· May, 2013

Stories about Law from May, 2013

Macedonian Journalist's Arrest Stirs Protest

Macedonian journalists gathered [mk; video and text: sq, mk] in front of the Criminal Court in the capital Skopje today to protest against the arrest of their colleague, Tomislav Kezarovski, according to this note [en] posted in the Macedonian Facebook group titled “Journalists and citizens in defense of the right...

Taiwan Copyright Bill Worse Than SOPA

  31 May 2013

It said the U.S Stop Online Piracy Act demands IP blocking requests to be determined in court while the Taiwan copyrights amendement filter list will be managed by a government administrative body.

Tajik Constitution's ‘Fairy Tales’

Mardikornoma blog comments [tj] on the constitution of Tajikistan, suggesting that it has become more of a fairy tales book than the country's supreme law: As I skim through the pages of Tajikistan's Constitution, I cannot help thinking that this document must be from some other country.

Vietnam and Same Sex Marriage

  29 May 2013

Writing for Tuoitrenews, Valentine Vu explains why Vietnam is not yet ready for the legalization of same sex marriage: …majority of the population still holds prejudice against homosexuality being a disease, in fear of it being contagious, and afraid of losing face value if a friend/family member is gay

13-year-old Girl Publicly Shamed in China

  29 May 2013

A 13-year-old girl was handcuffed and then paraded on the streets after “accidentally spilling water on a town government vehicle” in Guizhou province. Fauna from ChinaSMACK translated Chinese netizens’ reaction.

Yemen: Two Men Killed for Overtaking a Sheikh's Wedding Convoy

Two young Yemeni men were killed last week for bypassing a wedding procession of a Sheikh (tribal leader) in Yemen's capital Sanaa. Khalid Al-Khateeb and his friend Hassan Aman were driving in their car when they came across a tribal wedding procession and were shot to death for over-taking the convoy. The wedding convoy belonged to Sheikh Ali Abd Rabo Al-Awadhi, a member in Yemen's Islah party and a member of the National Dialogue. The murder sparked an outrage among netizens and activists.

Jamaica's Blog Action Day: What Police Can Do

  26 May 2013

Jamaican bloggers marked their own version of Blog Action Day (dubbed JA Blog Day), on May 23. Netizens discussed the disturbing issue of police brutality, state security abuses and extra judicial killings - particularly fitting as the date for the event was the third anniversary of the "Tivoli Gardens Massacre", which took place during the country's state of emergency in 2010.

Indian Ruling on Vedanta Mining Plans Favours Tribal Rights

  25 May 2013

India's Supreme Court recently ruled that village councils should make the final decision as to whether controversial British company Vedanta Resources can mine for bauxite in the eastern state of Odisha. Vedanta wants to mine on land that the local Dongria Kondh people hold sacred.

India's Media Giant Takes on Student Blogger

  25 May 2013

Sans Serif reports about a legal battle between Indian media giant Times Publishing House and Aparajita Lath, a student of the National Institute of Juridical Sciences (NUJS) for her 669-word blog post in February 2013 capturing the Times group’s trademark tussle with the Financial Times of London.

Trinidad & Tobago: Invented E-mails or Political Demise?

  23 May 2013

Monday's sitting of Trinidad and Tobago's Parliament saw the Opposition Leader quoting from several e-mails, which, he alleged, implicate key government ministers, including the Prime Minister, in attempting to cover up her administration's actions surrounding the Section 34 controversy. Netizens have been debating whether the e-mails are even real and what it could mean politically if they are...or are not.

Free Speech and South Korea's Child Porn Law

  22 May 2013

A DeviantART website user wrote how South Korea's Children and Youth Protection law, that cracks down on child porn, can greatly undermine freedom of expression. Rough English translation appears in the latter half of the post. (There soon will be a detailed GV post on this issue)