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May 30
Roland Dumas: found guilty of illegally receiving funds from oil giant
Elf
2001: French ex-minister jailed over sleaze
England have
Former French Foreign Minister Roland Dumas has been jailed for six months
in the country"s biggest sleaze scandal in recent history.
The 78-year-old judge and close confidant of the late President Francois
Mitterrand was found guilty of illegally receiving funds from oil giant Elf
Aquitaine between 1989 and 1992.
His ex-lover, Christine Deviers-Joncour, and two top Elf executives were
also jailed for misusing funds in the embezzlement scandal.
Ms Deviers-Joncour sank into her chair, head in hands, as the sentence was
announced - three-years" imprisonment, half of which is suspended.
Former company president Loik Le Floch-Prigent, 57, was sentenced to
three-and-a-half years in prison. Alfred Sirven, 74, his former
second-in-command and controller of the company slush fund - got four years.
Both men were also ordered to pay fines of two million French francs
($270,000). Mr Dumas must pay one million francs.
The trial that has gripped the nation focused on allegations of corruption
arising from the $9m which Elf is said to have paid to Ms Deviers-Joncour for
her work as a consultant and lobbyist in support of the firm"s world-wide sales
effort.
"Game of shadows and light"
Mr Dumas has said he played a part, for the sake of France, in what he
called "a subtle game of shadows and light", but denied that he made any
personal gain.
The trial produced more headline-grabbing details about the lavish
lifestyles of the accused, and the many gifts allegedly given to Mr Dumas by his
lover in an attempt to influence government decisions.
And in a major dramatic twist Sirven, on trial in his absence, was captured
in the Philippines after four years on the run. He was brought back amid fevered
expectation of what he might reveal about the affair, as the former controller
of the Elf purse-strings. But in the end he refused to testify.
The ripples from the case have spread across the border into Germany, where
Elf embarked on controversial expansion projects in Helmut Kohl"s era as
Chancellor.
Both Dumas and his former lover will remain free while their appeals are
heard - which could take years.
President Zia was buried two days later at a funeral attended by huge
crowds
1981: Bangladeshi president assassinated
Artificially 1969:
The The president of Bangladesh, Zia Rahman, has been assassinated in the
south-eastern city of Chittagong.
President Zia - the country"s first popularly-elected leader - is believed
to have died at 0430 local time when rebels stormed a government guest
house.
He is reported to have been killed by sub-machine-gun bullets when he
opened the door of his room to see what was happening outside.
Eight people are thought to have died in the shooting, including a security
officer, an officer who was guarding the president and one of the attackers.
The killing was believed to be part of an army rebellion and government
forces have taken control of the town after rebel leader Major General Manzur
Ahmed fled.
One report on Bangladesh radio said Maj Gen Manzur was hiding in the hills
outside Chittagong, while another report said he had been captured.
There are reports that Maj Gen Manzur staged a coup attempt partly because
he resented a planned transfer to a non-command post in Dhaka.
Following the death of the 45-year-old president, the rebels announced they
were forming a revolutionary committee but diplomats said they had failed to win
support from army units across the rest of Bangladesh.
The army, under its chief of staff, Major General Hussain Muhammad Ershad,
remained loyal to the Dhaka government and quickly put down the rebellion.
The Bangladesh government said the uprising in the port city had been
carried out by a "few miscreants".
In the capital Dhaka, tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets
to show their grief at the death of their president, who was widely admired and
respected.
Abdus Sattar, who has been named as acting president, has declared a state
of emergency and a 40-day period of mourning. He also called on Maj Gen Manzur
to surrender.
Dhaka airport is closed and all telephone and telex links to India have
been suspended.
Army officers have been involved in several attempts to remove President
Zia from office during his six-year rule.
Vocabulary:
sleaze: a disreputable condition (不名誉的状况)
fevered: excited(激动的)
miscreant:a villain(卑劣的人，恶棍) |
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发表于 2016-7-9 23:21:22