Once again, law fails the kleptocracy question.

In Fridman v Council, the ECJ insists on a high threshold for sanctions. But this judgment acknowledges neither how money is made in kleptocratic environments nor how elite 🇷🇺 compatriots keep Kremlin ties.
curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/do…

A little post from me on Reporter.London on Uzbek oil, Russian banking, Italian lube and other strategic things.

Arm's-length: Uzbek tycoon with links to Putin pal and sanctioned Russian bank grabs strategic assets in Europe reporter.london/?p=1216 via Reporter.London

📣 PR: Hot off the press 🗞
Discover how the initiative will pursue its key objectives such as achieving a deeper understanding of #corruption from an interdisciplinary perspective, increasing knowledge & #data on #political corruption lisboncouncil
linkedin.com/pulse/press-re…

'In the UK, there’s a different way to silence those who ask questions about the rich. You don’t need an Arctic penal colony. Just the High Court'. Yes!

'Can The UK’s Professions Stop Butlering to the World?'

Alex Jacobs reflects on next steps after Monday's launch for Tom Mayne's report 'What's the Risk? PR & Communication Agencies and #Kleptocracy ' w/ Liam Byrne MP, Franz Wild & Farzana Baduel.

➡️ fpc.org.uk/op-ed-can-the-…

The long history of transnational corruption at the highest level in U.K.- Saudi relations continues.

Raises questions of, “the role of the Ministry of Defence in authorising the alleged bribes”.

Excellent work by ⁦Spotlight on Corruption⁩ spotlightcorruption.org/acquittal-of-t…

UK government officials at the most senior level evidently signed off on large bribes to Saudi government. Not a shock horror moment. But places an important spotlight on the UK state weaponising corruption in every sense: theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/m…

It's already happening. GDPR is one of the most damaging innovations for transparency and accountability brigade. 'Privacy' is code for secrecy.

Watch this space. Will the next generation of SLAPPs (Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation) try to weaponise at scale GDPR and 'privacy rights' to diminish accountability, intimidate public interest research, and hamstrung investigative media ft.com/content/e79c71…

Wrote up a small compendium to Ozodlik Radiosi and Professor Kristian Lasslett’s 2023 investigation on the “Russian Octopus” in #Uzbekistan ’s gas sector. There’s an Italian connection that the good people at ReCommon unveiled. For The Diplomat thediplomat.com/2024/03/italia…

The secrets of the Conservative money machine. An extract from my new book Cuckooland: Where the rich own the truth. It's out on Thursday. A story unlike any other I've reported. At its heart - a fight to control reality itself. Pre-order: lnkfi.re/AmSBLr…

***Applications for the MSc in CCJ at UU are open!***
If you would like to find out more & how to apply:
ulster.ac.uk/courses/202425…
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Check out student testimonials here:
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📢
Risk of #forcedlabor remains high in #Uzbekistan 's #cotton fields. Faced with a shortage of voluntary pickers, officials turned to coercion to fulfill state-imposed production targets.
Read our report on the 2023 cotton harvest 👇
bit.ly/3Up958y

📢📢📢 Call for Papers 📢📢📢

Special Issue: Southerning State Crime Criminology special edited by Valeria Vegh Weis + Professor Kristian Lasslett.

🕒 Submission deadline 1 August 2024 🕒

PDF (with other language versions) available➡️ shorturl.at/bftIL.

📢The Sharq publishing house in #Tashkent has been excluded from the National List of Cultural Heritage Sites of #Uzbekistan , paving the way for property development. The landmark building is recognized as a monument of architectural art.
Uzbekistan Tourism Ambassador
bit.ly/48ZeQxA

Tomorrow Dilmurad and his family - including 9 children - risk losing their home in Tashkent, #Uzbekistan . Golden House, a company linked to opaque money flows, has won a legal battle to take it over.

Read more & join our calls to #StopForcedEvictions 👇
rightsindevelopment.org/news/dilmurod-…

Another pvt home demolished by the Govt of Uzbekistan for 'public need', e.g. a private developer tied to the President's son-in-law family. Well that was the case in 2021 when we revealed Orient Group's political exposure. Then the Umarov name got scrubbed from company records🧐

Anyone interested in public interest investigations into corporate and state crime, check out DDoSecrets & donate! They make available hugely significant leaks. And they don’t limit access to an anointed circle, a 🤯 practice that seriously dents the public value of leaks!