On 7 February 2013, the European Parliament adopted a resolution condemning the detention of human rights activists in Zimbabwe. This resolution highlights a number of recent incidents and specifically refers to the arrests of ZimRights members Messrs Okay Machisa, Dorcas Shereni and Leo Chamahwinya.
Front Line Defenders is saddened to learn of the death of Mr Ayham Mostafa Ghazzoul, a 26-year-old human rights defender and member of the Syrian Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM), as a result of being beaten and tortured during detention. Front Line Defenders urges an immediate and impartial investigation into the abuses suffered by the human rights defender.
On 25 January 2013, the Court of Appeal in Baku upheld the conviction and sentencing of human rights defender Mr Ilham Amiraslanov to two years imprisonment for the unauthorised possession of firearms and ammunition under Article 228.1 of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan.
On 6 February 2013 Vietnamese human rights defender Le Cong Dinh was released from prison after serving 3 years of a 5 year sentence on charges of “attempting to overthrow the state”.
Ales Bialiatski has been nominated for the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize alongside Russian human rights defender Lyudmila Alekseyeva by two Norwegian legislators. The Belarusian human rights defender is currently serving a prison sentence on politically motivated charges of tax evasion.
On 25 January 2013, the Investigatory Committee of the Republic of Karelia, Russian Federation, resumed the investigation of the criminal case against human rights defender Mr Maxim Efimov.
On 31 January 2013, human rights defender Mr Mohammed Fahmy was released by the investigation judge after paying a bail of 5,000 Egyptian Pounds. The charges of illegal possession of weaponry were not dropped and no trial date has been set. He had been in detention since 26 January 2013.
On 25 January 2013 a Swiss civil court found that the food company Nestlé and security company Securitas AG were guilty of spying on the NGO ‘Association pour la Taxation des Transactions Financières et l'Aide aux Citoyens’ (Association for the Taxation of Financial Transactions and Aid to Citizens ATTAC) at a meeting in Vaud Canton in 2003. The court ordered the companies to pay compensation of 3,000 Swiss Francs (approx €2,400) per claimant.
On 22 January 2013, the Minister of Justice of the Republic of Tajikistan Mr Rustam Mengliev stated at a press-conference that the closure of the Association of Young Lawyers (Amparo) was done in accordance with national legislation and should not be viewed as repression relating to the human rights work done by the organisation.
Civil Rights Defenders and Front Line Defenders are concerned for the safety of two human rights defenders in the Transnistria, the internationally unrecognised separatist republic of Moldova. Messrs Stepan Popovsky and Vladimir Maimust are the subject of judicial harassment and threats by the local administration. We urge the representatives of the Transnistrian administration to do their utmost to protect Stepan Popovsky and Vladimir Maimust, and ensure that any threats or attacks against the human rights defenders are publicly condemned and investigated.
On 25 January 2013 the Olof Palme Memorial Fund for International Understanding and Common Security held an award ceremony for the 2012 Prize recipients Saudi human rights defender Waleed Abu Al-Khair and Tunisian human rights defender Radhia Nasraoui.
On 25 January 2013, the lower chamber of the Russian Parliament (Duma) voted, by an overwhelming majority of 388-1, in a favour of a bill which would insert the "propaganda of homosexuality among minors" as an administrative offence.
Every year Front Line Defenders presents the Front Line Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk to one person who has made an outstanding contribution to the cause of human rights. Previous winners of the Award have included human rights defenders from Syria, the Russian Federation, Afghanistan, Guatemala, DRC, Uzbekistan and Sudan.
On 24 January 2013, human rights defender Ms Martha Díaz was targeted with a death threat. This followed a pamphlet received on 22 January 2013 which threatened the National Movement of the Victims of State Crimes (MOVICE), of which Martha Díaz is a member.
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