The Indian Supreme Court (SC) reduced Friday a sentence in a criminal contempt of court case by the Delhi High Court (DHC) against a lawyer, Virendra Singh, over his remarks against the judges of the DHC. The lawyer was convicted and sentenced to six months in prison and a fine of 2,000 rupees. The SC, in [...]

The Indian Supreme Court rejected Wednesday an appeal filed by the Punjab state government challenging the bail given to Sukhpal Singh Khaira, the leader of the Indian National Congress, the country’s second-largest opposition party. Khaira had been granted bail by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on January 4 in a criminal case related to [...]

India’s largest opposition party, the Indian National Congress, issued Thursday a show-cause notice to its spokesperson Alok Sharma over his remarks against another member and former Chief Minister of the Madhya Pradesh (MP) state Kamal Nath. Sharma made those remarks in a recent interview with the news channel 4pm. The official X (formerly Twitter) handle [...]

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled Wednesday that France had infringed upon the rights of a woman who was found guilty of defamation after accusing a company executive of sexual harassment at her workplace. The accusations were emailed to six individuals, including internal and external members of her company. The ECHR, in its [...]

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 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 [...]

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 [...]

Singapore’s former Transport Minister S Iswaran pleaded not guilty Thursday to 27 corruption charges, which include allegations of receiving items from billionaire Ong Beng Seng, the tycoon recognized for bringing Formula 1 (F1) to Singapore. Chee Hong Tat has been appointed as the new Transport Minister, succeeding Iswaran. Chee Hong Tat previously served as the [...]

Amnesty International found that it is now riskier to flee persecution in the North Caucasus region of Russia due to the ongoing war in Ukraine and stigmatization in Europe. In a report published on Thursday, Amnesty International urged European governments should stop transferring at-risk individuals to Russia to protect their human rights. The Thursday report [...]