Headline

Former Brazil Olympic Boss Sentenced To 31 Years Imprisonment

Published

4 years ago

November 28, 2021

Editor

Carlos Arthur Nuzman, the head of the Brazilian Olympic Committee for more than two decades, was sentenced to 30 years and 11 months in jail for buying votes for Rio de Janeiro to host the 2016 Olympics.

The ruling by Judge Marcelo Bretas became public Thursday.

Nuzman, who also headed the Rio organizing committee, was found guilty of corruption, criminal organization, money laundering and tax evasion.

The 79-year-old executive, who was an IOC member for 12 years including at the time his colleagues were allegedly bribed in the 2009 vote, won’t be jailed until all his appeals are heard.

He and his lawyer did not comment on the decision.

Bretas also sentenced to jail former Rio Gov. Sergio Cabral, businessman Arthur Soares and Leonardo Gryner, who was the Rio committee director general of operations.

Investigators say all three and Nuzman coordinated to bribe the former president of the International Association of Athletics Federations, Lamine Diack, and his son Papa Massata Diack for votes.

Cabral, who has been in jail since 2016 and faces other convictions and investigations, told Bretas two years ago he paid about $2 million in exchange for up to six votes in the International Olympic Committee meeting that awarded Rio the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

He said the money came from a debt owed to him by Soares.

Cabral, who governed Rio state from 2003-10, added that another $500,000 was paid later to Diack’s son with the aim of securing three more votes of IOC members. Lamine Diack was a senior IOC member at the time

Bretas’ ruling labels Nuzman as “one of the main responsibles for the promotion and the organization of the criminal scheme, given his position in the Brazilian Olympic Committee and before international authorities.”

The judge also said the sports executive “headed and coordinated action of the other agents, clearly as a leader” to illegally garnish support at the IOC.

The judge said he will send the results of the investigation to authorities in Senegal, where Papa Massata Diack and Lamine Diack live, and France.

A French court in 2020 sentenced Lamine Diack to two years in jail for corruption while leading track and field. Now 88, Diack returned to Senegal in May.

Rio’s bid beat Chicago, Tokyo and Madrid to host the 2016 Games in a vote held in Copenhagen..

Barack Obama traveled as the sitting president of the United States to Denmark to campaign for his home city Chicago.

Many years later while still in office, he hinted at possible corruption in sports when he described the 2016 Olympic vote as “a little bit cooked.”

The investigation in Brazil began in 2017 after French newspaper Le Monde found members of the IOC had been bribed three days before the vote.

In 2017, the IOC suspended Nuzman’s honorary membership which he has held since 2013 and has yet to be removed.

“Now, the IOC ethics commission will study the judgement against Mr. Nuzman and will make its recommendations as soon as it receives the full information from the Brazilian authorities,” the IOC said on Friday in a statement.

(AP)

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Medical Plane Crash Kills Six In Kenya

Published

7 hours ago

August 7, 2025

Editor

A medical light aircraft crashed into a small residential block near the Kenyan capital Nairobi, killing at least six people and injuring two seriously, a local official said Thursday.

The plane took off from Nairobi’s Wilson airport at 2:17 pm local time (1100 GMT) and was en route to Somaliland when it came down in Ruiru, Kiambu County, shortly after 3:00 pm (1200 GMT).

“We have lost four people, including the pilot… it was all fatal,” said Kiambu County commissioner Henry Wafula, adding that two people were killed on the ground. He said another two had been “seriously injured”.

AFP

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FULL LIST: Ghana Releases Identities Of Helicopter Crash Victims

Published

15 hours ago

August 7, 2025

Editor

The Ghanaian Government has released the names of individuals who died in Wednesday morning’s military helicopter crash.

The crash involved a Z-9 helicopter belonging to the Ghana Armed Forces, which lost contact during a flight from Accra, the capital, to Obuasi, a gold-mining town in the south, where the crew headed for an official engagement.

In a post via its official X handle on Wednesday, the Ghana Armed Forces said the victims comprise eight people.

The names and portfolios of the victims are listed below:

1. Edward Omane Boamah – Minister for Defence

2. ⁠Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed – Minister for Environment, Science and Technology

3. Muniru Mohammed – Acting deputy, National Security Coordinator and former Minister for Food and Agriculture

4. Samuel Sarpong – Vice- Chairman, National Democratic Congress

5. ⁠Samuel Aboagye – Former parliamentary candidate

6. Peter Baafemi Anala – ⁠Squadron leader

7. ⁠Manaen Twum Ampadu – Flying officer

8. ⁠Ernest Addo – Sergeant

Following the sad development, Ghanaian President John Mahama described the incident as a national tragedy and suspended activities upon receiving the news.

He also directed that flags fly at half-mast to honour the memory of the victims.

Headline

Bodies Of Helicopter Crash Victims Arrive In Accra

Published

16 hours ago

August 7, 2025

Editor

The Ghana Armed Forces on Wednesday confirmed the arrival in Accra of the remains of the victims of the Z-9 military helicopter crash, which claimed the lives of eight personnel.

It stated that the victims’ bodies were transported from the crash site aboard a Ghana Air Force Casa aircraft and received at the Air Force Base in Accra on August 6, 2025.

According to a statement issued by the Acting Director General, Public Relations, Ghana Navy, Captain Veronica Arhin, government officials, military personnel, and sympathisers led by the Chief of Staff at the Presidency, Julius Debrah, were present to receive the bodies.

The statement said the remains have since been deposited at the 37 Military Hospital for preservation and preparations for burial.

It noted that all eight bodies were recovered from the crash site located in the Sikaman area, near Adansi Akrofuom in Ghana’s Ashanti Region.

The Ghana Armed Forces extended its appreciation to the people of Sikaman and the security services for their support during the recovery operations.

“The Deputy Minister for Defence, Hon. Brogya Genfi, and the Military High Command extend their deepest condolences to the families in this difficult national tragedy,” the statement added.