The Philippines: NBI files murder raps vs cops over killing of QC fiscal

September 10, 2018

Three policemen are facing murder raps over the death of Quezon City Prosecutor Rogelio Velasco, the National Bureau of Investigation said on Monday.

In a statement, the NBI said that it has recommended the filing of murder charges against SPO2 Rodante Sicat Lalimarmo, PO3 Arthur Yasonia Lucy and PO1 Jose Lunar Mercardo over the killing of Velasco last May 11.

According to the NBI, its Death Investigation Division (NBI-DID) found that there is probable cause to file murder raps against the three policemen and eight other unidentified suspects.

Gierran said that the complaints against the three cops—who are still in active duty—were filed before the Quezon City prosecutors’ office last week.

The NBI said that their agents conducted three months of “thorough and exhaustive investigation” into the case.

In a separate press conference, DID investigation agent Ariel Ross Calub said that they scoured footage from CCTV cameras in the area, including Quezon City circle.

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https://www.philstar.com/nation/2018/09/10/1850311/nbi-files-murder-raps-vs-cops-over-killing-qc-fiscal

Murder case filed vs suspects in killing of QC deputy prosecutor

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/metro/667148/doj-says-murder-of-qc-prosecutor-rogelio-velasco-solved/story/

Ghana: Sosu: Senior Lawyers Tried To Stop Me From Challenging GLC Suspension

September 9, 2018

Prominent human rights lawyer, Francis-Xavier Sosu says some senior colleagues attempted to discourage him from challenging his suspension from the legal practice by the General Legal Council (GLC).

These persons, some of whom are also influential in the society told him to give up the fight because no one has ever prevailed over the GLC, Sosu claimed Saturday, September 9. 2018.

“In my Challenge against the General Legal Council, many senior and influential Lawyers said, I should give up the fight because no one has ever won a case against the Council,” he revealed while addressing the 2018 TED X Osu.

In June 2017, the body regulating legal profession in the country handed the popular layer a three-year ban after he was found guilty of professional misconduct contrary to the code regulating legal practice in the country.

Read: Francis-Xavier Sosu banned from practicing as lawyer

But July 2018, the Human Rights Court presided over by Justice Gifty Agyei-Addo quashed the orders of the GLC suspending the private legal practitioner. The court also set-aside the one-year mentorship imposed by the GLC on Mr Sosu.

“I kept my focus and kept fighting that lonely battle. With persistence, I was successful,” Sosu opened up for the first time since the Court ruling.

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https://www.modernghana.com/news/880975/sosu-senior-lawyers-tried-to-stop-me-from-challenging-glc-s.html

https://www.pulse.com.gh/lifestyle/events/photos-from-the-tedxosu-september-8th-conference-id8832710.html

France/USA: Les autorités américaines saisies après la plainte de Me Dreyfus pour des propos antisémites

le 10 septembre, 2018

Le site internet sur lequel ont été diffusés ces appels à la haine est hébergé aux USA

Me Rémi-Pierre Drai, l’avocat parisien de Me Denis Dreyfus, ancien bâtonnier du barreau de Grenoble récemment visé par des propos antisémites sur un site internet, a indiqué qu’en collaboration avec un cabinet d’avocats américain, il avait saisi les autorités américaines.

Le site baptisé “Démocratie Participative” sur lequel ces propos avaient été publiés, est en effet hébergé aux États-Unis et se trouve donc protégé par le 1er amendement de la constitution américaine relatif à la liberté d’expression mais, selon Me Drai, il est néanmoins possible qu’il soit sanctionné pour “crime de haine”.

«Nous avons demandé à une cour fédérale qu’elle ordonne la fermeture de ce site, nous avons également déposé une plainte auprès de la plateforme du FBI chargée de recueillir les plaintes IC3 (pour Internet Crime Complaint Center) et, enfin, nous avons adressé une lettre aux responsables de l’hébergeur du site, en l’occurrence “Cloud Fare”, pour les accuser le “Fédéral Hate Crime” », a indiqué l’avocat parisien.

Pour mémoire, Me Denis Dreyfus est l’avocat de la famille d’Adrien Perez, ce jeune homme de 26 ans poignardé à mort devant une discothèque de Meylan le 29 juillet dernier.

 

Au nom de ses clients, il avait dénoncé la récupération politique et les incitations au racisme orchestrées par les Identitaires après que ceux-ci eurent manifesté devant le palais de justice de Grenoble, le 11 août, pour réclamer “Justice pour Adrien”.

Le site “Démocratie participative”, ouvertement pro-nazi, avait alors publié un communiqué titré “Assassinat d’Adrien : le perfide avocat juif dénonce les blancs qui veulent se défendre contre la sauvagerie arabe” et illustré par une photo de Me Dreyfus dont la robe d’avocat était marquée d’une étoile jaune.

…

https://www.ledauphine.com/isere-sud/2018/09/10/les-autorites-americaines-saisies-apres-la-plainte-de-me-dreyfus-pour-des-propos-antisemites

http://www.leparisien.fr/faits-divers/enquete-ouverte-apres-des-propos-antisemites-contre-l-avocat-des-proches-d-adrien-perez-06-09-2018-7878912.php

Russia: Russian lawyer abducted, beaten & jailed for trying to defend arrested protesters

September 11, 2018

While images of Russian children, elderly pensioners and other protesters being detained, many violently, in Russian cities on 9 September rightly hit world headlines, there was a lot of police brutality and thuggery that went on away from the cameras.  It included the abduction of Mikhail Benyash, a 41-year-old lawyer from Sochi, who had been planning  to defend those detained for peacefully trying to take part in protests against pension reform.  Peaceful protest, like in Ukraine, is guaranteed by Russia’s Constitution, but in practice depends entirely upon the will of the authorities, and the latter in most cities had refused to ‘authorize’ demonstrations.

On 8 September, Benyash, who has previously defended protesters unwarrantedly arrested and prosecuted, was warned by enforcement officers that he would be imprisoned for 15 days if he tried to do his duty to defend protesters.  For that reason, on 9 September, he issued statements to both Russia’s Investigative Committee and the prosecutor’s office concerning this illegal behaviour by the police.

An hour after making this statements, two men in plain clothes seized him in the centre of Krasnodar.  They gave no explanation for this ‘detention’, but one called himself ‘Ivan’, though the others called him Dmitry.  Benyash recognized the other as somebody called Yegor Dolgov.

He tried to telephone in order to inform people that he had either been arrested or abducted, however they tried to grab his phone.  When he resisted, Ivan/Dmitry first twisted his arm, then tried to suffocate him.

One of the witnesses to this detention / abduction, Irina Barkhatova, began videoing what was happening, at which point she was also grabbed and forced into the car, with her phone taken away.

…

http://khpg.org/en/index.php?id=1536628772

https://www.kyivpost.com/article/opinion/op-ed/halya-coynash-russian-lawyer-abducted-beaten-and-jailed-for-trying-to-defend-arrested-protesters.html

https://en.crimerussia.com/gromkie-dela/bailiffs-throw-attorney-out-of-krasnodar-court-room-injuring-his-leg/

https://www.rferl.org/a/amnesty-urges-russia-to-free-assaulted-arbitrarily-detained-lawyer/29486544.html

https://www.dw.com/en/torture-in-russias-prisons-becoming-more-sophisticated-and-brutal/a-45478180

https://www.advgazeta.ru/novosti/v-fpa-postupilo-kollektivnoe-obrashchenie-advokatov-v-zashchitu-mikhaila-benyasha/ (RUSSIAN)

Iran/UIA: The UIA Urges an End to All Forms of Harassment against Prominent Iranian Lawyer, Nasrin Sotoudeh, and her Family

September 10, 2018

The UIA expresses its grave concerns about the ongoing detention of Ms Nasrin Sotoudeh, a prominent Iranian human rights lawyer and the 2012 recipient of the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize.

 

Ms Sotoudeh has been detained in Tehran’s Evin Prison since June 13, 2018. At the time of her arrest, she was reportedly informed that her detention related to her conviction in absentia to a five-year prison term. She has since been informed of several additional charges, including “assembly and collusion against national security,” and “spreading propaganda against the state”.
Ms Sotoudeh has long been committed to the defence of human rights and has represented several political prisoners, including women who have been arrested and prosecuted for peacefully protesting against the compulsory veiling in Iran. Shortly before her arrest, Ms Sotoudeh had also expressed criticism about the recent implementation of the Note to Article 48 of Iran’s 2015 Code of Criminal Procedure, which requires individuals accused of certain offenses, including those national security related, to choose their legal representative from a list of lawyers approved by the Head of the Judiciary, clearly undermining their right to a lawyer of their own choosing.

On August 25, 2018, Ms Sotoudeh had reportedly started a hunger strike protesting her detention and the harassment of her family and friends by Iranian authorities following her arrest. A few days later, on September 4, 2018, Mr. Reza Khandan, Ms Sotoudeh’s husband, who has been informing about his wife’s situation and publicly campaigning for her release, was arrested. According to the information received, Mr. Khandan has been charged with “spreading propaganda against the system” and “colluding to commit crimes against national security.”

…

https://www.uianet.org/en/news/uia-urges-end-all-forms-harassment-against-prominent-iranian-lawyer-nasrin-sotoudeh-and-her

https://irannewsupdate.com/news/human-rights/5281-iran-human-rights-report-for-august-2018-shows-human-rights-abuses-continue.html

Nasrin Sotoudeh Is On Hunger Strike – But Why Does No One In Britain Care?

https://irannewsupdate.com/news/human-rights/5274-us-may-turn-away-refuges-despite-recognizing-iran-s-human-rights-crisis.html

Three Detained Women’s Rights Activists Should be Immediately Released

https://www.change.org/p/nasrin-sotoudeh-nasrin-sotoudeh-please-end-your-hunger-strike-iranians-need-you-alive?signed=true (PLEASE SIGN URGENT PETITION!)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasrin_Sotoudeh

https://diariojudio.com/noticias/iran-la-detencion-de-abogados-y-activistas-de-los-derechos-de-las-mujeres-indica-una-intensificacion-de-medidas-represivas-contra-la-sociedad-civil/277878/ (ESPANOL)

https://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/2018/09/10/iran-e-caccia-agli-avvocati-cosi-le-autorita-zittiscono-il-dissenso/4607416/ (ITALIANO)