The Maldives Criminal Court on Monday ordered authorities to take former president Abdulla Yameen into custody until the conclusion of his trial on money-laundering charges. The 59-year-old former president, who lost the presidential election in September, is charged with depositing USD $1 million into his private account by the SOF and using money stolen from [...]

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on Wednesday sued the state of New Hampshire on behalf of two New Hampshire college students claiming a controversial new voting requirement of the state imposes an unconstitutional “poll tax” on voters and constitutes disproportionate burdens on young voters. Under the previous law, the state legally defines a resident [...]

A UN expert on Monday warned that the dismissal of Nigeria’s Chief Justice by President Muhammadu Buhari violated international human rights standards on independence of the judiciary and the separation of powers. The president of Nigeria suspended Chief Justice Walter Onnoghen on January 25. The president insisted that he had acted in compliance with an [...]

A Russian district court in Oryol on Wednesday found a Danish Jehovah’s Witness guilty of organizing the activity of an extremist organization and sentenced him to six years in prison. The 46-year-old Jehovah’s Witness, Dennis Christensen, was detained by armed police during a police raid on a local prayer meeting he was leading in May [...]

The UN Human Rights Committee two decisions Friday finding Finland violated the political rights of representatives to the Sámi parliament by improperly enlarging the electoral roll of eligible candidates. The two claims were submitted separately by President of the Sámi Parliament Tiina Sanila-Aikio and 25 other persons as members of the indigenous Saami people. The [...]

An Abuja Court of Appeal on Wednesday dismissed a request brought by Suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, to stop proceedings of his corruption trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT). Onnoghen is accused of failing to declare foreign currency bank accounts, in breach of rules governing public officials. He was suspended last [...]

The Council of Europe’s Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) on Monday published an evaluation report urging Poland to promote greater transparency among persons exercising top executive functions. According to the report, 58 percent of Poles consider corruption widespread. Cases of integrity issues concerning both the police and senior government officials have been reported at [...]

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on Tuesday expressed her serious concern that the approval of an amendment to Guatemala’s long-standing National Reconciliation Law would result in complete immunity for all cases of grave human rights violations. Guatemala’s National Reconciliation Law has been in force since 1996 and was crucial to ending 36 [...]

Special Agent Jeffrey Weiland on Tuesday filed a 31-page declaration in DC District Court to support finding that Paul J. Manafort, Jr.‘s testimonial statements in the DC grand jury last year were false. The 31-page document is a redacted version due to the law regarding grand jury secrecy. The information in the document, which is [...]

A Chinese court on Monday retried Canadian defendant Robert Lloyd Schellenberg for smuggling drugs and sentenced him to death. In November the Dalian Intermediate People’s Court sentenced Schellenberg to 15 years in prison for smuggling drugs and confiscated personal property of RMB 150,000 for deportation. On Schellenberg’s appeal, the Liaoning Provincial Higher People’s Court held that [...]