Malaysian politics just sunk deeper into the depraved depths of obscene vulgarity when a Lembah Pantai resident who received a 16-page comic entitled, Kisah Juara Raja Lawak alerted PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah (left). The latter wasted no time to lodge a police report on Tuesday over the said booklet which contained lewd images of her father, Anwar Ibrahim. It was allegedly sent out via a post office in Shah Alam and distributed to newly registered voters in Nurul’s Lembah Pantai parliamentary constituency. Nurul claimed that the comic was part of a well-orchestrated campaign conceived to sully Anwar’s reputation and credibility and that of herself as the eldest sibling. Anwar must expect to see a relentless onslaught of lies and aspersions against him because his enemies would like to "kill" him once and for all, and hope that by doing this, PR will crumble and fall by the wayside – and paving the way for BN to take control again!
BP managers could face manslaughter charges when prosecutors in the United States finally conclude their criminal investigation into the Deepwater Horizon explosion in the Gulf of Mexico last April that killed eleven rig workers and triggered the worst oil spill in US history.
The mere possibility that these and other charges may now be on the table at the US Justice Department, first reported last night by Bloomberg News, put new pressure on the shares of the energy giant. The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, did not identify those managers at risk of individual charges. Involuntary manslaughter, if proven, could carry sentences of up to 10 years in prison.
A decision to prosecute individuals within BP as well as the company itself would be an unusual step since it is normally the corporations themselves that are targeted. It would be seen as further evidence of the Obama administration's determination to take the toughest line possible with BP in order to make an example of it in this case.
"They typically don't prosecute employees of large corporations," noted Jane Barrett, a law professor at the University of Maryland. "You've got to prosecute the individuals in order to maximize, and not lose, the deterrent effect."
In fact, the US Attorney General, Eric Holder, did signal he would encourage an aggressive approach. "We will closely examine the actions of those involved in the spill. If we find evidence of illegal behavior, we will be extremely forceful in our response," he had said.