On May 28, 2021, Belizean authorities detained Jasmine Hartin, a 32-year-old Canadian woman. They charged her in the San Pedro Magistrate’s Court in connection with the death of Henry Jemmott, a local police superintendent. The Director of Public Prosecutions Cheryl Lynn Vidal directed that Hartin be charged with negligent manslaughter in Jemmott’s death in Ambergris Caye when he was off-duty.[1] The case is a high-visible one in Belize because Hartin is the partner/husband of Andrew Ashcroft, son of Michael Ashcroft, the Conservative party donor. Lord Ashcroft is a former Tory party deputy chairman.  He is formerly a member of the House of Lords, a billionaire, and very influential due to his investments in Belize. [2]On June 9, the Supreme Court granted Hartin bail.

On May 27, 2021, the U.N. Human Rights Council adopted a resolution to appoint a Commission of Inquiry on the latest Israel-Palestine conflict.

On May 25, 2021, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York unsealed an indictment against two Austrian nationals, one of which was arrested in the United Kingdom, on criminal charges related to the alleged participation in a conspiracy to launder hundreds of millions of dollars through the U.S. financial system as part of a scheme to pay bribes and defraud the Brazilian government.[1]

On June 3, 2021, the Biden Administration released a memorandum establishing combating corruption as a core United States national security interest, thereby stimulating several international anti-corruption initiatives.

On May 18 and 19, 2021, the Ministers of Justice and Attorneys General of the member states of the Organization of American States (OAS) participated in the Eleventh Meeting of Ministers of Justice, or Other Ministers, or Attorneys General of the Americas (REMJA – XI).  Ecuador hosted the virtual meeting.  The Ecuadorian Attorney General, Dr. Diana Salazar, hosted the meeting.

On May 27, 2021, the United States Attorney in Miami announced the arrest in Florida and Georgia of the former Minister of Interior, his chief of staff, and three U.S. citizens on criminal charges related to their alleged roles in bribery and money laundering conspiracy.[1]

On May 25, 2021, an Italian court ordered that four Egyptian security officials must stand trial on October 14 over the kidnap, torture, and murder of an Italian student whose body was found in Cairo after he disappeared in January 2016.  The body of Giulio Regini, a postgraduate student at the University of Cambridge, was so badly disfigured when it was found that his mother could scarcely identify him.[1]

On December 16, 2019, the European Union (EU) Whistleblower Protection Directive was adopted.[1]  The directive intended to cure whistleblower protection that was viewed as fragmented and inconsistent.  Within the framework, the directive set out minimum EU-wide standards for: “reporting channels for organizations of a certain size; and the level of protection afforded to persons that report breaches of Union law.”[2]  Since the initiation of the directive, member states were provided with a period of two-years to implement these policies into their respective constitutions, statutes, and treatises.[3]  With the two year deadline quickly approaching, it is prudent to check in on the progress of the member states and discuss the benefits and obstacles this directive may face.  In addition, this article will interweave the Jonathan Taylor case, a U.K. native and whistleblower that exposed bribery at his old firm SMB Offshore, into the analysis of the directive.[4] 
 

On May 20, 2021, the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed a federal grand jury indictment in Washington, D.C. against the Republic of Chad’s former Ambassador to the United States and Canada and Chad’s former Deputy Chief of Mission for the U.S. and Canada with soliciting and accepting a $2 million bribe from a Canadian start-up energy company, and conspiring to launder the bribe payment in an effort to conceal it.[1]

Recently, the Malawi courts have denied Shepard Bushiris’ defense in response to South Africa’s extradition request.[1] Shepard Bushiri was arrested in South Africa for money laundering and fraud charges. Shortly after he was granted bail by the Pretoria Central Magistrate’s Court under strict conditions. Once released from bail, he fled to his home country, Malawi. In response, South Africa sent a formal extradition request to Malawi, which the Malawian government received bin December 2020.[2] Since December 2020, South Africa has been trying to have Bushiri extradited under the Southern African Development Community Protocol (SADC Protocol).[3]