JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa's top police official was suspended by the president on Thursday after he was charged with breaking finance laws related to an allegedly corrupt police contract.
Fannie Masemola appeared in court on Tuesday and was set to return alongside 12 other senior police officers suspected of fraud, corruption and money laundering in connection with the contract, which was allegedly awarded unlawfully to a local company. Charges against Masemola relate to his responsibilities as the accounting officer for the police service.
President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a press briefing on Thursday that he had appointed Puleng Dimpane, the commissioner for financial management services in the police service, as acting police commissioner while Masemola is on trial.
“I have agreed with General Masemola that he be deemed to be on precautionary suspension pending the conclusion of the case,” Ramaphosa said.
His suspension follows wide-ranging allegations of corruption in the country's criminal justice system that were revealed at a commission of inquiry appointed by Ramaphosa last year.
Masemola faces four counts of violating the Public Finance Management Act, a law that regulates the government’s awarding of contracts, over a 360 million-rand ($21 million) deal to provide health and well-being services to police officers. It is alleged that some of the police officers received bribes from the winning bidders.
South Africa's national police commissioner Fannie Masemola appears in the Pretoria Magistrates Court in Pretoria, South Africa, Tuesday, April 21, 2026. (AP Photo/ Mogomotsi Magome)
MILAN (AP) — The European Union is slashing a 2-million euro ($2.3-million) grant to the Venice Biennale over Russia's participation in the 61st contemporary art show opening May 9, the commission announced Thursday.
The European Commission has informed the Biennale foundation of the funding cut over three years, and the Biennale has 30 days to defend its decision to include Russia for the first time since its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. spokesperson Thomas Regnier said Thursday. The commission had previously announced its intention to do so.
“We are strongly condemning the fact that the Fondazione di Biennale has allowed for the Russian Pavilion to open again,’’ Regnier said.
Russian artists withdrew their participation in 2022, and Russia did not present an exhibition in 2024 for its permanent pavilion, which it instead lent to Bolivia. Russia last participated in the International Art Exhibition in 2019.
The Biennale said in a statement that it “does not have the authority to prevent a country from participating. Any country recognized by the Italian Republic may request to participate.’’
Since Russia owns the pavilion built in 1914 in the historic Giardini, it was required only to send notification of its request to participate, the Biennale said.
“La Biennale di Venezia rejects any form of exclusion or censorship of culture and art. The Biennale, like the city of Venice, continues to be a place of dialogue, openness and artistic freedom, encouraging connections between peoples and cultures, with the constant hope for an end to conflicts and suffering,’’ the Biennale said.
The Biennale contemporary art exhibition is the world's oldest and most important, comprising a main exhibition alongside national pavilions, which are curated separately by the participating nations. For this edition, 99 countries will present national pavilions, 29 of those in the Giardini and the rest spread through the Arsenale and across the city.
The Biennale has in the past refused pressure to exclude countries, including Iran and Israel, from participating.
Cook reported from Brussels.
FILE - A private security officer walks past next to a closed Russia's pavilion at the 59th Biennale of Arts exhibition in Venice, Italy, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni, File)
FILE - A private security officer stands next to a closed Russia's pavilion at the 59th Biennale of Arts exhibition in Venice, Italy, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni, File)
