Gil da Costa Alves, former AMP minister for tourism, commerce, and industry (more commonly known by its abbreviation MTCI) is being threatened with 7 years in jail with a judgement on his case expected to be handed down today by the Dili District Court. According to STL Alves is accused of embezzlement and financial misappropriation, crimes allegedly committed against his former political party ASDT as the then party secretary general. One of Alves' associates, former ASDT finance director Henrique Carlos, is also being tried for the same crime and the prosecutor has demanded a 6-year sentence for him.
Alves and Carlos are accused of having siphoned nearly $230,000 from the party's coffers, even as the party was trying to expel him and his faction from the organisation. In the 2012 elections, after he was finally thrown out, Alves went on to join PM Gusmao's CNRT camp.
Naturally, if found guilty, Alves and his associate still have another recourse and will seek a review of the decision at the Court of Appeals, currently the country's highest judicial body. But if convicted successfully, Alves will become the second AMP minister to have a criminal record and join the former minister of justice Lucia Lobato in prison.
A former pro-Indonesian militia spokesperson in 1999, Alves was appointed minister by the Gusmao-lead government which formed in 2007 through a coalition of minor parties, including ASDT. As the MTCI, he was deeply involved in the controversial rice contracts of 2008, said to be marred with significant irregularity. Later on, Alves and his faction clashed with other ASDT party members, perhaps over his anti-independence background. His relationship with the party's paramount leader and president Xavier do Amaral (who is related to Alves through marriage) also deteriorated as he drifted closer towards PM Xanana Gusmao. However he was not reappointed in the subsequent government formation after the 2012 election as his former party suffered a spectacular electoral ruin.
Joao Cancio Freitas, former minister of education
Gil Alves' trial comes amid investigations into the conducts of other ex-AMP ministers, including that of Joao Cancio Freitas, former minister of education. Freitas is being investigated for a number of allegations that include misappropriation of funds, abuse of power, and participation in a contract to purchase education equipment. CAC, the country's anti-corruption body, has placed Freitas under a preventive measure which bans him from overseas travel while requiring him to report himself regularly to the authorities.
Emilia Pires, the minister of finance, is also being investigated for alleged corruption after Tempo Semanal published documents accusing her of favouring her husband's company in a contract to supply medical equipments to Dili's national hospital.
 |
| Gil Alves in happier times next to PM Gusmao and PR Ramos-Horta |
Alves and Carlos are accused of having siphoned nearly $230,000 from the party's coffers, even as the party was trying to expel him and his faction from the organisation. In the 2012 elections, after he was finally thrown out, Alves went on to join PM Gusmao's CNRT camp.
Naturally, if found guilty, Alves and his associate still have another recourse and will seek a review of the decision at the Court of Appeals, currently the country's highest judicial body. But if convicted successfully, Alves will become the second AMP minister to have a criminal record and join the former minister of justice Lucia Lobato in prison.
A former pro-Indonesian militia spokesperson in 1999, Alves was appointed minister by the Gusmao-lead government which formed in 2007 through a coalition of minor parties, including ASDT. As the MTCI, he was deeply involved in the controversial rice contracts of 2008, said to be marred with significant irregularity. Later on, Alves and his faction clashed with other ASDT party members, perhaps over his anti-independence background. His relationship with the party's paramount leader and president Xavier do Amaral (who is related to Alves through marriage) also deteriorated as he drifted closer towards PM Xanana Gusmao. However he was not reappointed in the subsequent government formation after the 2012 election as his former party suffered a spectacular electoral ruin.
Joao Cancio Freitas, former minister of education
Gil Alves' trial comes amid investigations into the conducts of other ex-AMP ministers, including that of Joao Cancio Freitas, former minister of education. Freitas is being investigated for a number of allegations that include misappropriation of funds, abuse of power, and participation in a contract to purchase education equipment. CAC, the country's anti-corruption body, has placed Freitas under a preventive measure which bans him from overseas travel while requiring him to report himself regularly to the authorities.
Emilia Pires, the minister of finance, is also being investigated for alleged corruption after Tempo Semanal published documents accusing her of favouring her husband's company in a contract to supply medical equipments to Dili's national hospital.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Obrigadu barak ba komentáriu/Obrigado pelo comentário/Thank you for your comments.