On 24 October 2023, human rights group Crew Against Torture reported that the Chechen Authorities had held Crew Against Torture member and Chechen human rights defender Magomed Alamov, and issued death threats. The authorities also threatened Magomed Alamov by threatening his family’s safety.
On 21 June 2023, the Crimean Tatar human rights defender Emir-Usein Kuku was urgently hospitalised from a detention facility in Salavat, Russia, with acute pain. His wife Mariem attempted to contact the administration of the facility but received no response. Only the Russian Public Oversight Commission in Bashkortostan confirmed that the human rights defender had been hospitalised and underwent surgery.
On 6 September 2022, Minsk City Court sentenced woman human rights defender Maria Rabkova to 15 years of prison and fined her 22400 Belarus Rubles (around EUR 8800). The Court found her guilty of violating ten Articles of the Criminal Code (CC) of Belarus. The hearing was held behind closed doors.
On 2 September 2023, Branch 1207 of Kachouie Criminal Complex 2 handed the woman human rights defender Sepideh Gholian an additioanl fifteen-month prison sentence on the charge of “disturbing the public opinion” about a reporter at the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB).
On 6 June 2023, the Istanbul 35th Heavy Criminal Court acquitted four human rights defenders of all charges at the second hearing in the retrial of the Büyükada Case, also known as the #Istanbul10. The retrial took place after the Court of Cassation’s ruling to overturn the human rights defenders’ sentences on 22 November 2022.
On 12 April 2021, Golrokh Iraee was informed that Branch 26 of Tehran Revolutionary Court had sentenced her in absentia to an additional year in prison, a two-year travel ban, and a two-year ban on participating in political parties and groups.
On the evening of 24 January 2021, the woman human rights defender Golrokh Iraee was transferred from Qarchak prison in Varamin, the southern neighbourhood of Tehran, to Amol prison in north Iran.
On 1 March 2023, prominent human rights defender Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja informed his family of gross ill-treatment by prison guards in relation to serious health complications that he is experiencing.
On 24 June 2022, two years and seven months after his arbitrary detention, human rights defender Fredy García Ramírez was released after the Unitary Trial Court of Huatulco, of the Judicial Power of the State of Oaxaca acquitted him on the grounds that there was no evidence to support the accusation against him.
On 10 July 2020, imprisoned human rights defender Fredy García was severely beaten and threatened by a group of prison guards in Tanivet prison in Tlacolula, Oaxaca.
On 17 January 2017, the Appeals Court in Al-Ayoun decided to reduce the sentence of Ali Al-Sadouni, Nour-al-Din Arkoubi and Khalihon Al-Faak from two years to one and a half years. On 5 January, the three Sahrawi HRDs began a hunger strike, in protest to their arbitrary detention, prison sentence, and alleged torture and ill-treatment by Moroccan authorities in Al-Akhal prison in Al-Ayoun in Western Sahara since their arrest on 1 December 2016. On 14 January 2017, the human rights defenders were placed in solitary confinement in response to their peaceful protest in detention.
On 17 January 2017, the Appeals Court in Al-Ayoun decided to reduce the sentence of Ali Al-Sadouni, Nour-al-Din Arkoubi and Khalihon Al-Faak from two years to one and a half years. On 5 January, the three Sahrawi HRDs began a hunger strike, in protest to their arbitrary detention, prison sentence, and alleged torture and ill-treatment by Moroccan authorities in Al-Akhal prison in Al-Ayoun in Western Sahara since their arrest on 1 December 2016. On 14 January 2017, the human rights defenders were placed in solitary confinement in response to their peaceful protest in detention.
On 17 January 2017, the Appeals Court in Al-Ayoun decided to reduce the sentence of Ali Al-Sadouni, Nour-al-Din Arkoubi and Khalihon Al-Faak from two years to one and a half years. On 5 January, the three Sahrawi HRDs began a hunger strike, in protest to their arbitrary detention, prison sentence, and alleged torture and ill-treatment by Moroccan authorities in Al-Akhal prison in Al-Ayoun in Western Sahara since their arrest on 1 December 2016. On 14 January 2017, the human rights defenders were placed in solitary confinement in response to their peaceful protest in detention.
On 05 January 2024, three agents from the national police and two plain clothes agents unlawfully placed human rights lawyer Zola Ferreira Bambi under house arrest. The agents chained the gate to his house with a padlock, detained him, and raided his residence without a court order. They then brought the hu,an right defender to the police station where he remained from 10:30AM to approximately 3:30PM.
On 19 January 2022, woman human rights defender Narges Mohammadi was transferred to Qarchak prison in Varamin, a neighbourhood in Tehran. The woman human rights defender has been denied access to telephone calls during the solitary confinement, and the family of the woman human rights defender has not yet been able to contact her since the transfer. For over two months, she was held in solitary confinement in Ward 2A of Evin prison, in Tehran, which is run by the intelligence service of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps since 17 November 2021.
On 19 July 2023, Egyptian president Abdel Fattah El-Sisi granted a presidential pardon to the detained human rights defenders Mohamed El-Baqer and Patrick George Zaki. This decision came one day after Patrick George Zaki was sentenced to three years in prison, and both human rights defenders were subsequently released on 20 July 2023. At the time of his release, Mohamed El-Baqer had spent almost four years in prison, while Patrick George Zaki was previously detained for 22 months.
On 3 June 2022, the Israeli Prison Services (IPS) released woman human rights defender Shatha Odeh from prison after spending 11 months in Israeli prisons following her arrest on 7 July 2021. After finishing two-thirds of her sentence in Damon prison near Haifa, Israel, the Ofer Military Court approved an early release request by the woman human rights defender’s lawyer.
On 5 September 2022, Human rights defenders Said Boudour, Kaddour Chouicha and Jamila Loukil were summoned to appear for investigation on Wednesday 7 September 2022 at 9:30 am.
On 5 September 2022, Human rights defenders Said Boudour, Kaddour Chouicha and Jamila Loukil were summoned to appear for investigation on Wednesday 7 September 2022 at 9:30 am.
On 5 Septmber 2022, Human rights defenders Said Boudour, Kaddour Chouicha and Jamila Loukil were summoned to appear for investigation on Wednesday 7 September 2022 at 9:30 am.
On 21 August 2022, the Indictment Chamber of the Algiers Judicial Council upheld the decision of the Fifth Chamber of the Specialized Criminal Court in Algiers to reject Said Boudour’s appeal to withdraw the judicial surveillance.
On 8 December 2021, the Kirov District Court of the Republic of Crimea ruled in favour of the sentencing of human rights defender Mustafa Seidaliev to 10 days detention. The Court found the human rights defender guilty of “production and publication of extremist data” (Article 20.29 of the Code of Civic Conduct) and “propaganda of prohibited symbols” (Article 20.3.1 of the Code of Civic Conduct) in relation to his social media posts published in 2012.
On 23 March 2022, woman human rights defender Liu Yanli left the Hankou Prison in Wuhan, Hubei province, after completing a four-year sentence. She was first placed under residential surveillance in May 2018, formally arrested in November 2018, tried in January 2019, and sentenced in April 2020 for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”.
On 22 December 2020, five human rights defenders and members of the Belarus Press Club, Yulia Slutskaya, Sergey Olshevskiy, Alla Sharko, Sergey Yakupov and Petr Slutsky were detained in Minsk. They were all questioned by the Department of Financial Investigations on the suspicion of tax evasion. Sergey Yakupov was later released from the pre-trial detention centre and was deported to Russia on 31 December 2020. The four other human rights defenders were indicted and remain in detention.
On 14 March 2020, Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara was released from El Vivac detention centre. He is still awaiting trial on fabricated charges of property damage, in addition to other charges previously brought against him.
On 22 February 2023, Behnam Mosivand was released from Rajaie Shahr prison after serving two years and eight months. Since 4 February 2023, as part of a general amnesty announced by the Iranian judiciaryon the occasion of 44th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, hundreds of prisoners including human rights defenders have been released from prison.
On Thursday 15 September 2022, Egyptian lawyer and labour rights defender Haytham Mohamadeen was released from prison after spending more than 4 years in preventative detention.
On 6 May 2020, the Criminal Court of Cairo renewed the preventive detention of Haytham Mohamadeen for an additional 45 days.
Human rights defender Haytham Mohamadeen remains in preventive detention. On 18 February 2020, the Criminal Court of Cairo renewed it for an additional 45 days.
On 12 October 2023, Istanbul 26th Heavy Criminal Court will proceed with the hearing of the case of 23 individuals, including at least eighteen human rights defenders who are members of Göç İzleme Derneği (GÖÇİZDER).
