Ethics

UNHCR commends progress in solving Roma issues

BELGRADE -- A UN official has commended Serbia's effort and progress in resolving the issues facing the Roma national minority, in comparison to the region.

Former Bank of Greece Governor Giorgos Provopoulos (photo) has been called by a prosecutor probing the sale of Proton Bank to Lavrentis Lavrentiadis to answer questions relating to the decision to approve the businessman’s takeover of the lender.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said July 22 he had never made concessions during the ongoing process to find a solution to the Kurdish problem, addressing the relatives of fallen soldiers at an iftar dinner in Ankara.

Two men, aged 41 and 33, on Friday faced an Athens prosecutor, on charges of pimping and statutory rape respectively.

According to police reports, the 41-year-old was charged for allegedly allowing the 33-year-old to sexually molest his 11-year-old niece in exchange for 150 euros.

Police believe the latter had sexually molested the victim repeatedly in the past.

Bulgaria's Ombudsman Konstantin Penchev said he received plenty of complaints from people whose salaries were blocked in the troubled Corporate Commercial Bank (KTB). 

“I can't help them,” Penchev told the Bulgarian National Radio (BNR). “Those are the risks of the market economy. We don't know what's the situation and we cannot find a solution.”

Overwhelmed by an influx of mostly Syrian immigrants, Bulgaria has taken steps to secure its EU border -- including building a barbed-wire fence -- but now faces criticism from rights groups.
      
The 30-kilometre fence, standing three meters high and fortified with razor wire coils, was completed this week.
      

The Prosecutor's office has decided not to demand custody for Corporate Commercial Bank (KTB) chief executive Orlin Rusev and Chief Cashier Mariya Dimova, Wednesday.

Rusev, who was detained alongside the other three over alleged embezzlement of BGN 206 M (EUR 103 M) from KTB, has been freed of custody for BGN 10 000 (EUR 5000), Monday.

Four former fighters were charged with crimes against civilians, including multiple rapes, torture and humiliating sexual abuse of Serb women, in the Odzak area in the summer of 1992.

OSCE on ruling against B92 in defamation case

VIENNA -- OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović regretted the ruling by the appeals court in Belgrade against the media outlet B92.

The case concerned defamation in connection with reporting involving a former Serbian official.

Romania was sentenced by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to pay 7,000 euro in material damage to Romanian citizen Mircea Dan Butiuc for the degrading treatment he was subjected to during his detainment in the Poarta Alba penitentiary, a release of the ECHR informs.