The Hong Kong trial of prominent pro-democracy activist and media mogul Jimmy Lai has garnered widespread attention globally. Lai, a 76-year-old British citizen and high-profile critic of Beijing, faces national security charges, and his trial is expected to take months. Lai is a prominent figure in Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement. His detention and subsequent trial exemplify [...]

The Colombian Ombudsman’s Office (DPC) reported Tuesday that 181 social leaders and human rights defenders were murdered in 2023. The figure dropped 16 percent from the data reported for 2022. The ombudsman’s office, in its “Annual report on the killings of social leaders and human rights defenders,” highlighted the alarming situation faced by individuals dedicated [...]

“The Taliban’s new curriculum is all about killing people in the name of Jihad,” a Kabul-based teacher* told me in a recent interview. “I’m not going to teach that material, even if I know it means I will almost certainly lose my job,” the teacher said, citing an early draft of the new curriculum. Upon [...]

The Taiwan Ministry of National Defense (MND) announced Tuesday that it had activated the air threat warning system following after Chinese rockets launching satellites reportedly passed through its airspace. Tuesday’s press release stated that the Communist Party of China (CCP) launched satellites using a Long March series carrier rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center [...]

The Maharashtra State Bombay High Court on Tuesday granted bail to an Indian National Congress leader, Sunil Kedar, who was convicted of a bank scam in late December 2023. Kedar was also disqualified from the Maharashtra State Assembly after the conviction. The Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court allowed Kedar’s application for suspension of [...]

Spain’s National High Court on Tuesday decided to close a probe into three people, including the son of Equatorial Guinea’s president.  Carmelo Ovono Obiang, son of President Teodoro Obiang, was accused of kidnapping four members of the Movement for the Liberation of Equatorial Guinea (MLGE3R) who opposed Obiang’s government, in 2019. The Spanish court stated [...]

Democratic Republic of Congo’s constitutional court on Wednesday rejected the petitions challenging the provisional results of December’s presidential election and officially confirmed Félix Tshisekedi as president of the country. The court declared that Félix Tshisekedi secured 73.47 percent of the votes in the election while his main opponent, Moïse Katumbi, secured 18.08 percent. The figures [...]

Daniela Pulido Ramírez from Facultad de Derecho Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú and JURIST News Managing Editor Lauren Ban from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law contributed to this report.  The president of Ecuador has declared an “internal armed conflict” in the country against groups tied to an escaped gang leader following the taking of [...]

Mohamed Bazoum Salem, son of the ousted President Mohamed Bazoum, was granted provisional release from house arrest in Niamey by Niger’s military tribunal on Monday. The 22-year-old was charged with conspiracy to undermine the authority or security of the state after a military coup on July 26, 2023. Salem’s release comes after six months of [...]

The Ostankino District Court of Moscow announced that it detained US citizen Robert Woodland Romanov for two months on Tuesday. He has been accused of violating provisions of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation for the large-scale production, sale or possession of illegal drugs. Robert Woodland-Romanov faces up to 20 years in prison or [...]