On 25 June 2017, human rights defender Stephen Kinuthia Mwangi was subjected to intimidation by two police officers in plain clothes in Mathare, a neighbourhood in the eastern part of Nairobi, Kenya. This followed an earlier incidence of intimidation on 20 June 2017 when Stephen Kinuthia Mwangi was reportedly prevented by police from returning home for four hours.
On 17 November 2018, Bangladeshi human rights organisation Odhikar reported at a press conference that it is facing indimidation and a smear campaign. A series of fabricated media reports criticising the organisation began after the Election Commission of Bangladesh abruptly cancelled the registration of Odhikar as an election observer on 8 November 2018, without any notice.
On 20 November 2018, human rights defender and photographer Shahidul Alam was released from Dhaka Central Jail in Keraniganj, following 108 days of detention. The High Court had granted him bail on 15 November 2018. Shahidul Alam was detained at his home by members of the Detective Branch of Police on 5 August 2018. He appeared in court the following day, where he was charged with “spreading propaganda and false information against the government”.
Human rights defender Thabiso Zulu continues to be subjected to intimidation and threats. His human rights work has long caused hostile reactions from those he has exposed for corruption, but the wave of threats and intimidation escalated late last year after he spoke at the memorial service of a friend who had been brutally murdered for exposing corruption, and after he gave evidence to the Moerane Commission of Inquiry, which had been tasked with investigating political killings.
On 20 January 2018, Maria Magdalena Cuc Choc was released on bail. The judge ordered her to pay bail of 5,000 Guatemalan Quetzals (US$682), to remain within the Izabal department, and to sign in regularly at a local tribunal.
On 17 January 2018, María Magdalena Cuc Choc was arbitrarily detained in the city of Puerto Barrios, El Estor, Izabal, ahead of a trial where she is charged for aggravated trespassing, threats and illegal detention.
