Malaysia newspaper bribe / Myanmar pro-investment priorities / Iran corruption courts
Newspaper’s assistant manager jailed 30 months, fined RM100k over bribery. An assistant manager from an English-language daily newspaper has been slapped with a 30-month jail sentence and a fine of RM100,000 by the sessions court after being found guilty of receiving bribes of RM20,000 (US$4,800) last year.
‘Tone from the top’ crucial in anti-corruption: DICA. According to the director general of the Directorate for Investment and Company Administration (DICA) U Aung Naing Oo, the Commission recognised that corruption was a deterrent to foreign direct investment, and explained that one of the roles of the new Ministry of Investment and Foreign Economic Relations would be to streamline procedures for agencies involved in attracting and overseeing investment, to reduce red tape and opportunities for “tea-money” and corruption. He highlighted low salaries as a driver of “tea-money” demands.
Kyaw Soe Htet/Myanmar Times: https://www.mmtimes.com/news/tone-top-crucial-anti-corruption-dica.html
Iran's 'corruption courts' fuel surge in executions. The embattled Iranian government is increasingly resorting to the most severe punishment — execution — as it tries to tamp down a wave of financial crimes amid an economic downturn fueled in part by tough U.S. sanctions, according to activists and human rights groups.
Dan Boylan/The Washington Times: https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/dec/17/iran-corruption-courts-fuel-surge-executions/