· December, 2010

Stories about Law from December, 2010

Pakistan: Debating Blasphemy Cases

  18 December 2010

An interesting conversation is underway at All Things Pakistan where Adil Najam expressed his concern that the arrest of Dr. Naushad Valiyani on charges of blasphemy was nothing if not an act of spreading personal and petty hatred.

Puerto Rico: The Politization of the Supreme Court

  18 December 2010

Law professor and blogger Hiram Meléndez Juarbe analyzes the institutional crisis the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico [es] is facing, and its recent decision to restrict the space and place of the protests at the University of Puerto Rico.

Ukraine: Blood in the Parliament

  18 December 2010

On Dec. 16, a fierce fight broke out in the Ukrainian Parliament, sending at least four lawmakers to the hospital with injuries of various degrees of severity. Tetyana Bohdanova reviews blog and Twitter reactions of the Ukrainian public and politicians.

Haiti: Ballots Video

  17 December 2010

prophet N posts a video which, “according to unconfirmed sources…was filmed by UN peacekeepers in Cite Soleil” and may point to inconsistencies with regard to electoral ballots.

Jamaica: Documentary on Police Abuse

  17 December 2010

Repeating Islands reports on the launch of a documentary which chronicles instances of police injustice and debuted “to a crowd of more than 300 to commemorate International Human Rights Day.”

Cuba: Economic Crisis

  17 December 2010

Iván's File Cabinet says that the “times of crisis” that the country is facing is affecting everyone – even the prostitutes.

India: What the Telecom Scam Revealed

  17 December 2010

Rajesh Jain of Emergic, in a series of posts, opines that the recent telecom scam in India exposed  how deeply corruption has penetrated the Indian society – impacting economic growth and corroding trust.

Brazil: Newspaper Folha de São Paulo censors satirical blog

  17 December 2010

The blog "Falha de Sao Paulo", created by brothers Lino and Mario Bocchini, as a parody of Brazil’s biggest newspaper company - Folha de Sao Paulo - was removed from the web by an injunction in the Brazilian courts at the end of September. Dozens of blogs came out in defense of the website and its authors to freedom of expression.

Cuba: Economic Segregation

  16 December 2010

Laritza's Laws says that “at no point” do the draft guidelines for economic and social policy “give respect to the rights of Cubans”.

Philippines: Court Decision on Vizconde Massacre Shocks Public

  16 December 2010

Early this week #Vizconde and #HubertWebb became Twitter trending topics. They refer to the Vizconde Massacre which took place 19 years ago in the Philippines and the acquittal of Hubert Webb, the main suspect in the case. Find out why Filipinos reacted strongly to the decision of the court to acquit the suspects.

China: A Cold Winter Night with the Petitioners

  16 December 2010

Zhang Kai, a human rights lawyer, swaps the comforts of his warm apartment to come face to face with the suffering of petitioners who took refuge from the cold weather inside a pedestrian subway, on a night when the temperatures dropped to -7 degrees Celsius. He live-casts what he witnessed in his micro blog to raise public awareness of the situation.

Azerbaijan: Hijab ban

  16 December 2010

Aaron in Azerbaijan [Eng] also comments on the recent law introduced in Azerbaijan prohibiting hijabs in schools. The blog wonders if the move is an attempt by the government to stop the further spread of radical Islam in the secular country.

Kenya: ICC Prosecutor Names 2008 Post Election Violence Suspects

  16 December 2010

The International Criminal Court (ICC) Chief Prosecutor Louis Moreno Ocampo on Wednesday 15 December, 2010 named 6 top Kenyan personalities believed to bear the most responsibility for the post election violence in 2008. Discussion about Ocampo's list of six dominated both Twitter and the Kenyan blogosphere for the better part of the day with sharp reactions being witnessed.

Guinea: Clarification from Reporters Without Borders

  15 December 2010

The blog banabananews.org published [fr] a press release from Paris by the NGO Reporters Without Borders, dated 8th December 2010 in which it states: “‘Reporter Sans Frontière Section Guinée’ has absolutely nothing to do with the campaign for freedom of the press, has no link whatsoever with our organisation, and is...

Trinidad & Tobago, Barbados: Duprey & CL Financial

  15 December 2010

B.C. Pires learns from a Trinidad news report that the CEO at the helm of the CL Financial collapse is willing to come back to the country to “set things right”, saying: “You don’t know whether to laugh or slit your wrists.”

Trinidad & Tobago: Gun Control

  15 December 2010

Diaspora blogger Jumbie's Watch says that for Trinidad and Tobago to see a dent in crime, “we must first change the attitude of the people, not arm them with guns.”