Two filmmakers of a film banned in Malaysia were charged on Wednesday with “hurting religious feelings” due to the contents of their film. Nine human rights organizations have condemned the criminal charges as breaches of the right to freedom of opinion and expression. The film, Mentega Terbang, debuted at a film festival in 2021. It [...]

Thailand national and cloth merchant Mongkol “Busbas” Thirakot received his second conviction and total of 50 years in prison Thursday for a case of royal defamation related to his social media posts from 2021. Criticism or defamation of the Thai monarchy is considered a criminal offense under the Thai Criminal Code, commonly known as the lese-majeste [...]

The India Supreme Court overturned Wednesday the order of the High Court of Karnataka which had quashed the complaint and chargesheet against an accused public servant. The court ruled that Section 197 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) does not provide blanket immunity to every act or omission of a public servant during their [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Wednesday accused an El Salvador judge of using an investigation into a 1981 massacre to prosecute a local human rights activist over false accusations of supporting an amnesty law that barred prosecution of atrocities. The human rights activist, Rubén Zamora, has sought accountability for the 1981 El Mozote massacre and [...]

The UK government Wednesday published letters regarding how civil servants should follow the Safety of Rwanda Bill. The letters, issued between the Cabinet Office and the Home Office, were published just hours before the House of Commons passed the bill, which seeks to bypass the courts and implement the government’s plan to send some asylum [...]

Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court invalidated on Wednesday, for the first time ever, a presidential pardon to former member of Parliament Duminda Silva. In a unanimous ruling, the court found that there was “no legal basis or even a factual basis to uphold the decision made by” former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to pardon Silva. Silva and [...]

The Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) misappropriated $400 million in state funds ahead of December elections, per an EU report. The report, issued Monday, highlighted a 25.1 percent increase in the expenses of the electoral body during the 2016-2019 and 2021-2024 electoral cycles. Also as per the report, [...]

The Maine Superior Court temporarily delayed on Wednesday a decision from the Maine Secretary of State Shanna Bellows to exclude Trump from the state’s primary election ballot. Judge Michaela Murphy remanded Trump’s appeal of Bellows’ decision pending a ruling from the US Supreme Court on the constitutionality of Trump’s removal from Colorado’s ballot. The court [...]

Poland’s Central Anti-Corruption Bureau detained on Wednesday former deputy head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Piotr Wawrzyk for his role in allegedly influencing the issuing of Polish visas by expediting visa applications in exchange for payments. Wawrzyk insisted that he was innocent and was released on bail. He faces a maximum of ten years [...]

The Calcutta High Court in India’s West Bengal state directed a joint Special Investigation Team (SIT) comprising the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and state police to investigate the attack on Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials on Wednesday. The ED officials were assaulted during a search in West Bengal linked to a money laundering case. The [...]