Torture is widespread in police cells and prisons across Russia. A new analysis of court rulings shows what the perpetrators pay — if they pay at all.
Credit: Edin Pasovic / OCCRP
Read more: The Low Price of Torture in Russia
When investigating why Russian border guards refused to let a Tajik citizen leave the country, a journalist discovered that the FSB has been systematically using remote police stations across southern Russia as secret prisons. Victims are detained for weeks on petty charges, such as swearing in public.
Credit: Maria Tolstova
Read more: Foul Language and Secret Prisons
Said, a young Somalian man, left his home in 2015 to escape recruitment by jihadist group al-Shabab. After journeying for nearly a year — during which he was tortured in a Libyan slave camp, saw many of his fellow travellers die, and crossed the Mediterranean in a rubber boat — he finally made it to Belgium. This is his story.
Rescued male migrants are brought to southern Italian ports, 28 June 2015; Irish Defence Forces LE Eithne Operations 28 June 2015.
Read more: Trekking Through Hell to Flee From al-Shabab
Heaven and the Underworld Meet at a Catholic festival in the mountains of Calabria.
Festival of the Madonna di Polsi by Antonio Lemma
Read more: Bitter Beauty: A Pilgrimage to the Birthplace of the ‘Ndrangheta
Maldives tourism isn’t all swaying palm trees and white sand beaches. The truth is something far uglier.
Read more: Paradise Leased: The Theft of the Maldives
One of the world's largest oil traders turned to a Belgian passport maker to get access to African officials and their oil fields. But one employee admitted to giving bribes to make that happen.
President of the Republic of Congo Denis Sassou-Nguesso at a Food Security Summit in Rome, 2009. Credit: Pier Paolo Cito / Reuters
Read more: The Unlikely Partnership that Unlocked Congo's Crude
At first glance, it appears an unlikely story thought up in a movie studio. In Russia, Aslan “Big Brother” Gagiyev is called the “No. 1 killer.” He was the architect of the “Family,” an elite murder squad that killed dozens and included high-ranking law enforcement officials among its ranks. Novaya Gazeta reporter Roman Anin sat down with Gagiyev to hear his story.
Photo by Svetlana Vidanova, Novaya Gazeta.
Read more: The Brotherhood of Killers and Cops
The chairman of Lithuania’s ruling party once promised to end backroom deals and graft. But investigations into his agricultural businesses reveal he may have plenty to hide himself.
Ramunas Karbauskis, Chairman of Lithuania’s ruling Farmers and Greens Union. Credit: Julius Kalinskas / 15min
Read more: Lord of the Land: Leader of Lithuania’s Ruling Party Exposed
A series of border closures by the southeastern member states of the European Union have made criminal smuggling networks the only option for migrants and refugees traveling through the Balkans —forcing them to pay thousands only to be left stranded, penniless, and treated like outlaws.
An Afghan woman stuck in the northwestern Bosnian town of Bihac on her way to western Europe.
Read more: Forced into the Arms of Smugglers
Under recently ousted President Zuma, the Gupta family made millions in South Africa. Some of that money may have been used to purchase diamonds in a scheme which defrauded a state program to help poor black dairy farmers.
Koos Mthimkhulu, a black cattle-farmer, inspects his herd at his farm in Eastern Free State Province, South Africa, 2012. Mthimkhulu was born on a white-owned farm, and at the end of minority rule in 1994 was selected for a reform program whereby the government bought agricultural land from white farmers and handed it over to blacks with legitimate claims on the territory. Photo: Reuters / Siphiwe Sibeko
Read more: How the Guptas Milked South Africa for Diamonds
