UK: Cops probe link between brutal knife attack on lawyer and conviction of organised crime gang

July 29, 2018

Veteran solicitor Joe Shields, who suffered a horrific face wound outside Glasgow Sheriff Court, represented torture thug David Sell in gangland trial.

Detectives are probing a link between a blade attack on a top lawyer and the conviction of a dangerous organised crime gang.

Veteran solicitor Joe Shields suffered a horrific face wound when he was targeted outside his office in a terrifying assault which has left his colleagues in shock.

The 63-year-old is a director and senior partner of Gallen and Co who specialise in high-end criminal trials.

We can reveal the firm represented gangland thug David Sell – who was jailed for 15 years and eight months over the role he played in the kidnap and torture of a man who owed a drugs debt.

Now detectives are probing a potential link between the case –Scotland’s biggest organised crime trial – and the assault on Shields.

It is among a number of lines of inquiry being examined by officers who have offered worried court workers advice on keeping themselves safe.

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https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/crime/cops-probe-link-between-brutal-12997109

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/knife-attack-lawyer-slashed-face-12955331

https://www.scotsman.com/news/opinion/graham-ogilvy-brutal-attack-on-much-respected-lawyer-may-be-tip-of-iceberg-1-4772755

https://www.scottishlegal.com/article/editorial-lawyers-lives-matter

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/attack-on-lawyer-prompts-calls-for-greater-protection-qj3rw8ldb

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/6828356/lawyer-slashed-knife-attack-glasgow-court/

India: Police hope to crack Dandeli lawyer’s murder in two days

July 30, 2018

A day after Ajit Nayak, 57, a noted criminal lawyer and a Congress leader from Dandeli in Karnataka’s Uttara Kannada district was murdered, a senior police official said on Sunday that they had got some leads and were hopeful of cracking the case soon.

The advocate, who was active in Kali Bachao Andolan (Movement to Save the Kali river), was fatally hacked by an unknown masked person between 9.10 p.m. and 9.15 p.m. in Dandeli on Friday.

After completing work at his office on J.N. Road in Dandeli, he was going to his car along with two other people, when a person suddenly attacked him with a sword. A profusely bleeding Nayak was rushed to a nearby hospital where the doctors declared him ‘brought dead’.

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https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/police-hope-to-crack-dandeli-lawyers-murder-in-two-days/article24550368.ece

https://www.timesnownews.com/videos/news/india/man-who-allegedly-confesses-to-shooting-lawyer-and-activist-ajit-nayak-arrested-in-karnataka/5347

https://www.ndtv.com/karnataka-news/police-arrest-man-for-allegedly-murdering-karnataka-lawyer-1894275

http://www.livelaw.in/activist-advocate-ajit-nayak-hacked-to-death-in-uttara-kannada/

https://barandbench.com/kali-bachao-andolan-activist-ajit-nayak-dead/

https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/popular-lawyer-activist-uttara-kannada-brutally-murdered-cops-yet-make-arrests-85612

https://scroll.in/latest/888464/karnataka-lawyer-activist-ajit-nayak-killed-on-his-way-home-in-uttara-kannada

https://www.thequint.com/news/india/lawyer-activist-ajit-nayak-murdered-in-uttara-kannada

https://thelogicalindian.com/news/lawyer-activist-ajit-nayak-murdered/

https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/expressing-solidarity/article24619455.ece

https://www.prajavani.net/district/chikkaballapur/advocate-ajit-nayak-murder-561457.html (KANNADA)

https://www.protect-lawyers.com/fr/avocat/ajit-nayak/ (FRANCAIS)

Serbia: Serb Bar Association Strikes After Murder of Milosevic’s Lawyer

August 1, 2018

Belgrade’s Bar Association is staging a week-long strike to protest against the killing of prominent Serbian lawyer Dragoslav Ognjanovic, who was on the defense team of late leader Slobodan Milosevic and represented organized-crime figures in high-profile trials.

The lawyers are demanding better protection and security for its members following a long string of similar attacks, according to the statement posted on its website Tuesday. Ognjanovic was shot dead near his Belgrade home on Saturday. Police have no suspects.

The attack underscores the former Yugoslav state’s struggle to improve the rule of law as it tries to overhaul its economy and institutions to join the European Union next decade. According to the Belgrade-based newspaper Blic, 50 lawyers have been attacked in the past decade, with three killed. The most recent high-profile case was the 2015 murder of Vladimir Zrelec, whose clients also included members of the criminal underworld.

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https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-08-01/serb-bar-association-strikes-after-murder-of-milosevic-s-lawyer

http://www.euronews.com/2018/07/30/serbian-lawyers-strike-over-colleague-s-murder

https://www.rferl.org/a/serbian-lawyer-ognjanovic-milosevic-shot-dead/29396482.html

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-44995906

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/slobodan-milosevic-murder-dragoslav-ognjanovic-lawyer-belgrade-serbia-a8468666.html

https://www.dw.com/en/dragoslav-ognjanovic-serbian-lawyer-who-defended-milosevic-killed-in-belgrade/a-44866778

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jul/28/former-milosevic-defence-lawyer-shot-dead-in-belgrade

https://www.b92.net/eng/news/crimes.php?yyyy=2018&mm=08&dd=01&nav_id=104760

Serbia: killing of lawyer must be urgently investigated

https://www.blic.rs/vesti/hronika/cuvao-mracne-tajne-luke-bojovica-advokat-dragoslav-ognjanovic-bio-je-svedok-uspona/c3kh4m4 (SERBIAN)

https://www.blic.rs/vesti/hronika/potresne-scene-na-ispracaju-ubijenog-advokata-sahranjen-ognjanovic-suprugu-sanju/3ezybs3 (SERBIAN)

https://www.protect-lawyers.com/fr/avocat/dragoslav-ognjanovic/ (FRANCAIS)

http://www.europe1.fr/international/un-ex-avocat-de-milosevic-assassine-a-belgrade-3721727 (FRANCAIS)

France/Italy/Egypt: Libération de Mohamed Mahsoob Darwish, avocat au barreau de Paris

le 2 août, 2018

Le barreau de Paris se réjouit de la libération de Mohamed Mahsoob Darwish, arrêté le 1er aout 2018, par la police italienne dans la ville de Catane, où il séjournait en famille.

Exilé à Paris, Mohamed Mahsoob Darwish, ancien ministre d’Etat égyptien chargé des relations avec le Parlement, est inscrit au barreau de Paris depuis 2016.

Mohamed Mahsoob Darwish, qui craint avec raison d’être persécuté et de subir des violations graves des droits de l’homme en cas de retour en Egypte, risquait une extradition sur la demande des autorités égyptiennes.

Le 24 janvier 2018, la 8ème édition de la journée internationale de l’avocat en danger, dédiée à la situation des avocats en Egypte, avait rassemblé les avocats notamment parisiens. Le barreau de Paris reste mobilisé.

http://www.avocatparis.org/liberation-de-mohamed-mahsoob-darwish-avocat-au-barreau-de-paris

http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/italy-arrests-prominent-egyptian-opposition-figure-and-ex-minister-412204524 (ENGLISH)

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/aug/02/arrest-highlights-growing-ties-between-egypt-and-italy (ENGLISH)

https://www.egyptindependent.com/italy-arrests-morsis-former-minister-of-legal-affairs/ (ENGLISH)

https://www.albawaba.com/loop/outrage-sparked-among-egyptians-after-italy-detaines-former-opposition-minister-1168200 (ENGLISH)

Iran: Iranian Human Rights Lawyer Facing Prison Time For Criticizing Judiciary

August 2, 2018

Iranian attorney Mostafa Tork Hamadani has been charged for criticizing the judiciary for barring him and other defense lawyers from defending environmentalists who were arrested by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Hamadani, who has taken on several human rights cases throughout his career, tweeted a copy of his summons document on July 26, 2018, adding:

“I was summoned to the Culture and Media Court based on a complaint by Tehran’s deputy prosecutor who accused me of spreading falsehoods. The reasons given in the complaint are my tweets about the late Seyed-Emami and the Note to Article 48 regarding the prohibition on lawyers against representing detained environmentalists. The investigator was polite and I hope my defense will be accepted. All my efforts are aimed at improving the climate for lawyers to defend the accused.”

Iranian Canadian academic and environmentalist Kavous Seyed-Emami died under suspicious circumstances in Iran’s Evin Prison in February 2018 after being arrested by the IRGC the previous month.

Several of his colleagues at the Persian Heritage Wildlife Foundation where Seyed-Emami worked as managing director remain detained since being arrested during the same month as him.

Dozens of environmentalists have been arrested around Iran since January 2018 by the IRGC. According to the opposition news site Kalame, the environmentalists were targeted by the IRGC for opposing the installation of missile sites on protected lands.

The detainees were denied access to counsel for months and ultimately not allowed to choose their own lawyer. Some of their relatives have reported serious injuries.

In January 2018, the judiciary released a list of 20 state-approved lawyers allowed to represent detainees facing politically motivated charges, citing the Note to Article 48 of Iran’s Criminal Procedures Regulations.

…

https://www.iranhumanrights.org/2018/08/iranian-human-rights-lawyer-facing-prison-time-for-criticizing-judiciary/

https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/case/nasrin-sotoudeh-arrested

https://www.gopetition.com/petitions/immediate-release-of-human-rights-lawyer-nasrin-sotoudeh.html (URGENT PETITION – PLEASE SIGN!)