.

The obstetrician should not have relied on the single ultrasound.

WHAT IS AN ECTOPIC PREGNANCY?

The fertilised egg is implanted outside the womb usually in the fallopian tubes, but it can also occur in the cervix, ovaries or abdomen.

Hutt Valley District Health Board acknowledged it was short of radiologists at the time and had no knowledge of the quality standards of the overseas contractor.

– ,

– Sponsored links –
add_batch_ad(‘adSPONSOREDLINK1′, ’310x16_SPONSOREDLINK’,'SPONSOREDLINK1′);
add_batch_ad(‘adSPONSOREDLINK2′, ’310x16_SPONSOREDLINK’,'SPONSOREDLINK2′);
add_batch_ad(‘adSPONSOREDLINK3′, ’310x16_SPONSOREDLINK’,'SPONSOREDLINK3′);
add_batch_ad(‘adSPONSOREDLINK4′, ’310x16_SPONSOREDLINK’,'SPONSOREDLINK4′);
add_batch_ad(‘adSPONSOREDLINK5′, ’310x16_SPONSOREDLINK’,'SPONSOREDLINK5′);
add_batch_ad(‘adSPONSOREDLINK6′, ’310x16_SPONSOREDLINK’,'SPONSOREDLINK6′);
add_batch_ad(‘adSPONSOREDLINK7′, ’310x16_SPONSOREDLINK’,'SPONSOREDLINK7′);
add_batch_ad(‘adSPONSOREDLINK8′, ’310x16_SPONSOREDLINK’,'SPONSOREDLINK8′);

– Next Health story: –
Swine flu: 56 more cases probed

– National Homepage –

. It is a medical emergency and, if not treated properly, can lead to the mother’s death

.
AFP – A Paris appeal court on Friday jailed a shepherd convicted of murdering the top French official on the Mediterranean island of Corsica for at least 22 years.

Prosecutors described Yvan Colonna, 48, as a man without honour and the shooter and executioner of prefect Claude Erignac, who was gunned down in 1998 on his way to a concert in Ajaccio.

His lawyers immediately said that they would take the case to a higher court from today.

The appeal court gave him the heaviest possible sentence, as requested by the prosecution: life with a minimum of 22 years behind bars, more than the original life sentence passed in 2007 when no minimum time to be served was specified.

This decision is unjust, this court refused on principle to envisage any other solution than that of guilt, lawyer Antoine Sollacaro told reporters immediately after the verdict. If that failed they would go to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, they said.

The murder shocked France and was the most spectacular attack in some 30 years of low-level separatist violence on the island.

The nine judges deliberated for eight hours before announcing their decision to a courtroom where neither the defendant, or his family or his defence team were present, having boycotted proceedings for the past two weeks.

Yvan Colonna is the shooter and executioner of a servant of the state, said prosecutor Jean-Claude Kross on Thursday as the prosecution wrapped up the case.

Colonna’s appeal opened on February 9 before a special court specialising in terrorism cases.

Erignac was shot three times in the back of the head on February 6, 1998 as he walked unprotected in the streets of Ajaccio on his way to an evening concert.

The man who has described himself as a shepherd and goatherd was caught in the mad spiral of hardline fundamentalism, said Kross.

Colonna turned up for the appeals hearing last month, dressed in a black T-shirt and denouncing what he called a state-sponsored trial against him.

Six other people have been sentenced to lengthy prison terms for taking part in the plot.

You are not impartial, you are on a mission, he told the court.

But after the court denied his request to reconstruct the crime, he announced on March 11 that he was boycotting the trial and has since remained in his prison cell while the case continued.

In his long period on the run, he enjoyed protection under the code of silence on the small island of some 250,000 inhabitants.

The son of a former Corsican member of parliament, Colonna spent several years in hiding in the mountains of Corsica after being named as a suspect and was finally captured in 2003.

Investigators claim Colonna was a member of the National Front for the Liberation of Corsica (FLNC), a group founded in 1976 to fight for Corsica’s independence from France.

Corsica has been the scene of a generally low-level campaign of nationalist-inspired attacks, with French government buildings and holiday homes most often targeted in firebombings.

During the first trial, the main evidence against Colonna was the testimony of other plot members, which they later claimed was extracted under duress.

But Colonna has simply admitted to being supportive of the separatist cause, saying that he distanced himself from politics in 1989 to look after his newborn son, his goat herd and his local football club.

On the day of his arrest President Nicolas Sarkozy — then interior minister — said he was delighted at the capture of Claude Erignac’s murderer.

Defence lawyers had complained that from the outset his trial had been unfair, saying that the presumption of innocence in Colonna’s case had been consistently flouted.

.
Police accused of hypocrisy

Tuesday, 03 March 2009

The Government is under mounting political pressure to investigate why a top police officer refused to be breath tested amid allegations police bosses are showing hypocrisy in their handling of the controversy.
But police are warning media "not to rely on inaccurate speculation" over the actions of Superintendent Graham Thomas, who members of the public say they saw slumped over the steering wheel of his police-issue car, smelling of alcohol, before offering to call him a taxi. .
"They're very critical when people don't come forward with information or come forward with information that is false," Peter Williams, QC, said.
And a senior lawyer has labelled the actions of the police hypocritical.
"When you hold yourself out to be a member of that group and you do something that, on the face of it, seems to breach that, the word hypocrisy does seem to come into play, doesn't it?"
The can now reveal more details about the Friday night in December when Mr Thomas, a former adviser in former police minister George Hawkins' office, refused a breath test.
"They're always, and quite rightly so, encouraging people to act responsibly, respect law and order and be true and faithful in what they say.
A volunteer community patrol saw a red Ford Falcon parked behind the Mobil station in Johnsonville with a man slumped over the steering wheel.
The man, whom they said was white and aged between 40 and 50, declined.
Concerned when they returned and he was still there, they knocked on his window and spoke to him, reporting they could smell alcohol in the car and offering to call a taxi.
The attending police knocked on the door and asked Mr Thomas to do a breath test.
Soon after, they saw the same car swerving and driving erratically and radioed the registration number to police, followed him to his home and waited for police to arrive.
Mr Thomas was within his rights to refuse a breath test, but critics have questioned whether he was under a stronger moral obligation to co-operate, given his position. He refused.
Police have refused to answer questions about the case because of privacy issues, but yesterday urged "the media not to rely on inaccurate speculation about the employee's statements on the night in question".
Police have refused to answer questions about the case because of privacy issues, but yesterday urged "the media not to rely on inaccurate speculation about the employee's statements on the night in question".
Mr Cosgrove said continuing speculation about the case damaged public trust in police and undermined their good work.
Police Minister Judith Collins is distancing herself from the controversy, refusing to comment because it is an employment issue.

. He said Ms Collins must reassure the public that proper processes were followed

.
No trial in Christian right to smack case

By SALLY KIDSON Friday, 14 November 2008

Most Kiwis back anti smacking laws – survey

The trial of a former Nelson man fighting for what he says is his right as a Christian to hit his son will not go ahead, after the Crown decided to offer no evidence in the case.
Rowan James Flynn, 53, was scheduled to stand trial on five charges of assaulting his 12-year-old son, when he was aged 11, and one charge of assaulting a female.
Mr Flynn, who now lives in Christchurch, also faced two charges of leaving a child under 14 without reasonable supervision.
He had hit his son about five times on the bottom with a wooden spoon after he was disobedient, and said it was a "tiny issue" that blew up.
The father of four told the last year he had been charged after his son called the police. He told the he believed his actions were justified by the Bible. He said he also "clipped" his son around the face about a week after the incident with the wooden spoon.
Nelson District Court Judge Tony Zohrab discharged Mr Flynn on Thursday after the Crown offered no evidence on the assault charges. Crown prosecutor Janine Bonifant said the Crown had decided not to offer any evidence in the case, which was different from saying it did not believe the alleged offences had taken place. .
"This was a clear case where the interests of the child had to take precedence, and the defendant in the Nelson case is well aware of those reasons, which are behind the Crown's decision not to offer any evidence," Mr McGurk said.
Nelson Bays police area commander Inspector Brian McGurk said the dismissal of the charges had nothing to do with the merits of the case, the quality of evidence or the amendment to Section 59 defence."
Mr Flynn told the he hadn't been told why the case wasn't being heard, but he had been examining forward to going to trial. "I am absolutely confident that the actions of my officers investigating the allegations against the father were thoroughly professional and the decision to prosecute was correct and was in the public interest.
Mr Flynn said he thought the case had been dropped because the Crown was worried it would be exposed for "what they had done, because the whole lot was lies''.
Mr Flynn said he thought the case had been dropped because the Crown was worried it would be exposed for "what they had done, because the whole lot was lies''.
Meanwhile, the Children's Commissioner on Fridayreleased the results of a survey that concluded that 43 per cent of those surveyed who knew of the law change giving children the same protection from assault as adults supported it.
"This case adds to our growing list of parents who are either being convicted, charged or investigated for attempting to correct their children in the most appropriate and effective way,'' Mr McCoskrie said. The remainder were neutral,'' commissioner Cindy Kiro said.
"Only 28 per cent were opposed to the law change.
Dr Kiro said more than 80 per cent of adults surveyed gave a positive response to the question, "Should children be entitled to the same protection from assault as adults?''. The survey is part of efforts to judge public opinion in the lead-up to a referendum due to take place in August next year on the 18-month-old law, which removed the defence of reasonable force for disciplining a child. It said only 20 per cent disagreed with smacking in certain circumstances.
But Mr McCroskie said the survey showed nothing new.''3
– with

.
"This is consistent with all other polls done throughout the year, including research commissioned by Family First – that there is an 80 per cent opposition to the anti-smacking law because most people know that smacking for the purpose of correction is not child abuse

.
Teen’s killing sparks fear

Tuesday, 04 November 2008

‘HAPPY, NICE GIRL’: Liberty Rose Templeman, 15.

Body of teenage girl discovered

A Kerikeri college has warned its pupils to be careful after the killing of a teenager in Northland.
Kerikeri High School principal Elizabeth Forgie said it was difficult to comprehend that such a thing had happened in the tight community of Kerikeri.
Police found the body of 15-year-old Liberty Rose Templeman on Sunday night in an old, overgrown orchard.
She warned pupils to stick to busy thoroughfares and ensure safe travel arrangements.
Libby, as she was known, and her parents had recently moved from Kerikeri to Auckland but had returned for the weekend to visit friends.
"There's lots of long grass and shrubbery," police spokeswoman Sarah Kennett said.
She had been out walking with some of those friends on Saturday evening but left them outside the school about 7pm.
When she did not turn up the alarm was raised, but a search that night by family, friends and police failed to find her.
It is understood Libby planned to cut through the school grounds and Kerikeri Domain to meet her boyfriend at the New World Supermarket where he worked.30pm the next day, a police officer searching along the Wairoa Stream in Cobham Rd found her clothed body.
About 5.
Police would not say how Libby died till the results of the autopsy were known.
The body was removed on Sunday and an autopsy carried out in Auckland yesterday.
A homicide investigation had begun, with about 30 police officers on the case.
A homicide investigation had begun, with about 30 police officers on the case.
Ms Forgie said the school had made a team of counsellors available this week to help pupils, staff and parents wanting support.
"I hope they find the person who did this," said friend Renee Swinbourn.