Vietnam UN Rights Tribunal calls for release of Vietnamese lawyer
PRESS RELEASE The detention of Vietnamese blogger, lawyer and human rights activist Le Quoc Quan has been condemned by a United Nations human rights tribunal as violating his right to freedom of expression and his right to a fair trial. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, a tribunal set up under the UN’s Human […]
Zimbabwe Beatrice Mtetwa aquitted
On 26 November 2013, human rights lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa was acquitted of the charge of “obstructing justice”. Zimbabwean police arrested Mtetwa, on Sunday 17 March 2013. She was arrested while attempting to provide legal assistance to Thabani Mpofu, Director of Research and Development in the Office of the Zimbabwean Prime Minister, Morgan Tsvangirai, who was arrested the same […]
Turkey Ramazan Demir is facing prosecution
Ramazan Demir, one of the guest speakers on the L4L-Award seminar in May 2013, has been charged with “insulting or (…) offending the dignity of a public authority in the performance of his duties”, pursuant to Section 125 of the Criminal Code which provides for up to two years of imprisonment. The charges are based on defence speeches he made […]
Iran Abdolfattah Soltani ends hungerstrike
L4L received information that Abdolfattah Soltani ended his hunger strike. He went on hunger strike on 2 November 2013 to protest against the lack of proper medical care for himself and other prisoners of conscious jailed in Tehran’s Evin prison. Abdolfattah Soltani is a prominent human rights lawyer, and was spokesman for the Human Rights Defenders’ Center (CHRD). […]
Kazakhstan Zinaida Mukhurtova released from psychiatric confinement but still at risk
On 1 November 2013, lawyer Zinaida Mukhortova was released from Astana Medical Centre for Psychological Health. She had forcibly been detained in psychiatric confinement since 9 August 2013. Unfortunately L4L has received information that during the latest appeal hearing, psychiatric tests reaffirmed that Zinaida Mukhortova is suffering from a ‘delusional disorder’. Therefore she is once again at risk […]
Saudi Arabia Lawyer sentenced for ‘offending judiciary’
On 30 October 2013, a court sentenced human rights lawyer Waleed Abu al-Khair to three months in prison, for offending the Saudi Arabian judiciary. These charges are believed to be related to his signing a petition critisizing in 2011 condemning the trials against Jeddah Reformists, and the events in Qutayef. Waleed Abu al-Khair is a human […]
Russia International conference on human rights in EU and Russia
On 28 and 29 October 2013, an international conference on ‘Human rights in the European Union and in Russia’ was held in St. Petersburg. Eighty academics, jurists, lawyers, representatives of NGOs and students discussed current human rights issues in the EU and Russia. L4L and the Russian Foundation Human Rights Resource Center organised the conference. […]
Sudan Adam Sharief released from prison
Adam Sharief, a lawyer from Sudan, was released on 30 October 2013 after being held in custody for more than one month without charges. He safely returned to his family and colleagues. On 26 September 2013 the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) arrested Adam Sharief. He was arrested without a charge and wasn’t granted […]
Haiti Lawyer arbitrarily held in police custody
On 22 October 2013, human rights lawyer André Michel was arbitrarily held for one night in police custody. While on his way back home, André Michel’s car was stopped by police officers, who attempted to carry out a search of the vehicle. André Michel would only accept the search if a justice of the peace […]
China UPR: attention for repression of lawyers
On 22 October, the UN Human Rights Council will discuss China in the context of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR). Together with Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada, L4L filed a joint submission in March of this year. The joint submission is referred to in the stakeholder summary composed by the High Commissioner for Human Rights (see […]
Syria One year since enforced disappearance human rights lawyer
More than one year ago, Syrian lawyer Khalil Ma’touq was arrested on his way to work. Since then, no further information could be obtained regarding his situation and whereabouts. Khalil Ma’touq is the executive director of the Syrian Center for Legal Studies and Research and the head of the Syrian Center for the Defense […]
Iran Court of Appeal upholds prison sentence Mohammad Seifzadeh
Late September 2013, the Court of Appeal upheld the sentence imposed on Mohammad Seifzadeh by the Islamic Revolution Court on 20 February 2013. This Court sentenced him to six years imprisonment, on charges of “collusion to take action against the national security” and “spreading propaganda against the system”. These charges were based on a letter he had written […]
Vietnam Le Quoc Quan sentenced to 30 months in jail
On 2 October 2013, Vietnamese lawyer Le Quoc Quan was sentenced to 30 months in jail for tax evasion. Le Quoc Quan is a well-known Vietnamese lawyer and human rights defender. He has been harassed constantly since 2007 by the Vietnamese authorities because of his human rights activities. Le Quoc Quan was arrested by […]
Kazakhstan Court upholds psychiatric confinement of human rights lawyer
On 27 September 2013, Karaganda’s regional court of Karaganda confirmed the decision of the Balkhash Court to approve the forced psychiatric confinement of lawyer Zinaida Mukhortova, thereby dismissing her appeal. The decision was taken in her absence, even though Zinaida Mukhortova’s lawyers allegedly requested that the hearing would be postponed until October in order to ensure […]
Rusland Magamed Abubakarov te gast op jaarcongres NOvA
Magamed Abubakarov was op 27 september 2013 special guest tijdens de sessie van L4L op het Jaarcongres van de Nederlandse Orde van Advocaten in ’t Spant in Bussum. Op 31 mei ontving hij de Lawyers for Lawyers Award 2013. Meer informatie over Magamed Abubakarov Magamed Abubakarov is geboren in Tsjetsjenië en vestigde zich als advocaat in Grozny, Tsjetsjenië, in 2004. Hij treedt […]
Turkey L4L monitors hearing in mass-trial against lawyers
On 17 September 2013, the trial against 46 lawyers who are suspected of having ties with the Union of Communities in Kurdistan (KCK) continued in Silivri, Turkey. Lawyers for Lawyers has been monitoring this case since the start of it, and attended all eight hearings in this trial. The hearing that took place on 17 […]
