Democracy Lab Weekly Brief, May 16, 2016

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Antônio Sampaio chronicles the downfall of Brazil’s once-mighty left.

Anna Petherick takes us on a tour of London’s dodgiest properties.

Nicholas Borroz clarifies the role of the judge at the center of the corruption investigation that’s rocking Brazil.

And Cristian Talesco explains why East Timor’s democracy is making it an outcast in Southeast Asia.

And now for this week’s recommended reads: 

Global Witness publishes a detailed investigation into a former British cricket star who built a criminal business empire in Africa — and how he used U.K. tax havens to do it.

The New York Times’ editorial board excoriates Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi for denying the plight of the country’s Rohingya minority. Meanwhile, Devex Impact’s Naki Mendoza analyzes Burma’s pathbreaking first report under the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.

For the Carnegie Endowment, Sarah Mersch reports on how Tunisian anti-corruption campaigners are using the “Panama Papers” revelations about their country to try to change the status quo.

The Wall Street Journal’s Dion Nissenbaum draws attention to the return of the Turkish military to its role as an important player — and as a counterweight to the growing power of President Erdogan.

The Moscow Times reports that the Russian parliament is moving forward on a bill that introduces further restrictions on citizens’ ability to travel abroad. (In case you missed it, Tatia Lemondzhava covered the broader trend for us last month.)

For Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Gordana Knezevic looks into Serbs’ contradictory attitudes towards the EU and Russia. Meanwhile, the Center for Euro-Atlantic Studies in Belgrade has released a report analyzing the effects of Russian soft power in the Balkans.

In Tablet, Natan Sharansky demands that the West place more emphasis on securing the release of political prisoners around the world.

In the Atlantic Council’s “New Atlanticist” blog, Katie Laroque highlights the success of Ukraine’s new patrol police at winning people’s trust. In the Washington Post, Yanan Wang explains why this year’s Ukrainian victory at Eurovision is laden with political significance.

In the photo, Rohingya children look through the remains of shelters following a fire that gutted a camp for displaced people near Sittwe, Burma on May 3.

Photo credit: STR/AFP/Getty Images