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World

Lula narrowly defeats Bolsonaro to win Brazil presidency again

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SAO PAULO, Oct 30 (Reuters) – Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva narrowly defeated President Jair Bolsonaro in a runoff election on Sunday that marked a stunning comeback for the leftist former president and the end of Brazil’s most right-wing government in decades.

Brazil’s Supreme Electoral Court declared Lula the next president, with 50.9% of votes versus 49.1% for Bolsonaro. The 77-year-old Lula’s inauguration is scheduled for Jan. 1.

The vote was a rebuke for the fiery far-right populism of Bolsonaro, who emerged from the back benches of Congress to forge a novel conservative coalition but lost support as Brazil ran up one of the worst death tolls of the coronavirus pandemic.

Bolsonaro remained silent on Sunday night after the results were announced and some of his allies publicly acknowledged his defeat, defying expectations that he might immediately challenge the narrow result after making baseless claims of fraud in previous elections.

Bolsonaro did not make a call to Lula, according to campaign advisers.

Lula said in a speech he would unite a divided country and ensure that Brazilians “put down arms that never should have been taken up,” while inviting international cooperation to preserve the Amazon rainforest and make global trade more fair.

“I will govern for 215 million Brazilians, and not just for those who voted for me,” Lula said at his campaign headquarters. “There are not two Brazils. We are one country, one people, one great nation.”

Lula arrived at a rally in Sao Paulo shortly after 8:00 p.m. (1100 GMT), waving from the sunroof of a car. Ecstatic supporters near Paulista Avenue waited for him, chanting slogans and drinking champagne.

Vice President-elect Geraldo Alckmin and campaign aides jumped up and down chanting, “It’s time Jair, it’s time to leave already,” in a video circulating on social media.

OPPOSITION

Last year, Bolsonaro, 67, openly discussed refusing to accept the results of the vote.

[1/16] Brazil’s former President and presidential candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speaks at an election night gathering on the day of the Brazilian presidential election run-off, in Sao Paulo, Brazil October 30, 2022. REUTERS/Carla Carniel

A senior Bolsonaro campaign aide, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he would not make a speech on Sunday. The Bolsonaro campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

One close Bolsonaro ally, lawmaker Carla Zambelli, in an apparent nod to Lula’s victory wrote on Twitter, “I PROMISE you, I will be the greatest opposition that Lula has ever imagined.”

Electoral authorities are bracing for him to dispute the outcome, sources told Reuters, and made security preparations in case his supporters stage protests.

U.S. President Joe Biden congratulated Lula for winning “free, fair and credible elections,” joining a chorus of compliments from European and Latin American leaders.

His victory consolidates a new “pink tide” in Latin America, after landmark leftist victories in Colombia and Chile’s elections, echoing a regional political shift two decades ago that introduced Lula to the world stage.

Lula has vowed a return to state-driven economic growth and social policies that helped lift millions out of poverty when he was previously president from 2003 to 2010. He also promises to combat destruction of the Amazon rainforest, now at a 15-year high, and make Brazil a leader in global climate talks.

“These were four years of hatred, of negation of science,” Ana Valeria Doria, 60, a doctor in Rio de Janeiro who celebrated with a drink. “It won’t be easy for Lula to manage the division in this country. But for now it’s pure happiness.”

A former union leader born into poverty, Lula organized strikes against Brazil’s military government in the 1970s. His two-term presidency was marked by a commodity-driven economic boom and he left office with record popularity.

However, his Workers Party was later tarred by a deep recession and a record-breaking corruption scandal that jailed him for 19 months on bribery convictions, which were overturned by the Supreme Court last year.

In his third term, Lula will confront a sluggish economy, tighter budget constraints and a more hostile legislature.

Bolsonaro’s allies form the largest bloc in Congress after this month’s general election and won the races for governor in Brazil’s three most economically powerful states, highlighting the enduring strength of his conservative coalition.

Reporting by Brian Ellsworth and Lisandra Paraguassu in Sao Paulo, Anthony Boadle and Ricardo Brito in Brasilia, Gabriel Stargardter in Rio de Janeiro; Editing by Brad Haynes and Grant McCool

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Singapore will decriminalize sex between men, prime minister says

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  • Under existing law men face up to 2 years jail for gay sex
  • Law has not been actively enforced for decades
  • PM Lee says Singapore society is ready for this change
  • Reaffirms support for traditional definition of marriage

SINGAPORE, Aug 21 (Reuters) – Singapore will decriminalise sex between men but has no plans to change the legal definition of marriage as being between a man and a woman, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Sunday.

LGBTQ groups welcomed Lee’s decision to repeal Section 377A of the penal code, a colonial-era law that criminalises sex between men, but also expressed concern that ruling out same-sex marriage would help to perpetuate discrimination.

In his annual national day rally speech, Lee said Singaporean society, especially young people in the city-state, were becoming more accepting of gay people.

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“I believe this is the right thing to do, and something that most Singaporeans will now accept,” he said.

It was unclear when exactly Section 377A would be repealed.

Singapore becomes the latest Asian country to move toward ending discrimination against members of the LGBTQ community.

In 2018, India’s highest court scrapped a colonial-era ban on gay sex, while Thailand has recently edged closer to legalising same-sex unions.

Under Singapore’s Section 377A, offenders can be jailed for up to two years under the law, but it is not currently actively enforced. There have been no known convictions for sex between consenting adult males for decades and the law does not include sex between women or other genders.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) groups have brought multiple legal challenges attempting to strike down the law, but none has succeeded.

On Sunday, several LGBTQ rights groups said in a joint statement they were “relieved” by Lee’s announcement.

A couple attends Pink Dot, an annual event organised in support of the LGBT community at the Speakers’ Corner in Hong Lim Park in Singapore, June 29, 2019. REUTERS/Feline Lim/File Photo

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“For everyone who has experienced the kinds of bullying, rejection and harassment enabled by this law, repeal finally enables us to begin the process of healing. For those that long for a more equal and inclusive Singapore, repeal signifies that change is indeed possible,” they said in the statement.

But the groups also urged the government not to heed calls from religious conservatives to enshrine the definition of marriage in the constitution, saying this would signal that LGBTQ+ citizens were not equal.

RESISTANCE

In February, Singapore’s highest court had ruled that since the law was not being enforced, it did not breach constitutional rights, as the plaintiffs had argued, and it reaffirmed that the law could not be used to prosecute men for having gay sex.

Some religious groups including Muslims, Catholics and some Protestants continued to resist any repeal of the law, Lee said.

An alliance of more than 80 churches expressed strong disappointment on Sunday over the government’s decision.

“The repeal is an extremely regrettable decision which will have a profound impact on the culture that our children and future generations of Singaporeans will live in,” it said.

Singapore is a multi-racial and multi-religious society of 5.5 million, of whom about 16% are Muslim, with bigger Buddhist and Christian communities. It has a predominantly ethnic Chinese population with sizeable Malay and Indian minorities, according to the 2020 census.

Stressing his government’s continued support for the traditional definition of marriage, Lee said: “We believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman, that children should be raised within such families, that the traditional family should form the basic building block of society.”

Singapore will “protect the definition of marriage from being challenged constitutionally in the courts”, he said. “This will help us repeal Section 377A in a controlled and carefully considered way.”

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Reporting by Chen Lin, editing by Kanupriya Kapoor and Gareth Jones

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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UK judges resign from Hong Kong court over China’s crackdown on dissent

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A general view shows insids the Court of Final Appeal (CFA) at Central, in Hong Kong, China September 18, 2015. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu

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LONDON/HONG KONG, March 30 (Reuters) – Two senior British judges, including the president of the UK Supreme Court, resigned from Hong Kong’s highest court on Wednesday because of a sweeping national security law imposed by China cracking down on dissent in the former British colony.

Robert Reed, who heads Britain’s top judicial body, said that he and colleague Patrick Hodge would relinquish their roles with immediate effect as non-permanent judges on the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal (CFA).

“I have concluded, in agreement with the government, that the judges of the Supreme Court cannot continue to sit in Hong Kong without appearing to endorse an administration which has departed from values of political freedom, and freedom of expression,” Reed said in a statement.

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Britain, which handed Hong Kong back to China in 1997, has said the security law that punishes offences like subversion with up to life imprisonment has been used to curb dissent and freedoms. London also says the law is a breach of the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration that paved the way for the handover.

Many of the city’s democratic campaigners have been arrested, detained or forced into exile, civil society groups shuttered and liberal media outlets forced to close under a security crackdown since the law was enacted in June 2020.

Beijing says the law has brought stability to Hong Kong, rocked by months of sometimes violent anti-government street protests in 2019, and that it includes human rights safeguards.

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam expressed “regret and disappointment” over the move.

Lam said in a statement that foreign judges had made a valuable contribution to Hong Kong for 25 years but “we must vehemently refute any unfounded allegations that the judges’ resignations have anything to do with…the national security law”.

Hong Kong Chief Justice Andrew Cheung said in a statement that he noted with “regret” the resignations of Reed and Hodge, saying the judiciary was committed to the rule of law.

PRESSURE ON OTHER FOREIGN JUDGES

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said Hong Kong had witnessed “a systematic erosion of liberty and democracy”.

“The situation has reached a tipping point where it is no longer tenable for British judges to sit on Hong Kong’s leading court, and (this) would risk legitimising oppression,” she added.

Truss this month criticised Hong Kong authorities for accusing a British-based human rights groups of colluding with foreign forces in a “likely” violation of the security law. read more

In a report on Hong Kong last December, she said that while judicial independence was increasingly finely balanced, she believed British judges could still “play a positive role in supporting this judicial independence”.

The presence of foreign judges in Hong Kong is enshrined in the Basic Law, the mini-constitution that guarantees the global financial hub’s freedoms and extensive autonomy under Chinese rule, including the continuation of Hong Kong’s common law traditions forged during the colonial era.

Reed has previously said he would not serve on the HKCFA in the event the judiciary in the city was undermined.

Local lawyers said the resignations would likely put pressure on the 10 other foreign Court of Final Appeal judges to quit. Six of these are British.

Those judges, also from Canada and Australia, are mostly retired senior jurists in their home countries, unlike Reed and Hodge, who were still serving.

Two other foreign judges, Britain’s Brenda Hale and Australia’s James Spigelman, have also stepped down from the city’s highest court since 2020.

“It is a big blow to the local fraternity and the grand tradition of Hong Kong’s rule of law,” one veteran barrister told Reuters. “For all the pressures ahead, we really needed them and I fear what comes next.”

In a statement on Wednesday, Hong Kong Law Society president Chan Chak Ming urged Reed and Hodge to reconsider their moves, expressing “deep regret” and saying that the decision “disappointingly falls short” of the support among the public and legal community for the continued role of overseas judges.

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Reporting by Michael Holden and William James in London and Greg Torode and James Pomfret in Hong Kong; Editing by Kate Holton, Barbara Lewis, John Stonestreet and Nick Macfie

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World

Hong Kong university dismantles, removes Tiananmen statue

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HONG KONG, Dec 23 (Reuters) – A leading Hong Kong university has dismantled and removed a statue from its campus site that for more than two decades has commemorated pro-democracy protesters killed during China’s Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989.

The artwork, of anguished human torsos, is one of the few remaining public memorials in the former British colony to remember the bloody crackdown that is a taboo topic in mainland China, where it cannot be publicly commemorated.

Known as the “Pillar of Shame,” the statue was a key symbol of the wide-ranging freedoms promised to Hong Kong at its 1997 return to Chinese rule, which differentiated the global financial hub from the rest of China.

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The city has traditionally held the largest annual vigils in the world to commemorate the Tiananmen Square crackdown.

The Council of the University of Hong Kong (HKU) said in an early Thursday statement it made the decision to remove the statue during a Wednesday meeting, “based on external legal advice and risk assessment for the best interest of the University”.

“The HKU Council has requested that the statue be put in storage, and that the University should continue to seek legal advice on any appropriate follow up action,” it said.

Late on Wednesday night, security guards placed yellow barricades around the eight-metre (26-foot) high, two-tonne copper sculpture.

Two Reuters journalists saw scores of workmen in yellow hard hats enter the statue site, which had been draped on all sides by white plastic sheeting and was being guarded by dozens of security personnel.

Loud noises from power tools and chains emanated from the closed off area for several hours before workmen were seen carrying out the top half of the statue and winching it up on a crane towards a waiting shipping container.

A truck later drove the container away early on Thursday. The site of the statue was covered in white plastic sheets and surrounded by yellow barricades. University staff later placed pots of Poinsettia flowers, a popular Christmas decoration in Hong Kong, around the barricades.

‘MEMORIES WRITTEN WITH BLOOD’

Several months ago, the university had sent a legal letter to the custodians of the statue, a group which organised the annual June 4 vigils and has since disbanded amid a national security investigation, asking for its removal.

A June 4 museum was raided by police during the investigation and shut, and its online version cannot be accessed in Hong Kong. read more

The eight-metre-high “Pillar of Shame” by Danish sculptor Jens Galschiot to pay tribute to the victims of the Tiananmen Square crackdown in Beijing on June 4, 1989 is seen before it is set to be removed at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) in Hong Kong, China October 12, 2021. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/Files

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Danish sculptor Jens Galschiot, who created the statue, said in a statement he was “totally shocked” and that he would “claim compensation for any damage” to his private property.

Galschiot, who values the statue at around $1.4 million, had offered to take it back to Denmark, but said his presence in Hong Kong was necessary for the complex operation to go well and asked for reassurances he would not be prosecuted. read more

HKU said in its statement that no party had ever obtained approval to display the statue on its campus and that it had the right to take “appropriate actions” any time. It also called the statue “fragile” and said it posed “potential safety issues.”

Tiananmen survivor Wang Dan, who now lives in the United States, condemned the removal in a Facebook post as “an attempt to wipe off history and memories written with blood.”

The campus was quiet early on Thursday, with students on holiday. Some students dropped by the campus overnight after hearing the news.

“The university is a coward to do this at midnight,” said 19-year-old student surnamed Chan. “I feel very disappointed as it’s a symbol of history.”

Another student surnamed Leung said he was “heart-broken” to see the statue “being cut into pieces”.

TIANANMEN ERASED

The removal of the statue is the latest step targeting people or organisations affiliated with the sensitive June 4, 1989, date and events to mark it.

Authorities have been clamping down in Hong Kong under a China-imposed national security law that human rights activists say is being used to suppress civil society, jail democracy campaigners and curb basic freedoms.

Authorities say the law has restored order and stability after massive street protests in 2019. They insist freedom of speech and other rights remain intact and that prosecutions are not political.

China has never provided a full account of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown. Officials gave a death toll of about 300, but rights groups and witnesses say thousands may have been killed.

“What the Communist Party wants is for all of us to just forget about this (Tiananmen). It’s very unfortunate,” John Burns, a political scientist at the university for over 40 years who had called for the statue to remain, told Reuters.

“They would like it globally to be forgotten.”

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Additional reporting by Sara Cheng, Alun John, Eduardo Baptista and Marius Zaharia; Writing by James Pomfret and Marius Zaharia; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall and Michael Perry

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S.Korea to grant legal status to animals to tackle abuse, abandonment

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SEOUL, Aug 19 (Reuters) – Jin-hui, a cream-coloured Pomeranian, was buried alive and left for dead in 2018 in the South Korean port city of Busan.

No charges were filed against its owner at the time, but animal abusers and those who abandon pets will soon face harsher punishment as South Korea plans to amend its civil code to grant animals legal status, Choung Jae-min, the justice ministry’s director-general of legal counsel, told Reuters in an interview.

The amendment, which must still be approved by parliament, likely during its next regular session in September, would make South Korea one of a handful of countries to recognise animals as beings, with a right to protection, enhanced welfare and respect for life.

The push for the amendment comes as the number of animal abuse cases increased to 914 in 2019 from 69 in 2010, data published by a lawmaker’s office showed, and the pet-owning population grew to more than 10 million people in the country of 52 million.

South Korea’s animal protection law states that anyone who abuses or is cruel to animals may be sentenced to a maximum of three years in prison or fined 30 million won ($25,494), but the standards to decide penalties have been low as the animals are treated as objects under the current legal system, Choung said.

Once the Civil Act declares animals are no longer simply things, judges and prosecutors will have more options when determining sentences, he said.

The proposal has met with scepticism from the Korea Pet Industry Retail Association, which pointed out there are already laws in place to protect animals.

“The revision will only call for means to regulate the industry by making it difficult to adopt pets, which will impact greatly not only the industry, but the society as a whole,” said the association’s director general, Kim Kyoung-seo.

Kim Gea-yeung, manager of an animal shelter for abandoned dogs and cats, holds Jin-hui, a five-year-old Pomeranian dog, who was rescued from under the ground, in Anseong, South Korea, August 11, 2021. REUTERS/Minwoo Park

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Choung said the amended civil code will also pave the way for follow-up efforts such as life insurance packages for animals and the obligation to rescue and report roadkill.

It is likely the amendment will be passed, said lawmaker Park Hong-keun, who heads the animal welfare parliamentary forum, as there is widespread social consensus that animals should be protected and respected as living beings that coexist in harmony with people.

Animal rights groups welcomed the justice ministry’s plan, while calling for stricter penalties for those who abandon or torture animals, as well as a ban on dog meat.

“Abuse, abandonment, and neglect for pets have not improved in our society,” said Cheon Chin-kyung, head of Korea Animal Rights Advocates.

Despite a slight drop last year, animal abandonment has risen to 130,401 in 2020 from 89,732 cases in 2016, the Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency said. South Korea has an estimated 6 million pet dogs and 2.6 million cats.

Solemn with large, sad eyes, Jin-hui, which means “true light” in Korean, now enjoys spending time with other dogs at an animal shelter south of Seoul.

“Its owner lost his temper and told his kids to bury it alive. We barely managed to save it after a call, but the owner wasn’t punished as the dog was recognised as an object owned by him,” said Kim Gea-yeung, 55, manager of the shelter.

“Animals are certainly not objects.”

($1 = 1,176.76 won)

Reporting by Sangmi Cha, Minwoo Park, Daewoung Kim; Editing by Karishma Singh

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EXCLUSIVE Investigative media outlet fleeing Russia to escape crackdown, editor says

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Roman Badanin, chief editor of investigative news outlet “Proekt”, speaks during an interview with Reuters in New York, U.S., July 27, 2021. Picture taken July 27, 2021. REUTERS/Maria Tsvetkova

  • Russia banned investigative outlet as ‘undesirable’
  • Chief editor leaves Russia, has no plans to return
  • Kremlin denies targeting media over politics, cites law

NEW YORK, July 29 (Reuters) – Roman Badanin, chief editor of investigative news outlet Proekt, has left Russia with no plans to return and is evacuating his staff to avoid possible prosecution after Proekt was outlawed in a media crackdown, he told Reuters.

Proekt has published a series of deeply researched and unflattering investigations into Russia’s ruling elite. Russian authorities declared it an “undesirable” organisation on national security grounds on July 15, effectively banning it. read more

The move was part of a widening crackdown ahead of September’s parliamentary election that has targeted media regarded by authorities as hostile and foreign-backed.

Badanin, in an interview in New York, said he had no plans to return to Russia soon since he could face criminal prosecution. Under a 2015 law, members of “undesirable” groups can be fined or jailed for up to six years for ignoring the ban.

The Kremlin denies media are targeted for political reasons and says any action taken against outlets or their staff result from specific circumstances and are motivated by the need to uphold the law.

Badanin said he did not know where he would settle and that he was only in New York temporarily. He was on holiday with his wife and children abroad when Proekt was labelled “undesirable” and he decided on the spot not to return to Russia.

He said staff at Proekt were also exposed due to a criminal investigation into alleged slander against the outlet as well as a push by authorities to label some journalists, including several that work at Proekt, as “foreign agents”.

The term carries negative, Soviet-era connotations and subjects those designated to extra government scrutiny and labelling requirements. Police last month raided the homes of Badanin, his deputy Mikhail Rubin and one of Proekt’s reporters in the slander case. Rubin was briefly detained. read more

“We are trying to evacuate staff – if the staff members agree, of course – to one of the nearby countries,” Badanin said.

He said Rubin is also in New York and has no plans to return to Moscow. Both have been labelled “foreign agents”.

Badanin said Proekt would continue to function in some form, although details of how that would work in practice remain unclear. “The main difference is that a large part of the team will be out of Russia in order to avoid the possibility of any legal and extra-legal action against them,” he said.

Several other non-state outlets have complained of mounting government pressure though none have been labelled “undesirable”.

Additional reporting by Anton Zverev
Writing by Tom Balmforth
Editing by Andrew Osborn and Mark Heinrich

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