Young Socceroos to try to salvage U/20 World Cup tournament with win in final group match against Turkey

DAVID DAVUTOVIC IN RIZE-NEWS LIMITED NETWORK-JUNE 28, 2013 12:00AM

Australia’s Jamie McLaren competes with El Salvador’s Kevin Batahona in their second group match at the U/20 World Cup. Source: AFP

YOUNG Socceroos coach Paul Okon has vowed that his side will go for broke against hosts Turkey in their final group match of the U20 World Cup.

With just one point after two games Australia will enter the Trabzonspor cauldron needing a win to secure a spot in the round of 16 while Turkey will also be chasing three points after its 1-0 loss to Colombia.

Qualifying stars Corey Gameiro and Ryan Williams are pushing for selection having looked lively after coming on in the 2-1 loss to El Salvador with Okon going with the same XI for both games.

Gameiro has been hampered by an ankle injury and hasn’t been able to train fully while Williams lost his spot to

World Cup bolter Andrew Hoole of Newcastle Jets.

“There could be some changes, we’ll analyse Turkey’s last two games and then decide the personnel from there,” Okon said.

“Any personnel changes won’t have anything to do with the El Salvador game.

“At the start of the World Cup we knew we’d have to have a minimum of one win if we wanted to qualify, we came close in the first game but in the second we weren’t.

“Now we’re left with no other choice but to beat Turkey in their own backyard. It’s a massive challenge, the players wanted this challenge so there’s no complaints, no matter what we’ll try to win.

“What will be important is scoring early. We can’t focus on the result because we know we need to win, the players have to focus on their jobs and a performance similar to Colombia.

“This is it, we’ve got 90 minutes and we’ve got to go for it.”

The players and coaching staff enjoyed a rare night out of the team hotel, enjoying dinner in the historic port city of Trabzon last night, but today the focus shifts solely on the Turkey match.

Hamburg’s Hakan Calhanoglu and Fenerbahce’s Salih Ucan starred as Turkey mauled El Salvador 3-0 in the opener before Colombian star Joan Quintero consigned them to a 1-0 loss in Rize.

“We had a meal out of the hotel together just to get out and relax a bit and the mood is quite good,” Okon said.

“You could pull out 3000 things from the last game but it isn’t important because the next game is completely different and we need to make sure we’re prepared for what Turkey throw at us, whether they decide to sit back or come at us.”

 

Herald Sun

Tourism Australia and Air New Zealand sign marketing deal

ANGELA SAURINE, NATIONAL TRAVEL REPORTER-NEWS LIMITED-JUNE 27, 2013 3:00PM

Tourism Australia has signed a deal with Air New Zealand to bring more tourists to Australia. Picture: Craig Greenhill Source: News Limited

TOURISM Australia has signed a multimillion-dollar deal with New Zealand’s national airline to help bring more tourists to Australia following its split with Qantas.

The $6 million deal with Air New Zealand will see the organisations work together on marketing for the next three years.

Last year, Qantas pulled out of a $44 million dollar partnership with Tourism Australia over a conflict of interest with Tourism Australia chairman Geoff Dixon.

Mr Dixon – a former Qantas CEO – was linked to a consortium seeking enough stake in Australia’s national carrier to change its strategic direction.

Rival airline Virgin Australia quickly jumped into the void with a deal that will see the carrier double its joint marketing to $12 million over the next three years.

Virgin and Air New Zealand also have an alliance on the trans-Tasman route.

 

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Under the new agreement Tourism Australia and Air New Zealand will each put $3 million towards advertising, public relations, events and trade focusing on three of Australia’s biggest and most valuable markets – New Zealand, North America and China.

Tourism Australia managing director Andrew McEvoy said together the three markets accounted for more than a third of Australia’s international tourist arrivals each year.

Mr McEvoy said he was keen to work with New Zealand Tourism as well.

“We’re seen as competitors in many ways but about a third of visitors from America will visit both countries,” he said.

“We will compete fiercely when we need to but we will collaborate and work together to get our part of the world better known.”

Mr McEvoy said Tourism Australia was open to working with Qantas again.

“They’re a great global carrier and they do a great job all around the world,” he said.

“We’re able to work with them any time they want to work with us.

“The good news is they’re still spending that money with the state and territory tourism bodies.”

Qantas signed a $30 million deal with the NSW Government to promote Sydney and surrounds earlier this year in the biggest tourism partnership in the state’s history.

It will match Barry O’Farrell’s government dollar for dollar – $15 million each – on advertising and marketing campaigns for three years.

Mr McEvoy said Tourism Australia worked with 17 airlines last year and will work with 24 this year.

He said the new deal gives important access from North America through Air New Zealand’s presence in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Vancouver, as well as connections and “feeder traffic” through its alliance with United Airlines, which opens up cities like New York and Chicago.

Air New Zealand also has alliances with Air China and Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific, which Mr McEvoy said gave the opportunity to bring high value, niche travellers to Australia.

Air New Zealand CEO Chris Luxon said 82 million people from China travelled outside the country last year and there was huge potential there.

“It’s a pretty exciting time for the tourism industry,” he said.

“We’re seeing a big shift of power from the Atlantic to the Pacific and Australia is perfectly located to capitalise on that.”

The marketing partnership will be the airline’s biggest outside New Zealand.

Air New Zealand has opened new routes to Australia in recent years, including Auckland to Maroochydore, and the alliance between Air New Zealand and Virgin Australia will see the introduction of a seasonal direct service between Christchurch and Perth later this year.

Around 1.2 million visitors come from New Zealand to Australia last year.

Off limits: 10 places you will never go in Australia

It has featured in dozens of tourism marketing campaigns, but you can’t go there: Heart Reef in the Whitsundays.

There’s off the beaten track, and there’s so far off the beaten track that you can’t even get there.

While Australia is a wonderful country for finding your own piece of heaven, there are some places that even the hardiest adventurer just is going to be able to get to. Whether off limits for wildlife protection, military manoeuvres or sheer inaccessibility, we’ve picked out 10 parts of Oz you’re just not going to get to – as well as 10 much more agreeable alternatives.

Pine Gap

Pine Gap. While it’s hardly a top secret base, there’s a remarkable reticence to state exactly what goes on at the Pine Gap Joint Defence Facility.

While it’s hardly a top secret base, there’s a remarkable reticence to state exactly what goes on at the Pine Gap Joint Defence Facility.

 

Located 18km south-west of Alice Springs, it doesn’t come as too much of a surprise to learn that this Australian-American military base is used as a satellite tracking station. The large antennas pointing at the heavens give that away. But information on any other intelligence activities conducted at Pine Gap is kept deliberately hidden.

Unless you work there, you’re not getting in. Road signs nearby are very clear about this. And don’t think about a scenic flight overhead either – there’s a no fly zone.

South Coast, Point Nepean National Park. Point Nepean ? the tip of the Mornington Peninsula that hugs the eastern side of Port Philip Bay ? hasn’t always been a national park. Visitors are still restricted from entering large swathes of the area, and those parts tend to coincide with the parts that were used as a military firing range for many years. Photo: Ken Irwin

Accessible alternative: The communication with satellites is considerably less cloak and dagger at the NASA-funded Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex. The visitor centre goes into Australia’s role in space exploration, and the field of giant radio telescopes outside make for impressive eye candy.

Heard Island

Effectively a big volcano in the middle of nowhere – it’s about 1000km north of Antarctica, and more than 4000km from both South Africa and the Australian mainland – Heard Island is an Australian external territory.

Effectively a big volcano in the middle of nowhere ? it’s about 1000km north of Antarctica, and more than 4000km from both South Africa and the Australian mainland ? Heard Island is an Australian external territory. Photo: Glenn Jacobsen

At 2750m, Mawson Peak is the highest Australian mountain – and it’s highly active. The most recent eruption was in April 2013.

If you really, really want to go there to see the penguins, glaciers, seabirds and lava flows, it’s a complex process. First, you need permission from the Australian Antarctic Division (www.antarctica.gov.au). Then you need to persuade the crew of a properly kitted-out expedition boat to sail for up to two weeks across some of the roughest seas on earth. Let’s just say it’s unlikely.

Accessible alternative: If it’s an island with an active volcano you want, hop over the ditch to White Island  in New Zealand. For penguins, try Montague Island off the coast of Narooma in New South Wales.

The Ranger Retention Pond

An absolute shoo-in for the title of Australia’s least appealing swim, this large billabong on the cusp of Kakadu National Park is one you can’t dip a toe into anyway. That’s probably a good thing – even though the local wildlife seems to be treating it as an idyllic wetland refuge.

To protect from possible contamination, by law, all water that falls on the Ranger Uranium Mine site has to be kept there. And during the wet season, that’s a hell of a lot of water.

It’s not just potential radiation that’s the issue, however – traps by the side of the pond indicate that saltwater crocodiles have taken up residence in there. Prime snorkelling territory it is not.

Accessible alternative: For a safe swim within Kakadu, head to the top of Gunlom Falls – the natural infinity pool there is too high up for the crocs to get at.

Heart Reef

In a piece of beautiful irony, the star of about 7,283,030 tourism marketing campaigns is one of the places in Australia no one can actually get to. Heart Reef in the Whitsundays – that island from all the promotional films that looks like a heart from above – has protected status. That means you can’t land a helicopter on it, sail up to it or snorkel by it.

Of course, this would be largely pointless anyway – it doesn’t look so romantic from ground level. Air Whitsunday (www.airwhitsunday.com.au) operates a range of scenic flight that give a bird’s eye (and brochure photographer’s) view of Heart Reef.

Accessible alternative: Multiday sailing adventures tend to go beyond the most crowded of 74 islands in the Whitsundays group. For a romantic proposal without the daytripper herds, try Shaw Island – it has brilliant beaches and walking tracks, but tends to get left off shorter itineraries due to its distance from Airlie Beach.

South Coast, Point Nepean National Park

Point Nepean – the tip of the Mornington Peninsula that hugs the eastern side of Port Philip Bay – hasn’t always been a national park. Visitors are still restricted from entering large swathes of the area, and those parts tend to coincide with the parts that were used as a military firing range for many years. There’s a twin reason for keeping these large patches fenced off – one is conservation, and the other is unexploded ordnance. Go walking where you shouldn’t and there’s an unnervingly high chance of losing a limb or two.

Boat access along the south coast of this area is prohibited for safety reasons too – rough seas and high cliffs make it too dangerous to land anywhere.

Accessible alternative: Not all of the national park is off limits. The old military forts and tunnels are open for exploration, as is the former quarantine station. It’s also possible to visit Cheviot Beach, where former PM Harold Holt went missing in 1967.

Carnac Island

It’s just off the coast of Fremantle, but going beyond the beach of Carnac Island requires special permission from the Department of Conservation and Land Management. Anyone arriving by boat and thinking of sneaking inland while no one’s looking could be in for a very nasty surprise, however. The island is teeming with tiger snakes. For researchers in highly protective clothing, this is handy for collecting venom for medical research. For an errant daytripper sauntering along in thongs, well, er … good luck.

Accessible alternative: Regular ferries run to nearby Penguin Island from Rockingham. The wildlife here – sea lions, penguins and pelicans – is considerably less life-threatening.

Cartier Island

Lying closer to Indonesia than Australia, where the Indian Ocean meets the Timor Sea, Cartier Island is a 0.4 hectare sand cay sticking out from a reef.

It’s lumped in with the also uninhabited Ashmore Islands 70km away and administered by the Department of Transport and Regional Services – which should give an idea of just how important it is. The 172 square kilometre marine reserve surrounding the ocean speck is rather more important, however. Around 16 per cent of Australia’s fish species can be found there.

You’re only going to get into that reserve if you’re an Indonesian fisherman with a special licence or an Australian government official monitoring said Indonesian fishermen from a patrol boat.

Accessible alternative: Want wildlife in a remote Indian Ocean territory? Then go for Christmas Island. There’s excellent diving and bird-watching, while the annual red crab migration is one of nature’s greatest spectacles.

Elliot Price Conservation Park

Anywhere else, the 63,645 hectare Elliott Price Conservation Park would be regarded as gigantic. But for Lake Eyre, it’s a relatively small chunk. Deliberately set aside as an area for wildlife and wilderness (translation: lots and lots of salt) to do their thing undisturbed, the conservation park covers the Hunt Peninsula and Brooks Island.

Vehicle access is prohibited, but given that there are no roads for miles around, it’d take a remarkable effort to get one there in the first place.

Accessible alternative: 4WD tracks to parts of the Lake Eyre National Park lead from William Creek and Marree, and there’s a campsite on the edge of the lake at Halligan Point. Otherwise, take it in by air. GSL Aviation offers scenic flights over the lake from Marree.

The Woomera Prohibited Area

Across the wilds of outback South Australia, an area the size of England is kept cordoned off from the public so that the Australian defence forces and various arms manufacturers can practice blowing things up.

The Woomera Prohibited Area is divided into zones. Some are only out of bounds for part of the year. But the red zone just to the north of the Stuart Highway between Woomera and Glendambo is a complete no-no, full of old bits of metal you really don’t want to pick up.

Accessible alternative: The Stuart Highway cuts through the prohibited area, but you’re not allowed to venture off the highway without a permit from the Department of Defence. It’s possible to get a heavily glossed-over version of what’s going on inside Woomera’s Heritage and Visitor Centre, however. Curiously, the displays are keener on explaining the area’s space research pedigree than the weapons testing.

Albatross Island

One of only three breeding sites in the world for the vulnerable Shy Albatross, this tiny Bass Strait island is a Tasmanian state nature reserve. Public access is restricted so that the birds can breed in peace, but even if it wasn’t, the boat ride over there would put off all but the hardiest of visitors. Rough seas and lack of mooring make it tough to get at, even if the Parks and Wildlife Service gives you rare permission to go.

Accessible alternative: Stay at the homestead on nearby Three Hummock Island, and take in a seabird cornucopia in between kayaking, fishing and snorkelling outings.
The Canberra Times – 23 June 2013

New Zealand wants gays to cross the ditch, to tie the knot

Happily ever after: Church of the Good Shepherd on Lake Tekapo, New Zealand. Photo: AFP

Tourist authorities have started a search for an Australian same-sex couple to be the first to marry in New Zealand when the country legalises gay marriage on August 19.

Tourism New Zealand’s national search has been launched as a competition with Australian-based gay and lesbian newspaper Star Observer.

The number of Australians travelling to NZ is expected to increase because of the Marriage Amendment Act. The Australian manager of Tourism New Zealand, Tim Burgess, has said: “New Zealand is already the No. 1 holiday choice for Australians going overseas [1.15 million visited last year], so why not the No. 1 same-sex marriage destination?”

Mr Burgess said NZ had many stunning wedding settings. Among the most popular were the Church of the Good Shepherd at Lake Tekapo, the vineyards in Hawke’s Bay or Waiheke Island, and the top of Tasman Glacier by helicopter.

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“You can shout your love from the mountaintops or clink your glasses at one of the country’s finest vineyards,” Mr Burgess said.

“We are excited to be making history and working with one lucky same-sex couple to become the very first from Australia to be married in New Zealand.”

The winning couple will received return airfares, accommodation, a wedding ceremony and reception. The location has not been announced.

Canberra Times- 23 June 2013

Globo volta atrás e decide cortar cenas de Rita Cadillac em “Amor à Vida”

Ex-Chacrete participou da trama, mas logo depois entrou em “A Fazenda 6”, da Record

Ao entrar em “A Fazenda 6”, Rita Cadillac deixou a Globo numa saia-justa.

Isso porque, antes de estrear no reality da Record, a ex-Chacrete fez uma participação especial na novela “Amor à Vida”, e várias cenas seriam exibidas nesta semana.

Inicialmente, a Globo tinha dito que não iria cortar as cenas de Cadillac, já que a presença dela seria importante para a continuação da trama.

Porém, segundo informações da coluna “Outro Canal”, a emissora voltou atrás e resolveu reeditar as cenas da ex-Chacrete, que na trama é amiga de Márcia (Elizabeth Savalla).

A ordem agora é cortar ao máximo a participação da integrante de “A Fazenda” em “Amor à Vida”, mas sem dificultar o entendimento dos telespectadores para a sequência da novela.

Hong Myung-bo named men’s national football team head coach

Hong Myung-bo (Yonhap News)

South Korean football legend Hong Myung-bo was named the new men’s national team head coach on Monday.

The Korea Football Association (KFA), the national governing body of the sport, tasked the 44-year-old with guiding South Korea at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. The KFA had earlieridentified Hong as “the strongest candidate” among four coaches in the running.

South Korea qualified for its eighth straight World Cup last Tuesday, and Choi Kang-hee immediately resigned as the head coach. When he took over the bench in December 2011, Choi had declared hewould only coach South Korea through the Asian qualifiers for the World Cup finals. The KFA accepted Choi’s resignation offer on

Wednesday and promptly announced Hong as one of the candidates for the job.

The KFA said at the time it had already spoken to Hong about the job.

Hong had long been regarded as a front-runner for the national team job, thanks to his success with national teams at lower-age groups.

The charismatic former national team captain led South Korea’s under-23 team to the bronze medal at the London Olympics last year. It was the country’s first Olympic football medal. Two yearsearlier, Hong coached South Korea to the bronze at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games.

In 2009, Hong was the head coach for the U-20 national team that reached South Korea’s first quarterfinals at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 18 years.

Hong began his coaching career as an assistant on the senior national team from 2005 to 2007, and then on the U-23 squad from 2007 to 2008.

Most of the top players from the London Olympics under Hong have played on the senior national team during the Asian qualifying rounds, and they will likely be key members for the 2014 World Cup playing for the same coach.

Hong also enjoyed an illustrious playing career. The defensive stalwart played 136 international matches, the most by a South Korean player, and is the first Asian to play in four consecutive World Cup finals, from 1990 to 2002.

Hong recently received coaching training under Guus Hiddink, a former South Korean national team head coach and his mentor, with the Russian pro club FC Anzhi. Hong was the national team captain under Hiddink at the 2002 World Cup, when South Korea, a co-host with Japan, reached the semifinals for the first time. (Yonhap News).

 

Park set to hold summit talks with Xi

N.K. nukes, bilateral partnership are key agendas

President Park Geun-hye will hold a summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing on Thursday. (Yonhap News)

President Park Geun-hye will hold summit talks with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Thursday in Beijing, with the agenda prioritizing North Korea’s nuclear problem, regional security and ways to enhance overall bilateral partnership.

During the four-day state visit to China, Park aims to see substantial improvement in the 21-year bilateral relations with the world’s second-biggest economy, Cheong Wa Dae said. This is Park’s second overseas trip since her inauguration following a U.S. visit in May.

“The visit is expected to become an opportunity in which the two countries can further the cooperation on North Korea policies including solving the North’s nuclear problem under the common purpose of bringing about denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the peace and stability of this region,” senior presidential secretary Ju Chul-ki said.

Park and Xi are to adopt a joint communiqué on the future vision for the “strategic cooperative partnership” between the two countries.

It is to be watched whether the statement will become a turning point in the prolonged tension on the Korean Peninsula. Whether China will agree to elucidate a common intolerance to North Korea’s nuclear ambition in the statement remains to be seen.

Expectations are high for Beijing to show an advanced commitment during the summit, in line with the reinforced moves the country has recently been taking in condemning and sanctioning the reclusive regime for its provocations.

Diplomatic contact has been accelerating among the members of the six-party talks on North Korea’s nuclear problem, raising prospects for a resumption of the talks that have been suspended since 2007. But the U.S. and South Korea have also been dismissing North Korea’s latest gestures for dialogue, citing a lack of sincerity in its willingness to comply with the denuclearization process.

During their meeting, Park is expected to describe her trust-building process and the regional peace initiative to earn Xi’s support.

Enhancing bilateral ties is another pillar of the summit talks, as Park aims to boost cooperation with China on all fronts including security, trade, technology, culture and the global stage.

While the two countries have so far seen momentous developments in trade and personnel exchanges, their diplomatic cooperation had remained stuck between South Korea’s alliance with the U.S. and China’s support to North Korea.

Since last year’s election, Park has repeatedly emphasized the importance of China’s role in bringing peaceful unification of the two Koreas.

Park’s China visit will be minted with the slogan “Shim-shin-ji-ryeo,” meaning a journey to accumulate empathy and trust, Ju said.

“The slogan reflects President Park’s intention to solidify the bond of trust with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and other members of the leadership in order to reinforce the strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries,” he said.

Through the visit, Park and Xi are also expected to have a chance to enhance their personal bond. The two had conversed via telephone upon her inauguration in February. Park and Xi previously met in July 2005, as chairwoman of South Korea’s main opposition party and party secretary for the Zhejiang province, respectively.

The two leaders, both of whom took the helm this year, face daunting tasks domestically to uplift economic growth and balance out social benefits with similar political slogans of realizing “happiness” for Park and “dream” for Xi.

On Friday, Park will meet with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and with Zhang Dejiang, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress.

Park will be accompanied by 71 business representatives, the largest presidential delegation to date.

The economic agenda includes the free trade agreement and how to move the negotiation forward, along with ways to cooperate on trade investment, science technology, environment finance, energy and welfare policies. Ju said a host of memorandums of understanding on economic cooperation will be signed on the sidelines of the trip.

Park will also visit Xian for the first time as South Korean president, in a move to highlight Seoul’s dedication to bolster economic and cultural ties.

Xian is an ancient city with over 3,000 years of history and is a base for Western development and one of three major education cities in China, Ju explained.

The city, into which many South Korean companies have already advanced, has great potential for cooperation to serve as a foothold of the businesses in reaching out to Central Europe and Asia, he said.

Around 10 government officials are accompanying Park, including Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se, Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Yoon Sang-jik, Ambassador to China Kwon Young-se and Cho Tae-yong, Seoul’s top nuclear negotiator. Ruling Saenuri Party Rep. Chung Mong-joon will also be joining from the political circles, Cheong Wa Dae said.

By Lee Joo-hee (jhl@heraldcorp.com)

 

The  Korea Herald

Monumentos de cidade da Coreia do Norte viram patrimônio da Unesco

Palácio, escola e muralhas de Kaesong entram para lista das Nações Unidas.

Kaesong foi capital da Coreia durante séculos
(Foto: Reprodução/ BBC)

 

A ONU colocou monumentos da antiga cidade de Kaesong, na Coreia do Norte, na lista dos patrimônios históricos mundiais.

A Unesco (Organização das Nações Unidas para a Cultura, Ciência e Educação) destacou doze locais históricos da cidade incluindo um palácio, uma escola e as muralhas que defendiam Kaesong.

 

Kaesong é um dos poucos locais históricos da Coreia do Norte em que a principal atração para os turistas não são monumentos ligados ao regime comunista, que governa o país.

A cidade foi a capital da península coreana entre os séculos dez e 14, durante a dinastia Koryo

 

Suprema Corte dos EUA dá decisão favorável ao casamento gay

Lei federal definia o casamento como união entre um homem e uma mulher.
Decisão é considerada uma vitória para os defensores do casamento gay.

 

A Suprema Corte dos Estados Unidos derrubou nesta quarta-feira (26) uma controversa lei federal que define o casamento como a união entre um homem e uma mulher, em uma grande vitória para os defensores do casamento entre pessoas do mesmo sexo.

A “Defense of Marriage Act” (Lei de Defesa do Casamento, Doma na sinha em inglês), que o tribunal considerou inconstitucional, negava aos casais do mesmo sexo nos Estados Unidos os mesmos direitos e benefícios federais garantidos aos casais heterossexuais.

“A Doma é inconstitucional como a privação da liberdade igualitária das pessoas, que é protegida pela Quinta Emenda da Constituição”, decidiu a Corte em uma votação apertada com o placar de 5 a 4.

O juiz Anthony Kennedy, que deu o voto decisivo, escreveu no parecer da maioria que a Lei de Defesa do Casamento viola a garantia da Constituição dos EUA de proteção igualitária.

Defensor do casamento gay empunha bandeira na frente da Suprema Corte nesta quarta (26) em Washington (Foto: J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

 

Kennedy também disse que a lei impõe “um estigma sobre todos os que entram em casamentos do mesmo sexo tornados legais pela autoridade inquestionável dos Estados”.

Ao derrubar a seção três da lei, o tribunal abre caminho para mais de 1,1 mil benefícios federais, direitos e encargos vinculados ao status de casado.

 

Senado aprova projeto que torna corrupção crime hediondo

Projeto integrou agenda de votações prioritárias estabelecida pelo Senado.
Texto será agora enviado para apreciação da Câmara dos Deputados.

O Senado Federal aprovou nesta quarta-feira (26) o projeto de lei que altera o Código Penal para aumentar a punição para corrupção e tornar esse tipo de delito crime hediondo, considerado de maior gravidade.

O texto aprovado determina que a corrupção ativa (quando é oferecida a um funcionário público vantagem indevida para a prática de determinado ato de ofício) passa ter pena de 4 a 12 anos de reclusão, além de multa – atualmente, a reclusão é de 2 a 12 anos. A mesma punição passa a valer para a corrupção passiva (quando funcionário público solicita ou recebe vantagem indevida em razão da função que ocupa).

A proposta também inclui entre crimes hediondos a prática de concussão (ato de exigir benefício em função do cargo ocupado).

A proposta segue agora para a Câmara – se alterada pelos deputados, voltará para o Senado antes de ser sancionada pela presidente da República.

O texto foi votado um dia após o presidente do Senado, Renan Calheiros (PMDB-AL), anunciar “agenda positiva” com a votação da proposta entre as prioridades estabelecidas pela Casa para atender as reivindicações surgidas nos protestos de rua por todo o país.

No discurso que pronunciou durante reunião com governadores e prefeitos na última segunda-feira (22), a presidente Dilma Rousseff defendeu endurecer a legislação para que a corrupção dolosa passasse a ser qualificada como crime hediondo.

De acordo com o Código Penal, a condenação por crime hediondo impede a concessão de anistia e o livramento mediante o pagamento de fiança. Por esse tipo de crime, a pena deve ser cumprida inicialmente em regime fechado.

(Correção: ao ser publicada, esta reportagem informou incorretamente que o fato de um crime ser considerado hediondo impede a concessão de liberdade condicional.)

O relator do projeto, senador Alvaro Dias (PSDB-PR), incluiu no texto, de autoria do senadorPedro Taques (PDT-MT), outros dois tipos de crime que envolvem recursos públicos.

Pela proposta, o crime de peculato (quando funcionário se apropria de bem público) passa a ter a pena mínima aumentada de dois para quatro anos de reclusão, além de ser considerado hediondo. A pena máxima permanece em 14 anos de prisão.

Já o crime de excesso de exação (quando servidor público cobra indevidamente imposto ou contribuição social) tem a pena mínima aumentada de três para quatro anos de reclusão, além de também ser considerado hediondo. A pena máxima permanece em 14 anos.

Para Alvaro Dias, a proposta é fundamental para recuperar a credibilidade das instituições públicas. “O projeto aprovado hoje que transforma o crime de corrupção em hediondo aumenta as penas, elimina os privilégios e acaba com a impunidade se a legislação for corretamente aplicada”, declarou.

Emendas
O projeto foi aprovado com uma emenda do senador Wellington Dias (PT-PI) que aumenta em um terço o período de reclusão da pena para peculato nos casos em que o crime for cometido por “agente político” ou “membro de carreira de estado”.

Outra emenda aprovada, de autoria do senador José Sarney (PMDB-AP), vai além dos crimes de corrupção e inclui no projeto o homicídio simples e as suas formas qualificadas como crime hediondo.