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VN, Hungary’s parliaments sign new cooperation agreement

June 27, 2022 by vietnamnews.vn Leave a Comment

National Assembly Chairman Vương Đình Huệ and his Hungarian counterpart László Kövér sign a new cooperation agreement between the two parliaments in Budapest on Monday. — VNA/VNS Photos Doãn Tấn

BUDAPEST — A new cooperation agreement between Việt Nam and Hungary’s national assemblies was assigned by National Assembly (NA) Chairman Vương Đình Huệ and his Hungarian counterpart László Kövér in Budapest on Monday.

The document was signed after the two officials spoke at the Hungarian Parliament building, which was part of Huệ’s official visit to the country.

The agreement was based on the comprehensive partnership between the two countries, and the cooperation agreement signed between the two national assemblies in 2008.

It aims to strengthen the partnership and multifaceted cooperation between Việt Nam and Hungary based on the principles of equality, mutual benefit, mutual respect, compliance with each country’s laws, and adherence to international treaties.

With the new agreement, the two national assemblies will increase the exchange of delegations at the leadership and agency level, as well as between the NA’s Secretary-Generals, offices, and other friendly parliamentarian exchange activities.

The two sides will implement a mechanism to regularly exchange information on legislative activities, and on bilateral and multilateral international treaties to which both countries are party.

They will also conduct more meetings, consultations, and provide more coordination and mutual support to each other at multilateral parliamentary forums.

Prior to the signing ceremony, Huệ and Kövér discussed measures to improve cooperation between Việt Nam and Hungary.

NA chairman Huệ speaks with his Hungarian counterpart László Kövér at the Hungarian Parliament building in Budapest prior to the signing ceremony

Speaker of the Hungarian National Assembly László Kövér expressed his delight at Huệ’s visit, stressing that it is not only important to the two parliaments but also to the countries’ cooperation in economy, trade, investment, science and technology.

It will help these areas to continue to grow in a more balanced direction, he added. Especially as in the field of import and export, Hungary’s export turnover is currently relatively lower than Việt Nam, which requires Hungary to try harder to create an economic and trade balance between the two countries, he said.

Kövér thanked the National Assembly of Việt Nam for supporting the Hungarian National Assembly during the COVID-19 pandemic, and expressed his hope that as the world is establishing a new normal state after the pandemic, tourism cooperation between the two countries will continue to grow.

The two NA chairs also exchanged views on international issues of mutual concern and considered cooperation possibilities at international organisations and forums.

Huệ expressed his joy to visit Hungary for the first time as the Chairman of Việt Nam’s National Assembly. Although the two countries are geographically far apart, they have enjoyed a long-standing traditional friendship, and celebrated the 70th anniversary of their diplomatic relations in 2020, he said.

At a press briefing that followed the talks, Huệ emphasised that his visit aims to continue promoting and improving the scale, scope and effectiveness of the Việt Nam – Hungary comprehensive partnership.

“We had a very successful conversation, discussing not only the relationship between the two parliaments but also directions and measures to promote the development of the comprehensive partnership between the countries in the future,” he said.

“Apart from promoting and improving political and diplomatic relations, we highly agreed that the two national assemblies will continue to promote government and parliament cooperation in the fields of economy, trade, investment, education and training, labour, science and technology, as well as other areas that Việt Nam and Hungary still have a lot of potential and room to develop cooperation.”

Regarding the new cooperation agreement, Huệ said it will be a pillar in the comprehensive partnership between the two countries. — VNS

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Felicia Teo’s alleged murderer discharged, but not acquitted: Is he no longer on the hook?

May 28, 2022 by mothership.sg Leave a Comment

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A 37-year-old Singaporean man, Ahmad Danial Mohamed Rafa’ee, has had some dramatic changes of fate in the past few months.

His image is now familiar to many Singaporeans, as the face of someone who was facing a murder trial, and with that, the very real chance of the death penalty.

For 13 years, however, he lived a life out of the public eye, even after Felicia Teo, a woman he knew, went missing in 2007.

Then, fresh evidence apparently surfaced in 2020, leading to his arrest and subsequent murder charge.

You can read a quick recap of the story.

On June 27, Ahmad was given a discharge not amounting to an acquittal for the murder charge.

What is a “discharge not amounting to an acquittal”?

“Discharge not amounting to an acquittal” is a mouthful, and is often shortened to the acronym “DNATA” in legal circles.

A DNATA means that an accused person is no longer facing the criminal charge initially brought against them. This is one of the ways that a criminal case comes to an end.

In the case of Ahmad, he was charged with murder — in other words, accused of committing murder.

Now, he has been given a DNATA, which means that he is no longer being accused of committing murder.

How is a DNATA given?

Here’s part of Section 232(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) (emphasis ours):

“… the Public Prosecutor may, if he thinks fit, inform the court that the Public Prosecutor will not further prosecute the accused upon the charge , and the proceedings on the charge against the accused must then be stayed and the accused must be discharged from and of the same.”

In other words, the prosecution decides it will not continue with prosecuting the charge, and informs the court.

This can happen at any stage of court proceedings before the accused is either acquitted or sentenced, the CPC says.

Meanwhile, Section 232(2) states that such a discharge “does not amount to an acquittal unless the court so directs” (for e.g., the court may do so if the prosecution applies for it).

Thus, the term “discharge not amounting to an acquittal”.

What is the effect of getting a DNATA?

This has some very practical implications — after spending 1.5 years in remand, Ahmad has now been offered bail, pending the outcome of the new charges he faces .

Ahmad could not be offered bail previously, as murder is a non-bailable offence in Singapore.

It’s not acquittal

But getting out on bail does not mean that Ahmad has been acquitted of the murder charge just yet — as the “-NATA” portion of “DNATA” would suggest.

Instead, Ahmad’s DNATA means that he is not a murder suspect at this moment. But, he can still face prosecution for a related crime if any evidence or information emerges later.

This is why his lawyer reportedly told the court that without receiving an acquittal, the murder charge will hang over Ahmad indefinitely.

What did the lawyer want for Ahmad instead of a DNATA?

What’s better than a DNATA?

There are a few possible outcomes to a criminal case that are preferable, compared to a DNATA.

One of them is acquittal — i.e., a verdict that someone is “not guilty”.

However, this isn’t a possible outcome in Ahmad’s case, as a court can only give a verdict at the end of a trial, and the case has not even proceeded to the trial stage yet.

Thus, another legal outcome that’s better than a DNATA is ” discharge amounting to an acquittal “, which is also commonly shortened to an acronym, “DATA”.

Just like a DNATA (“discharge not amounting to an acquittal”) the DATA comes about when the prosecution decides that they are unlikely to succeed in prosecuting an accused person for that particular offence.

But a DATA is preferable as it gives the accused person greater closure. An accused person who gets a DATA cannot be prosecuted for the same offence in future.

How is a DATA given?

For an idea of how a DATA is given, we can refer to a recent high-profile case that ended with a DATA: Yeo Sow Nam, a doctor who was accused of molesting a woman.

In Yeo’s case, the prosecution applied for a DATA mid-trial, after reviewing the evidence and the defence’s representations.

This came after Yeo’s accuser admitted that she had lied in court , while being questioned by Yeo’s defence lawyer about inconsistencies in her testimony.

The prosecution then updated its earlier assessment of the case, as it felt that “the inconsistencies, taken as a whole, would likely affect the assessment of the complainant’s overall evidence,” AGC explained in a statement .

It’s notable that this was a “he said, she said” case — where the accused was being tried on the testimony of a complainant alone.

With the key witness’ evidence being compromised by its inconsistencies, AGC decided that it could no longer prosecute Yeo, and thus applied for a DATA.

Why can’t Ahmad be given a DATA?

The DNATA tells us that the prosecution feels it does not have enough evidence (yet) to prosecute Ahmad for murder.

This is in spite of the fact that a skull fragment has been found, and was to be sent for forensic testing in the U.S. (the results of the testing are not publicly known).

But there is one more piece of the puzzle that prosecutors may be able to obtain: Ragil Putra Setia Sukmarahjana, the other half of the duo who was with Teo on the night she disappeared.

Ragil is not in Singapore, and prosecutors have made a request regarding him to the Indonesian authorities.

Should Ragil be located and arrested, his testimony could potentially change the outcome of Ahmad’s case.

This is likely to be a big part of why Ahmad has not been given a DATA.

What next?

Ahmad has been offered bail.

He will face six fresh charges, including charges of disposing of Teo’s corpse near Punggol Track 24, fabricating false evidence, and omitting to give the police information about Teo’s death.

He is reportedly expected to plead guilty to the charge of unlawfully depositing Teo’s corpse in a public place.

This is a significant development, given that he, along with Ragil, told police quite a different story back in 2007.

It’s a known fact that Teo visited a friend’s HDB flat at Marine Terrace, as CCTV footage retrieved from the town council showed Teo entering the lift and taking it up to the 10th floor with two men.

Ahmad and Ragil both claimed that Teo left the flat at around 2am, on her own accord.

But Teo was not captured on CCTV leaving the block via the lift.

With Ahmad expected to admit to disposing of her body, are we getting closer to the truth?

Even if one were to accept his story of what happened (and, assuming that story is made public), corroborating evidence may never come to light.

Top image via Danial Enemiko/Facebook and Oscar Ivan Esquivel Arteaga/unsplash

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Playing a losing game with China

September 27, 2019 by opinion.inquirer.net Leave a Comment

There was so much hype about the Philippines’ pivot to China, but there are no significant results until now. After President Duterte’s visit to China last month, his fifth, we can’t help but ask whether the foreign policy shift has indeed translated to tangible benefits for Filipinos.

The stronger and warmer Philippine-China bilateral relations were expected to boost investments, provide additional capital to finance the so-called golden age of infrastructure in the Philippines, and promote peace and stability in the West Philippine Sea.

However, as the noted American historian Alfred McCoy has put it, Mr. Duterte is playing a dangerous game with China. Are we gaining or losing momentum in the game that we are playing with Beijing? Are we getting the mutual benefit and respect that we have envisioned for the Philippines?

Many political experts have warned the Duterte administration that the Philippines has more to lose with its ‘policy of appeasement.’ The asymmetric trade relations have not changed over time. China remains the biggest supplier of imported goods to the Philippines, with a 23-percent share of total imports in July 2019. According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, import payments from China reached $2.20 billion from $1.91 billion in July 2018. On the other hand, our exports to China have only reached $860.19 million as of July 2019.

So far, we have not benefited significantly from China loans to support our infrastructure development. Contrary to the $9 billion worth of official development assistance (ODA) promised in 2016, China’s ODA to the Philippines as of March this year has only reached $364.92 million, which accounts for 2.03 percent of the total net active ODA. The amount consists of $273.30 million worth of loans and $91.62 million worth of grants. There are two flagship projects that will be funded through China loans as of March 2019: the Chico River Pump Irrigation Project ($83.01 million) and the New Centennial Water Source Kaliwa Dam ($231.59 million).

As of March 2019, Japan remained the biggest source of ODA, accounting for 46 percent of the $17.9 billion total net commitment of active ODA received by the Philippines. Japan has provided a total of $8.2 billion worth of ODA.

Mr. Duterte, in his opening remarks during last month’s bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, emphasized ‘a stronger momentum’ to work together with China. He also cited the need for the two countries to determine steps to create a ‘strong and special relationship that is mutually respectful, collectively beneficial, and decidedly reciprocal.’

However, the rising incidents of incursions, cases of harassment of Filipino fishermen and other aggressive acts in the West Philippine Sea cannot be considered as actions based on mutual respect, reciprocal friendship and goodwill.

While the Philippines has given China more concessions and privileges because of the so-called renewed friendship, Xi has continued to reject the outcome of the arbitral ruling, which legally invalidated China’s supposed ‘nine-dash line’ claim to seize the whole South China Sea as part of its sovereign territory.

The Philippines, in fact, was hit by a double whammy during Mr. Duterte’s last visit to China. First, there was Beijing’s outright rejection of the landmark ruling. Second, Xi stressed that the two countries should ‘set aside disputes, eliminate external interference, and concentrate on conducting cooperation, making pragmatic efforts and seeking development.’ He then challenged the Philippines to take a ‘bigger step’ in the joint development of offshore oil and gas.

These developments only put the Philippines in a more disadvantaged position. Instead of the country being able to maximize the use of its natural resources in the West Philippine Sea, its aggressive neighbor China might end up getting the bigger part of the planned joint exploration deal between the two countries.

Given these lackluster trade benefits and economic aid so far, there is a need to reexamine the deference being given to China at the expense of pursuing the arbitral award won by the Philippines.

The time to stand as a nation is now. Under the current circumstances, the Philippines is not only undermining its legal victory, it is not even gaining the economic rewards expected from such a Beijing-friendly stance.

The next generation of Filipinos shouldn’t have to pay the price of losing their pride and sovereignty as a nation in pursuit of an ill-considered foreign policy. The Philippines’ sovereignty and sovereign rights shouldn’t be compromised with any form of aid or investments, let alone vague promises of them.

Dindo Manhit is founder and managing director of the Stratbase Group, and president of the Stratbase ADR Institute.

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Column: With Roe overturned, will Democrats finally learn that losing parties can’t construct the court?

June 27, 2022 by www.latimes.com Leave a Comment

SACRAMENTO —

Elections have consequences. That’s a cliché, but clichés are born of truths. And this is a truth: If a Democrat had been elected president in 2016, we wouldn’t have a right-wing Supreme Court.

If Donald Trump hadn’t beaten Hillary Clinton, gun control laws and national abortion rights would not have been quashed by the Supreme Court last week.

The Supreme Court today would not have a 6-3 conservative majority. It would be 6-3 moderate-to-liberal. Parts of American life wouldn’t have been turned upside down.

Trump named three conservative justices to fill seats that would have been occupied by three liberals or centrists under a Democratic president.

On Friday, Trump bragged about that after the court overturned Roe vs. Wade . The former president noted he pledged during the 2016 campaign to nominate anti-Roe justices, and he did.

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The abortion and other recent court decisions “were only made possible because I delivered everything as promised,” he said.

But Democrats weren’t listening close enough in 2016.

Let’s be honest: Democrats blew it. There could have been a better Democratic nominee than Hillary Clinton.

Someone who didn’t call Trump voters “deplorables.” Someone who had enough savvy to campaign in the swing states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania that Trump won — but that Democrat Barack Obama carried four years earlier and Democrat Joe Biden also did in 2020.

WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 24: Pro-life activists react to the Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling which overturns the landmark abortion Roe v. Wade case in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on June 24, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Politics

In historic reversal, Supreme Court overturns Roe vs. Wade, permitting states to outlaw abortion

In a historic reversal, the Supreme Court strikes down a half-century of nationwide abortion rights in the U.S.

Not Bernie Sanders or another lefty. Liberals finally should have learned from the court’s abortion and gun rulings that their priority must be to elect acceptable decision-makers, not to maul moderates and send messages.

And not necessarily to nominate a woman if she isn’t the best candidate. The main goal should not be to elect the first woman president — although it’s shameful we haven’t — but to install a president who can create a Supreme Court that will protect the rights of women.

Democratic leaders — the few there are — should have cajoled then-Vice President Biden into running that year, despite his grieving for son Beau, who had just died of brain cancer.

Clinton did win the popular vote — 2.9 million more people voted for her than Trump. But he won what counted: the electoral vote by carrying 30 states.

That’s all water under the bridge, another cliché. But there’s more water flowing toward that bridge, and lessons should have been learned.

Party leaders and activists should now be thinking dispassionately about who ought to be the Democratic nominee in 2024 if President Biden doesn’t run for reelection — or even if he does.

There could be more Supreme Court justices to nominate in the next presidential term. And there’ll be lots more appellate judges to name.

This November, voters will decide which party controls Congress. Republicans need to pick up just one net seat in the Senate and five in the House to take power.

FILE — In this Feb. 19, 2020, file photo, Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins, of San Diego, left, and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, of Lakewood, are shown at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif. California's public schools could get $6.6 billion from the state Legislature if they return to in-person instruction by the end of March, according to a new agreement announced Monday, March 1, 2021, between Gov. Gavin Newsom and the state's legislative leaders. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)

California

Column: Ronald Reagan once signed nation’s most liberal abortion law in California. How politics have changed

Fifty-five years ago this month, California enacted the nation’s most liberal abortion law. Back then, more legislators used to think for themselves, columnist George Skelton writes.

In the next term, there are likely to be moves both left and right on abortion — Democratic efforts to restore national abortion rights and Republican attempts to ban them everywhere.

Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democratic legislators are trying to protect abortion rights in California by crafting a ballot measure that would specifically guarantee them in the state Constitution. But who knows what a GOP Congress might hatch if a Republican is elected president in 2024?

And the modest gun control bill Congress passed and Biden signed last week should mark the first round in toughening national firearms regulations, not the final shot.

So, Democrats who want to protect their rights to abortions and gun safety in California — and restore them in other states — will need to fight for those rights at the ballot box.

California Democrats should ignore the top-of-the-ticket races for governor and U.S. Senate. They’re in the bag for incumbent Democrats Newsom and Alex Padilla.

The focus should be on a few key congressional races that will help decide House control.

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 1: Justice Joan Larsen of the Michigan Supreme Court and a former clerk for Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia speaks at his memorial service at the Mayflower Hotel March 1, 2016 in Washington, DC. Justice Scalia died February 13 while on a hunting trip in Texas. (Photo by Susan Walsh-Pool/Getty Images)

Politics

The four key turning points that led to the fall of Roe vs. Wade

Roe vs. Wade went from ‘settled’ law to overruled in a few years, thanks to four unexpected developments.

For example: The contest in northern Los Angeles County between Republican Rep. Mike Garcia and Democrat Christy Smith, a former state Assembly member. This is a rematch of a race Garcia won two years ago. But the district has been redrawn and now is slightly more Democratic in voter registration.

Democrat Rep. Katie Porter, considered a rising party star, is being challenged in Orange County by local GOP chairman Scott Baugh, a former Assembly minority leader. This is a swing district with a slight Democratic edge.

In the San Joaquin Valley, Hanford Republican Rep. David Valadao — one of 10 GOP House members who voted to impeach Trump — is in a tough reelection fight against Democratic Assemblyman Rudy Salas of Bakersfield. Democrats have a solid registration advantage in the remapped district.

Beyond our borders, there are crucial Senate races. Two are in neighboring Nevada and Arizona. Other key contests are in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Wisconsin, New Hampshire and North Carolina.

Democratic politicians are talking a robust game. But will there be follow through?

Will Newsom help House candidates in California by campaigning for them and raising money? Will he lend a hand in Nevada?

“We have the capacity to turn this around,” the governor said Friday, attacking the court’s abortion ruling. “It’s time for us to wake up, control what we can control…. We can control them on election day.”

Republicans turned around the Supreme Court by out-politicking Democrats in 2016. Democrats could begin turning it back this year and in 2024 by never forgetting this major consequence of elections: Losing parties can’t construct the court.

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Brother of Myanmar’s Suu Kyi seeks share of family property

June 27, 2022 by www.sfchronicle.com Leave a Comment

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BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar’s Supreme Court heard final arguments on Monday in a long-running, bitter dispute between the country’s ousted leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, and her estranged elder brother over the property where she was held under house arrest for 15 years.

The court in the capital, Naypyitaw, agreed last October to hear a special appeal from Suu Kyi’s brother, Aung San Oo, on how to divide the family property the siblings inherited in Yangon, the country’s biggest city, his lawyer said.

The lawyer, Aye Lwin, said a special bench of the Supreme Court could reach a decision within three months and it would be final.

Suu Kyi. 77, whose elected government was ousted in an army takeover last year, already faces a slew of legal cases brought by the military. The court system has been criticized by rights groups for being under the military’s influence. The military’s seizure of power triggered widespread peaceful protests that turned into armed resistance, and the country has slipped into what some U.N. experts characterize as a civil war.

The ruling military council is generally believed to have brought those cases in an attempt to justify its takeover and prevent Suu Kyi’s return to active politics. She has already been convicted of several offenses and was transferred last week to a custom-built facility at a prison in Naypyitaw.

Aung San Oo first sued in 2000 for a share of the 2-acre (0.8- hectare) family property on Inye Lake with a two-story colonial-style building. It had been given by the government to Suu Kyi’s mother, Khin Kyi, after her husband, independence hero Gen. Aung San, was assassinated in July 1947.

Khin Kyi died in December 1988, shortly after the failure of a mass uprising against military rule in which Suu Kyi took a leadership role.

Suu Kyi helped found the National League for Democracy party but was detained in 1989 ahead of a 1990 election. Her party easily won but was not allowed to take power when the army annulled the results.

She ended up spending almost 15 years under house arrest at the property at 54 University Avenue and stayed there after her 2010 release until moving in 2012 to spend much of her time in Naypyitaw to serve in Parliament. She became the nation’s leader after the 2015 general election.

For most of her time in detention, Suu Kyi was alone at the Yangon house with just a housekeeper and at one point had to sell some of her furniture to afford food.

Later the property became a cross between a political shrine and an unofficial party headquarters when Suu Kyi was allowed a modicum of freedom. She was able to deliver speeches from her front gate to crowds of supporters gathered in the street outside.

In later years she hosted visiting dignitaries including then-U.S. President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Aung San Oo’s lawyer, Aye Lwin, said the crux of the dispute is how to divide the inherited property, which he said is worth $90 million, a figure that could not immediately be confirmed.

Lawyers for Suu Kyi could not be contacted for comment.

Aung San Oo, an engineer, had resided in the United States for several decades when he first brought suit against his sister in 2000.

That case seeking an equal partition of the property was dismissed in January 2001 on procedural grounds but Aung San Oo returned to court again and again over the following two decades to press his claims.

There was widespread speculation that the military, which has constantly harassed Suu Kyi, has encouraged his lawsuits.

A 2016 ruling by the Western Yangon District Court divided the property between the siblings. But Aung San Oo considered the decision unfair and appealed unsuccessfully multiple times for the court to have the property sold and the proceeds split between him and his sister. Only last year did the Supreme Court agree to allow him a special appeal.

Aye Lwin, his lawyer, told The Associated Press that lawyers from both sides filed final arguments in court on Monday but he declined to reveal details.

“The special appeal is just about how to divide the inheritance,” he said.

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