Stories about Law from May, 2011
India: Malayalam Bloggers Campaign For Soumya
Kerala was rife with outrage, when 23 year old woman Soumya was thrown out from a moving passenger train, raped and brutally murdered. With the public losing the trust in mainstream media, blogs with the individual's voices question media's silent role and discuss many unnoticed aspects of the story.
Ukraine: Proposal to Declare Crimean Tatar Deportation “Genocide”
Window on Eurasia reports on the Ukrainian Peoples Party's proposal to declare the 1944 deportation of the Crimean Tatars by Stalin “an act of genocide and a crime against humanity.”
Serbia: More Reactions to the Arrest of Ratko Mladic
Richard Byrne of Balkans via Bohemia and Borut Peterlin react to the news of the arrest of Ratko Mladic, the Bosnian Serb general wanted for war crimes, including the Srebrenica massacre. Sladjana Lazic of A Slice Of Serbian Politics and Viktor Marković (@Belgrade) report [en, sr] on small-scale protests in...
Serbia: Arrest of Ratko Mladic
Ratko Mladic, former Bosnian Serb military leader was arrested today by police in Serbia, the country's president, Boris Tadic, confirmed on national television. General Mladic has been on the run since 1995 facing charges of genocide for his role as Bosnian Serb military commander during the 1992-95 civil war in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Cuba: Prisoner & Dissident Deaths
Uncommon Sense links to a report which alleges that the death of a prisoner was at the hands of prison guards, while Babalu links to new medical reports of the late Juan Wilfredo Soto Garcia, noting that “the report from the most recent beating…mentions the bruises found on his body;...
Trinidad & Tobago: Advantegous Politics
Plain Talk says that when it comes to politics, “the name of the game is advantage.”
Bolivia: New Ministry of Comunications Raises Doubts
Rodrigo Reque Mejía, owner of the blog Puro Papo [es], compares the Bolivian government's newly created Ministry of Communications with the fictitious Ministry of Truth in Geroge Orwell's 1984 novel. His concerns have to do with potential Internet censorshio, among others.
Brazil: Forest Defender Shot Dead
As the Brazilian Congress debates a new Forest Code, and as the Environment Ministry launches new raids on illegal deforestation in Brazil, forest defender José Cláudio Ribeiro da Silva was shot dead [pt]. He had announced his life was under threat in the TEDxAmazonia conference, last November.
Egypt: A Day for Criticizing the Military
Why did the Egyptian bloggers decide to dedicate the 23 May to criticizing the Supreme Council of Armed Forces on their blogs? So far 375 blog posts criticising the army have popped up on blogs despite a law which makes any criticism illegal.
Russia: Senator Calls for Civilized Political Discussion Online
Senator from pro-Kremlin “United Russia” party Robert Shlegel urged opposition leaders to join him in developing the rules of civilized political discussion online, Lenta.ru reported [ru]. The senator said the opposition often uses “lies, accusations and provocations” online.
Cuba: Rojas Detained
Cuban bloggers focus their attention on Luis Felipe Rojas, who was reportedly detained this past weekend, allegedly for blogging about the beating of three women.
Trinidad & Tobago: Gay Rights
gspottt thinks that “it’s impressive that the Ministry is interested in attitudes to homosexuality; and notable that the poll [about equal rights for homosexuals] was commissioned by the last government”, but maintains that “it’s a matter of how you ask the question.” Photos and video of Trinidad and Tobago's first...
Myanmar: Profile of jailed journalists
Mizzima News has uploaded on Scribd the profiles of imprisoned journalists in Myanmar. There are about 21 journalists in the country's prisons.
Myanmar: Farmers receive lengthy prison sentence
Aye Nai reports that farmers involved in a land dispute in Myanmar were given 8 to 12 years of prison convictions by a court. The land is owned by the military. The farmers are accused of stoning, cursing, damaging property, trespassing and violation of export/import law.
Ukraine: No Bail For Ex-Interior Minister Lutsenko
Foreign Notes writes that Ukraine's ex-minister of Internal Affairs Yuriy Lutsenko has lost an appeal to be released on bail and is “back behind bars.”
Poland: Taxation
Politics, Economy, Society explains the Polish taxation system.
Hungary: Orbán Government and Romania's Hungarian Minority
Hungarian Spectrum writes about the relationship between the Orbán government and the Hungarian minority in Romania.
Russia: Medvedev and Press Freedom
Vadim Nikitin of Foreign Policy Association's Russia blog writes that while the Russian President Dmitry Medvedev “had no problems embracing iPad and Twitter,” he “seems to be a late adopter when it comes to good old fashioned press freedom.”
Slovenia: Law on Mayor/MP Conflict of Interest; New Family Code
Sleeping With Pengovsky reports that “a law establishing a conflict of interests between holding an office of mayor and MP at the same time” has been passed in Slovenia, and also writes about the attitudes towards “the new Family Code which – among other things – was meant to allow...
Russia: EU’s Roma to Move to Russia?
Window on Eurasia wrote in early May that “rising tensions between the Roma and the titular nationalities of the European Union have sparked reports in Moscow that some of this often-despised community are about to be moved to the Russian Federation, either on their own or from a deal between...
Greece: A Proposal to Reform the Police
Greek blogger Leonidas Irakliotis proposes several measures [el] to reform the police and restore public trust, in light of recent police violence and failure to deal with a wave of anti-immigrant attacks in Athens. “As long as we tolerate this incompetence, we will suffer from an under-performing police force; resulting...
