The appeal trial of human rights defenders Messrs Ho Duc Hoa, Thai Van Dung, Paulus Le Son, Nguyen Xuan Anh, Tran Minh Nhat, Nguyen Dinh Cuong, Ho Van Oanh and Nguyen Van Duyet is due to take place tomorrow, 23 May 2013. Ahead of the hearing, a joint letter has been sent by 4 NGOs to Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung questioning the legitimacy of the trial that convicted them and condemning the ill-treatment of the human rights defenders whilst in detention.
On 15 May 2013, Brazil’s Supreme Court overturned the conviction of Mr Vitalmiro Bastos de Moura, also known as Bida, who is accused of ordering the 2005 murder of nun and defender of the Amazon, Sr. Dorothy Stang.
On 16 May 2013, the wife of human rights defender Mr Ales Bialiatski went to the Bobruysk colony No.2, where her husband has been held since February 2012, in order to bring him a food parcel. However, the food parcel was refused by prison officials, who informed her that in March 2013 Ales Bialiatski's right to receive food from visitors had been suspended for six months.
From 28 to 30 May 2013, the hearings of the defence witnesses in the trial against three human rights defenders, Ms Jittra Kotchadej, Ms Boonrod Paiwong and Mr Soonthorn Boonyord will take place at the Criminal Court on Ratchadapisek Road in Bangkok.
On 16 May 2013 it emerged that human rights defenders Messrs Li Sihua and Wei Zhongping, in custody since 27 April 2013, are to face charges of 'inciting subversion of state power'.
Syrian human rights defenders Mazen Darwish, Hussein Gharir and Hani Zaitani should be released and have all charges against them dropped, declares a joint letter sent today by a coalition of 19 regional and international human rights organisations including Front Line Defenders.
On 11 May 2013, the Gambian government released renowned Muslim cleric and human rights defender, Imam Baba Leigh. The human rights defender was arrested on 3 December 2012, and was detained incommunicado for five months and seven days for declaring the execution of nine death row inmates to be inimical to Islamic teaching.
On 14 May 2013, during an International Legal Forum which took place in St Petersburg, the Russian Minister for Justice, Alexander Konovalov, stated that his Ministry will demand the closure of election watchdog GOLOS if the NGO refuses to register as a 'foreign agent'. The statement from Minister Konovalov comes while court proceedings against GOLOS are pending.
On 9 May 2013, pamphlets were distributed throughout the 'La Europa' estate in Sucre Colombia claiming that human rights defender Mr Argemiro Lara is the third in command of the guerilla group Partido Revolucionario de los Trabajadores de Colombia (PRT - Worker's Revolutionary Party of Colombia), and that human rights defender Ms Ingrid Vergara is his right hand commander
On 7 May 2013, Front Line Defenders learned that the High Court Division of the Supreme Court rejected a petition by human rights defender Mr Mahmudur Rahman challenging the decision to place him under police remand without adequate measures in place to ensure his physical health. The human rights defender's wife had argued that the decision violated the High Court's directives concerning pre-trial detention, but the Attorney General claimed that the human rights defender's wife could not file a written petition.
On 30 April 2013, human rights defender Ms Alba Cruz received a threatening message to her mobile phone. The tone of the message was similar to threats she had received before, in which she was told there was still unfinished business which needed to be acted on.
On 5 May 2013 human rights defender and blogger Mr Naji Fateel was transferred to the Dry Dock prison in Bahrain where he is suffering from several injuries due to torture whilst he was in detention. The human rights defender was arrested at dawn on 2 May 2013, and was only allowed to contact his family to inform them he was in the Criminal Investigation Building two days later, on the evening of 4 May 2013.
On 5 May 2013, the Venezuelan Minister for Justice and the Interior, General Miguel Rodríguez Torres, appeared on the Jose Vicente Hoy show on the private channel Televen, and accused human rights defender Dr Humberto Prado Sifontes of being part of a right-wing movement aiming to destabilise the state. Dr Humberto Prado Sifontes is the Director of the Observatorio Venezolano de Prisiones – OVP (Venezuelan Prisons Observatory). The OVP documents cases of violations against, and promotes the rights of, persons in detention in Venezuela.
Front Line Defenders is saddened to hear of the death of Bahtiyor Hamraev on 4 May 2013. Bahtiyor was a dedicated human rights defender over the past 15 years, despite the great risks involved in this work. He will be deeply missed by the human rights community both in his native Uzbekistan and worldwide.
On Friday 3 May, President Michael D Higgins of Ireland presented the 2013 Front Line Defenders Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk to anti-slavery campaigner Biram Dah Abeid of Mauritania, founder and director of Initiative for the Resurgence of the Abolitionist Movement, Initiative pour la Résurgence du Mouvement Abolitionniste (IRA).
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