WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2016 INTERNATIONAL

No such thing as a free lunch: S Korea new graft law bites SEOUL: The owner of Poom Seoul, an up-market introduce graft-busting menus. “Instead of expen- that he had regularly handed 57 former or incum- and this may serve as a strong restraint when you restaurant in South Korea’s capital is seriously con- sive Korean beef, we are now using imported US bent state prosecutors cash gifts or treated them are tempted by corruption,” she added. sidering closing her business, as customers dwin- beef for our new dinner set priced at 29,800 won,” to lavish meals and sex services. dle ahead of new anti-graft laws designed to curb Restaurant Condu manager Han Yoon-Joo said. A year later, a state prosecutor was investigated Skepticism paid-for favors. The law, which comes into effect The ban also forbids teachers, officials and jour- over charges that she received cash gifts, designer However, the law has been greeted with wari- Wednesday will make it illegal for government nalists accepting gifts worth 50,000 won or higher, bags and a luxury sedan from a lawyer. Both cas- ness in some quarters. “We will closely monitor employees, private school teachers and journalists and cash gifts above 100,000 won for weddings or es, however, were dropped as there was no evi- whether the authorities will attempt to take to accept meals worth 30,000 won ($26) or more. funerals. Offenders who accept gifts worth more dence that the transactions were made in return advantage of the law by applying the law arbitrar- “The number of reservations have recently fall- than a million won will face a jail sentence of up to for favors or in connection with the recipients’ ily in a bid to tame the media and limit their nor- en sharply as customers are apparently worried three years, or fines of up to 30 million won. jobs. Ensuing public uproar inspired the new law, mal reporting practice,” the Journalists’ they might be caught in breach of the law,” Roh Department stores have started to prepare cheap- the “Improper Solicitation and Graft Act”, an Association of Korea said in a statement. Young-Hee told AFP. “There are meals of different er gift sets and rates to play on golf courses have attempt to tighten loopholes in the country’s Some critics say the law’s targeting of private price ranges in the world, but with 30,000 won plunged. existing anti-graft legislation. NGOs have wel- sector workers-journalists and school teachers-is you cannot produce decent Korean dishes,” she comed the law, expressing hope it will help potentially unconstitutional and that the govern- added. The legislation, the latest effort to curb Slap on the wrist enhance transparency. ment rushed the law through as a sop to public low level corruption endemic in South Korea, tar- In the past, people charged with receiving “Many will think twice whenever they have the opinion. “Punishment can serve as a short-term gets teachers bribed by parents to give better bribes got away with a slap on the wrist or were chance to wine and dine or accept gifts”, said Lee measure, but for a long-term effect, all that mat- grades, journalists paid to give favorable publicity acquitted as it was hard to prove that money or Eun-Mi, head of the Centre for Administrative ters is education” aimed at raising public aware- and officials bought off by businessmen to speed gifts changed hands in return for a favor instead Watch at the People’s Solidarity for Participatory ness against corruption, said Kim Young-chul, up bureaucratic processes. of as a token of hospitality. In 2010, a business- Democracy. “Under this law, whistle blowers will president of the Korean Association for Anti- The law has prompted some restaurateurs to man revealed on a local investigative TV program be rewarded with cash of up to 200 million won, Corruption Policy Studies. —AFP S Lanka police exhume body of prominent slain editor New administration reopens investigation

COLOMBO: Sri Lankan police yesterday before his death in which he forecast that the happy with the progress of the case,” he added. exhumed the body of a prominent anti-estab- Rajapakse government would murder him. President Maithripala Sirisena last year lishment newspaper editor as part of an investi- “When finally I am killed, it will be the govern- slammed police for dragging their feet on inves- gation into his murder, widely blamed on the ment that kills me,” wrote Wickrematunga, who tigations into the 52-year-old’s death and into regime of former strongman president Mahinda endured years of harassment and intimidation other high-profile murders during Rajapakse’s Rajapakse. Lasantha Wickrematunga, a fierce for his work, in the article published in the rule. Sirisena swept Rajapakse from office in a critic of Rajapakse’s government, was killed by Guardian and the New Yorker. 2015 general election, pledging action against unidentified gunmen as he drove to work in Yesterday police swarmed onto criminals and corrupt individuals during the for- Colombo seven years ago. Wickrematunga’s grave site at Colombo’s main mer strongman’s decade in power. The new administration has reopened the cemetery and erected two white tents after a investigation into his killing, which sparked an magistrate ordered a fresh autopsy. “The magis- Military role international outcry and shone a spotlight on trate is present with a team of doctors,” said The case was reopened last year after a for- allegations of deadly violence directed against Athula S Ranagala, a lawyer for the mer minister in Rajapakse’s government accused TAIPEI CITY: A man walks during a storm in Xindian district, New Taipei City, as the media. Wickrematunga, chief editor of the Wickrematunga family, outside the cemetery the deposed president’s brother, Gotabhaya Typhoon Megi hit eastern Taiwan. — AFP Sunday Leader newspaper, wrote an article where journalists were gathered. “The family is Rajapakse, of running a death squad and order- ing the hit against the editor. Gotabhaya, then secretary to the defense ministry, has denied any Typhoon Megi leaves trail involvement. But rights groups say there is strong evidence the military played a role. An of destruction in Taiwan army intelligence officer was arrested in July in connection with the killing. Wickrematunga and TAIPEI: The third typhoon to hit Taiwan in tic flights were cancelled as of yesterday his newspaper had accused Gotabhaya of cor- two weeks killed four people and injured afternoon, and over 400 delayed. Most ruption over the purchase of second-hand air- scores yesterday, bringing violent winds trains and ferries were halted. In the capital craft and arms for the military. and heavy rain as schools and offices Taipei, which was also lashed by down- Another autopsy was ordered this month closed. Typhoon Megi forced thousands to pours and winds, bus services and over- after scrutiny of medical examinations showing evacuate their homes and played havoc ground metro trains were suspended as different results, including one that suggested with rail and road networks as it made some roads were flooded. More than 1,000 he was stabbed. Journalists gathered outside landfall in the eastern county of Hualien in millimeters of rain had fallen in mountain- the cemetery yesterday but were blocked by the early afternoon. ous areas of Yilan as of yesterday after- police from entering, while the gravesite was One man aged 40 died in a car accident noon, according to the weather bureau. covered with black plastic and the magistrate in high winds while a 65-year-old man was It said accumulated rainfall in some involved spoke with cemetery workers. Ranagala killed when he was hit by falling scaffold- mountainous areas could reach 1,300 mil- said doctors were expected to examine the body ing, and a 17-year-old boy drowned when limeters before the storm moves on, at the facilities of the island’s judicial medical his boat overturned, authorities said, with increasing the risk of landslides. “Typhoon officer in Colombo. Wickrematunga started the the deaths all in the south. Also in the Megi has weakened slightly in the past Sunday Leader with his brother Lal south, a 48-year-old man fell to his death as three hours but it will continue to bring Wickrematunga 22 years ago, building it into he was repairing the roof of a house. At winds and rains to Taiwan till tomorrow,” one of the most vocal anti-establishment news- least 167 people were injured, including said weather bureau forecaster Hung Jen- papers in the country. seven Japanese tourists and a local guide sheng. At 1000 GMT Megi was 40 kilome- The newspaper was highly critical of rights when their bus was bowled over by winds ters south of the central city of Taichung, abuses by troops against ethnic minority Tamils on a highway in central Taiwan, according packing gusts of up to 191 kilometers per during the island’s long-running separatist con- to the national fire agency. hour. It is moving at 15 kilometers per hour. flict that ended in 2009. Some 17 journalists and Billboards and scaffolding were torn More than 35,000 soldiers are on stand- down while trees were uprooted and roofs by to help with disaster relief. Ahead of the COLOMBO: Sri Lankan crime investigating police officers prepare to exhume the remains of media employees were killed in Sri Lanka under Rajapakse’s regime. —AFP ripped off. Television footage showed storm, 3,700 tourists had been evacuated murdered newspaper editor Lasantha Wickrematunge at a cemetery. — AP waves surging past breakwaters in the at the weekend from Orchid Island and northeastern county of Yilan and outlying Green Island. Hualien and Taitung were first Orchid Island. Over 11,000 people have to be hit by the storm. Those areas are still been evacuated from their homes and recovering from damage brought by Super Duterte: After tough talk, nearly 3,000 are in shelters, according to Typhoon Meranti earlier this month-the the Central Emergency Operation Centre. strongest storm for 21 years to hit Taiwan. Over two million households have lost Meranti, which left one dead in Taiwan damage control prevails power and more than 35,000 households before killing another 28 as it moved to are without water. eastern China, was followed closely by the MANILA: The new Philippine president uses an who has been critical of Obama and US security or unless they’re accompanied by our troops or Four hundred international and domes- smaller Typhoon Malakas. — AFP expletive to warn key ally Barack Obama not to policies, came four days after his much-noticed they are also armed. These people are also com- lecture him on human rights and, in another absence from the summit of ASEAN leaders and batants. They are not civilians that are subject to impromptu speech, declares a dramatic policy the US president in the Laotian capital of kidnapping by terrorists. Duterte later suggested Pakistan court upholds death change in policy such as removing US countert- Vientiane. Duterte’s spokesman, , he only made the remarks to pacify restive errorism forces out of his country’s volatile and at least three Cabinet officials, however, told Muslims opposed to the US presence in the south: penalty for mentally-ill man south. His key officials walk back the remarks the media in Vientiane at the time that the “I didn’t say (they) have to leave immediately. I and say everything is normal. And the world Philippine leader couldn’t attend the annual said, ‘There will be sometime in the future that I ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Supreme Court receive a new “black warrant” and face exe- wonders which pronouncement is the one that ASEAN-US summit because he had a migraine and will ask the special forces to go’ ... I never said, ‘Get yesterday dismissed an appeal brought by cution as early as next Tuesday. The Justice will stick.Impassioned speeches by Rodrigo wasn’t feeling well. out of the ,’ for after all, we need them lawyers for a mentally ill prisoner facing Project Pakistan (JPP), which is providing Duterte about the United States, the European there in the (South) China Sea.” execution, and a rights group said he could Ali with counsel, has sent a mercy petition Union and the United Nations have repeatedly Driving US forces out of the south now be hanged next week. Imdad Ali, who to President Mamnoon Hussain along with led his government to issue clarifications, THE STATEMENT: “The special forces, they On breaking off from the UN is aged around 50, was sentenced to death testimony from medical experts. though he has been on the job less than three have to go. They have to go in Mindanao. There THE STATEMENT: “Maybe we’ll just have to for the murder of a religious cleric in 2002. “It is indisputable that Imdad suffers months. Here’s a sampling of Duterte’s broad- are many whites there, they have to go.” Duterte in decide to separate from the United Nations. If He had been scheduled to hang on from serious mental illness,” said Harriet sides - and the ensuing clarifications by him or a Sept 12 speech. He added that he was reorient- you’re that rude, son of a bitch, we’ll just leave September 20 in a prison in the city of McCulloch, deputy director of the death other Philippine officials. ing the Philippines’ foreign policy and that you. So take us out of your organization, you have Vehari despite having been diagnosed penalty team at international charity Americans were under threat of attack by Muslim done nothing here anyway.” Duterte at a news with schizophrenia. Reprieve. “There is therefore no doubt that, ‘Sob’ (but won’t cut umbilical cord) militants. “I do not want a rift with America, but conference in August, reacting to concerns by UN- Ali received a last-minute stay of execu- should Pakistan execute him, it will be THE STATEMENT: “I do not have any master they have to go. It’ll become more heated. If they appointed human rights reporters about drug- tion from the Supreme Court last week. But committing a grave violation of both except the Filipino people, nobody but nobody. see an American, the latter will really be killed. related killings. with that stay now expired, he could Pakistani and international law. — AFP You must be respectful. Do not just throw ques- Ransomed off, then killed.” THE BACKTRACK: Foreign Secretary Perfecto tions. Putang ina, I will swear at you in that forum.” THE BACKTRACK: Duterte’s key officials initial- Yasay later assured that the Philippines isn’t Duterte in a Sept 5 speech, using the Tagalog ly explained that his remarks were based on fears bolting out of the 193-nation world body and Stray dogs’ corpses paraded phrase for “son of a bitch” in answer to a reporter, for the safety of the Americans. But his defense clarified the context of the president’s remarks: who asked what he’ll do if President Barack secretary, , later played down the “I can assure you that he remains committed to Obama questions his deadly anti-drug fight when safety issue: “The fears of the president that they the United Nations, of which the Philippines is in vile India street protest they meet in Laos during the annual summit of might be subject to reprisal by the Muslims is a lit- one of the founding members, and to the pur- leaders of the 10-nation Association of Southeast tle bit, may not happen because they’re only in poses and objectives of which this august body NEW DELHI: Police in southern India Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan Asian Nations. the camp and they don’t go out of the camp alone stands for.” — AP were investigating political activists yes- sparked anger recently by saying he THE BACKTRACK: Obama responded by can- terday for killing dogs, tying the corpses opposed culling, while animal activists celing a much-awaited meeting with Duterte, to a pole and parading them in public to have called for sterilization and other who expressed regret over his remarks. The two protest against dangerous strays. The more humane methods of curbing num- leaders, however, met informally in a holding protesters from the youth wing of a local bers. Thousands of stray dogs roam the room before a gala dinner in Laos, where Duterte party carried the pole with the dogs streets in India, with some carrying rabies said he told Obama the SOB remark wasn’t direct- hanging by their legs through the streets and other diseases. It was unclear why ed at him. The brash Duterte capped the tempes- of a town in Kerala state on Monday. the numbers were feared to be a particu- tuous week in US-Philippine ties by discussing, in Video of the protest in Kottayam district lar problem in Kerala, a popular state another Laos meeting with Obama and other that saw the dogs being dumped outside with tourists. world leaders, how US colonial forces killed local government offices was broadcast Saji Manjakadambil, one of those Muslims in his country’s south in the early 1900s. on television and sparked public anger. involved in the protest from the Kerala Back home, Duterte railed at the US again in a “We have registered a case against Congress (M) party, said such killings speech but said he would not “cut our umbilical the protesters today for cruelty against would continue unless the government cord to countries we are allied with.” animals and launched our investigation,” acted on the problem. “We have killed Gireesh P Saradhi, deputy superintend- these dogs. Migraine or principles? ent of Kottayam police, told AFP. “They And it’s a warning that this will contin- THE STATEMENT: “I purposely did not attend killed and paraded five to seven dogs. ue if the central and state governments the bilateral talks between ASEAN countries and ... We have sent the bodies for a post- do not control the stray dog menace,” the president of the United States. I really skipped mortem to ascertain how they were Manjakadambil told the NDTV network. that ... Now, the reason is not I am anti-West. The killed,” he added. The protest is the lat- In a statement, the Humane Society reason is not, I do not like the Americans. It’s sim- est incident in a row over feared rising International branded Monday’s protest ply a matter of principle for me.” Duterte in a Sept PASAY CITY: Philippine President , center, poses with a fist bump with Defense numbers of strays in the state, after a disgraceful, saying members of political 12 speech at the Malacanang presidential palace Chief Delfin Lorenzana, left, and Armed Forces Chief Ricardo Visaya during his “Talk with the woman was mauled by a pack of dogs parties should not be taking the law into in Manila. Airmen” on the anniversary of the 250th Presidential Airlift Wing, Tuesday, Sept 13, 2016 at last month and later died. their own hands. — AFP THE BACKTRACK: The remarks by Duterte, the Philippine Air Force headquarters. — AP