Stories about Law from May, 2008
Russia: Medvedev and 1999 Apartment Bombings
Lex Libertas links to an op-ed calling for president Dmitry Medvedev to start a new investigation of the 1999 apartment bombings in Russia.
Brazil: PeBodyCount joins Brazilian Disarmament Network
PEBodyCount blog [pt] is now officially a member of the “Brazilian Disarmament Network”, which brings together more than 40 entities. “The network will stimulate and strengthen the idea that carrying guns is risky and, hence, handing them over is better than registering them.” Also check out these t-shirts, that have...
Ukraine, Russia: Personae Non Gratae
On May 12, Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov was declared persona non grata in Ukraine, following his calls for Russia to take ownership of Sevastopol, a Ukrainian Black Sea naval port. On May 15, Russia denied entry to Vladyslav Kaskiv, one of the leaders of the 2004 protests in Kyiv and member of the Our Ukraine/People's Self-Defense faction in the Ukrainian parliament. LJ user varfolomeev66, a Russian journalist, compares the two cases.
Thailand: Websites closed for “talking” about monarchy
Absolutely Thailand writes that the Asian Human Rights Commission has received information that two websites were illegally blocked while 29 sites face closure in Thailand for allowing an open-forum discussion about the Thai monarchy.
Singapore blogger dares Lee Kuan Yew to sue him
Blogger Gopalan Nair dares Singapore leader Lee Kuan Yew to sue him. IZ Reloaded thinks it could be “the most daring or foolish act ever in the history of the blogosphere.”
Puerto Rico, U.S.A.: Imagine That Conversation
Puerto Rican blogger Liza asks: “Can you imagine having to talk to your kids about the potential assassination of their father?”, adding: “What people don't get is how deep the wounds of political and social violence run in this country. To have people like Hillary Clinton dismiss political assassination as...
Bangladesh: Compromised Media
Ever since Bangladesh was put under a state of emergency by an interim government supported by the military it was a testing time for Bangladesh media. The credibility of Bangladesh’s Bangla and English-language press is in question as their recent role seems biased and appeasing. This post discusses the degrading situation of the Bangladeshi media.
Japan and U.S: Jurisdiction Agreement
Niphonese wrote a post on the recent exposure of a secret agreement between Japan and U.S government in 1953 that Japan should abandon jurisdiction over crimes of Japan-based US soldiers, except serious cases.
Bahamas: Social Breakdown?
Larry Smith at Bahama Pundit believes that the country's escalating violence, especially among youth, “is not crime. It is impending social breakdown.”
Trinidad and Tobago: Shame
As an eight-year-old girl is found dead in a canefield in Trinidad, Coffeewallah says: “They're killing the children…casually, as though they are no more than sand through our fingers”, while Now is Wow Too quotes the anonymous subject of one of her photographs: “We have failed our children. What's going...
Romania: Corruption
Transatlantic Politics writes about corruption in Eastern and Central Europe: “A survey made amongst Romanian judges showed that most of them don’t consider corruption as being a serious crime.”
Bulgaria: Stoev's Murder and Anonymous Blogging
Maya's Corner quotes a passage on Georgi Stoev's murder and the dangers of writing under one's real name in Bulgaria.
Greece: Macedonian Party
Say: Macedonia writes about the first congress of the Macedonian “Rainbow Party” in Greece.
Kosovo: “Failure to Get More Recognitions”
Prishtine: Independence and Kanun writes: “[…] out of the other 192 (plus 2) countries in the world, the government of Kosovo should have been able to lobby more than just 41 countries for recognition. I mean, many of these countries would happily recognize Kosovo if for no other reason than...
Egypt: Torture Acceptable
Egyptian blogger Mostafa is surprised that some of his friends find torture as an acceptable form of extracting confessions from people being interrogated – after an experiment he conducted on Facebook.
China: Chinese Red Cross on corruption watch
Bloggers continue to monitor earthquake corruption, as they wait for the truth to come out as to why so many school buildings collapsed so easily in this month's massive earthquake. The parents of children who died, though, aren't waiting. On Sunday a group from Mianzhu city took photos of their...
Bangladesh: A cartoonist and the state
E-Bangladesh has an interview with Arif ,the condemned cartoonist who was charged by the state of profanity and sedition.
Guyana: Copyright Laws
Signifyin’ Guyana comes across an article on copyright laws in Guyana that “made (her) jaw drop.”
China: No Corruption in Building Schools
The education ministry has denied corruption in the construction of school buildings in the Sichuan earthquake zone. The comments in Zhaomu's blog showed that no one believed in the official statement [zh].
India: Homosexuality and the Law
Law and Other Things reflects on the litigation strategy in a case that could have an impact on the legal perspective of homosexuality in India.
D.R. of Congo: Bemba's arrest is selective justic
Siasa Duni comments on the arrest of Congolese opposition leader Jean-Pierre Bemba: “As long as you commit atrocities as part of the government army, they do not qualify for war crimes, seems to be the message. There is the risk of another signal Bemba’s arrest might send to Africa: Don’t...
