Stories about Law from December, 2011
Russia: Alexey Navalny Released From Jail
“Everyone's waiting for Navalny ) 5 more minutes! pic.twitter.com/3BRHiuGa,” tweeted [ru] @varlamov a short while ago, posting a picture of the crowd waiting outside a Moscow prison for activist Alexey Navalny‘s release. @plushev tweeted [ru]: “Absolutely fantastic numbers. In the middle of the night, some 5,000 people are viewing [the...
Malawi: Actor's Arrest Reminiscent of Past Dictatorship's Censorship Laws
Malawi police on Sunday afternoon December 18, stormed a stage on which a play was being performed, arrested the main actor mid-sentence and led him away into a waiting police van. Steve Sharra reports.
Kazakhstan: Longtime Strike Bursts into Violence; State of Emergency Declared
As Kazakhstan was preparing for the pompous celebrations of the 20th anniversary of the country's independence, the seven month-long strike of employees sacked from the national oil company's subsidiary in West Kazakhstan was evolving into brutal clashes with police forces, apparently, with the help of unidentified provocateurs.
Russia: Mikhail Khodorkovsky and the 2012 Presidential Election
Incarcerated since 2003, Mikhail Khodorkovsky is once again in Russia's political spotlight as presidential candidate Mikhail Prokhorov vows to pardon him if he's elected next spring. Donna Welles reports.
China: A Week Later, Wukan Remains Under Siege
The Nanfang has compiled a day-by-day summary of the recent events in the village of Wukan in southern China's Guangdong province, still under siege.
Taiwan: Land Expropriation Revision Fails to Address Farmers’ Woes
As the presidential election is approaching, the politicians in Taiwan's Executive Yuan have decided to revise the Land Expropriation Act. However, instead of addressing the farmers' woes, lawmakers have passed a revision of the Act that reinstates the interests of development over human rights.
Poland: Change to Drug Law, Change in Policy?
On December 9, an important change was introduced to Poland's drug policy: an amendment to the law on illegal drug possession came into force, which would allow prosecutors to abandon initiation of the criminal procedure against those in possesion of drugs. Anna Gotowska reports.
Cuba: In Defense of Human Rights
Pedazos de La Isla highlights the testimony of one of the Ladies in White who relates her experience as a victim of the “vigilance operations, brutal beatings, arbitrary arrests, deportations, and other forms of violence against those who publicly demonstrated on the streets of the island in defense of human...
Barbados: Courts Send Message that Women are Nothing
“Men again learned that no matter how badly you beat women, they can always be pressured to drop the charges. Police learned that it is useless to treat an assault on a woman seriously. The judge learned that assault charges are a waste of time when a West Indies cricketer...
Guyana: Rape Allegations against Police Chief
Save Guyana reports on rape allegations being brought against the police commissioner, explaining: “The Alliance For Change…has called for [his] dismissal or at least interdiction from duty…and is viewing the matter as the first real test of the Donald Ramotar administration.”
St. Kitts & Nevis: Making Financial Progress
Abeng News Magazine has an update on the St. Kitts debt default, here.
Brazil: Blogger Found Dead, Hanged: Suicide or Assassination?
Brazilian blogger Altamiro Borges announces [pt] on his blog, the death of blogger Hamilton Alexander, the “Mosquito”, found dead, hanged, at his home. He adds that friends and family are not convinced of this version, because the blogger was famous for attacking politicians in his state, Santa Catarina, south of...
Cuba: Defining “Vulgarity”
Without Evasion continues to share her thoughts about the outcry over the “vulgarity” of a popular reggaeton song, saying: “The confusion lies, then, in properly ascertaining the limits of vulgarity and limiting at the same time in what spheres of social life vulgarity will be allowed without it constituting a...
Jamaica: So What About the Spy Plane?
After reading a newspaper editorial which was nonchalant over the presence of a spy plane during the country's state of emergency, Active Voice says: “The big deal…is that 73 people were killed under unexplained circumstances during that Tivoli Gardens operation. This spy plane has video footage of what happened…and the...
Pakistan: A Holistic View On The SMS Content Filtering Saga
Fouad Bajwa provides a holistic view on the recent SMS content filtering controversy in Pakistan.
Peru: Bloggers Report Police Harassment During Discussion Group about Conga Mining Project
Members of the group “Casa Cultural Poco Floro” blogged denouncing [es] an alleged case of police harassment during a discussion group about the Conga mining project, one of the most heated social conflicts at the moment. The representative of Poco Floro talks about the incident in an interview (audio) [es]....
Brazil: A Book on Fraudulent Privatizations
Brazilian filmmaker Jorge Furtado comments on [pt] a book that he considers to be the best of 2011: “Privataria Tucana”. The title is a play with words that links piracy, privatization and toucans, the symbol of the Social Democrat Party (PSDB). The book exposes policies of privatization carried out during...
Slovakia: The Most Expensive Apple Computers
University of Economics in Bratislava (EUBA) has recently signed a contract to acquire electronics and software for its Faculty of National Economy for a total price of over 1.8 million euro. Many of the items are overpriced. Tibor Blazko reports.
Brazil: On a Bill that Bans Drinking in Public Places
Brazilian blogger Leonardo Cisneiros comments on [pt] a proposed bill in the city of Recife (Pernambuco state) that prohibits the consumption of alcoholic beverages in public places. The proposed bill has caused mixed reactions among the population, including a motion of disgust [pt] and online reactions that have been censored...
Ukraine: Grand Theft Auto
LEvko of foreign notes discusses reports that Ukraine's Minister of Justice, Oleksandr Lavrynovych, owns a Mercedes luxury car which was reported stolen in Germany nearly two years ago.
Brazil: Journalist Threatened at Belo Monte Dam Construction Site
Brazilian journalist Ruy Sposati, in Altamira, Pará, denounces the death of yet another worker at the Belo Monte Dam construction site, another round of mass layoffs of workers on strike and a death threat against him for covering the stories in a series of tweets [all links in pt].
