Naraku
Draconarius
We interrupt our programming to bring you the following:
John Monroe: Welcome back to UBS Morning News. It is now 7:45 here in New York and we are going to interrupt our regular programming for a special report.
The case of Dorothy Brown has drawn international attention in recent weeks. While returning from a trip with friends to Cape Town, Ms Brown had a brief layover in Kumbe, the capital of the East African republic of Marungia. According to witnesses, Ms Brown had several drinks with her friends at the airport lounge. At one point, she excused herself to go to the restroom. On her way either to or from the restroom - the accounts vary on this - she stumbled into a piece of tribal art on display in the lobby, knocking it over and causing it to break. She was confronted by a police officer. The accounts of what ensued are not clear. Ms Brown, who admits being highly intoxicated, denies resisting the officer and claims to have been confused by her inebriation and the officer's poor English. Her friends claim the officer was physically aggressive. The officer claims Ms Brown was hostile and insulting. What is clear is that Ms Brown vomited on the officer.
Ms Brown was arrested and initially charged with vandalism, public intoxication, resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer. The latter two charges were eventually dropped and Ms Brown was convicted of the vandalism and intoxication charges. What would have been a just another sad case of a misbehaving Western tourist running afoul of local law, became a major news event when Ms Brown was sentenced. For more, we go to our International Correspondent, Lisa Haddad on scene in Kumbe. Lisa...
Lisa Haddad: Thank you, John. I'm standing here in Ummagumma Prison just outside of Kumbe. Dorothy Brown's troubles really began two years ago, when former school headmaster Daniel Bombata became Marungia's first democratically elected president in over three decades. One of the promises he made during his campaign - and believed to be the one that got him elected - was to bring the country's escalating crime rate under control. Along with crack downs on urban gangs, drug smugglers, ivory poachers and other criminals, the new government purged the courts, police and penal system of corrupt officials. To date 23 judges, 14 prison officials and over 200 police have been convicted on charges of bribery, extortion, and criminal acts ranging from drug dealing to murder. Even the warden and deputy warden of this very prison were among those convicted. In addition, over 4,000 political prisoners were freed and nearly 2,000 others people had their sentences reduced or overturned.
While these and other acts drew praise from around the world, another of President Bombata's judicial reforms has drawn outrage: the introduction of corporal punishment. Claiming a need to both reduce prison overcrowding and make a more profound impact on lawbreakers; new laws allow judges to impose set number of strokes with the whip, strap or cane.
If convicted of the original charges, Dorothy Brown would have received a very severe sentence that would have included whipping. As it is, she was sentenced to one year in prison, 25 strokes of the strap for public drunkenness and 10 strokes of the cane for vandalism.
John: Lisa, It was my understanding that the prison term was reduced.
Lisa: That's right. The case was appealed and, in exchange for her paying the equivalent of $6,000 to cover the damages to the tribal statue and the police officer's clearing bill, the judge suspended the prison sentence. However, he refused to reduce or drop the corporal punishment. Ms Brown's lawyers appealed the case all the way to the Marungian Supreme Court, which refused to hear the case on the grounds that they had already upheld similar sentences and found the new laws to be constitutional. And, now with her appeals exhausted, Ms Brown is going to receive her punishment in just a few minutes.
John: Well, while her legal appeals may have been exhausted, international pressure certainly hasn't.
Lisa: Yes. There have been protest and appeals to the Marungian government from all over the world; from formal protest by the British government to online petitions. I should say, however, that some people are seeing hypocrisy and racism in protest. They point out that hundreds of native Marungian men and women have received similar or even more severe sentences with hardly a peep from the international community until now and that the current outrage is motivated only by the fact the Ms Brown is a white European. Only Amnesty International has been active in condemning the new laws before now. I should add that that organization has seen an uptick in donations since this story hit the press in the US and the UK.
John: Thank you, Lisa. We'll be back after these messages....
Punishment in Marungia
By Naraku
By Naraku
John Monroe: Welcome back to UBS Morning News. It is now 7:45 here in New York and we are going to interrupt our regular programming for a special report.
The case of Dorothy Brown has drawn international attention in recent weeks. While returning from a trip with friends to Cape Town, Ms Brown had a brief layover in Kumbe, the capital of the East African republic of Marungia. According to witnesses, Ms Brown had several drinks with her friends at the airport lounge. At one point, she excused herself to go to the restroom. On her way either to or from the restroom - the accounts vary on this - she stumbled into a piece of tribal art on display in the lobby, knocking it over and causing it to break. She was confronted by a police officer. The accounts of what ensued are not clear. Ms Brown, who admits being highly intoxicated, denies resisting the officer and claims to have been confused by her inebriation and the officer's poor English. Her friends claim the officer was physically aggressive. The officer claims Ms Brown was hostile and insulting. What is clear is that Ms Brown vomited on the officer.
Ms Brown was arrested and initially charged with vandalism, public intoxication, resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer. The latter two charges were eventually dropped and Ms Brown was convicted of the vandalism and intoxication charges. What would have been a just another sad case of a misbehaving Western tourist running afoul of local law, became a major news event when Ms Brown was sentenced. For more, we go to our International Correspondent, Lisa Haddad on scene in Kumbe. Lisa...
Lisa Haddad: Thank you, John. I'm standing here in Ummagumma Prison just outside of Kumbe. Dorothy Brown's troubles really began two years ago, when former school headmaster Daniel Bombata became Marungia's first democratically elected president in over three decades. One of the promises he made during his campaign - and believed to be the one that got him elected - was to bring the country's escalating crime rate under control. Along with crack downs on urban gangs, drug smugglers, ivory poachers and other criminals, the new government purged the courts, police and penal system of corrupt officials. To date 23 judges, 14 prison officials and over 200 police have been convicted on charges of bribery, extortion, and criminal acts ranging from drug dealing to murder. Even the warden and deputy warden of this very prison were among those convicted. In addition, over 4,000 political prisoners were freed and nearly 2,000 others people had their sentences reduced or overturned.
While these and other acts drew praise from around the world, another of President Bombata's judicial reforms has drawn outrage: the introduction of corporal punishment. Claiming a need to both reduce prison overcrowding and make a more profound impact on lawbreakers; new laws allow judges to impose set number of strokes with the whip, strap or cane.
If convicted of the original charges, Dorothy Brown would have received a very severe sentence that would have included whipping. As it is, she was sentenced to one year in prison, 25 strokes of the strap for public drunkenness and 10 strokes of the cane for vandalism.
John: Lisa, It was my understanding that the prison term was reduced.
Lisa: That's right. The case was appealed and, in exchange for her paying the equivalent of $6,000 to cover the damages to the tribal statue and the police officer's clearing bill, the judge suspended the prison sentence. However, he refused to reduce or drop the corporal punishment. Ms Brown's lawyers appealed the case all the way to the Marungian Supreme Court, which refused to hear the case on the grounds that they had already upheld similar sentences and found the new laws to be constitutional. And, now with her appeals exhausted, Ms Brown is going to receive her punishment in just a few minutes.
John: Well, while her legal appeals may have been exhausted, international pressure certainly hasn't.
Lisa: Yes. There have been protest and appeals to the Marungian government from all over the world; from formal protest by the British government to online petitions. I should say, however, that some people are seeing hypocrisy and racism in protest. They point out that hundreds of native Marungian men and women have received similar or even more severe sentences with hardly a peep from the international community until now and that the current outrage is motivated only by the fact the Ms Brown is a white European. Only Amnesty International has been active in condemning the new laws before now. I should add that that organization has seen an uptick in donations since this story hit the press in the US and the UK.
John: Thank you, Lisa. We'll be back after these messages....
