Daily Archives: 27/12/2018

Sudan: Sudanese activists vow not to back down against Bashir

Sem categoria 27/12/2018 Leave a comment

December 27, 2018

Sudanese demonstrators chant slogans as they march during anti-government protests in Khartoum on December 25, 2018. Reuters

Sudanese activists say they have waited decades for the nationwide protests that currently threaten the rule of President Omar Al Bashir and have no intention of stopping despite the violent response from security forces.

The catalyst for the unrest has been Sudan’s shattered economy, but activists say they also harbour longstanding grievances for crimes committed against them, their families and communities.

Amal El Zein is a human-rights lawyer who has defended political detainees since the 1980s, making her family a target of the government. Her brother has been arrested for his political activism three times since Mr Al Bashir seized power in 1989, while her other brother was dismissed from the police force just days after graduating from police college.

Ms El Zein’s husband is also a human rights lawyer and critic of the regime, putting him on the government’s radar. After protests broke out in the Nile state of Atbara on December 19, he suspected that security agents would come looking for him. He packed some belongings and went into hiding that same evening without telling his wife where he was going.

“We weren’t even in the protest, but security agents often summon well-known activists whenever there is unrest,” said Ms El Zein, 51. “Security agents knocked on our door the night after he escaped. They left after I told them that I don’t know where he is.”

Now alone with her son, Ms El Zein has joined protests in Khartoum despite the risk of reprisal. Rights groups say security forces have killed at least 37 people during protests so far and arrested hundreds, some of whom were later released. The protests have erupted in a half dozen cities across the country and appear to building momentum, with another planned in the capital on Friday.

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https://www.thenational.ae/world/africa/sudanese-activists-vow-not-to-back-down-against-bashir-1.807025

https://www.africa-news.info/news/sudan-countries/2018/12/27/sudan-prominent-lawyer-imprisoned-in-east-darfur-22-held-in-el-gezira/

https://allafrica.com/stories/201812270110.html

https://www.southsudan.biz/north-kordofan-lawyers-house-raided/

https://allafrica.com/stories/201812270059.html

https://www.jurist.org/news/2018/12/economic-protests-across-sudan-turn-violent/

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/12/sudan-journalists-strike-support-protests-181227101202722.html

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/12/doctors-strike-continues-sudan-protests-enter-eighth-day-181226171713677.html

https://edition.cnn.com/2018/12/25/africa/sudan-protests-violence-intl/index.html

https://observatoryihr.org/news_item/sudan-uprising-scores-killed-as-protests-continue/?fbclid=IwAR15NhkDjGwzERBtT-ncbEQnppN_GAoG7dR_hWRpEBp-VVUbPjxiAGqHxJU

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-46700412

https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2018/12/27/au-soudan-la-rue-defie-le-pouvoir-d-omar-al-bachir_5402680_3212.html?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR2mnSPtZOoZIXn9UJRnjYgqP69gvRe5NKeaCp0x4xO7YtJTq-JnPgrcRuQ#Echobox=1545915288 (FRANCAIS)

http://www.rfi.fr/afrique/20181226-greve-soudan-rue-calme-communaute-internationale-s-inquiete (FRANCAIS)

Pakistan/The Netherlands: Pakistani Lawyer to Return Home to Defend Christian Woman

Sem categoria 27/12/2018 Leave a comment

December 25, 2018

FILE - Pakistani lawyer Saiful Malook who is defending a Christian woman facing the blasphemy charges, talks to the Associated Press in Lahore, Pakistan, Feb. 28, 2018.

A Pakistani lawyer who successfully fought a legal battle to acquit a Christian woman in a high-profile blasphemy case says he will return home to represent her whenever the country’s Supreme Court takes up a review petition against her.

Saiful Malook, who fled to the Netherlands following threats to him from radical Islamists after the Oct. 21 acquittal of Asia Bibi, said Tuesday that no date has been set by the court to hear the petition.

The announcement by Malook came as the 54-year-old mother of five celebrated Christmas amid security despite being freed.

Bibi had been on death row since 2010 on charges of insulting Islam’s Prophet Muhammad.

The radical Tehreek-e-Labbaik political party held violent nationwide protests demanding her public execution after her release.

https://www.voanews.com/a/pakistani-lawyer-to-return-home-to-defend-christian-woman/4715405.html

https://www.faithwire.com/2018/12/27/asia-bibis-lawyer-returning-to-pakistan-to-defend-stricken-christian-mother/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/my-clients-death-sentence-for-blasphemy-was-overturned-she-still-cannot-leave-pakistan/2018/12/28/b55198f0-0a9d-11e9-a3f0-71c95106d96a_story.html?utm_term=.7c383d9e3093

https://www.gspellchecker.com/2018/12/ep131-asia-bibis-lawyer-saif-ul-malook/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Iran: Imprisoned Attorney Mohammad Najafi Facing More Jail Time for Criticizing Supreme Leader

Sem categoria 27/12/2018 Leave a comment

December 26, 2018

Imprisoned defense attorney Mohammad Najafi was taken to court in the Iranian city of Shazand, Markazi Province, on December 19, 2018, to face an additional charge for criticizing Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in a letter.

“We are very surprised by the latest charge,” his lawyer Payam Derafshan told the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI). “Mr. Najafi is being issued repetitious charges on a daily basis.”

“Previously, he had been sentenced by the Revolutionary Court to two years in prison for the charge of ‘insulting the supreme leader,’” he added. “Now another branch has charged him with ‘disturbing public opinion’ for writing a letter to the supreme leader. This is all just harassment.”

Derafshan continued: “Mr. Najafi is currently in prison and he has also received a 10-year prison sentence for another case. Why should he be dragged to court to be issued a similar charge for writing a letter?”

Najafi’s open letter dated September 8, 2018, was published by several Iranian media outlets after it was posted on his Facebook page.

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https://www.iranhumanrights.org/2018/12/imprisoned-attorney-mohammad-najafi-facing-more-jail-time-for-criticizing-supreme-leader/

https://iranhumanrights.org/2018/12/imprisoned-human-rights-lawyer-mohammad-najafi-slapped-with-additional-charges/

https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/12/13/iran-escalating-crackdown-lawyers

Click to access EN_HRL_20181114_Iran_Imprisonment-of-lawyer-Mohammad-Najafi.pdf