28 Jul 2010 | Index Index, minipost, News and features
On 27 July, a Selangor court imprisoned a man for a week and fined 11 others after they protested against the construction of a Hindu temple with a severed cow’s head. All 12 pleaded guilty to the charge of “illegal assembly” and were fined 1000 ringgit (£202) whilst two men were also convicted of sedition and fined a further 3,000 ringgit (£606) for stamping and spitting on the cow’s skull. The rally took place in August 2009, in response to a proposal to build a Hindu temple in a Muslim neighbourhood. An alternative site was eventually chosen for the place of worship.
10 Aug 2009 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost
Iran’s police chief, Ismail Ahmadi Moghaddam, has acknowledged that protesters detained in post-election unrest were tortured in custody, but says the deaths of detainees were caused by illness, not torture. The police commander has fired the head of a detention facility that was ordered closed last month. Three guards at the Kahrizak prison have also been detained on charges of mistreating prisoners. Read more here
8 Aug 2008 | Asia and Pacific
Freedom of assembly is under threat in Kyrgystan after President Kurmanbek Bakiev signed an amended law on the rights of citizens on 6 August. The amendment makes it mandatory to register public gatherings twelve days in advance, and prohibits demonstrations over a period of several hours.
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