A dense year long program of events to mark the islands colorful heritage including parade sun spectacular performances. But another darker side of the island is also in the headlines because malta is mired in corruption that its believed could extend right up to the highest levels of government theres been huge concern about last years killing of a crusading journalist in a car bomb attack and now a former Anti Corruption investigator who was dismissed from his post after speaking out say hes received Death Threats our reporter has had the opportunity to meet with him. Jonathan ferris is on his way to speak before a delegation of members of the European Parliament he wants to express his concern about whats happening in malta. North. Tower that is. How it came to be is that the types of roles like. Laws for boards laws for the government this until her murder journalist Stephanie Caro on a good lead exposed organized crime and corruption in her popular blog she accused conrad miti a minister and keith scam barry the chief of staff to the Prime Minister of establishing offshore Shell Companies she used information leaked in the Panama Papers suspicious payments were made to both politicians allegedly bribes khurana also claimed that me shoma scott wife of maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat created an offshore Company Called a grant the journalist said that a payment of one Million Euros was made to the Company Using a secret bank account the source of her information was a former bank employee. Found documents in the safe to pay two documents both of them declarations of trust. By individuals the nominees who has a says that a granting in the name of mrs scott. Five months later definite quranic a lead was killed by a car bomb did she know too much. Perhaps Jonathan Ferris does too the former Police Officer who is known as a tireless investigator had recently joined the maltese governments anti Money Laundering agency he was to lead an investigation of the allegations against the first lady of the of all these people who go big on stories of is a very big moment it. Well when in reality its a pile of hay. The multis government has prohibited farris from revealing anything else hes convinced that corruption is pervasive in malta. Of the old how it was going to go about it or why were big. Guiding my people going my way of us to get this going about it the following day by you know i was out of my office. Because his performance did not meet expectations says the agency but faris thinks he was fired for political reasons. And the Prime Minister he simply dismissed the allegations as fake news he stopped the Investigation Called fresh elections and won many people are fine with that because mountains economy is booming but allegations of government corruption still loom large half a year later his two associates are still in office. Please make your. Homework properly dont rely on very biased information being given by people who have a partisan agenda if there is any proof or even the slightest of ideas that the things that have been said in my regard are true i will decide on the spot and i have invited to feel those making similar allegations to make the same pledge that if these truths to be looked through and swore on through formation leaders ive. Definitely come never got that chance. And Jonathan Ferris was sacked before his findings could be verified the Maltese Police has admitted its not acting on his evidence even though the section he led at the n. T. Money Laundering Agency submitted a report so the police could secure evidence and freeze bank accounts. Nothing happened so. If by a member of a certain. The Police Commissioner the police are. There look to be investigated so how can you say that there is no crime when you have not the investigated its exception but have the. Jonathan ferris hopes the e. U. Will put pressure on multis authorities to respect the rule of law. A group of any peace has arrived in malta on a Fact Finding Mission they want to know whether there was Money Laundering will financial crimes be prosecuted and does multi ensure due process for all as an e. U. Member state is obliged to but doubts remain its been well know weve been talking concern about the rule of law and alter Jonathan Faris has provided Important Information now hes scared for his safety and that of his wife and children. We have demanded he be placed under Permanent Police protection theyve given him some but we expect him to receive around the clock protection and hes a danger for making these things public its often because the thing the fall. There is is fighting his dismissal in court hes consulting with his lawyer ahead of the next hearing farah says he intends to reveal everything in court he says he owes that much to murdered journalist carroll wanted to leave and the law abiding people of malta and hes made preparations should something happen to him. So if either of those notes into with im not mistaken six. Further and over opes with its a sheath of notes you know so should something happen to me. Everything will go public and everyone will know the truth thats thats why a vengeance. Parents always parks his car within sight of a Security Camera ever since the car bomb that blew up. Fear has been his constant companion. Well more corruption now this time a roumanian style and tens of thousands of people have again been protesting against cloned new laws introduced in romania by the countrys governing social democrats and critics say the legislation will shield the partys influential leader livia dragnet from charges of embezzlement and abuse of office as we see now some of the people who are protesting against these measures of come a very long way to express their anger. These people have been on the road for ten days walking hundreds of kilometers theyve come from clues in the transylvania region and to heading to book arrest in a march against government corruption. All the rest are coming we stand together. Another thirty kilometers to their destination a huge rally in the remaining capital one of the protesters is georgia to hes walked four hundred fifty kilometers guided by a companion because hes blind hes incensed at planned new laws that could shield politicians and Civil Servants from prosecution for corruption. We have to eliminate this problem of corruption its eating is up a life our future our childrens future is at stake what should i do leave the country our ancestors fought hungry and barefoots they gave their lives for freedom. Now we have freedom but what do we do with it spit on it. Thats a vote that will evoke and so. Yes we are sick and tired of the appalling crassness and incompetence of this government its time we had officials who want to do something for the country for us not just for themselves. The white haired man here is the focus of the protestors anger leave you drag chairman of romanias. Social democrats here on his way to be questioned by actually graft prosecution is dragon a i was ineligible to become Prime Minister because he was convicted of Election Fraud and is accused of misusing European Union funds but he is viewed as the mastermind of the proposed reform of the Justice System that would weaken remaining as Public Prosecutions and rewrite the penal code dragon as seems unfazed by criticism from the european commission. With all due respect you should inform yourselves better. Judge for rights you do bravo is flabbergasted by the new draft for the penal code it would ban police and Public Prosecutions from using video or audio recordings as evidence he shows us examples on his computer in one case the camera documents corrupt politicians taking bribes and other catches a pedophile molesting children in an elevator bravo says the Justice Reform would mean such footage could no longer be used. Part of the. General because he says this kind of technical forensic evidence is very important in prosecuting crimes of violence to be thought they are going to but in the future the use of such evidence will be illegal. Because this is the height of irresponsibility you know. George about two and his fellow matches have arrived in bucharest after eleven days on the road soaking west but with unbroken spirits they stand in front of the social democratic partys headquarters theyre demonstrating against the arbitrary Justice Reform and for a more democratic romania. Well said were sending a signal against a humiliating dirty politics. By evening sixty thousand people have gathered in central book arrest george are proud to feels proud that cerny have responded to the call issued by the matches from kloof. Dearest we hope that our gesture and this gathering functions as an alarm signal and everyone understands that what the Political Class is doing or no longer be tolerated. Why yes it does what the. Remaining hour overcame communism now people here say its time to overcome corruption and strengthen democracy. It was the notorious motto above the gates of the auschwitz concentration camp Arbeit Macht Frei it read work sets you free and the twenty seventh of january is Holocaust Memorial day which each year marks the anniversary of the liberation of the death camp now around six million jews were killed under hitlers germany but some fled to albania and what is todays kosovo where they were saved by ordinary men and women many motivated by a traditional albanian code of honor known as besser our report begins with a moving encounter. A prisoner in a town in the south of course of a foot team dimitri who is jewish and gans for his nietzsche a muslim are meeting with us today to show us how different religious communities once lived side by side in relative peace a fact that is largely forgotten today. He sure got the day as the catholic church. As a jewish building. The Orthodox Church and a little further on the mosque. Chummy. The two are here to recall the cruel past that brought their Families Together more than seventy years ago. German forces took control of costs of zero and albania in september one thousand nine hundred forty three a puppet government was installed and a special s. S. Division was set up to help the nazis round up the Jewish Population. But there was resistance among local albanians many of whom refused to look on passively true to their coverage. Which theyre used to leverage their people in prison ran always had great sympathy and tolerance and. They not only talked but they really helped each other. And that competition. Vote eames mothers life was saved by the great grandfather up against resnick she has proud descendants show us pictures of the successful tradesmen the developed muslim head businesses throughout the region and used his contacts to help jews who were seeking refuge. Micha to get in this car he come here and his friends drove many jews who came to kosovo and had to get to albania or other countries your ship pretty well if you come to the document that she only had to find false papers not that. Not every your jewish names were often changed into muslim names. Against takes us to take on a town in northern constable where his great grandfather owned several businesses and was able to help many people he and another relative take us around the streets and show us where jews were hidden from the s. S. And their henchmen many of the buildings were destroyed during the course of a war almost twenty years ago little has been done to rebuild them. Just a breakdown if you dont hear his helpers smuggled many jews through this street got there bringing them to the village where our ancestors lived. But then smuggled them to albania. And hid them from the occupiers as we saw in door to the court or. The ruins are new witnesses to these heroic acts over two thousand jews were saved from nazi persecution they were taken in as part of the family according to the traditional albanian honor code besa which obliges people to care for those in need. Of them but in the chair or we have this tradition here in this region. Were even bound to risk our own lives to save the lives of others but with. The two families never lost contact after against his great grandfather saved mother. Back in prison one thousand shows us pictures that bear witness to the vibrancy of jewish life before the war. Last year shiva jewish. Despite besa many jews were deported including members of his family this is the list of those who were killed but his mother survived thanks to get his great grandfather. Used to chill live without this help hitlers plan would have succeeded my hitlerian nobody would have survived if albanians hadnt fought against the socalled final solution. You can not prove. It was cancer as nietzsche inherited his great grandfathers prayer beads not only a remembrance but a symbol of a promise. And it is said that albania was the only country in europe to emerge from World War Two with a larger Jewish Population than before it shows the importance of not looking away and one country where to many people of these days looking away is friends which has the Largest Jewish Community in europe totaling half a Million People now in recent years though thousands have been leaving for israel many others say theyre thinking of joining the exit us why well because of the growing climate of anti semitic violence much of it coming from Frances Muslim population focus on Europe Susanna der haga has the story. Until a few days ago as easy. To the Jewish Community in the paris suburb of create a now nothing is left of the shelves and arsonist destroyed the shop as the spent years building up. The wall maybe this was my baby and i was like. I worked hard here in this store twelve to fifteen hours a day to build it up. And now its been reduced to nothing. As ease doesnt want to show his face because hes afraid of further attacks for weeks unknown vandals have been smearing swastikas on jewish shops including the one is easy read but izzys himself is not jewish hes a muslim boba originally from algeria. I felt as if someone had painted a swastika on my back. Its not just a Property Damage i feel threatened personally. Now i have a better idea of how the jews feel. Me. About fifteen thousand jews live here in creating a together with a much larger Muslim Community in recent years there have been repeated attacks on jews mainly by young muslims but hardly anyone wants to talk openly about this development not even this jewish grocer who is friends with aziz and. The soul because well i dont want to accuse anyone. By have good relations with people from north africa and other parts of africa theres old vision motive you know what im against is the idea that the conflict between israelis and palestinians can be moved here to french soil. On the other holes but the situation is growing ever more difficult in france where increasingly vicious anti jewish propaganda is spreading new rumors pop up almost every day says rudy rushed out a member of the Organization Conspiracy watch. Them of rules explained everything bad that happens in the world gets attributed to a jewish conspiracy but it was just for example the attacks in france and elsewhere in europe. But also Economic Crises or popular uprisings in the. Limo even when renown people die people will insinuate a jewish plot. The jews or the zionists are suspected of pulling all the threads to. Write starts says one of the most vocal anti semites in france is this man alonso ryle a journalist and publisher who calls himself a National Socialist and has just published a new edition of hitlers mind comes surrounds internet pages get five million visitors each month. Openly tries to stir up young muslims. Im not only for i did i want to cajole you have to abandon your loser role was real but its as if you were playing poker with just deuces while the others have aces up their sleeves. You have to be clever and strategic or youll keep losing. And surrounds ideas find listeners. More friends with the jews of the secret rulers of the world they sit way at the top and were at the bottom its like a sect i. Think theyre only interested in advancing their own community. Anti semitic cliches they can have fatal consequences in april twenty seventeen in this parish st a young muslim man high on drugs broke into the apartment of the jewish physicians holy me he beat her reviled her as satan and threw her out the window to her death. The attorney for sara holy nice family has done everything he could to have the deed categorized as an anti semitic crime. But the really if i hadnt launched a campaign in the press two months after the crime there might not even have been a trial they would have said the guy was crazy you cant judge him and no one would have talked about it anymore. Its like the idea of like the ball back in create a as these and his jewish friend agree ignoring the problem is no solution they say all of france must finally face and fight the bigotry together and that is surely an appeal not just to the people of france but to all of us. No on a lighter note lets go now to the far north of europe to finland which is said to have the most passionate current ok singers in the world with the possible exception of course of the inventors of this weird and wonderful pastime the japanese sound as our reporter has been finding out the finns can and do sing in some very unexpected places. If you cant make it on the big stage then maybe its time to try the karaoke bar. And here in the finnish capital helsinki there are plenty of places for want to be singers to shine. And even in supposedly quiet places like this one. In finland libraries are often seen as Cultural Centers and some are trying something different. Than the mall. For. Its very popular it is i think it was an instant in some thoughts as to room is about one month in so you have to worry already we have a room room for this song called so it doesnt really bother other customers. This library near helsinki is the only one of its kind to date for the singers here karaoke is more than just a way to pass the time sat in my youth you never showed too much emotion of singing was always good for being able to express your feelings yet at the time of the end all of us i love singing so i love singing and its a great opportunity to meet your good friends here is that were sort of. In some places theres even karaoke in the bathroom the on the up the. List. But your car. Everywhere so green belt sign itself that you once said they would be in the spotlight at one time and its dark here all the time yeah its a refresh. So who minds a little dissonance when on a dark winters night a stage like this can bring such joy. When i should i suppose sing and dance as i leave the studio but im not going to do it so i would go like to say thanks very much for joining us here on focus on europe if you want to see any of our reports again just go to our home page on d. W. Dot com over is it on Facebook Page stories and do come back next. Time around until im for me bye bye. Thank you im. Curious thank you im. Going to to. The. The book. The be. The be. The book. The be. The book the be the be. The be. Cool. The bad stories come closer to the gym be gods house of music the best time to close the day lets meet the business kershaw and the german banks the burglars to the beat the germans the band surprisingly aspects of muslim culture the best american keep music takes a look at the simplicity subdued Tradition School every day long lives and play with the best. The butcher the baker the trail. D. W. Dot com the german. Never again will of course survive it tells the story well as to what to forgive but look to for. Most lies. Today she recounts events young people can barely imagine but they try to understand the use of reports from washington d. C. I did talk with a remarkable woman. To mock Holocaust Remembrance Day reported today on d. W. Mother is hiv positive to me. Was infected at birth. She probably wont live to the age of five. The Program Dream aims to prevent the mother to child transmission of the virus. Hiv positive women give birth to hiv negative babys. Mother the project is a hugely effective strategy in the battle against. More than ninety eight percent of these children are born healthy. The German Aids Foundation is supporting dream in mozambique you can do something to give a baby a future without a. Make a donation safe a life. This is due to the news live from berlin the kurds mobilized to protest the turkish intervention in syria demonstrations and let those lebannon its like the Turkish Embassy as germany also prepares for a large kurdish demonstration later today. Fighting corruption tops the agenda at the African Union i knew a little bit in the theo there are phones and takes us to nigeria franklins that has clips and is affecting peoples daily lives
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