Stories about Law from May, 2012
Mozambique: Police Chief Sitting Above the Law
The intransigence of Jorge Khalau, Commander in Chief of the Police of the Republic of Mozambique, who stated that police forces are governed by his rules and should not comply with any court order, shocked the public opinion in the beginning of May.
Ghana: Will Parliament Pass Right to Information Before 2013?
Cecil Dadzie wonders whether the Ghanaian parliament will pass Right to Information Bill before 2013: “The Rights to Information Bill (RTI), which was laid before Parliament in February, 20I0, has generated controversy, with the RTI Coalition blaming Parliament for feet-dragging in passing the bill into law.”
Ukraine: Yulia Tymoshenko's Plight and Euro 2012
There must be some corners on the web where football fans are still having apolitical discussions of Euro 2012, scheduled to take place in Poland and Ukraine from June 8 to July 1. For the past few weeks, however, the upcoming sporting event has featured prominently in arguments and discussions among those who seem more interested in the Ukrainian and European politics than sports.
Russia: State TV Justifies May 6 Police Violence, Cites Spanish Bill Criminalizing Online Protest Organization as Example
In the final segment of the report [ru] on the May 6 protest in Moscow, which ended in clashes with riot police, the Russian state-owned Channel 1 mentioned, among other things, a Spanish draft law [en] criminalizing online organization of public protests, as an example of the “much tougher” treatment...
India: Crackdown on Tamil Nadu Anti-Nuclear Plant Protests
Activists are protesting the commissioning of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project in Tamil Nadu, India. The government has cracked down on demonstrators, detained many and had given prohibition orders for further protests.
Colombia: Bomb Blast Targeted at Controversial Former Minister
A bomb blast targeting former interior Minister Fernando Londoño Hoyos, a conservative lawyer and politician, left several dead and others injured. This attempt prompted thousands of reactions on social networks.
Cuba: Dissident Ferrer Garcia Re-Released
Havana Times reports that dissident Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia was released by authorities late last week “after being held for more than 24 hours without his whereabouts being made known.”
Russia: Duma Deputy Wants Criminal Liability for Extremist Tweets
Yesterday, on May 14, Aleksandr Khinshtein, a Duma deputy and member of United Russia, wrote a letter to Yuri Chaika, the Prosecutor General of Russia. In that letter, Khinshtein noted emerging extremist trends on Twitter and Facebook, and called on the state to prosecute users who advocate violence and other illegal acts.
Bangladesh: Economic of Marriage payments
“There are two kinds of marriage payments — dowry and brideprice, with significant differences among their prevalences in time and across societies,” – informs J. Rahman at Mukti.
South Korea: Monks Caught in Gambling, Smoking and Drinking Scandal
In South Korea, six leaders of the nation's biggest Buddhist order were caught playing high-stakes poker, along with drinking and smoking. The case was disclosed through leaked video footage that shows high-profile monks gambling at a luxury lakeside hotel just days before a national holiday celebrating the birth of Buddha.
India: Entertainment Industry Seeks Court Ban on Torrents and Vimeo
For more than a week now, some ISPs across parts of India have been quietly blocking access to the popular video sharing site Vimeo as well as various torrent sites such as The Pirate Bay, KickAssTorrents, BitSnoop etc. Netizens react.
Jordan: Campaign Launched Against “Rape-Marriage” Law
In March of this year 16-year-old Moroccan Amina Filali committed suicide after she was forced to marry her rapist. Now Jordanians are speaking up about a 15-year-old rape victim who has been married off to the man convicted of raping her, whose death sentence has been dropped as a consequence.
China: Domestic Violence
Shards of China blogs about the problem of domestic violence in China. Even though the government has acknowledged the problem, little has been done to protect abused wives.
China: Foreigner beaten by Beijingers for sexually assaulting a woman in public
A video, showing a drunken foreigner beaten up by a number of passersby for sexually assaulting a woman in public, has been circulated widely on line. Ministry of Tofu translated some of the online comments.
Singapore: Birth Control and Low Crime Rate
Furry Brown Dog tries to determine if Singapore's birth control policies in the 1970s are also responsible for the country's low crime rates.
Lithuania: Alleged Child Abuse Case
At OpenDemocracy.net, Violeta Davoliūtė draws attention to “some of the more sober realities of life in today’s Lithuania,” highlighting a highly publicised case of alleged child abuse that is “being played out against a background of mob rule, support from politicians and complicity on the part of the police.”
Serbia: May 6 Elections Results
Eric Gordy of East Ethnia sums up the results of the first round of the elections in Serbia and predicts what is to come after the May 20 runoff: “Assuming that Tadić defeats Nikolić by his usual narrow margin in two weeks, a government that looks a lot like the...
South Korea: Continuing Mad Cow Controversy Over US Beef Imports
Since last week, South Korea has seen continuing protests against importing beef from the United States after mad cow disease broke out in California. Korean government dispatched its inspection team to the US to quell the public anger incited by the government's unkept promise to halt the beef import immediately when the disease was detected. However, the inspection team's lack of control over the investigation process and the biased member selection process further deepened South Korean's distrust of the government.
Thailand: Grandfather Serving Lese Majeste Sentence Dies in Prison
Akong, a 61-year-old grandfather in Thailand sentenced to 20 years in prison for sending text messages deemed offensive to the Royal Family died in prison a few days ago. Human rights groups criticized the government for refusing to grant bail to Akong who was diagnosed with cancer.
Turkey: Outrage at Sentencing of Scarf Case Student
On May 11 Cihan Kirmizigul, an engineering student at Galatasaray University in Istanbul, was sentenced to 11 years and 3 months in jail, accused of firebombing a building - but many believe his only "crime" was wearing a Kurdish scarf in the vicinity of the attack.
Argentina Approves Death with Dignity Law
After a long debate in the Argentine Senate, the Death with Dignity project was converted into law with wide-ranging support. On Twitter the hashtag #Muertedigna (death with dignity) became a local trending topic after news broke out about the new law. There have been many different opinions.
