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 [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled on Wednesday that Texas legislation aimed at restricting or banning “sexually explicit” books in public school libraries likely violates the Constitution, affirming a lower court’s injunction against it. The law under scrutiny, known as the Restricting Explicit and Adult-Designated Educational Resources (READER) Act, compels vendors [...]
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, urged Comoros authorities on Wednesday to ensure the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly as Comoros witnessed protests against Sunday’s presidential election. After the incumbent president Azali Assoumani won a fourth term, Comoros’s main opposition party, Juwa, called on people to protest and for [...]
Russian LGBTQ+ rights organization SOS Crisis Group reported on Wednesday that Rizvan Dadaev, a Chechen who was detained due to his sexual orientation, managed to escape from Russia with assistance from the organization after being tortured. LGBTQ+ people have a history of persecution in Russia and its Chechnya region. Dadaev, a resident of Chechnya’s capital [...]
Thailand activist and lawyer Arnon Nampa received his second conviction and four more years of imprisonment Wednesday for a case of royal defamation related to social media posts from 2021. Defamation of Thai royalty is a punishable offence under the Thai Criminal Code, referred to as the lese-majeste law. According to a report by Nampa’s volunteer [...]
The European Parliament adopted a resolution on Wednesday, expressing concerns over Slovakia’s proposed criminal code reforms and the dissolution of the Special Prosecutor’s Office. The European Parliament is worried the moves potentially endanger the rule of law in Slovakia. Slovakia Prime Minister Robert Fico introduced reforms in December. The reforms relaxed penalties for corruption and [...]
