■SOUTH KOREA
Former PM Han released
Prosecutors released former prime minister Han Myung-sook after questioning her over an alleged bribery scandal amid claims by the main opposition party that the move was politically motivated. The investigation came days after the nation’s former No. 2 official refused to appear before prosecutors over suspicions she took US$50,000 from a businessman in return for favors in 2006 when she was prime minister. Han denied the allegation and exercised her right to remain silent during questioning, said Woo Sang-ho, a former lawmaker and spokesman for the main opposition Democratic Party. Han was released late on Friday. Prosecutors were considering indicting the former prime minister on a bribery charge this week, South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported.
■CHINA
Filipino transvestites jailed
Five Filipino transvestites who lured foreign men from bars in Shanghai before drugging and then robbing them have been jailed for up to 13 years, state media said on Friday. The men, aged between 26 and 30, dressed in women’s clothes when they carried out the robberies between last December and February this year, a Shanghai court found, Xinhua news agency reported. They would go with the men to hotels or the victims’ homes with promises of sex, but once there would drug them with chocolate or beer laced with sleeping pills. The five would then rob the victims of cash, mobile phones, watches and credit cards, the report said, quoting the court. The stolen goods totaled 340,000 yuan (US$50,000), Xinhua said. All five men, who were jailed on Friday for between nine and 13 years, will be deported after serving their sentences, the report said.
■SERBIA
‘Pink Panther’ gang jailed
A Belgrade court on Friday jailed three members of the so-called “Pink Panther” gang for a record-breaking jewel robbery in 2004, Beta news agency reported. The gang has been blamed for robberies around the globe. The court found the three guilty of stealing almost 22 million euros (US$31 million) of jewelery in Tokyo on March 5, 2004, the report said. The stash has never been found.
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