Mahienour el-Massry one year in prison
Lawyers for Lawyers today called on the Egyptian authorities to immediatly drop the charges against lawyer Mahienour el-Massry and to immediatly release her. Ms. El-Massry was detained exactly one year ago today, on 11 May 2015. On 31 May 2015 the Court of Appeal sentenced Mahienour El-Massry, along with nine activists, to one year and […]
Concerns over intimidation lawyers
Lawyers for Lawyers, Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada (LRWC) and the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) wrote a joint-letter to the Lawyers Council of Thailand (LCT) expressing concern over two cases of intimidation and harassment against human rights lawyers. Lawyers Sirikan Charoensiri and Benjarat Meethien both face criminal proceedings – seemingly as a result of the […]
Venezuela Harassment of lawyer
The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) has expressed concerns about the alleged ongoing harassment of Juan Carlos Gutiérrez in Venezuela as he carries out his professional duties as defence lawyer for Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo López. On 25 April 2016, Mr. Gutiérrez filed a formal complaint before the National Prosecutor’s Office. In his […]
Joint letter to Special Rapporteurs on detention lawyers
Lawyers for Lawyers, together with other organizations, called on United Nations Special Rapporteurs to urge the Turkish authorities to withdraw all charges against human rights lawyers Ayşe Acinikli and Ramazan Demir, and to release them with immediate effect. The letter was sent to five Special Rapporteurs of the United Nations, including the UN Special Rapporteur on […]
Lawyer Zhang Kai released
On 23 March 2016, lawyer Zhang Kai was released by the Chinese authorities after being detained for seven months. The reasons for his sudden release are not known. Zhang Kai, better known as the lawyer of the Chinese churches, disappeared in Wenzhou, China in August 2015. He was one of the more than two hundred […]
Lawyer Yuri Grabovski killed
On 25 March 2016, police discovered the body of Ukrainian lawyer Yuri Grabovski. The lawyer was reportedly found shot and buried near the Kiev-Odessa main route. Yuri Grabovski had been acting as the defence lawyer in a high profile and deeply politicised case since 2015 and had repeatedly denounced the harassment and intimidation he was […]
Court rules in favour of lawyer
The Appeals Collegium of the Almaty City Court decided on 18 April 2016 that demands from the investigative authorities to a lawyer to testify as a witness in a case in which she represented a client, were contrary to the law of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The Court overturned an earlier decision of the Medeu […]
Call for release of ‘Douma Four’ on birthday of Razan Zaitouneh
To mark the birthday of missing human rights lawyer Razan Zaitouneh, today a large amount of organizations, including Lawyers for Lawyers, called for her immediate release, as well as that of her colleagues Samira Khalil, Nazem Hamadi and Wa’el Hamada. The four, also known as the ‘Douma Four’, were abducted on 9 December 2013 in […]
Letter to U.S. President Obama
Lawyers for Lawyers, together with 18 organizations, called on the President of the U.S. to use talks about the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement to urge Viet Nam to release political prisoners, repeal laws that criminalize the exercise of internationally protected rights and cease harassment of human rights defenders, including lawyers, in accordance with its international human rights obligations. The situation […]
Sedition investigations against four lawyers
Lawyers for Lawyers is concerned about the initiation of sedition investigations against four lawyers of the Malaysian Bar: Karen Cheah, Hector Fernandez, Francis Pereira and Shanmugam Ramasam. On 19 March 2016, a motion was tabled at the Annual General Meeting of the Malaysian Bar calling on Attorney General Mohamed Apandi Ali, to resign over his […]
Lawyers for Lawyers 30 years!
This year, Lawyers for Lawyers celebrates its 30th anniversary. In the past 30 years we have campaigned for countless lawyers, monitored trials, been on fact-finding missions and written many letters. Unfortunately the situation of lawyers has deteriorated in many countries during these 30 years. This means that the importance and the scope of our work has […]
Lawyer Alldo Fellix Januardy attacked
Lawyers for Lawyers and Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada (LRWC) are concerned about the physical attack on lawyer Alldo Fellix Januardy from Indonesia. Alldo Fellix Januardy was attacked following his effort to negotiate a suspension of the plan to forcefully evict his clients. The Administrative District Court was still to issue a ruling on the legality […]
Send lawyers Ramazan Demir and Ayşe Acinikli a postcard in prison!
After the initial arrest and release of nine lawyers in Istanbul between 16 – 19 March 2016, new arrest warrants were issued against four of them on 22 March. On April 6, lawyers Ramazan Demir and Ayşe Acinikli were re-arrested. The arrests seem to be connected to their work as lawyers, and therefore we have […]
Thailand-blog Looking back on Thailand’s UPR pre-session
By Karin Monster Geneva, Wednesday, March 30th. Getting up early in the morning and heading to Thailand’s “Universal Periodic Review” (UPR) pre-session with L4L’s representative, Milena Latuputty. During this session, Thailand’s current human rights situation will be reviewed in the presence of representatives of the Permanent Missions and (inter)national organizations. Once arrived, we find ourselves […]
Joint UPR report
On 24 March 2016, the International Service for Human Rights (ISHR), Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) and L4L submitted a joint report for the Universal Periodic Review of Zimbabwe. In the report, the organizations highlighted that human rights defenders continue to face harassment, violence, arbitrary arrest and malicious prosecution. Lawyers are amongst those human rights defenders that […]
Lawyers Ramazan Demir and Ayşe Acinikli detained again
After the initial arrest and release of nine lawyers in Istanbul between 16 – 19 March 2016, new arrest warrants were issued against four of them on 22 March 2016. Two lawyers were re-arrested immediately after and were released a couple of days later. Yesterday, lawyers Ramazan Demir and Ayşe Acinikli were re-arrested. Arrest nine […]
