China: China puts Human Rights Lawyer on trial for tweets – Indian Leftists silent

December 16, 2015

([Police violence outside Beijing court as China’s top free speech champion goes on trial. (image courtesy @tomphillipsin)])

When it comes to crying foul over the ‘suppression’ of freedom of expression in India, or for that matter anywhere in the world, there is no match for the Indian Left-liberals who consider themselves as the sole guardians of tolerance.

However, their uniform silence over the recent instance in China when one of its most influential human rights lawyer went on trial on Monday – over seven microblog posts on his online accounts alleged to have ‘incited racial hatred’ and ‘provoked trouble’ – is indicative enough of their biased rhetoric, steeped in hypocrisy.

Had such an incident occurred in India, these Left-Liberals would have joined in a selective outrage to condemn the government, accusing it of clamping upon freedom of speech and expression.

Is the silence because of their soft corner for the Left government in China?

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http://www.niticentral.com/2015/12/16/human-rights-lawyer-on-trial-in-china-338341.html

China: Case Against Civil Rights Lawyer Tests Free Speech in China

December 16, 2015

Many Chinese Internet users are watching with great concern the case of the civil rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang, in which prosecutors brought charges against Mr. Pu based on seven short posts he wrote from 2011 to 2014 on Weibo, a Twitter-like platform.

Foreign officials have broadly denounced the case as political persecution, but few have paid attention to the specific legal implications surrounding the question of free speech, the issue that is vexing many Chinese who are following Mr. Pu’s plight.

Mr. Pu’s posts included criticism of China’s policies toward ethnic Uighursin the western region of Xinjiang and mockery of the national legislature and a legislative advisory body. He also made some acid comments about Mao Zedong’s grandson, Mao Xinyu, a major general in the People’s Liberation Army.

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UK (Northern Ireland): Law Society NI event hears lawyers are the ‘guardians of freedom of speech’

December 15, 2015

(Pictured (l-r): Alan Hunter, chief executive of the Law Society, the Honourable Mr Justice Colton, and John Guerin)

Lawyers are the “guardians of freedom of speech”, members of the legal profession heard at an event hosted in Belfast to mark European Lawyers Day 2015.

Over 120 members of the legal profession and invited guests heard The Hon Mr Justice Colton speak in Law Society House at the event organised by the Law Society of Northern Ireland in association with the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE).

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John Guerin, president of the Law Society of Northern Ireland, said after the event: “Freedom of speech is at the heart of individual liberty and democracy. Yet, in many parts of the world, it is under attack.

“Increasingly citizens, including lawyers, are regularly attacked, censored, detained, prosecuted or incarcerated for defending the right to freedom of speech.

http://www.irishlegal.com/3158/law-society-ni-event-hears-lawyers-are-the-guardians-of-freedom-of-speech/

Vietnam: Vietnam arrests high-profile lawyer on anti-state charges

December 16, 2015

(Vietnamese dissident lawyer Nguyen Van Dai is guarded by a policeman in Hanoi’s People’s Court in May 2007.)

A Vietnamese lawyer was arrested Wednesday on anti-state charges, police said, a week after he was brutally beaten by thugs after leading a training forum for rights defenders in the communist country.

Nguyen Van Dai, 47, was taken into custody for “conducting propaganda against the state of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,” according to a statement posted on the Ministry of Public Security’s website.

His Hanoi house was searched and his case is now under investigation, the statement said, without giving further details.

Dai has previously spent four years in prison for the same charges. He was released March 2011 when his term ended. His legal license has been revoked, so he is no longer able to practice law.

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http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asean/796544/vietnam-arrests-high-profile-lawyer-on-anti-state-charges