Monthly Archives: October 2018

Iran/Sweden: Swedish PEN Award for Nasrin Sotoudeh

Sem categoria 31/10/2018 Leave a comment

October 31, 2018

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The Swedish PEN gives the Tucholsky Prize for 2018 to Nasrin Sotoudeh. Nasrin Sotoudeh, an Iranian lawyer and human rights activist. Nasrin Sotoudeh has been in prison since June 2018.

According to the Deuche Welle Farsi website, the Tucholsky award by Swedish PEN will be awarded to Nasrin Sotoudeh for 2018.

In a text published by the official website of the Swedish PEN Association said, “This year’s Swedish PEN gives Tucholsky prize to Nasrin Sotoudeh, a human rights lawyer and writer, for her courage and her constant struggle to defend the voices that are in danger of censorship and silence in Iran.”

The Jury delegation said: “Nasrin Sotoudeh continues to fight for justice in defense of Iranian writers, journalists, and social activists in Iran.”

http://www.kampain.info/archive/25969.htm

https://iranintl.com/en/world/nasrin-sotoudeh-wins-2018-kurt-tucholsky-pen-award?page=1

https://pen-international.org/centres/swedish-centre

https://pen.org/advocacy-case/nasrin-sotoudeh/

https://www.voanews.com/a/in-tehran-new-hijab-protester-led-off-by-police/4635838.html

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

https://iranintl.com/%D9%88%DB%8C%D8%AF%DB%8C%D9%88/%D8%A7%D8%B9%D8%B7%D8%A7%DB%8C-%D8%AC%D8%A7%DB%8C%D8%B2%D9%87-%D9%88%DB%8C%DA%98%D9%87-%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%AC%D9%85%D9%86-%D9%82%D9%84%D9%85-%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%A6%D8%AF-%D8%A8%D9%87-%D9%86%D8%B3%D8%B1%DB%8C%D9%86-%D8%B3%D8%AA%D9%88%D8%AF%D9%87%D8%8C-%D9%88%DA%A9%DB%8C%D9%84-%D9%88-%D9%81%D8%B9%D8%A7%D9%84-%D8%AD%D9%82%D9%88%D9%82%E2%80%8C%D8%A8%D8%B4%D8%B1?fbclid=IwAR0xrDYatKIDFSgv-ULIyPaW2dO-kJ_-s8jtZb6l064ZV5MJnoIInyrUbFQ (FARSI)

https://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=2493&artikel=7078230 (FARSI)

http://www.idhbb.org/fr-page3.callplt2018.htm (FRANCAIS)

https://www.svenskapen.se/senaste-nytt/2018/10/29/nasrin-sotoudeh-fr-rets-tucholskypris?fbclid=IwAR1YEhcwiT5WMg_dQiwNf2UBmB_Rg7k0DWl9sc1klduwt_27koUA1gbuSUo (SVENSKA)

http://www.menschenrechtsverein.org/index.php/cat/70/aid/11531/title/Iran:_Repressalien_gegen_Menschenrechtsanwaeltin_Nasrin_Sotoudeh_und_ihre_Familie (DEUTSCH)

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UIA PORTO Cérémonie de clôture du. congrès de l’Union Internationale des Avocats- Hommage aux Avocats persécutés dans le monde et à NasrinSotoudeh lauréate Prix @LudovicTrarieux 2018 #uiacongress

(Ludovic Trarieux Facebook, 03/11/18)

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Turkey/Switzerland: IOHR organizes int’l conference on unprecedented threat to human rights in Turkey

Sem categoria 31/10/2018 Leave a comment

October 30, 2018

The International Observatory of Human Rights (IOHR) has announced that it holding an international conference on Nov. 2, 2018 in Geneva to highlight the unprecedented threat to human rights in Turkey.

In a rare gathering, families of Turkish prisoners currently behind bars, prominent Turkish journalists and lawyers living in exile and active members of civil society will come together to speak on the ongoing witch-hunt and unjustified jailing of Turkish citizens.

Outspoken members of the British, Swiss and Dutch parliaments who have been working on the Turkish crisis will talk about the lack of due process and the travesty of justice those prisoners and their families face on a daily basis.

The conference will address the role of the European Court of Justice, the United Nations and the Council of Europe in protecting citizens and pushing for legislative reforms and basic respect for human rights.

Turkey is now ranked as the worst jailer of journalists worldwide. Turkey is ranked 157th among 180 countries in the 2018 World Press Freedom Index released by Reporters Without Borders (RSF). If Turkey falls two more places, it will make it to the list of countries on the blacklist, which have the poorest record in press freedom.

…

https://stockholmcf.org/iohr-organizes-intl-conference-on-unprecedented-threat-to-human-rights-in-turkey/?fbclid=IwAR3Fjqi19wj_4K_IT1CJ9nKSRWoQRdhEB87hvuhMTtwNAJ9TZQYM8KtxK6A

https://observatoryihr.org/event/international-conference-on-unprecedented-threat-to-human-rights-in-turkey/

https://observatoryihr.org/

https://www.jurist.org/commentary/2018/10/shahshahani-turkish-mockery-justice/

#DayoftheEndangeredLawyer

South Africa: Top criminal lawyer Pete Mihalik killed in hit outside child’s school

Sem categoria 30/10/2018 Leave a comment

October 30, 2018

Mihalik, whose clients included leading Cape Town gangsters, had bodyguards but ‘the shooter went up to the car window and just killed him’

Advocate Pete Mihalik during the Susan Rohde trial in the Western Cape High Court on December 4 2017 in Cape Town. Picture: GALLO IMAGES / NETWERK24 / ADRIAN DE KOCK

One of Cape Town’s top criminal lawyers was shot dead on Tuesday while dropping his child at school.

Attorney Pete Mihalik‚ 50‚ was killed in what witnesses described as an execution outside Reddam House Atlantic Seaboard in Green Point on Tuesday, his partner Bruce Hendricks said.

It is understood that Mihalik’s eight-year-old son was injured in the shooting.

The lawyer also had a daughter‚ and it is understood that his wife committed suicide earlier this year.

Sources said Mihalik had bodyguards but “the shooter went up to the car window and just killed him”.

Paramedics arrived on the scene but were unable to save him.

A photograph tweeted from the scene showed a single bullet hole in the driver’s door window. Police were at the school and pupils were being escorted out.

…

https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/national/2018-10-30-top-criminal-lawyer-pete-mihalik-killed-in-hit-outside-childs-school/

https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2018-10-30-top-gang-lawyer-pete-mihalik-killed-in-hit-outside-childs-school/

https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2018-10-30-is-this-the-trial-that-got-pete-mihalik-killed/

https://www.thesouthafrican.com/who-is-pete-mihalik-gang-members-represented/

https://www.dailysun.co.za/News/National/watch-criminal-lawyer-shot-outside-school-20181030

https://www.iol.co.za/capeargus/news/father-of-murdered-lawyer-petemihalik-perplexed-by-killing-17698407

https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2018-11-07-third-suspect-arrested-for-murder-of-lawyer-pete-mihalik/

Iran: Lawyer Who Sought Justice for Death of Detainee in Iranian Custody Sentenced to Three Years, 74 Lashes

Sem categoria 30/10/2018 Leave a comment

October 29, 2018

Human rights lawyer Mohammad Najafi (center in a blue suit) poses for a photo with some of his clients and colleagues at an unknown location in the city of Arak. Najafi has been sentenced to three years in prison and 74 lashes for accusing local police of killing a young man who was taken into custody earlier this year. No one has been held responsible for the death of the detainee, 22-year-old Vahid Heydari.

10 Other Individuals Also Sentenced in Mass Trial

Less than a year ago, attorney Mohammad Najafi was advocating for a young client who died under suspicious circumstances in an Iranian detention center. Nine months later, he has been sentenced to three years in prison and 74 lashes for the charges of “disturbing the state” and “publishing falsehoods.”

“The rulings against me, Ali Bagheri and Abbas Safari were upheld [by the Appeals Court] without any changes: One year and 74 lashes for ‘disturbing the state,’ and two years for ‘publishing falsehoods,’” Najafi wrote in a Facebook post on October 18, 2018.

“The sentences against the other defendants, including six of my clients, were suspended for five years,” he added.

Najafi and Safari began their prison sentences in Arak’s Central Prison on October 28.

In January 2018, Najafi informed media outlets about the suspicious case of Vahid Heydari, 22, who died in detention at the 12th Police Station in Arak sometime between the end of December 2017 and the beginning of January 2018.

Najafi told media outlets at the time that the authorities were trying to cover up the real reason for Heydari’s death by claiming he had committed suicide. Iranian authorities have claimed at least two other detainees “committed suicide” in custody in 2018: Iranian Canadian environmentalist Kavous Seyed-Emami and Sina Ghanbari.

…

https://iranhumanrights.org/2018/10/lawyer-who-sought-justice-for-death-of-detainee-in-iranian-custody-sentenced-to-three-years-74-lashes/

https://iran-hrm.com/index.php/2018/10/21/civil-rights-activists-sentenced-to-prison-and-flogging-for-attending-protests/

https://women.ncr-iran.org/iran-women-news/5506-neda-yusefi-sentenced-to-one-year-in-prison-and-74-lashes

https://iranians.global/lawyer-who-sought-justice-for-death-of-detainee-in-iranian-custody-sentenced-to-three-years-74-lashes-human-rights-in-iran/

https://www.iranhumanrights.org/2018/10/iran-must-stop-imprisoning-lawyers-for-defending-their-clients/

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(L’Observatoire des Avocats Facebook, 31/10/18)

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Canada/Cameroon: Crisis in Cameroon: A Conversation with Barrister Felix Agbor Nkongho

Sem categoria 30/10/2018 Leave a comment

Faculty of LawBarrister Felix Agbor Anyior Nkongho.jpg

1 Nov 2018 16:00 to 17:30
Chancellor Day Hall NCDH 316, 3644 rue Peel, Montreal, QC, H3A 1W9, CA
Price:  Free

Felix Agbor Nkongho is an Anglophone Cameroonian human rights lawyer who is the immediate past president of the Fako Lawyers Association, vice-president of the African Bar Association in charge of Central Africa, and the founder and president of the Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa.

Felix Agbor Nkongho is a leader in the civil society movement seeking to remedy the historic inequality, discrimination and marginalization of Anglophones in Cameroon. He has been actively involved in organising non-violent civil disobedience and protests calling for the protection of the culture and rights of Anglophone Cameroonians.

The Cameroonian government arrested Felix Agbor Nkongho in January 2017 along with other Anglophone activists and leaders in Cameroon. He was detained and faced several charges in the military court. In August 2017, those charges were dropped and he was released.

Felix holds an LLB and LLMs in both International and Comparative Law and International Human Rights Law. He has studied and holds degrees from the University of Yaoundé, the Nigerian Law School (Abuja), Vrije Universiteit (Brussels) and Notre Dame University (USA).

This talk is organized by Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada (LRWC) and the Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism.

Read the briefing notes released by LRWC on this topic:

https://www.lrwc.org/cameroon-anglophones-face-severe-humanitarian-crisis-briefing-note/

 

https://www.mcgill.ca/law/channels/event/crisis-cameroon-conversation-barrister-felix-agbor-nkongho-291067?fbclid=IwAR2rn1i5XFeqETitqROaGLQJQAetfWWHNBLXyHB262clZjgQUqf0uKepHKc

https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1356193347625

https://cdp-hrc.uottawa.ca/en/october-30-human-rights-and-humanitarian-situation-anglophone-cameroon-how-can-canada-help

https://www.aljazeera.com/profile/nkongho-felix-agbor-balla.html

https://www.journalducameroun.com/en/agbor-balla-tasks-constitutional-council-to-give-justice-to-cameroonians/

http://mimimefoinfos.com/2018/11/01/rights-activist-barrister-agbor-balla-reignites-anglophone-plights-in-canadian-parliament/

https://www.lrwc.org/crisis-in-cameroon-conversation-with-felix-agbor-nkongho-video/

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

http://www.icicemac.com/2018/10/25/lun-des-leaders-du-consortium-du-cameroun-barrister-agbor-balla-en-visite-dexplication-au-canada/ (FRANCAIS)

http://www.cameroonvoice.com/news/article-news-36008.html (FRANCAIS)

https://www.camerounweb.com/CameroonHomePage/NewsArchive/Crise-anglophone-l-mouvant-plaidoyer-de-Agbor-Balla-au-Canada-449772 (FRANCAIS)

https://www.camerounweb.com/CameroonHomePage/NewsArchive/Crise-anglophone-l-mouvant-plaidoyer-de-Agbor-Balla-au-Canada-449772?video=1 (FRANCAIS)

India: Lawyer Agitation: HC Asks District Judges To Hold Camp Courts In Jails

Sem categoria 29/10/2018 Leave a comment

October 27, 2018

Protesting lawyers slam chief minister Naveen Patnaik and the BJD’s legal front in front of Orissa High Court in Cuttack on Sunday.

The Orissa High Court today directed the District & Sessions Judges to hold camp courts in jails to meet the extraordinary situation across the State arising out of prolonged abstinence of work by advocates.

The Orissa High Court in a letter has instructed the District & Sessions Judges to hold camp courts for hearing bail pleas of accused in custody to address over-crowding of various jails across the state due to lawyers’ stir.

Due to the ongoing lawyers’ strike, cases have been piling up at different courts in the state. Subsequently, number of prisoners is increasing in different jails across the state due to the delay in hearing of the cases.

According to the orders of the high court, the camp court will be held inside the jail premises.

As per the High Court orders, the concerned jail authorities will ensure that apart from Court staff and Court Sub-Inspector (C.S.I), none other should be present at the time of bail hearing.

The letter further read, relevant documents and records should be put up before the concerned presiding officer by the C.S.I and identification of the accused must be done by the concerned Jail Superitendent/ Assistant Jail Superintendent of the relevant case.

The principles of law applicable to bail are to be kept in mind while dealing with bail applicants, the letter further read.

It is pertinent to mention that the HC lawyers have been observing a cease-work agitation since the last two months demanding arrest of policemen who allegedly attacked one of their colleagues in Cuttack.

https://odishatv.in/odisha/lawyer-agitation-hc-asks-district-judges-to-hold-camp-courts-in-jails-329749

https://www.devdiscourse.com/Article/other/231823-odisha-lawyers-strike-demands-action-against-policemen

https://odishatv.in/odisha/lawyers-stir-hc-bar-association-smells-foul-play-behind-bjd-legal-cells-support-withdrawal-329954

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bhubaneswar/lawyers-strike-on-no-solution-in-sight/articleshow/66374096.cms

https://www.telegraphindia.com/states/odisha/sambalpur-lawyers-obstruct-judges-vehicles/cid/1672601

https://www.telegraphindia.com/states/odisha/orissa-hc-lawyers-set-deadline/cid/1672850

https://www.telegraphindia.com/states/odisha/34-days-no-end-to-strike/cid/1670884

https://www.dailyo.in/politics/odiisha-lawyers-strike-supreme-court-high-court/story/1/26955.html

https://www.thestatesman.com/cities/massive-police-deployment-in-orissa-hc-as-two-groups-of-lawyers-spar-1502702367.html

https://www.thequint.com/news/india/odisha-hc-bar-association-and-bjd-legal-front-clash-outside-court

http://www.odishabytes.com/striking-lawyers-burn-effigy-of-odisha-cm/

https://odishatv.in/odisha/hc-bar-dismisses-3-lawyers-including-2-from-bjd-legal-front-for-sabotaging-agitation-330909

Russia/Crimea: Russia launches new attack on Crimean Solidarity & lawyers defending political prisoners

Sem categoria 28/10/2018 Leave a comment

October 28, 2018

Russian enforcement officers have carried out a second raid on a meeting of the human rights initiative Crimean Solidarity, with the actions of the masked men this time evidently aimed at instilling fear among all those present.  Two Crimean Tatar lawyers Lilya Hemedzhy and Edem Semedlayev were issued ‘warnings’, as was civic activist Dilyar Memetov, one of the coordinators of Crimean Solidarity.  Indeed, the brazen nature of the intrusion and of the officers’ ostentatious photographing of the participants elicits concern that this was a warning to all those who demonstrate solidarity with the victims of persecution.

At the meeting in Simferopol on 27 October, officials from the de facto prosecutor’s office turned up, together with unidentified individuals in masks, who later proved to be from the so-called Centre for Countering Extremism, and some uniformed police officers.  The masked men hovered around photographing people, while the ‘prosecutor’s office’ officials accosted Hemedzhy, Semedlyaev and Memetov, who is the son of political prisoner, Remzi Memetov.

They claimed to have information about single-person pickets which the two lawyers and Memetov were organizing.  Semedlyaev has posted the ‘warning’ in his name, which he considers to be pressure on him as a lawyer.  The ‘warning’ is of the inadmissibility of infringing Russia’s law on ‘extremism’ and on protests.  It claims that the ‘prosecutor ‘has received information that Crimean Tatar activists supporting Hizb ut-Tahrir, the peaceful pan-Islamic organization which it calls ‘terrorist’ are planning “mass protests under the guise of single-person pickets” in support of people suspected of involvement in Hizb ut-Tahrir.

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http://khpg.org/en/index.php?id=1540674570&fbclid=IwAR0BeSS8eoEfqS8Y-JLq5GqCm701BRqx0afPd_fDTlbirtRuYbI_KWP7yGM

https://www.unian.info/society/10315212-russian-law-enforcers-in-occupied-crimea-hand-over-notice-to-crimean-solidarity-lawyers.html

https://sivtelegram.media/the-russian-forces-broke-into-the-meeting-of-human-rights-defenders-in-crimea/58489/

https://112.international/opinion/russia-fights-crimean-solidarity-with-long-prison-sentences-and-shattered-childhoods-33141.html

Statement against persecution of lawyers and human rights defenders in the occupied Crimea