<B>Magistrate removes prison sentence for lottery cheats</B>

The Intermediate Court has suspended the prison sentence against the nine persons who participated in the swindle of Rs 5 million. They were accused of forgery, use of forgery and criminal agreement after they all agreed on making a fake lottery ticket to win the jackpot. The second chance that magistrate Véronique Kwok has agreed to give them has come as a relief to them. The decision came after their lawyers’ plea that eight of them had a clean record and all have children. The accused will, however, have to wait for the report from the Probation Office in August to know if they will remain free or not.

<B>Launching of 35th edition of Miss Mauritius</B>

Enrolment for the 2004 Miss Mauritius contest is on. Women who want to register have to be single, and not exceed an age limit to make sure that they have the right to take part in the Miss World and Miss Universe contests. The winner will be offered trips to Reunion, America, Rodrigues, Africa or Asia, cosmetics, clothes, jewels, etc. This year, she will also have a permanent job during her year as Miss Mauritius and will be paid Rs 15,000 a month - and have the use of a car.

<B>Fruitful conference on corruption</B>

The judiciary is not corrupt but the general perception is that it is. The profession will do its best to find out why such a perception exists and what can be done to clear it. The seminar on corruption organised by the judiciary led to another conclusion: the press and the judiciary are interdependent. They will have to learn to live together as they are two main pillars of democracy. After all, they both work to achieve the same goal: justice. “The qualities required to become a journalist and a judge are the same: honesty, integrity and devotion,” Défi-plus journalist, Dharmanand Dhoorika, pointed out.

Moreover, judge Eddy Balancy voiced out the commitment of the judges present to make judgments more accessible to everyone. They should now be written in simpler language and lawyers should explain to their clients exactly what happened.