Posts Tagged ‘human rights activist’
May 22nd, 2012
A prominent opposition activist
has been fined for insulting a government employee in
Bahrain. Zainab al-Khawaja, daughter of imprisoned activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, who has been on
hunger strike for over three months, was
arrested last month after protesting for the release of her father during the Bahrain Grand Prix. Despite being fined 200 dinars ($530), Zainab al-Khawaja remains imprisoned on the charge of attempting to stage a protest. If convicted, the activist faces another charge or imprisonment. The case will be heard on 24 May.
May 21st, 2012
Prominent
Bahraini human rights activist Nabeel Rajab is to remain in prison, despite being
granted bail. Rajab, who was arrested
earlier this month, was granted bail on the charge of “insulting an official authority”, but remains in prison on a second charge of “organising illegal demonstrations”. The Bahrain Center for Human Rights head faces two years in prison if convicted of the second charge. The first charge relates to four posts on Twitter which suggested the interior ministry had not carried out proper investigations into civilian deaths.
June 2nd, 2011
A string of highly sophisticated
cyber attacks have been launched on the Gmail accounts of a number of Chinese activists as well as US and South Korean government officials.
Suspicions have been raised about the Chinese government’s involvement because of the nature of the targets and the lack of any apparent financial motive. The government has
denied the allegations. The White House is currently investigating the situation alongside representatives from Google.
March 8th, 2011
Blogger and human rights activist, Sultan al-Khalaifi, has been
detained by security forces after criticising the country’s censorship rules on his blog. Khalaifi, who is founder of a rights group campaigning on cases of detention in Qatar, has been in detention since March 2 after being contacted by state security. According to his lawyer he has been detained on numerous occasions in the past.
February 14th, 2011
Prominent Chinese activist, Chen Guangcheng, and his wife are reported to have been
severely beaten by security officials after a secretly recorded video of their house arrest was publicly released. Guangcheng was released in September 2010, after completing a
four year prison sentence for publishing a report about forced abortions and sterilisations carried out by authorities. Both Guangcheng and his wife, Yuan Weijin, have been under
house arrest since his release from prison.
January 10th, 2011
Prominent Iranian lawyer
Nasrin Sotoudeh and human rights activist
Shiva Nazar-Ahari have received prison sentences for their activities in the aftermath of the disputed 2009 presidential election. Nazar- Ahari has received a four-year prison sentence for “assembly and collusion against the regime”, while Sotoudeh has received an eleven-year sentence for “propaganda against the regime”, “acting against national security” and “not wearing hijab during a videotaped message”.
November 15th, 2010
Eight police officers have gone on trial in a Kinshasa military court
charged with the kidnap and murder of a human rights activist. Three of the accused are on the run and are being tried in absentia.
Floribert Chebeya went missing in June after trying to meet chief of police General John Numbi. His body was found soon after in the back seat of his car. Chebeya was the head of Voice of the Voiceless (VSV). VSV says that General Numbi is the chief suspect but, although he has been
suspended, he is
not facing any charges.
