Le Cong Dinh sentenced to 5-year prison sentence
On 20 January 2010, prominent human rights lawyer Le Cong Dinh was sentenced to 5 years in prison. In recent years he has defended journalists, writers, human rights activists, bloggers and lawyers. He also regularly published through media that are deemed ‘subversive’ by the Vietnamese government. On 13 June 2009 members of the Vietnamese security […]
Anwar Al-Bunni remains in detention
Syrian lawyer Anwar al-Bunni remains detained in the notorious Adra-prison, located just outside Damascus. It is reported that Anwar al-Bunni has been imprisoned in harsh conditions and has been subjected to abuse by his prison guards. In April 2007 Anwar has been sentenced to five years in prison for ‘spreading of false information’. Al-Bunni was […]
Alec Muchadehama acquitted
Alec Muchadehama was on trial because of supposed contempt of Court. In June 2009, his prosecution was initiated because he supposedly was involved in the ‘illegal release’ of journalist Andrison Manyere and two members of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), the political party that was founded in 1999 to oppose the government of President […]
Lawyer Jorge Molano victim of threat and intimidation
Jorge Eliecer Molano Rodriguez is a Colombian lawyer who provides legal assistance to various human rights organizations in Colombia. Molano Rodríguez also assists victims and relatives in for instance the case of enforced disappearances of 11 people after the events that occured at the Palace of Justice in Bogotá on 6 and 7 November 1985. […]
Calls upon authorities to investigate Markelov’s death
In a letter dated 21 January 2009, L4L has demanded an investigation into the murder of human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov. In addition, the lack of governmental protection for Markelov must be explained. The Russian human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov (34) and Anastasia Baburova (25), a freelance journalist for the critical newspaper Novaja Gazeta, were […]
Defender of indigenous Maya people Fausto Otzín killed
On 18 October 2009, lawyer and defender of indigenous Maya population’s rights Fausto Otzín disappeared. He was last seen in in San Juán Comalapa, Chimaltenango, and found near his home a day later. He endured serious injuries because he had been attacked and jabbed in the face and back with machetes, and as a consequence, […]
Advocaat en journalist op straat vermoord
Stanislav Markelov, een prominent mensenrechtenadvocaat, is in de middag van 19 januari in de buurt van het metrostation ‘Kropotkinskaja’ in Moskou doodgeschoten. Volgens ooggetuigen schoot de dader de advocaat in het hoofd met een van een knaldemper voorzien pistool. Een medewerkster van de krant Novaja Gazeta, Anastasija Baburova, die op dat moment naast Markelov stond, […]
De positie van mensenrechtenverdedigers staat nog altijd onder druk
Het kantoor van de Iraanse Nobelprijswinnaar voor de Vrede van 2003 Shirin Ebadi werd op 1 januari 2009 door betogers beklad met leuzen. Tien dagen eerder was het kantoor van het Defenders of Human Rights Centre (DHRC), geleid door Shirin Ebadi, in Teheran gesloten wegens ontbrekende vergunningen. Ebadi’s organisatie had juist die dag een activiteit […]
Moorden zijn “ernstige bedreiging rechtsstaat”
Speciaal Rapporteur van de Verenigde Naties Philip Alston wil een onafhankelijk onderzoek naar de moord op Oscar Kamau King’ara en John Paul Oulu op 5 maart 2009 in de hoofdstad van Kenia, Nairobi. King’ara was advocaat, oprichter en directeur van de Oscar Foundation Free Legal Aid Clinic. De Oscar Foundation is een geregistreerde liefdadigheidsinstelling die […]
Prosecutor reacts on call for investigation into assassination Markelov
In April, L4L received an answer (original, translation) from the Russian National Office of the Public Prosecution Service to its letter dated 21 January 2009 concerning the assassination of the Russian lawyer Markelov. The letter states that the Public Prosecutor of Moscow has filed a criminal case based on article 105 paragraph 1, article 30 […]
Dutch government concerned about fate Haitham al-Maleh
The Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Verhagen, has expressed his concern about the fate of the 78 year old Syrian lawyer Haitham Al-Maleh on 10 December 2009. According to Verhagen “it would be a nice gesture of the Syrian authorities to no longer detain Al-Maleh in a prison but to enable him to await […]
Lawyer has to flee country
The renowned lawyer and human rights activist Ariyaratne received death threats so serious that he had to flee his home country of Sri Lanka. L4L provided the financial resources for his escape. Mr. Ariyaratne has been a lawyer in Sri Lanka for more than 15 years. He acts, among others, for Right to Life, an […]
Marokko NOVA en Dichtbij Nederland besteden aandacht aan het lot van Kanjaa
Abdellatif Kanjaa schreef in 2006 samen met twee andere advocaten uit het district Tetouan een open brief over de integriteit van de rechterlijke macht in Marokko. Daarin uitten zij kritiek op de corruptie die volgens hen plaatsvindt in een deel van de rechterlijke macht, in het bijzonder bij het Gerechtshof van Tetouan. Op 13 juli […]
Mohamed Abbou’s travel ban lifted
Mohamed Abbou was informed by the Tunisian Ministry of Justice and Human Rights on 28 March 2009 that he is permitted to travel abroad freely again. In 2005, after a trial that breached standards of due process, Mohamed Abbou was sentenced to three and a half years imprisonment for committing libel. According to Abbou and […]
L4L nieuwsflits
Op 30 maart 2009 verscheen de eerste Nieuwsflits van L4L waarin wij u op de hoogte willen stellen van de zaken waar L4L zich de laatste tijd mee bezig heeft gehouden. U kunt zich hier aanmelden voor de Nieuwsflits.
Also lawyers among vitims of Maguindanao massacre
“If they can kill lawyers, they can kill practically anybody.” That is what lawyer Concepcion (‘Conny’) Brizuela stated in a conversation with the members of the L4L mission investigating extrajudicial killings of lawyers and judges on the Philippines in November 2008. Conny also told that she had moved to another island of the Philippines because […]