27, July 2024
Cameroon-born German politician racially assaulted 0
A Cameroon-born German CDU candidate for a regional election in the country’s east was racially assaulted while out campaigning, police said Friday.
Adeline Abimnwi Awemo was putting up posters in Cottbus, in the northeastern state of Brandenburg, with her family on Thursday when a 29-year-old stranger attacked her, grabbing Awemo by the throat.
“You are not human beings,” the assailant is reported as saying.
Awemo, who has German citizenship, had to go to hospital after the attack, police said.
The Secretary-General of Awemo’s centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party condemned the attack.
“It perfectly illustrates what is going on in our country… Violence and hate are on the rise,” Carsten Linnemann told journalists from the Funke media group.
“The increasing risk for people who are politically active for our country is intolerable. Violence must never become a means of political debate,” the Brandenburg CDU wrote in a post on Instagram, adding that “most importantly” Awemo was doing well again.
The regional election takes place on September 22nd.
The German far right has made significant inroads in Brandenburg and in other former communist East German regions such as Saxony and Thuringia.
In recent times, Germany has seen a rise in politically motivated attacks.
In 2023, authorities recorded 60,028 offences of this sort, around 1,100 more than in 2022.
Source: AFP
29, July 2024
South Africa: Ex-President Jacob Zuma expelled from ANC 0
South Africa’s former President Jacob Zuma has been expelled from the African National Congress (ANC), the party he once led, after campaigning for a rival party in the 29 May general election, local media is reporting.
The ANC’s disciplinary committee found him guilty of “prejudicing the integrity” of the party by joining uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), and has given him three weeks to appeal against its ruling, local media is quoting a leaked ANC document as saying.
The ANC has not officially confirmed his expulsion, while MK said Mr Zuma had not been notified of the decision taken by a “kangaroo court”.
Mr Zuma, 82, was an ANC veteran but fell out with the party after he was forced to quit as president in 2018 over corruption scandals. He has always denied any wrongdoing.
He had been suspended by the ANC in January after creating MK, which now sits in opposition to the ANC-led government in parliament.
In a statement, MK said it was shocked to learn from media reports that Mr Zuma had been expelled.
The disciplinary proceedings were conducted “in a manner akin to a kangaroo court”, the party said.
“It is a foundational legal principle that no person, not even those accused of a serious crime, should be punished or sentenced in their absence,” it added.
The ANC’s disciplinary committee held a virtual hearing, which Mr Zuma refused to attend, saying he wanted to be physically present.
In 2021 he was jailed for contempt of court after refusing to fully co-operate with an inquiry into corruption during his nine-year presidency.
His arrest sparked the deadliest riots since the end of white-minority rule in 1994 and led to the deaths of more than 300 people.
And he now faces corruption charges over a 1999 arms deal.
South Africa’s current president, Cyril Ramaphosa, replaced Zuma in 2018, promising to clean up government.
But in the 29 May elections, the ANC suffered its worst result in 30 years, pushing the ruling party to form a coalition to share power.
uMkhonto we Sizwe – meaning “spear of the nation” – became the country’s third-largest party, largely by taking votes from the ANC.
It won almost 15% of the vote and obtained 58 seats in the 400-member parliament.
MK became the official opposition in parliament after the second-biggest party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), joined the coalition government.
Mr Zuma is barred from being an MP because he was given a 15-month prison sentence for contempt of court.
He has chosen an ex-judge, who was impeached for gross misconduct, to lead MK in parliament.
Source: BBC