Qandeel's case does not mark the first time a journalist has gone on trial in Egypt for publishing remarks regarding government officials. In 2007, editors of four Egyptian tabloids were convicted of defaming President Hosni Mubarak and the ruling National Democratic Party [official websites] after publishing criticisms in their respective papers, and were each sentenced to a year in prison [JURIST report] and a fine of 20,000 Egyptian pounds (USD $3,500). In 2009, Egypt's Agouza Appeals Court overturned the editors' prison sentences [JURIST report] but upheld their fines. In 2008, an editor of the weekly al-Dustor newspaper, Ibrahim Eissa, was convicted for spreading "rumors" [JURIST report] about the health of Mubarak in an August 2007 report. Egypt's Abbaseyya Appeals Court upheld the conviction [JURIST report] in 2008. In 2006, Mubarak pledged to decriminalize press offenses [JURIST report].

The appeals court decision to move forward with the investigation conflicts with a recommendation [JURIST report] made in May by Argentinian state prosecutor Federico Delgado to dismiss all Argentinian lawsuits arising out of alleged Spanish war crimes because they were being dealt with in Spain. In May, the Spanish General Counsel of the Judiciary (CGPJ) [official website, in Spanish] voted unanimously to suspend [JURIST report] National Court judge Baltasar Garzon [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] for abusing his power by opening an investigation into the war crimes. The Spanish Supreme Court [official website, in Spanish] charged Garzon with abuse of power based on his 2008 order requiring the exhumation of 19 mass graves in Spain. Garzon had claimed the indictment was politically-motivated, compromised judicial independence, and sought to impose a specific interpretation of the 1977 amnesty law.

The increasingly sharp public criticism of craigslist's Adult Services section reflects a growing recognition that ads for prostitution — including ads trafficking children — are rampant on it. In our view, the company should take immediate action to end the misery for the women and children who may be exploited and victimized by these ads. We recognize that Craigslist may lose the considerable revenue generated by the Adult Services ads. No amount of money can justify the scourge of illegal prostitution, and the suffering of women and children who will continue to be victimized, in the market and trafficking provided by craigslist.

Human trafficking has been a major concern of US federal authorities in recent years. The US Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] announced Thursday that a Hawaii grand jury has indicted six people [JURIST report] on human trafficking charges. The defendants allegedly enticed approximately 400 Thai nationals to come to the US by falsely promising them job opportunities and then forcing them to work at farms in Washington and Hawaii by threatening economic harm. In June, the US State Department [official website] issued its annual report on human trafficking conditions [JURIST report] across the globe, which found the US "has a serious problem with human trafficking, both for labor and commercial sexual exploitation."

[I]mmediately release Shiva Nazar Ahari and drop any charges brought against her solely for the peaceful exercise of her rights to freedom of expression and association. This trial seems to be more about the Iranian security forces seeking to justify the continuation of the clampdown on dissent and human rights defenders than about a genuine process towards obtaining justice. Not granting Shiva Nazar Ahari regular access to her lawyer, or her family, not only dramatically increases the potential for her to be exposed to torture and other ill-treatment, but has also undermined the integrity and fairness of the whole trial.

In May, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) [advocacy website] included Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad [BBC profiles] of Iran in a report listing 40 "Predators of Press Freedom" [JURIST report] throughout the world. Pyrabasy previously presided over the trial of Mohammad Nourizad, a prominent Iranian journalist and filmmaker, who was sentenced in April to three-and-a-half years [JURIST report] in prison and 50 lashes for his activities after the 2009 elections. Nourizad was sentenced for "distributing propaganda against the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and desecrating the image of thirty years of the Islamic establishment," and insulting the supreme leader, the president, the head of the judiciary and Ayatollah Elmolhoda of the Assembly of Experts. In December, Iranian economist and journalist Saeed Laylaz was sentenced to a nine-year jail term [JURIST report] for possessing classified information and participating in protests following the 2009 elections. Thousands were arrested during the protests following the contested election.