ICC anti-corruption code approved
The International Cricket Council (ICC) this week approved its revised anti-corruption code, according to SuperSport.com. It is, however, up to local cricket boards to allow banned players to return early to domestic competition.
For a player to return to domestic competition before the expiry of his ban, he would need the agreement of the chairman of the anti-corruption board and the relevant national cricket federation, with the approval of the ICC board, an ICC statement said. –SuperSport
Network to curb corruption
Countries of Asia and the Pacific region have agreed to set up a network to share information on corruption. Apec members said in a statement that the purpose of the agreement, proposed by China, was to deny safe haven to anyone engaged in corruption.
It comes amid efforts by Chinese President Xi Jinping to clamp down on corrupt officials, including those who try to escape abroad. – BBC.com
Police nab 26 in fraud probe
Twenty-six public officials were arrested in anti-corruption raids in Spain on Tuesday as another graft scandal rocked the country. – The Local
Corruption-tainted energy ministry shakeup
Indonesia's new energy minister on Tuesday launched a major shakeup of the graft-tainted ministry, requiring all top directors to re-apply for their jobs.
Oil Minister Sudirman Said took office last month and pledged to repair the image of his ministry, which has been rocked by a series of high-profile corruption scandals that implicated several top oil officials. – Reuters
Late-coming, gossiping, making private calls ‘corruption’
The National Anti-Corruption Commission of Saudi Arabia has issued a draft of new regulations declaring various behaviours at work as corrupt acts. These include gossiping, making personal calls, reading irrelevant material and not adhering to office hours.
This expands the previous definition of corruption from misuse of funds, forgery and bribery and targets workers at ministries and government agencies. These offenses all carry penalties, the NACC stated recently.
The new NACC definition includes using government vehicles for personal use and creating luxury offices. The commission includes on its list officials taking out advertisements in the media, and hosting events to promote their image or congratulate themselves on work completed. The NACC said that it encourages workers to report whether their managers arrive late for work, or leave early. It also wants managers to report insubordinate workers failing to do their jobs. – Arab News
Top prosecutor's office to open anti-corruption bureau
Beijing – The central government will set up an anti-corruption office under the Supreme People's Procuratorate, a move that one expert says is a step toward an institutional arrangement to root out graft and enhance the role of prosecutors in the field.
Qui Xueqiang, deputy procurator-general, recently told Xinhua that the government has approved a plan submitted by the agency to set up the new bureau, which will be headed by an official with the rank of deputy minister.
The office will replace the Supreme People's Procuratorate Anti-Corruption Bureau, a department that was set up in 1995 but has since been criticised for lacking efficiency.
The new organ will optimise prosecutors' anti-corruption forces and enhance their investigation operations, Qui said. – Caixin
PM to freeze uplift funds for politicians
Islamabad – Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has agreed to take a major step to discourage corruption in the political class by phasing out the practice of development funds for public representatives in the next financial year.
He announced the move during a meeting of the steering committee on polio eradication, which was also attended by the four provincial chief ministers.
Besides discussing ways to eradicate polio from the country in the meeting, the prime minister also directed the chief ministers to take solid measures to overcome corruption in their respective provinces.
Nawaz told the meeting that he has decided to stop issuing funds worth billions of rupees to the members of the National Assembly and the Senate in the name of development in respective constituencies from the next fiscal year.- Caixin
G20 corruption rules could affect Pacific bureaucrats
Politicians and bureaucrats from Pacific nations who are even suspected of corruption could be denied entry in to Australia as part of new rules being looked at by the G20 summit in Brisbane.
The leaders of the world's richest twenty economies are meeting in the Queensland capital this weekend, and one of the issue up for debate is the global fight against corruption.
Professor Jason Sharman says some Pacific nations' involvement in tax havens and corruption have given the region a poor reputation. – RadioAustralia.net
San Francisco police corruption trial begins in federal court
A federal prosecutor opened the trial of two San Francisco police officers Monday by telling jurors the case was about “corruption with a badge.” Defence lawyers countered that it was about a third policeman who cut a deal with prosecutors to frame their clients.
Reynaldo Vargas, who pleaded guilty to four felony charges last month and agreed to testify against his former colleagues, is a man with an “evil nature” whose testimony was “bought and paid for,” Brian Getz, attorney for police Sgt Ian Furminger, said in an opening statement to the US District Court jury in San Francisco. – SFGate
