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Factual: Life Stories

True stories of ordinary people and the extraordinary events that have shaped their lives.

Outlook: 01/03/2011

01/03/2011

BBC World Service - Outlook, 01/03/2011

The lawyer who tracks down the money embezzled by former dictators

ENRICO MONFRINI 
Enrico Monfrini has been called 'the man who dictators fear the most' because of his skill and success in tracking down the billions of dollars hidden away by corrupt leaders. In his most celebrated case, the lawyer helped to restore more than one billion dollars which had been taken from Nigeria by the country's former leader General Sani Abacha in the 1990s. But as he told Matthew Bannister, he is also keeping a keen eye on current events in the Middle East, in case he's called upon to track down money taken by recently deposed heads of state. 

ABDULHADI SAFFAR
The tiny Gulf state of Bahrain has been feeling the effects of the current unrest in the Middle East, with anti government protests in the streets. In an attempt to calm the mood, the King has  recently released of a group of twenty three human rights activists who had been held since last September on charges of planning terrorist activities. The men's release had been demanded by protesters as a condition of opening talks with the government. One member of that group, Abdulhadi Saffar, says his only crime was translating TV news reports and human rights pamphlets into English. He told Matthew more about his arrest and imprisonment

TUKESH WANODE
The Indian government has brought in laws to stop discrimination on the grounds of caste. But in rural areas, traditional values are still very strong and local village councils implement their own judgements - which can sometimes lead to the execution of people who have broken caste rules. Tukesh Wanode's sister married a man from another caste, a marriage that he initially opposed as it would have been a scandalous event in their village in Western India. 
But eventually Tukesh relented and helped persuade his parents that they too should give the marriage their blessing. And now, as deputy leader of his village council in Maharashtra state, Tukesh helps other young couples who want to marry for love across the caste divide. He told Jo Fidgen how he changed his mind on the issue.

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