On 6 September 2010, a Gambian court sentenced human rights defender, Mr Edwin Nebolisa Nwakaeme to six months mandatory jail term with hard labour. The court also fined him D10,000 (approximately $330 USD) in lieu of an additional three years of detention with hard labour.
On 4 September 2010, human rights defender Ms Nasrin Sotoudeh was arrested at Evin prison in Tehran. Nasrin Sotoudeh is a prominent human rights lawyer, who in particular has worked with juvenile prisoners facing the death penalty as well as prisoners of conscience. She is also a member of the Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child.
Human rights defender Mr Dan Rubombora is facing charges of criminal destruction of property in relation to a local land dispute. He was originally arrested in January 2010. The trial date has been set for 23 September 2010.
On 27 July 2010, the State Security Court (SSC) in Amman convicted human rights defender Mr Mohammed Sunaid for “unauthorized gathering” and sentenced him to three months in prison. Mr Mohammed was not able to appeal against the conviction by the SSC. However, he has appealed to the Court of Cassation, which is expected to rule after the holy month of Ramadhan on whether to overturn the conviction or order the enforcement of the sentence.
A court hearing in relation to criminal charges of libel against human rights defender Mr Oleg Orlov, Chairman of Human Rights Centre Memorial, has been set for 13 September 2010. The hearing will be held at 11.00 a.m. at District Court No. 63 in Khamovniki district in Moscow. A preparatory hearing on the case took place on 30 August 2010. As Oleg Orlov was away at the time, the hearing was postponed until 13 September.
The trial of human rights defender Mr Azimjan Askarov has been scheduled to take place on 2 September 2010 in Nooken regional court, close to Bazar Korgon in the Jalalabad region of south Kyrgyzstan. The presiding judge will reportedly come from Bazar Korgon.
On 30 August 2010, police in the western Belarusian city of Berastse (Brest) detained prominent human rights defender Mr Raman Kislyak, while his distributed leaflets to mark the International Day of the Disappeared. Raman Kislyak is a human rights lawyer.
On Saturday, 28 August 2010, the Grievances (Administrative) Court in Riyadh is expected to announce a verdict in the case of “Judge Al-Reshoudi Vs. the Ministry of Interior”, a lawsuit filed against the Ministry regarding Judge Suliman Ibrahim Al-Reshoudi, who has been detained incommunicado without charge for more than three years.
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