Former Namibian Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Bernhard Esau, has been arrested following allegations of corruption and money laundering in the Namibian fishing industry.
Esau's arrest on Saturday came in the wake of a joint investigation by Al Jazeera's Investigative Unit, the Icelandic State Broadcaster RUV, and the Icelandic magazine Stundin based on leaked documents provided by the whistle-blowing group, WikiLeaks.
Warrants have also been issued for the former minister of justice, Sacky Shanghala, former chairman of the state-owned fishing company, James Hatuikulipi, and Esau's son-in-law, Tamson Hatuikulipi.
Al Jazeera's investigation exposed the roles of well-connected Namibians who facilitated Samherji's entry into the industry, in part based on the "Fishrot" archive released by WikiLeaks.
Fishrot is a database of more than 30,000 documents containing internal emails, memos, Powerpoint presentations and media provided by former Samherji employee-turned-whistleblower Johannes Stefansson.
Shortly after the release of the archive, Esau and Shanghala resigned from their positions as ministers.
The two were accused of receiving bribes in return for giving Samherji, one of Iceland's largest fishing companies, preferential access to Namibia's rich fishing grounds.
James Hatuikulipi resigned as chairman of the state-owned fishing company, while the CEO of Samherji, Thorsteinn Mar Baldvinsson, stepped aside from his post pending an independent investigation.
Source: Aljazeer
No comments:
Post a Comment