Showing posts with label Aécio Neves. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Aécio Neves. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Good Cop Threatened, Abused, Mistreated, & Cast Out for Exposing Corruption in His Own Department

Chicago, IL — Though corruption and violence may permeate departments across the nation, good cops have repeatedly tried to stand against their less honest colleagues — but all too often run into the Blue Wall of Silence for their efforts.
It is no question that if fellow officers become good cops and blow the whistle on their peers for breaking the law, they will be shunned, and their careers will be over.
The blue code of silence, as our friend and former Baltimore cop, Joe Crystal has shown us, is not to be broken. Crystal attempted to expose an officer who beat a handcuffed man and was subsequently threatened and his career ruined. 
The Free Thought Project has worked with many cops and former cops whose careers have been ruined after they exposed corruption in their departments. And, Chicago Police Officer Jaeho Jung, is one of those cops.
Jung has been with the Chicago police for over ten years. During this time, he’s never been disciplined or had so much as a single entry into his record for a mistake or misconduct. However, all that has changed and this highly decorated cop, who’s received over 150 awards, is now the black sheep, facing down false arrests, threats, discipline, and loss of vacation — all because he bravely pointed out corruption within the department.
Jung has since filed a complaint in the Circuit Court of Cook County alleging he was the subject of retaliation for refusing to participate in corruption and for reporting fellow officers’ misconduct.
According to a report by FOX 32, Mr. Jung, a decorated officer with over ten years with the Chicago Police, alleges his fellow officers fabricated police documents, gathered information from random license plate checks and generated fake radio communications to portray the officers were engaging in police work when they were not.
Since he reported the corruption of his fellow cops, Jung has been the subject of racial slurs, has been told he will be retaliated against, has been forced to reduce his furlough, has been threatened with arrest and has been given false write-ups, according to the complaint.
As FOX 32 reports, Mr. Jung’s complaint sheds light on the misconduct of the Chicago Police Department and he seeks to file this lawsuit to help put an end to misconduct. Mr. Jung has received over 150 awards and has never been disciplined in his career with the Chicago Police Department.
The “bad apple” analogy is impossible to apply to this situation as the entire bunch is bad, and there is seemingly only one “good apple.” Sadly, as is the case the majority of the time, the one person with courage and a sense of justice in this law enforcement apparatus, was swiftly and belligerently ousted with extreme prejudice.
What happens when there are no more good apples?

Sunday, October 26, 2014

Brazil presidential campaign ends in slugfest over corruption


BRASILIA (Reuters) - Presidential candidates traded accusations over political corruption on Friday night in a last ditch attempt to sway undecided voters before Sunday's election runoff in Brazil's closest race in decades.
In the final television debate of a bitter campaign, leftist President Dilma Rousseff and pro-business opposition candidate Aecio Neves sparred over who was best suited to restore growth to a stagnant economy, fight inflation, bring down rents and deal with open sewers in Brazilian cities.
But it was a deepening bribery scandal at the country's largest enterprise, state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PETR4.SA), that brought the fiercest exchanges.
"There is one easy way to put an end to corruption: throw the Workers' Party out of office," Neves said in reply to a question from a voter on how to improve Brazil's lenient anti-corruption laws.
Polls show that the festering corruption scandal involving the ruling Workers' Party has not had a significant impact on the race in which Rousseff gained a clear lead this week.
In his last chance to win over voters, Neves came out swinging in the debate and asked Rousseff straight out whether she knew about a scam that allegedly received kickbacks from Petrobras contractors and funneled funds to Rousseff's party and its allies in Congress.
The allegations were made in plea bargain statements made by former Petrobras executive Paulo Roberto Costa and a black-market money dealer called Alberto Youssef who were arrested in March in a money laundering investigation.
The weekly magazine Veja reported on Friday that Youssef has told police and prosecutors that Rousseff and her predecessor, Workers' Party founder Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, knew about the corruption scheme. The jailed money dealer provided no evidence.
Rousseff dismissed the allegation as unfounded and called Veja magazine an opposition mouthpiece that had systematically antagonized her government and was trying to derail her re-election.
Neves, the market favorite who had stirred investor enthusiasm by promising business-friendly policies to pull Brazil out of recession, assailed Rousseff for poor management of Latin America's largest economy and losing control of inflation.
A mild economic rebound and a bruising campaign have boosted the incumbent's chances in recent weeks. Surveys of voters by Brazil's top polling firms published on Thursday showed Rousseff with a lead of 6 to 8 percentage points.
Rousseff has gained ground by reminding voters of the rising wages and expanding social programs many have enjoyed over the past 12 years of Workers' Party rule, benefits she said would be at risk because Neves would govern for the elite.
Neves insisted in Friday night's debate that he would preserve social programs that have lifted millions of Brazilians out of poverty and reduced inequality.
Analysts say the corruption allegations have not swayed voters to turn against Rousseff because unemployment remains low despite the slowdown and many Brazilians enjoy access to consumer goods, education and housing they did not have before.
Rousseff blamed Neves' Brazilian Social Democracy Party for the crisis facing Brazil's largest city Sao Paulo, which is close to running out of water. She said water was the responsibility of the state government run by his party.
"Such a lack of planning in the richest state in the country is shameful," she said.
(Reporting by Anthony Boadle)

Friday, August 15, 2014

Brazil presidential candidate Campos killed in plane crash

SANTOS Brazil (Reuters) - Brazilian presidential candidate Eduardo Campos was killed in a plane crash on Wednesday, throwing the October election and local financial markets into disarray.
Português: O governador de Pernambuco Eduardo ...
A private jet carrying Campos and his entourage crashed in a residential area in bad weather as it prepared to land in the coastal city of Santos. The accident killed all seven people on board, the Sao Paulo state fire department said.
Campos, 49, was running on a business-friendly platform and was in third place in polls with the support of about 10 percent of voters. While he was not expected to win the Oct. 5 vote, he was widely seen as one of Brazil's brightest young political stars and his death instantly changes the dynamics of the race.
Some analysts said that Campos' death could make it harder for President Dilma Rousseff to win a second term, especially if his running mate Marina Silva runs in his place, as allowed by electoral law.
A renowned environmentalist and former presidential candidate, Silva is better known nationally than Campos and could eat into Rousseff's support among leftist and younger voters. Silva's religious beliefs also make her hugely popular among evangelical Christian voters, an increasingly important demographic in Brazil.
Silva's popularity could get an additional boost from an outpouring of sympathy in the wake of Campos' death.
But a significant surge for Silva could, some observers speculated, put her ahead of Rousseff's closest challenger, Senator Aecio Neves, and even knock the pro-business centrist out of a second-round runoff.
In the hours after the crash, politicians from all sides expressed grief for a charismatic young former governor who even opponents privately whispered was likely to become president - probably not in 2014, but someday.
Rousseff, who is leading the race, announced she would suspend all campaigning for three days. "Brazil lost a young leader with an extremely promising future, a man who could reach the highest offices of the country," she said, her voice cracking in a nationally televised address.
Neves, the candidate from the Brazilian Social Democracy Party running in second place, said he was "immensely saddened."
Silva called Campos' death a "tragedy" for all of Brazil as she broke into tears, but gave no indication of whether she would step in to run in his place.
Rousseff is ahead in polls with about 36 percent of voter support. Neves has enjoyed about 20 percent support and was widely expected to face Rousseff in a runoff on Oct. 26.
Brazilian financial markets initially slumped on the news of Campos' death and seesawed throughout the day as investors struggled to grasp what the impact would be on the election.
The Bovespa stock index .BVSP ended 1.53 percent lower after falling as much as 2 percent, then rebounding and finally dropping again in late trade. Brazil's currency BRL= BRBY weakened 0.53 percent before bouncing back.
BUSINESS-FRIENDLY LEFTIST
Campos, the leader of the Brazilian Socialist Party and a former governor of the northeastern state of Pernambuco, was running as a market-friendly leftist and had strong support from many banks and industrial groups.
His running mate Silva placed a strong third in the 2010 presidential election, but her pro-environment agenda means that many in Brazil's powerful agribusiness sector distrust her.
The entry of Silva into the race could increase the odds of Rousseff facing a runoff, Brown Brothers Harriman said in a note to clients.
"She is very well known and arguably has a closer electoral base to (Rousseff)," the bank said in the note.
On Tuesday night, Campos was in Rio de Janeiro for an interview with Brazil's most-watched nightly news program. Several pundits praised his performance as confident and authoritative, and said he might rise in polls as a result.
Campos got his start in politics at the age of 21, when he helped with the gubernatorial campaign of his late grandfather, Miguel Arraes, an icon of the pro-democracy campaign against Brazil's military dictatorship in the 1980s.
While still in his 20s, Campos was Arraes' cabinet chief and then won a seat in the state legislature.
Campos was also a protege of popular former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Rousseff's predecessor and political mentor. Campos served as Lula's minister of science and technology before becoming the governor of Pernambuco in 2006.
Last year, Campos' party left Rousseff's ruling coalition, saying her government had abandoned the pragmatic policies that characterized Lula's administration.
Shortly after that, Campos started preparing his own presidential run.
"Surely he would have had an important role in Brazil's future. Brazil needs leaders like him, with the ability to understand the situation and not store up hatred or animosity. Eduardo was like that," said Fernando Henrique Cardoso, another former president and a member of Neves' party.
Brazil has a long tradition of candidates losing elections but coming back to win later, bolstered by higher name recognition. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva won the presidency in 2002 after losing three previous races.
Campos is survived by his wife Renata de Andrade Lima Campos and five children, including a six-month old boy.
(Reporting by Brazil newsroom; Writing by Brian Winter and Todd Benson; Editing by Kieran Murray)