31.   But the Uzbek strongman has frequently been slammed for squeezing the opposition, crushing the independent media and waging a bitter campaign against political and religious dissent.

32.   The Uzbek strongman has frequently been slammed for squeezing the opposition, crushing independent media and waging a bitter campaign against political and religious dissent.

33.   With less than three weeks to go before snap French parliamentary elections, voter interest is on the wane amid a campaign widely slammed for being dreary and directionless.

34.   Meanwhile, Hanson, nicknamed The Ugly Australian by some politicians, has been slammed for failing to attend the debate.

35.   Opponents have also slammed it for causing prison crowding.

36.   Pawlak stepped down last month after Walesa slammed him for holding back economic reforms, threatening to dissolve parliament unless a new premier was found.

37.   President Fidel Ramos on Wednesday rejected Chinese appeals to release the fishermen and slammed them for violating laws protecting marine resources.

38.   South Africa had previously been slammed for dumping its goods on the Zimbabwean market while maintaining stringent controls on imports from Zimbabwe to protect its own industries.

39.   The black population in particular distrusts the police, a tool of the old apartheid regime, and which has often been slammed for incompetence.

40.   The cries were picked up by at least one newspaper as Brazil were slammed for their lack of finesse and artistry.