22 Oct 12 | Mexico
Last August, Manuel Berumen, a university professor, received the shock of his life after kissing his wife as they strolled with their four-year-old son in a public plaza in Leon, Guanajuato. A woman complained about the “indecency” and he ended up in jail. Berumen was victim of Guanajuato’s anti-obscenity laws, which ban kissing in public. The law was introduced in 2009 under mayor Eduardo Romero Hicks, of the conservative right win National Action Party, (PAN).
Berumen had demanded justice for wrong imprisonment and urged that the police officers who arrested him be punished. But now, a local inquiry body, called the Honor and Justice Committee has exonerated the police officers who arrested Berumen and said they were only protecting local law.
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22 Oct 12 | Azerbaijan News, Europe and Central Asia, Index Index, minipost
One hundred protesters were arrested today by security forces in Baku, Azerbaijan‘s capital. The organisers of the protest decided to make their way to Baku’s Fountain Square to call for the dissolution of parliament, even though the country’s authorities refused to sanction the planned rally. Authorities took measures to curb the protests, with security forces gathered in the centre an hour before the planned protest. According to well-known Azerbaijani lawyer Asabali Mustafaev, some protesters outside of Baku were detained before even travelling to the rally.
01 Oct 12 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost
In a case that has drawn international condemnation, Bahrain‘s highest court today upheld prison sentences handed down to nine medics for weapons possession, incitement and taking part in illegal demonstrations last year. One of the doctors was sentenced to five years, and the remaining eight were given between a month and three years. Their original sentences of 15 years were reduced last June, with nine of the original group of 20 medics being acquitted. A further two remain at large.
17 Sep 12 | Middle East and North Africa, minipost, News and features
Yesterday Iran confirmed that its revolutionary guards corps (IRGC) forces are present in Syria helping Bashar al-Assad’s government fight rebel forces. General Mohammad Ali Jafari, Commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, issued a further warning that it would get involved militarily if its Arab ally came under attack. British officials say that the IRGC has provided riot control equipment and technical advice on how to crush dissent, as well as providing support to improve monitor protestor’s use of the internet and mobile phone networks.
