sentence – praag.org

Boeremag accused to be sentenced

A South African court began sentencing Monday 20 right-wing extremists convicted of high treason for a plot to kill Nelson Mandela and drive blacks out of the country.

The “Boeremag” organisation had planned a right-wing coup in 2002 to overthrow the post-apartheid government.

The trial lasted almost a decade until the organisation’s members were convicted in August last year — the first guilty verdicts for treason since the end of apartheid in 1994.

“The accused had aimed to overthrow the government through unconstitutional methods that included violence,” said High Court judge Eben Jordaan as he began the two-day sentencing hearing.

“They planned a violent attack against people of colour that would certainly be followed by retaliation attacks against whites as a result,” Jordaan said at the hearing taking place in the same Pretoria courtroom where Mandela was convicted of treason in 1964.

One woman died and dozens of people were injured in blasts that shook the Johannesburg township of Soweto in October 2002.

All 20 accused were convicted of treason, but only five of murder and the plot to kill Nobel peace laureate Mandela, South Africa’s first black president.

The state is seeking life sentences for the group’s leaders and bomb specialists, and 10 to 15 years in prison for the other defendants.

South Africa does not have the death sentence.

“We are hoping for a good conviction,” said Paul Ramoloka, spokesman for specialist police unit the Hawks, who investigated the plot.

Security was tight around the courtroom, with police carrying out body searches of the public.

The Boeremag — Afrikaans for “Boer Force”, a reference to the descendants of the first Dutch colonisers — had planned to sow chaos through bomb blasts then take over military bases, replace the government with white military rule and chase all blacks and Indians from the country.

Far-right organisation the Boer Republicans bussed in its members to support the defendants during sentencing.

“I support them 100 percent because their plan was right,” the group’s leader Piet Rudolph told AFP.

“Our people are being oppressed, we are servants, and people should revolt against that.”

The sentences are expected to be handed down on Tuesday. – AFP

Dolce and Gabbana convicted of tax evasion

Domenico Dolce, left, and Stefano Gabbana, in the company of some fashion clients

An Italian court on Wednesday sentenced Italian fashion designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana to one year and eight months in prison for tax evasion.

The pair’s lawyer, Massimo Dinoia, said they planned to appeal, adding that the case is “groundless.” The designers, known for their sexy styles favored by celebrities such as Madonna, Naomi Campbell and Katy Perry, have denied the charges.

The case dates back to 2004, when two of the company’s main brands were sold to Luxembourg-based holding company Gado.
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A court in Milan has convicted fashion designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana of tax evasion. Christina Binkley reports.

Prosecutors alleged that the sale was made to avoid declaring taxes on royalties deriving from the two brands’ activities.

Under Italian law, the pair wouldn’t go to prison because sentences of less than three years are served with house arrest or community service. Moreover, the designers have the right to appeal the verdict twice, and Italian courts often take years to reach a final decision.

Public prosecutor Laura Pedio dubbed the operation as a “sophisticated tax fraud” and originally asked for a two-year jail term for the duo. If the conviction is upheld, the pair would also need to pay a fine to Italy’s tax agency for €500,000.

Over the last five years, Italian tax authorities have ratcheted up pressure on tax evasion in an effort to claw back an estimated €120 billion a year in unpaid taxes, cracking down in particular on the use by Italian companies of offshore centers to avoid taxes.

According to Italian tax authorities, the country lost about €17 billion in undeclared or under-declared income to offshore centers last year, compared with €11 billion for 2011, with Luxembourg the leading country used by Italian individuals and companies seeking to hide money abroad. Corporate tax rates in Luxembourg can be close to zero, while they are about 28% in Italy.

While Dolce & Gabbana has emerged as one of the most high-profile cases pursued by Italian tax authorities, Italian authorities have gone after other fashion groups in the past. In 1996, Giorgio Armani received a nine-month suspended sentence and was fined $64,000 for paying off tax authorities in exchange for favorable audits. Mr. Armani admitted to having paid the bribes.

Late last year, prosecutors launched an investigation into whether the Marzotto family, a wealthy textile dynasty, and four managers dodged 65 million euros in Italian income taxes when it sold fashion house Valentino through a Luxembourg holding company in 2007.

Earlier this year, the family paid the taxes that the state claimed it owed, but will face a criminal trial later this year.

The family and managers have denied all charges. – Wall Street Journal

20-year sentence for Security Minister’s drug-dealing wife

The prison sentences of Sheryl Cwele — former wife of State Security Minister Siyabonga Cwele — and her co-accused were increased to 20 years on Monday.

“The effects of their deeds on the community at large far outweigh their personal circumstances and justify a long term of imprisonment,” the Supreme Court of Appeal concluded.

Cwele and Frank Nabolisa were found guilty in May 2011 of drug dealing by the Pietermaritzburg High Court and sentenced to 12 years imprisonment each.

Cwele, 50, appealed to the SCA against her conviction only, while Nabolisa appealed both his conviction and sentence.

Both pleaded not guilty to conspiring to deal in drugs, to procuring a woman, Charmaine Moss, to collect drugs in Turkey, and to procuring another woman, Tessa Beetge, to smuggle cocaine from South America.

Nabolisa had been in custody until now, while Cwele was out on R100,000 bail.

A full bench in an unanimous judgment, said in many similar cases the drug courier or “mule” got caught, while the handler — the real dealer or importer — remained safe in the background to carry on with his or her evil deeds.

SCA President Lex Mpati said in this case it was only through the courage and determination of Beetge’s mother that the real culprits were brought to book.

The SCA judgment held that Cwele and Nabolisa, by being involved in the drug trade, had reconciled themselves to sowing the seeds of destruction, directly and indirectly, in the lives of a number of people, including children.

The SCA held that Nabolisa sent Beetge to South America to collect cocaine and bring it back to South Africa.

“It is the only reasonable inference to be drawn from the totality of the proved facts,” the judge said.

The SCA found it might well be that Cwele played a lesser role in the whole enterprise, but as a qualified nurse she must have known the dangers inherent in the use of drugs.

“Yet she was a willing partner in the commission of the crime, who befriended and preyed on vulnerable women in furtherance of the criminal enterprise.”

The judge said on the facts the “inference was irresistible (compelling)” that Cwele must have known that Beetge was being asked to ferry cocaine to South Africa.

The SCA held the trial court was correct in treating Cwele and Nabolisa equally. The court dismissed their appeals against their convictions.

It found the 12-year prison sentence imposed on each of them by the trial court disturbingly inappropriate. The high court’s sentences were replaced with a sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment for each of them. – Sapa