· March, 2013

Stories about Law from March, 2013

Crash that Killed Cuban Democracy Advocate Still Shrouded in Mystery

  30 March 2013

The car accident that killed leading democracy advocate Oswaldo Payá has been shrouded in mystery and misinformation since it happened in eastern Cuba last July. Angel Carromero, the Spanish politician who survived the crash, recently told The Washington Post that the car was run off the road by state security agents. But many observers doubt the veracity of his claims.

Russian Anti-Corruption Blogger Appeals to Readers

RuNet Echo  29 March 2013

Alexey Navalny, unofficial protest leader, took to his blog [ru] on March 27 to defend himself from what he says are unfair allegations of corruption. Navalny is currently a suspect in two different embezzlement investigations. One of these, the so-called KirovLes case, involves the supposed use of a shell company to...

Trinidad & Tobago: Warner's Woes

  29 March 2013

The headlines in Trinidad and Tobago's mainstream media over the last couple of days have focused on a Reuters exclusive report that Daryan Warner, son of former FIFA Vice-President (and now the country's controversial Minister of National Security) Jack Warner, is allegedly assisting the FBI with its investigations into corruption allegations in the international football governing body. Social media users weigh in.

Film Exposes Madagascar's Child Sex Trade

  27 March 2013

The journeyman.tv published on March 25 a detailed investigation using undercover filming to expose the booming child sex trade in Madagascar: One mother in the film testifies: My daughter was at school, I had no money and no job so she decided to become a prostitute. I finally decided not...

Why China's Real-Name Microblog Rules Fail

  26 March 2013

The real-name registration regulation of micro-blogs in China has been implemented for more than a year, but a majority of netizens just ignore the regulation. David Caragliano from Tea Leaf Nation explains why the regulation has failed.

Shades of Communism in New Russian Registration Law

RuNet Echo  25 March 2013

On the evening of March 18, 2013 group of around 12 people [ru] unveiled a long black-and-white poster in the Red Square, reading “Go f*ck yourself with your registration”. They set off flares and shouted slogans, among which were “Down with the Chekist government!” and “Putin will be executed!”

Saudi Royal Advisor to Sue Twitter User

On Riyadh Bureau, Ahmed Al Omran writes: A member of the Saudi Shoura Council said today that he is going to sue a conservative writer for attacking him on Twitter. Shoura member Issa al-Ghaith said that “due to the escalation of offenses on Twitter and the necessity of legal action”...

Trinidad & Tobago: Falling Apart?

  25 March 2013

The Eternal Pantomime sees disturbing parallels between the late Chinua Achebe's famous novel ‘Things Fall Apart’ and the political and social climate in Trinidad and Tobago.

Myanmar: Who is Plotting the Meikhtila Riot?

  24 March 2013

For three days, riots raged in the town of Meikhtila in the Mandalay division of Myanmar. A curfew was imposed by the police after a group of people reportedly set buildings and motor bikes on fire in the area. Netizens condemned those who are speading hate messages online and those who are provoking religious and ethnic clashes

Bolivia: Book Bill Excludes Copyleft

  23 March 2013

Bolivian activists are on alert [es] and writing a collaborative proposal [es] on the new Book and Reading Act [es] in the Plurinational Legislative Asemply (Parliament). The bill seeks to encourage the production and reading of texts of various kinds in the country; however, the bill passed by the Lower...

Shedding Light on Macedonia's “Black Monday”

  22 March 2013

In order to shed light on the events of Dec. 24, 2012, when journalists and opposition MPs were thrown out of the Macedonian Parliament [en, es, mk], Foundation Open Society Institute Macedonia (@fosim) published a study entitled “Black Monday” [.pdf: en, mk, sq], with testimonies of witnesses and participants and...

Russian Nationalists Rally Behind Subway Shooter

RuNet Echo  22 March 2013

After all, how can one not react with outrage upon learning that Alexandra Lotkova, a pretty, twenty-one year old college student, got three years in prison for using a non-lethal gun to protect herself from knife-wielding thugs, who had already stabbed one of her friends!