China’s Supreme People’s Procuratorate announced Monday that China has arrested Cui Maohu, former head of its National Religious Affairs Administration, over bribe-taking suspicions. The Supreme People’s Procuratorate is China’s highest prosecutorial organ. The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, China’s internal disciplinary body, dismissed Cui from the National Religious Affairs Administration and placed him under investigation for [...]

The Thai Royal Gazette announced on Friday that Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn granted former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra a royal pardon, reducing Thaksin’s eight-year prison sentence to one year. A royal pardon, which may be granted as an unconditional release or commutation of punishment at the discretion of Thailand’s king, is the act of forgiving [...]

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled on Tuesday that Bosnia and Herzegovina’s political system produces undemocratic elections and amplifies ethnic divisions, as the country’s dominant ethnic groups—Bosniacs, Croats, and Serbs—enjoy privileges denied to other ethnic groups. The court held in Kovačević v Bosnia and Herzegovina that Bosnia and Herzegovina had breached Article 1 of [...]

The Supreme Court of Vanuatu ruled on Friday that Vanuatu’s opposition party won a no-confidence vote regarding incumbent Prime Minister Ishmael Kalsakau last week. While the speaker of Parliament initially ruled that the motion failed, because it garnered less than the absolute majority of 27 votes, Judge Edwin Goldsbrough of the Supreme Court found that [...]

The Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal refused university student Lui Sai Yu’s appeal for a one-third prison sentence reduction on Tuesday, despite him having pleaded guilty to violating the National Security Law. A one-third prison sentence reduction is typically granted to individuals that plead guilty in Hong Kong. The District Court of Hong Kong [...]

The UN said on Thursday that 62 humanitarian aid workers have been killed so far in 2023. The organization made the announcement on the 20th anniversary of the attack on the UN headquarters in Baghdad, Iraq, which led to the death of 22 individuals, including former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Sergio Vieira de [...]

The Federal Police of Brazil announced Thursday that it has launched the 14th phase of Operation Lesa Pátria, with the objective of identifying individuals who incited and participated in the January 8 riots in Brasília, Brazil. The January 8 riots saw supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro storm government buildings, such as the presidential [...]

Former South African president Jacob Zuma was reportedly released from prison on Friday after incumbent South African president Cyril Ramaphosa approved a remission (i.e. early release) of non-violent offenders. Zuma was sentenced to 15 months prison in July 2021 for refusing to testify before a panel that investigated financial corruption and cronyism under his presidency. [...]

Hong Kong’s Department of Justice (DOJ) filed an appeal on Monday against the High Court’s judgment which refused to grant an injunction to prohibit “Glory to Hong Kong,” a popular protest song. The DOJ said that the Secretary for Justice Paul Lam applied for the injunction to discharge the Hong Kong government’s constitutional responsibility to [...]

Hong Kong’s national security police reportedly took away and questioned the ex-wife and two children of Elmer Yuan Gong-yi on Thursday. Yuan, who has fled Hong Kong, is a pro-democracy activist wanted by Hong Kong authorities as a fugitive accused of violating the National Security Law. Hong Kong police questioned Yuan’s ex-wife and children at [...]