FEBRUARY 2002
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Wednesday, 27th February,2002
SEKAI HOLLAND INTERVIEW
The MDC has denied involvement in any
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plot to kill Mr Mugabe.. saying the
tape has been doctored.
Sekai Holland is the MDC’s Secretary
for International Affairs. She is in
Australia for the Commonwealth Heads
of Government Meeting.
Today Mrs Holland spoke with the
reporter who broke the story, Mark
Davis. -
Wednesday, 27th February,2002
KEMAL MORJANE INTERVIEW
Representatives from more than 30
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nations met in Bali today to tackle
the issue of people smuggling. The
establishment of the conference
suggests that nations at all points of
the so-called people
smuggling "pipeline" see the need for
international cooperation. But the
day’s proceedings opened nonetheless,
with a salvo from Indonesia’s Megawati
Sukarnoputri. I spoke just a short
time ago with the UN’s Assistant High
Commissioner for Refugees, Kemal
Morjane, who is attending the
conference. -
Wednesday, 27th February,2002
GREEK TRAGEDY
When the Olympic flame was doused in
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Salt Lake City earlier this week, the
countdown began to the next Olympics -
the 2004 Games in Athens. Passionately
proud not only of their Olympic
heritage, Greeks are also quick to
defend their ideals of democracy and
justice. But the violent deaths of two
young Greek Australians has
highlighted the cracks in the
country’s system of law and order. The
families of the 28-year-old Melbourne
man and his 31-year-old cousin claim
the investigation into the case has
been grotesquely mismanaged. Nick
Lazaredes reports on a family`s
international fight for justice. And a
warning - some of the images in this
story are distressing. -
Wednesday, 27th February,2002
THIS WEEK: GREEK MURDER MYSTERY
When the bloodied bodies of Australian
George Karalis and his Greek cousin
George Loizos were found on a
speedboat off the east coast of
Greece, their deaths were quickly
announced as a murder-suicide.
However, as Nick Lazaredes reports on
Dateline this week, organised crime
may have been behind their brutal
slaying.
“This is very similar to the old thing
you see in the westerns, that somebody
is hanging from a noose, when you walk
into town. It’s a warning.” Stephen
Curnow – retired homicide detective.
George Karalis, from Melbourne, had
been visiting his cousin and close
friend, George Loizos, a popular radio
DJ in Nea Makri, a suburb near Athens.
On June 2, 1998 they left for a late
afternoon boat trip across the Evvia
Straits for a coffee and an ouzo
together at a Porto Bufalu taverna
before returning in the evening.
At 4.30am the next morning the boat
was found. George Karalis’ body was
hanging from the rollbar of the boat,
the Skorpios. George Loizos, facedown
in the water, had been tied with his
belt to the side of the propeller,
which had cut him to pieces.
The investigation during the first
crucial hours after the discovery of
the boat was farcically mismanaged.
Litres of blood were splattered
throughout the Skorpios – yet only one
blood sample was taken. No
fingerprints were taken.
Christos Vasilopoulos, Director of
News for the Athens-based Mega Channel
believes that smugglers killed the
men. Since the men’s deaths, two
large shipments of illegal cigarettes
coming from the Ukraine have been
seized in the Evvia Straits.
Mr Vasilopoulos gave Dateline a tape
recording he says is a local fisherman
who claims to have been threatened by
smugglers while fishing. He claims
they emptied his boat of fuel and left
him with a noose tied around his neck.
The Greek investigation into the
deaths has completely stalled and
there have been accusations of a cover
up. However, the fact that George
Karalis is an Australian citizen means
that there must still be a finding
into his death in Australia.
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That’s Dateline, this Wednesday
February 27 at 8.30 pm. -
Wednesday, 20th February,2002
ZIMBABWE FOLLOW UP
This story was removed from the SBS website when Morgan Tsvangirai commenced proceedings against SBS for defamation. These proceedings were discontinued in 2004. Mr Tsvangirai has subsequently been acquitted of treason charges by the High Court in Zimbabwe.
Read more... -
Wednesday, 20th February,2002
AFRICA AIDS FILMS
Southern Africa is at the centre of
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the global AIDS crisis. Nowhere else
in the world is the disease spreading
as fast. Every second 15-year-old in
South Africa could die by 2010. These
grim statistics receive plenty of
media attention, but now a group of
African film-makers is telling stories
of the living rather than the dying.
Their films aim to lift the veil of
secrecy that sustains the spread of
AIDS in Africa. Kyla Brettle produced
this report. -
Wednesday, 20th February,2002
MORGAN TSVANGIRAI INTERVIEW
This story has been removed from the
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SBS website pending legal action.
Morgan Tsvangirai has commenced
proceedings against SBS for
defamation. SBS stands by the story
and will vigorously defend the action. -
Wednesday, 13th February,2002
KILLING MUGABE - THE TSVANGIRAI CONSPIRACY
This story was removed from the SBS website when Morgan Tsvangirai commenced proceedings against SBS for defamation. These proceedings were discontinued in 2004. Mr Tsvangirai has subsequently been acquitted of treason charges by the High Court in Zimbabwe.
Read more... -
Wednesday, 13th February,2002
THIS WEEK: ZIMBABWE’S OPPOSITION ASSASSINATION PLOT
In an hour long Dateline special, Gold
Walkely award winner Mark Davis
reveals a plot to assassinate
Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe
ahead of next month’s election.
Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the
opposition Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC), is seen on surveillance
videotape discussing plans to seize
power in a coup d’etat following “the
elimination of the President.”
The footage was taken late last year,
when Mr Tsvangirai met five men at the
Montreal offices of a prominent North
American political consultancy that
was promised lucrative contracts under
the new government.
The aim of the meeting is clearly
stated, "We are to proceed to
implement a plan of introducing a
transitional government through the
termination of Mugabe."
"If you believe the press, Mugabe is
going to win the election and I think
we have certainly proved that fact to
be wrong today.” “Do coffins win
elections?"
The consultancy company has advised
that it had no intention of fulfilling
the contract.
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That’s Dateline, tonight at 8.30 pm. -
Wednesday, 6th February,2002
LIVE AND LET DIE
In January, the Netherlands became the
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first country in the world to legalise
euthanasia. The Dutch claim doctor-
assisted suicide is already widely
practised throughout the West, and
they have simply acknowledged that
fact. Under strict guidelines, doctors
can now give a lethal injection to
terminal patients who say their pain
is unbearable. But already, the
boundaries of what defines a terminal
illness and what constitutes
unbearable suffering are being
challenged. Dateline`s Peter George
reports that most Dutch people
acknowledge the risks inherent in
euthanasia but continue to support the
move. -
Wednesday, 6th February,2002
BEN BRADSHAW INTERVIEW
The US-led coalition against terrorism has felt a few tremors following President George W. Bush`s naming of three states - Iraq, Iran and North Korea - as an "axis of evil". Some in
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Europe have voiced disquiet about the President`s `take no prisoners` approach since his State of the Union address. Even voices in the United Kingdom, the US`s closest coalition
partner, have balked at some of the President`s rhetoric. I spoke with Britain`s Foreign Office Minister, Ben Bradshaw in London. -
Wednesday, 6th February,2002
DEATH RIGHTS
Ten terminally ill people, on
average,
die by euthanasia every day in the
Netherlands.On DATELINE on
Wednesday, February 6 at 8:30pm,
Peter
George reports on how the
Netherlands
became the first country in the world
to legalise euthanasia after
decades
of often bitter debate. For over 25
years Dutch doctors have been
challenging the courts by admitting
they helped patients to die.
These
legal tests reached a climax last
year
with the case of an 86-year-old
Dutch
senator whose doctor gave him a
lethal
cocktail of drugs. The man was not
suffering from any physical illness,
but said he felt his life had become
meaningless and longed for death.
The
case went to the highest appeals
court
and the doctor was found guilty, but
no penalty was imposed.Critics
fear
that legalising euthanasia will
gradually lead to the acceptance of
assisted death for people who are
not
terminally ill, but old, mentally ill
or simply tired of life. Elly de Hullu
of the Dutch Volntary Euthanasia
Society full supports such
implications, even accepting the
possible introduction of a ‘suicide
pill’ that would allow people to kill
themselves in three steps. She
says
this type of medically assisted
suicide, which allows for a change
of
mind before the third stage, is
preferable to jumping from a train.
She even supports its use by young
people.The Dutch Christian
Democrats opposed the bill. Having
lost that fight they are now trying to
ensure that terminally ill patients do
not feel pressured into choosing
euthanasia because of a lack of
palliative care. Currently there are
only 84 hospice beds available in
the
Netherland, a country with a
population of 16 million. Ellis
Jonker-
Horstmann, manager of the
Alkmaar
Hospice believes that at least 1,000
beds are needed to fulfil the
demand
for hospice care.DATELINE this
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Wednesday February 6 at 8:30pm.
