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An anti-government protester in Hong Kong was found guilty Tuesday of terrorism and secession in a landmark ruling involving the first verdict delivered under the territory’s new national security law.

Leon Tong Ying-kit, 24, had pleaded not guilty to all charges in relation to an anti-government street protest last year. Tong had been accused of driving his motorcycle into police officers while carrying a flag with the phrase, “Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of Our Times.”

Due to the security law charges, a three-judge panel was specially selected to preside over the case without a jury. After a mammoth 15-day trial, the panel returned with a guilty verdict.

Much of the case focused on how the slogan would be interpreted by the High Court panel. The now-banned phrase was a popular rallying call during Hong Kong’s 2019 anti-government demonstrations.

One of the judges, Esther Toh, said the defendant was aware of the meaning of the phrase the flag carried and ruled the slogan had a “natural and reasonable effect” of inciting others to commit secession, according to a report by the South China Morning Post newspaper.

Tong, a former waiter, has been refused bail since his arrest last year. He will be sentenced at a later date, but could face up to life imprisonment. His lawyers said no decision has been made as to whether they will appeal, according to local reports.

Eric Yan-ho Lai, a political and law analyst, told VOA in a phone interview that the ruling was “disappointing” because the judges had disregarded potential meanings of the slogan that were not secessionist.

“It’s a cherry-picking tactic by the judges, tried to pick one of many of the meanings to justify [the notion] Tong’s act is intimidating others for his own political agenda. It seems a very technical and formal approach to see this case,” he said.

The analyst, who is a Hong Kong Law Fellow at Georgetown University, added that international standards were not met in the case.

“Free expressions are not inciting imminent violence, should not be considered as a crime and should not be punished in Tong’s case,” he said.

Yan added that the verdict, which is seen as a departure from Hong Kong’s common law, sets a dangerous tone for future security law cases.

“If Tong received a much heavier sentence than other non-NSL [national security law] cases, say rioting or possession explosion articles … it would cause a strong impact of the common law in Hong Kong, when such acts could cause disproportionate sentencing, even to life in jail without the scrutiny of a jury trial,” he said.

July 1, 2020, marked the first full day of Hong Kong’s newly implemented national security law enacted by Beijing the night before. Thousands protested in the streets, though, opposing the law and the government. Hundreds were arrested, with at least 10 under the new security law, including Tong.

The legislation outlines four key prohibitions – secession, subversion, terrorism and foreign collusion – and carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. Critics say the law has reduced Hong Kong’s unique autonomy promised when it was handed back to China from Britain in 1997 under a “one country, two systems” agreement.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam said the legislation would only target a minority of people. But nearly 13 months since the law became active, 100 people have been arrested and at least 60 charged, including media mogul Jimmy Lai and high-profile activist Joshua Wong.

On July 21, another former editor for a pro-democracy newspaper was arrested.

Apple Daily, founded in 1995 by Lai, was shut down after several of its executives were arrested for alleged violations of the security law. Hong Kong authorities then froze the company’s financial access, leaving the media outlet unable to pay its staff and vendors, forcing it to close. Western critics have depicted the media outlet’s closure as a blow to press freedom.

Last week, five members of Hong Kong’s Speech Therapists General Union were arrested for allegedly “conspiring to publish seditious materials” in connection with authoring children’s books. Authorities claim the books, which revolve around sheep, incite hatred toward the government. Two of the members have since been denied bail.

A Hong Kong-based lawyer who has represented defendants under national security law charges spoke to VOA about the arrests but requested anonymity for her protection.

“The question still is, these children’s books about sheep, [do they] bring into hatred or contempt or incite disaffection against the government of Hong Kong? Can it be treated just as criticism? How is it any different from a newspaper column?”“From a point of view as governance, the Hong Kong government wants to break up civil society groups and unions, and that is one way of targeting them,” the lawyer said.

Pro-democracy activist, Hang Tung Chow, the vice chairperson of the Hong Kong Alliance political group, was recently arrested for allegedly inciting illegal assembly. Just hours before, Chow told VOA she believes the government is targeting civil society groups such as hers.

The public prosecutor decided yesterday (22 July) to indict 13 protesters facing lèse majesté and sedition charges for their involvement in the 26 October 2020 protest in front of the German Embassy in Bangkok.

Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) reported that 12 of the protesters reported to the Office of the Attorney General (Southern Bangkok office) yesterday morning (22 July) and were informed that the public prosecutor had decided to file a case against the protesters.

The remaining protester, activist Nawat Liangwattana, will be reporting to the public prosecutor today (23 July).

The lawyers requested bail using the positions of 7 academics and 3 MPs from the Move Forward Party (MFP) as security. The Bangkok South Criminal Court granted them bail with the condition that they must not commit another offense relating to the monarchy. They must also come to every court appointment and may not leave the country without permission.

The decision to indict the protesters came after the public prosecutor postponed their hearing 3 times. According to TLHR, this is the 33rd lèse majesté case in which the public prosecutor has ordered an indictment.

TLHR also reported that at least 111 people are now facing lèse majesté charges after the law began once again to be used against protesters involved in the pro-democracy demonstrations in November 2020.

The 13 protesters indicted are Ann (pseudonym), Nawat Liangwattana, Benja Apan, Athapol Buapat, Patsaravalee Tanakitvibulpon, Cholathit Chotsawat, Chanin Wongsri, Watcharakorn Chaikaew, Ravisara Eksgool, Suthini Jangpipatnawakit, Akkarapon Teeptaisong, Joseph (pseudonym), and Korakot Saengyenpan.

They face lèse majesté and sedition charges under Sections 112 and 116 of the Thai Criminal Code, as well as using a sound amplifier without permission under the Controlling Public Advertisement by Sound Amplifier Act for either reading a statement or giving speeches during the protest in front of the German Embassy in Bangkok on 26 October 2020, in which they submitted a petition calling for the German authorities to investigate King Vajiralongkorn’s use of power during his time in Germany.

Police officers searched a van belonging to We Volunteer, which was delivering equipment for the protest, including effigies, and bottles of fermented fish . They also checked We Volunteer member Rattaphum Lertpaijit’s ID card.

The officers wanted to take picture of Rattaphum’s ID card, claiming that they have to check whether he has an outstanding arrest warrant. They asked to search the car, but were refused. No one at the scene was found to have an arrest warrant, and the police did not present a search warrant.

The officers claimed that they had to check whether there was anything illegal in the van, and asked for the identity of the owner of the content. During the search, an officer asked whether the fermented fish was for throwing at the officers.

Piyarat said that because the officers opened the packages of bottled fermented fish, they had to buy the entire lot. He also claimed that the officers told them that they wouldn’t let them go if they didn’t sell them the fish.

Sunday’s protest took place at the Democracy Monument at 14.00 and was organized by Free Youth and its partner groups. The protesters planned to march to Government House to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha, a reduction in the budget for the monarchy and military to increase Covid-19 assistance, and replacement of the Sinovac vaccine with mRNA vaccines. However, they were blocked from reaching the Government House by crowd control police armed with rubber bullets, tear gas, and water cannon trucks.

Three reporters were injured during the protest on Sunday (18 July), after being hit with rubber bullets, despite wearing visible press armbands and ID cards.

Thanapong Kengpaiboon from the online magazine Plus Seven was hit in the hip with a rubber bullet while covering the clash between protesters and crowd control police at the Phan Fa Lilat intersection at around 15.50.

Thanapong said that he was taking pictures of protesters trying to remove the razor wire used as blockade. He said that the police issued no warning before firing 3 – 4 rounds of rubber bullets into the area where he was standing, and that they announced only that they would be firing water containing dye.

He also said that was standing next to a wall with a group of other reporters, and that he was wearing the press armband issued by the Thai Journalists Association (TJA), which has been used to identify field reporters covering protests since 2020, as well as a press ID card.

Thanapong said he was lucky that he was wearing thick jeans, but there was still bruising where he was shot. He has been covering the protests since 2020 and has previously been hit with tear gas and water cannon blasts.

“I don’t know if it’s bad that I feel like I’m used to it, but I’m tired of it. Without notice, they fire into a group that they should know are reporters, because it wasn’t just me who was a reporter and was standing there, and they fired without any warning,” Thanapong said, adding that he wants to press charges against the officers and is looking for a way to do so.

Matichon TV photographer Peerapong Pongnak was also shot with a rubber bullet in his left arm. Matichon reported that Peerapong was shot at the Phan Fa Lilat Bridge, while he was covering the march to the Government House via Ratchadamneon Avenue, which was blocked by crowd control police and water cannon trucks.

Peerapong said that the police began firing water cannon blasts at the protesters and announced that they would be escalating their operation, but he did not hear the police announce that they were going to use rubber bullets.

A photographer from The Matter was also shot with a rubber bullet in the left arm and was taken to a hospital for treatment. The Matter later posted a picture showing the bruise on the photographer’s arm and stated that they were visibly wearing a press armband when they were covering the protest.

At the protest at Sanam Luang on 20 March 2021, during which crowd control police deployed rubber bullets, tear gas, and water cannon indiscriminately against the crowd, Prachatai reporter Sarayut Tangprasert was shot in the back by a rubber bullet while livestreaming from the Kok Wua Intersection. He was also wearing the TJA’s press armband. Journalists from Channel 8 and Khaosod were also injured by rubber bullets during the same protest.

Sarayut later filed a lawsuit with the Civil Court against the Royal Thai Police and Police Chief Pol Gen Suwat Jangyodsuk for unlawful dispersal of the protest by firing rubber bullets, blocking the route to the nearest hospital and using excessive force on working journalists. He also asked the court for an emergency inquiry for an injunction. However, the court dismissed the case on the ground that they cannot issue an order controlling the police’s action at future protests, while the investigation into the officers involved is under the authority of the police headquarters.

The protest on Sunday started at the Democracy Monument, before marching to Government House to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha, the reduction of the budget for the monarchy and military to increase Covid-19 assistance, and replacement of the Sinovac vaccine with mRNA vaccines. However, protesters were met with crowd control police armed with rubber bullets, tear gas, and water cannon trucks. They were blocked from reaching Government House and gathered at the Nang Loeng intersection to burn mock body bags and a figure of Gen Prayut before announcing the conclusion of the protest.

Officials in Afghanistan said Friday an international award-winning journalist from India had been killed during pre-dawn fighting in embattled southern Kandahar province.

Danish Seddiqi, a Reuters photojournalist and Pulitzer Prize winner, was covering clashes between Afghan government forces and the Taliban in Spin Boldak district, which fell to the insurgents earlier in the week.

“Deeply disturbed by the sad news of the killing of a friend, Danish Seddiqi in Kandahar last night,” tweeted Farid Mamundzay, Kabul’s ambassador to New Delhi.

“The Indian Journalist & winner of Pulitzer Prize was embedded with Afghan security forces. I met him 2 weeks ago before his departure to Kabul. Condolences to his family & Reuters,” added Mamundzay.

Seddiqi last tweeted from Kandahar on July 13, when Afghan forces launched a counteroffensive to try to retake Spin Boldak.

The slain photojournalist was based in the Indian city of Mumbai and won the Pulitzer Prize in 2018 for feature photography on the Rohingya refugee crisis.

"We are urgently seeking more information, working with authorities in the region," Reuters President Michael Friedenberg and Editor-in-Chief Alessandra Galloni said in a statement.

"Danish was an outstanding journalist, a devoted husband and father, and a much-loved colleague. Our thoughts are with his family at this terrible time.”

Seddiqi told Reuters he had been wounded in the arm by shrapnel earlier on Friday while reporting on the clash. He was treated and had been recovering when Taliban fighters retreated from the fighting in Spin Boldak.

Among other major events he covered were the Hong Kong pro-democracy protests in 2019 and 2020, and the Nepal earthquake in 2015. At home, Seddiqi extensively reported on India’s COVID-19 pandemic.

Global and local media watchdogs list Afghanistan as one of the dangerous countries for journalists.

Spin Boldak is a major border crossing between landlocked Afghanistan and Pakistan, facilitating travel and trade activities.

The insurgents have recently captured Afghanistan’s seven trade routes with neighboring countries, including Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, China, Iran and Pakistan.

The Taliban have stepped up battlefield attacks since the United States and NATO-allied militaries formally began withdrawing from Afghanistan on May 1, overrunning scores of districts and dramatically expanding insurgent influence to wide swaths of the country.

Activist Shinawat Chankrajang and another protester were arrested in front of the Ministry of Public Health on Friday (16 July) during a protest over the Covid-19 vaccination programme, while two other protesters and one police officer were injured.

On Friday afternoon (16 July), people gathered near the Ministry of Public Health to demand an explanation of the Covid-19 vaccination programme and to demand that the government provide the public with mRNA vaccines. They called on Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul to respond by 17.00.

During the protest, police officers lined up in front of the entrance to the Ministry and told the protesters that their gathering as an offence under the Emergency Decree and the Communicable Diseases Act. In response, Shinawat asked whether it is also illegal that Anutin is negligent and allowing Thai people to die every day, and demanded that Anutin answer whether the government will be able to supply the public with mRNA vaccines.

At around 15.10, Shinawat announced that they would be staying until 17.00, and the officers must bring them Anutin’s explanation about the vaccines in a voice clip or any other form of recording. The protesters also put up body-like figures on a table in front of the police line, while activist Thanadet Srisongkhram announced that the people need the Pfizer vaccine, not the Sinovac vaccine, which is ineffective. He also said that people are not lab rats and that they want vaccines they can choose.

At 17.00, the protesters marched up to the Ministry gates which were blocked by policewho announced that anyone breaking into the Ministry would be taken to the police station , and that if they do not comply, the police may use force. Officers began to surround the protesters, who were pushing and kicking the officers’ shields.

Police officers then tried to arrest Thanadet, so protesters tried to pull him away. During the clash, one of the plainclothes officers arresting Thanadet fell to the ground. After the clash, Thanadet was found to have an injury to his head. The officer was also reportedly injured

It was later reported that Shinawat was also arrested. He was taken inside the Ministry, so the protesters were not able to follow him. Another protester was also reported to be injured and was taken to an emergency room.

Shinawat and one other protester who was arrested were taken to the Khlong Ha Police Station in Pathum Thani. Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) reported that they were charged with sedition, holding a gathering of more than 10 people and causing a breach of peace, violating the Emergency Decree, assaulting an officer, and obstructing by force an official in the execution of their duty.

Both denied all charges. On Saturday morning (17 July), they were taken to the Nonthaburi Provincial Court for a temporary detention request. The Court approved the request, but granted them bail without requiring a security.

Police officers also confiscated the keys to the protesters’ speaker truck and refused to give them back despite demands from the remaining protesters, who pushed the truck to the gates. An officer then came to negotiate with the truck’s owner, who asked for his truck key back as his house key was attached to the truck key and he had to use the truck that night.

By 19.20, crowd control police joined the officers in front of the Ministry, while protesters were still gathering in the area to wait for the truck keys to be returned. The police said they wanted to search the truck, but the owner consulted a lawyer and was told not to let the police search the truck.

At 19.45, with the 21.00 curfew approaching, the police still had not returned the truck key and had brought a tow truck from inside the Ministry, so the protesters lay down in front of the truck and demanded that the police wait for a lawyer to arrive.

At around 20.20, following negotiations with the lawyer, the truck was towed away. TLHR later reported that the truck’s owner received a fine of 100 baht under the Sound Amplifier Act before he was released. His hand was also injured when an officer reached into the truck to pull the keys out.

Authorities in the southwestern province of Sichuan have formally arrested a prominent rights activist on suspicion of "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble," a charge often used to target peaceful critics of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP), RFA has learned.

Xie Junfeng was detained last month after allegedly leaving his place of residence in violation of bail restrictions, his ex-wife Zou Haixia told RFA.

Police had recently told her the case against him was also based on comments he had made online, however.

"The police hinted when they called [before] that the 'picking quarrels, stirring up trouble' charge wasn't just based on his daily activities, but also on some of the comments he made online," Zou told RFA on Thursday.

"According to my understanding, the authorities have been questioning a lot of petitioners since Xie Junbiao was detained, trying to find out stuff about him," she said.

Xie, who has campaigned for the rights of the most vulnerable in society, as well as being a vocal public supporter of jailed Sichuan dissident Huang Qi, is currently being held in the police-run Shuangliu District Detention Center in Sichuan's provincial capital, Chengdu.

His frequent interviews with foreign media organizations, including RFA, have also made him a thorn in the authorities' side, observers have said.

The authorities approved his formal arrest on July 14, and sent a formal notification to his father's home, Zou said.

"They warned me before that they were keeping track [of everything Zou did] and that the bill would be presented when the time came," she said. "They also warned me that I could be charged with the same crime for my comments online."

Second dissident prosecuted

Meanwhile, authorities in Chengdu's Pidu district have moved ahead with the prosecution of veteran dissident Chen Yunfei, who was detained by police four months ago on the same charge as Xie.

Chen is currently being held at the Pidu District Detention Center, awaiting trial for "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble" after he wrote an online article based on visits to Sichuan schools during the past two years.

He was detained on March 25, 2021, and formally arrested on April 30, 2021.

Chen has already served a four-year jail term on the same charge beginning in March 2015, after he organized and took part in a memorial service calling for justice for the victims of the 1989 Tiananmen massacre during the grave-sweeping festival of Qing Ming.

He was held incommunicado with no access to family or lawyers for six months, according to the overseas-based Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) network.

He complained to his lawyer in January 2017 of having been held in restraints on two separate occasions for "refusing to properly greet officers at the detention center," the group said on its website.

Chen's close friend Zeng Rongkang said the allegations relating to Chen's research about schools in the province were simply a pretext to justify a political prosecution.

"This is all just for show, because [his actions] in no way constitute provocation in law, and no harm has come to the country," Zeng said. "This charge is being used up and down the country for pinning on people."

"I expect he will be sentenced again, but maybe not very harshly," he said.

A journalist working for Siem Reap Breaking News and arrested on Wednesday was charged with incitement and violations of the Covid-19 Law, the latter punishable by up to three years in prison.

Kouv Piseth, 32, was arrested by provincial military police in Battambang city on Wednesday for alleged incitement. The military police said the arrest was linked to Facebook posts from Piseth, but did not specify exactly what the journalist had said or done on the social media platform to warrant the arrest.

Duong Saron, a spokesperson for the Battambang court prosecutor’s office, confirmed on Friday that Piseth has been charged with incitement, under Article 495 of Criminal Code, as well as Article 11 of the controversial Covid-19 law for “obstruction of measure enforcement.”

While incitement carries up to two years in prison, the Covid-19 law violation carries a six-month to three-year prison sentence for intentionally obstructing or deterring the implementation of measures taken to curb the spread of the virus. It also carries a potential fine of about $500 to $2,500.

Chea Chanreaksmey, a spokesperson for the Battambang Provincial Court, did not say exactly how Piseth obstructed Covid-19 measures.

“Regarding the case, the investigating judge decided to place him in pretrial detention yesterday. Regarding the crime, I did not get more detail about the charges because it is in the process of investigation,” Chanreaksmey said.

In a June 27 Facebook post, Piseth questioned whether Chinese vaccines had been evaluated by the World Health Organization and if the vaccines should be used in Cambodia.

“Have the Chinese vaccines been evaluated by the WHO yet? If it has not, it should not be brought to inject because it has not been recognized,” the post said.

In May and June, the WHO approved the emergency use of the Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines. The Cambodian government started using both vaccines before their formal approval.

Piseth had other Facebook posts accusing Prime Minister Hun Sen of acquiring assets in the country by betraying the nation — an accompanying image has mansions and arrows pointing to forests, a gold mine, an island and other resources.

Rights groups have criticized the Covid-19 Law for being broad and for having severe prison sentences for violations. The incitement charge has been used by the judiciary as a catchall to prosecute any expression of dissent.

Phnom Penh police said last month that 11 people had been charged and jailed in the city under the law at the time, mostly for obstructing the implementation of lockdown rules.

A local protest leader from Mogok in Mandalay Region said on Tuesday that his wife and daughter have both been sentenced to three years in prison for incitement.

The two women, who were arrested exactly one month ago, were accused of violating Section 505a of the Penal Code for allegedly inciting riots. Their sentences were handed down by a prison court in Mogok, protest leader Soe Htay said.

Writing on Facebook soon after learning about their sentences, Soe Htay said that his wife and daughter had taken part in protests against the junta’s numerous abuses, including arbitrary arrests, human rights violations, inhumane treatment of women and children, and killing of its own citizens.

Junta authorities in Mogok were attempting to arrest Soe Htay, who is a striking schoolteacher and local anti-regime activist, when they took his 44-year-old wife and two daughters into custody on June 13.

The younger daughter, Su Htet Wine, was still in detention when she turned five two weeks later. She was released on June 30, two days after her birthday.

Earlier this month, Soe Htay expressed concern about the health of his older daughter, 17-year-old Theint Sandi Soe, who was reportedly suffering from a potentially life-threatening condition.

According to Soe Htay, she was receiving weekly treatment for rheumatoid arthritis before her arrest. He said a person with connections to the place where she was being held had told him that she was mistreated while under interrogation.

Myanmar’s military routinely targets the families of individuals opposed to its rule, in some cases detaining the children or elderly relatives of those who manage to evade arrest.

According to figures compiled by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), 76 people have been held hostage by the junta, with the youngest being just two years old.

The military council, which has designated AAPP as an illegal organization, has not commented on those cases.

Batticaloa-based Tamil journalist Selvakumar Nilanthan was interrogated by Sri Lankan’s Terrorism Investigation Division (TID) today.

Nilanthan, who is also the secretary of the Batticaloa Tamil Journalists Association, was summoned to the Batticaloa TID this morning where his statement were taken following intense interrogation lasting around three hours. He was asked whether he had any links to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and was questioned extensively about his work.

“Do you have any connection with the LTTE? Were you a member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)? Were any of your relatives in the LTTE? Have you helped the LTTE? Have you got any affiliations or are you in contact with former Batticaloa political head, Thayamohan?”

“Do you run the Battinaatham or Meenagam website? How many years have you been a journalist? Which media outlets do you work for? Which international media outlets are you working for?”

The journalist was also demanded by the TID to disclose his personal and financial details. He was asked a significant amount of questions about his accounts and the passwords and told to give full access to his Facebook account, Whatsapp account, email account, bank account and other personal details.

Nilanthan was also examined extensively about his sourcing of funds:

“Do you get money from abroad? Which money comes from which country? Who is who and who sent you the money? Do you own a charitable trust?”

Following the investigation, the TID told Nilanthan that he may be expected to attend another investigation. Nilanthan, who was shaken and distressed from the investigation stated, “They robbed me of the last bit of freedom I had”.

Selvakumar Nilanthan has previously been interrogated for his coverage across the North-East. Last year, he was probed for reporting on the military-assisted Sinhala settlements on Tamil cattle farmers’ land and was also threatened and arrested for reporting on local government corruption.

Saharat Sukkhamla, a novice monk who has often attended protests, has received a summons from Pathumwan Police Station on a royal defamation charge relating to a speech he gave at a protest on 21 November 2020.

Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) reported on Monday (5 July) that Saharat received a summons on a royal defamation charge under Section 112 of the Thai Criminal Code. The summons states that the complaint against him was filed by Ratthanaphak Suwannarat, and that Saharat must report to Pathumwan Police Station on 12 July at 10.00.

TLHR said that the charge was related to a speech Saharat gave at a protest organized by the students’ rights group Bad Student on 21 November 2020.

Voice TV reported that on 25 February 2021, special branch police officers tried to disrobe Saharat, claiming a consensus of the Sangha Supreme Council of Thailand, the main governing body of the Buddhist order in Thailand, and an announcement from the National Office of Buddhism. The officers claimed that Saharat’s actions insulted the Supreme Patriarch of Thailand, who is the head of the order of Buddhist monks, and that he caused conflict within the order.

According to Voice TV, special branch police officers and a representative from the National Office of Buddhism were waiting for Saharat in front of his residence, and left after they were unable to find him.

At least 103 people have been charged under Section 112 in 100 cases since November 2020, 8 of whom are under 18 years old. According to TLHR, 46 of the cases resulted from complaints filed by members of the public. Saharat is apparently the first monk charged under Section 112.

Mr. Nitin Verghese is a human right defender associated with the Jagrit Adivasi Dalit Sangathan (JADS), a tribal and Dalit Rights Collective which has been working for fourteen years in Madhya Pradesh.

On July 10, 2021, Mr. Nitin Verghese, along with eight other activists, visited the site where houses and fields of adivasis were being demolished. Upon reaching the spot, they saw four members of the affected families. Some of them were Budia wife of Lalu (40), her twelve-year-old daughter Pooja and son Ramlal along with Sheka son of Harsing. They were forcibly picked up and taken away by forest officials. When Mr. Verghese and others complained about this to the Deputy Forest Officer (DFO) Mr. Charan Singh, who was at the spot, they were also picked up and their phones snatched. The actions of the DFO are consistent with abduction, absolute disregard to the laws and rules to be followed in case of arrests. There is no official information confirming the place of detention, condition of detention, calls to relatives or colleagues of the HRDs and any communication with the legal services authorities. Even if Mr. Verghese and the other HRDs are to be placed under arrest, none of the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court with regards to the arrest have been followed. These guidelines are also a part of ‘The Wildlife Crime Investigation Handbook’ of the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, which are applicable to forest officials. The Wildlife Crime Investigation Handbook states that the proceedings of the arrest should be recorded on an Arrest cum Personal Search Memo and the reasons for the

arrest should be mentioned in the Memo. All pages of the Arrest cum Personal Search Memo should be signed by the accused, the independent witnesses and the investigating officer or the officer making the arrest. Left hand thumb impression of the accused is also to be obtained on the last page of the Arrest cum Personal Search Memo. Copy of the same should be supplied to the accused under acknowledgment. It states that preferably the arrests should be made “in the presence of a relative or well-wisher of the accused or in the presence of two independent witnesses.” Furthermore, it states that intimation of arrest should be given immediately to a family member/relative/well-wisher of the accused, which has been suggested by the accused and also to the jurisdictional police station. If the intimation is given telephonically, the same should be confirmed in writing at the earliest.

On July 10, police in the northeast district of Thakurgaon opened Digital Security Act investigations into the three journalists, according to news reports and a police report, which CPJ reviewed.

Authorities are investigating Tanu, the Thakurgaon district correspondent for the news websites Jago News and Daily Ittefaq and the privately owned broadcaster Independent Television; Shuvo, a correspondent for the news website NewsBangla24.com; and Litu, a correspondent for the news websites Jugantor and Bangladesh Pratidin and the privately owned broadcaster News 24, according to those sources.

On the night of July 10, police arrested Tanu when he went to the local Sadar police station to inquire about the investigation; they then transferred him to the Sadar Hospital yesterday morning for treatment for respiratory issues, and released him on bail later that day, those reports said. Police handcuffed Tanu to a hospital bed while he received treatment, according to those reports.

Shuvo told CPJ via messaging app that he and Litu have not been arrested as of today.

“Bangladesh authorities should drop their Digital Security Act investigations into journalists Tanvir Hasan Tanu, Rahim Shuvo, and Abdul Latif Litu immediately,” said Steven Butler, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator. “The Bangladesh government must repeal the act, cease harassing journalists, and allow them to do their jobs, which are a public service, not a crime.”

The investigations stem from a complaint filed by Nadirul Aziz Chapal, the superintendent of the Thakurgaon Sadar Hospital, who alleged that the journalists published reports about the hospital intended to defame and spread enmity and hatred, according to a copy of his complaint, which CPJ reviewed. CPJ called and texted Chapal for comment, but he did not reply.

The complaint referenced a July 5 article by Tanu in Jago News; a July 8 article by Shuvo in NewsBangla24.com; and a July 7 article in Jugantor, published anonymously, which Chapal alleges Litu authored. All three articles detailed allegations that Thakurgaon Sadar Hospital provided sub-standard food to COVID-19 patients.

Police are investigating the three journalists under sections of the Digital Security Act pertaining to the publication of offensive, false, or threatening information; propaganda; defamatory information; information that creates enmity, hatred, or hostility among different classes or communities; and abetment of an offense, according to the police report.

Each of those counts can carry maximum prison sentences ranging from three years to five years and maximum fines ranging from 300,000 taka ($3,540) to 500,000 taka ($5,900).

Aung Mya Than, a reporter for the Ayeyarwady Times, was arrested at 11:00pm on July 10 at his home in Maubin following his reporting of a bombing by unidentified perpetrators in his home town. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) condemns the military junta’s continuous abuse of the media and calls on the military to release Than immediately.

Than was one of 14 journalists released on June 30 from detention across Myanmar. He was arrested on May 25 on charges under Article 505(a) of the Penal Code and held for 36 days. He is currently being held at the Maubin City Police State, according to the Ayeyarwady Times’ editor-in-chief, Salai Thant Sin.

On the morning of his arrest on June 10, Than was reporting on a bombing by unidentified perpetrators in Maubin.

It is unclear when Than was released from detention and whether the Section 505(a) charges against him were officially dropped. Radio Free Asia reports that 26 reporters are currently in hiding due to warrants being put out for their arrest. Many others have been forced to leave their homes and seek asylum with friends or family because the military have allegedly raided their homes.

Section 505(a) of the Penal Code is a broad and vague law that effectively allows the military to arrest journalists for doing their jobs. The law criminalises all attempts to “hinder, disturb, damage the motivation, discipline, health and conduct of the military personnel and government employees” and these subjective phrases can and have been used to quell dissent during Myanmar’s civil war.

Since the start of the military coup in February 2021, 89 domestic and international reporters have been arrested and 37 are still detained, according to Reporting ASEAN. Out of the all the arrests, 28 of them have been charged under Section 505(a) of the Penal Code. The media have been explicitly targeted by the military junta for reporting on the frontlines throughout the coup.

On July 9, the People’s Court of Hanoi found political blogger Pham Chi Thanh (aka Pham Thanh) guilty of “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 117 of Vietnam’s Criminal Code for his online posts criticizing the country’s authoritarian regime.

After two and half hours, the first-instance hearing ended with the final judgment of five and half years imprisonment followed by five years of probation, his lawyer Ha Huy Son said on his Facebook page.

According to the indictment, Mr. Thanh’s writing including a book titled Thế thiên hành đạo hay Đại nghịch bất đạo (Holder of Mandate of Heaven or Great Immoral Traitor) and other posts on his blog Bà Đầm Xoè contains the information defaming the authoritarian regime’s leaders and distorting the regime’s policies.

In his defense statement, lawyer Son pointed out a number of shortcomings of the state agencies involved in the case, including the Hanoi City’s Department of Information and Communication which verificated the content of Mr. Thanh’s writing. However, the judge did not pay attention to the lawyer’s defense statement.

Mr. Thanh is a retired reporter and editor of the state-controlled Voice of Vietnam Radio (VOV). He has written several books critical of the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam and its leaders, including late President Ho Chi Minh and incumbent General Secretary cum President Nguyen Phu Trong. His posts on his blog Bà Đầm Xoè are mainly critical of the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam and its leader Trong. His latest book Holder of Mandate of Heaven or Great Immoral Traitor talked about activities of incumbent General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong of the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam, which according to the author are harmful for the nation and beneficial for the red China.

On his blog Bà Đầm Xoè, Thanh also posted his writings on politics and social issues, including China’s violations of Vietnam’s sovereignty in the East Sea (South China Sea) and the weak response of the Vietnamese Communist regime, systemic corruption, widespread environmental pollution, human rights violations, etc.

His arrest on May 21 last year is part of Vietnam’s intensified crackdown on local dissent before and after the 13th National Congress of the ruling party.

One day before the trial, the New York-based rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a statement calling on Vietnam’s authoritarian state to release Mr. Thanh immediately and unconditionally since Mr. Thanh peacefully exercised his right to freedom of expression.

Mr. Thanh is the 17th activist being sentenced in 2021, according to Defend the Defenders’ statistics. Among others are President Pham Chi Dung and Vice President Nguyen Tuong Thuy of the unregistered professional group Independent Journalists Association of Vietnam who were also convicted of “conducting anti-state propaganda” and sentenced to 15 years and 11 years in prison, respectively.

According to Amnesty International, Vietnam is the largest jailer of prisoners of conscience with 170 activists being jailed while the latest statistics of Defend the Defenders shows that Hanoi is holding at least 258 prisoners of conscience. Reporters Without Borders regularly ranks Vietnam among the worst five countries on press freedom withhigh number of jailed bloggers. Vietnam’s communist government always denies it has any prisoners of conscience, saying it imprisons only law violators.

Reporter with an online television, Hello Nepal, Milan KC was thrashed by police persons in Chitwan on July 8. Chitwan lies in the Bagmati Province of Nepal.

According to reporter KC, he was attacked while reporting a protest staged by the family members of a local Sujita Bhandari whose dead body was found in a forest some days back. They have been demanding fair investigation of the murder of Bhandari.

"While I was taking video of the police taming the protestors, one of the police persons baton-charged me. He did not stop even after I showed my identity card", said reporter KC.

KC sustained deep injury on his legs and his camera was damaged in the incident.

"One of the senior officials has, however, assured me of providing compensation to repair my camera", he shared.

Freedom Forum condemns the incident because it is sheer violation of press freedom and freedom of expression. The police must stop such atrocity on media persons who are bringing news to the public despite adversity caused by COVID-19. FF strongly urges the high level of Nepal Police to investigate the incident and take action against the police persons beating journalists.

A small-scale demonstration in Kazakhstan's largest city to protest rising prices and growing Chinese influence has ended in skirmishes with police.

The unsanctioned demonstration in central Almaty on July 6 was organized by Zhanbolat Mamai, the leader of a group seeking to create the opposition Democratic Party.

Several dozen supporters came out in support of Mamai as they chanted for Nursultan Nazarbaev, the former authoritarian president who is still considered to rule the country from behind the scenes, to "leave."

The protest coincided with Capital Day, a holiday that lands on the birthday of Nazarbaev, who turned 81.

Mamai claimed that prices for necessary household goods are rising faster than the official inflation data and accused the government of deepening the country's dependence on China.

Police called on the protesters to end the unsanctioned rally and blocked their movement, resulting in skirmishes. A few people received minor injuries and at least three were detained, according to Mamai's wife, Inga Imanbai.

Mamai, who was convicted on money-laundering charges that he and his supporters say were politically motivated, has organized demonstrations in the past and been detained.

The activist has been trying to create the Democratic Party, but claims he is being foiled by the government, which he says only permits loyal parties to form.

His Democratic Party was legally registered by the Justice Ministry in December 2020, but the group was unable to hold a congress in February because party activists had been arrested and detained.

Kazakh law requires that a party's founding congress be attended by at least 1,000 people.

Kazakhstan has been run along an authoritarian line by Nazarbaev and his successor, Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev, since gaining its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

During their rule many opposition figures have been jailed or forced to flee the country.

The Chinese social media platform WeChat has deleted dozens of accounts belonging to LGBTQ+ groups at universities in recent days, social media posts have revealed.

Screenshots of notices sent to the holders of the deleted accounts said they had broken laws and regulations governing online content, amid concerns that the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is now targeting gay content and activism.

Many of the accounts were deleted at around the same time on Tuesday evening, Reuters quoted one of the account-holders as saying.

Some of the accounts had disappeared by Wednesday, while others carried notices that they had been suspended due to regulatory violations.

Others were renamed "Unnamed Official Account."

An online post titled "Tonight, we are all unnamed official accounts" listed some of the affected groups, which included ColorsWorld at Peking University, Purple at Tsinghua University and RUC Sex and Gender Research Group at Renmin University.

Similar groups at Shanghai's Fudan University, Wuhan University, and Nanjing University also had their accounts shut down.

The move by censors comes after the cancelation of Shanghai's decade-old Pride event in 2020. The organizers, ShanghaiPRIDE, gave no reason for the decision, but local activists said the group had likely come under political pressure from the authorities.

The organization had previously been legally permitted to run the event by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

But ShanghaiPRIDE had also been involved in ongoing civil society activities in support of the LGBTQ community in China, including running seminars for the parents of LGBTQ people.

Activists said at the time that the cancellation of Shanghai Pride likely meant all LGBTQ+ groups would be affected.

The organizers of a planned LGBTQ+ conference in the northern city of Xian were forced to cancel in 2017 after official pressure.

Crackdowns by government censors

Government censors have since carried out a number of crackdowns on LGBTQ representation on social media, in books, comics, TV, and film.

In 2020, education authorities in Jinan, provincial capital of Shandong province, called for the "strengthening of political and ideological education" for students of foreign-invested schools, at both primary and secondary level.

The guidance was to include the view of homosexuality as "corrupt behavior imported from the West [that is] inconsistent with core socialist values."

Activists said the crackdown stemmed in part from a conservative attitude to sexuality under the indefinite rule of CCP general secretary Xi Jinping, and partly from a fear that civil organizations are a threat to party rule.

Homosexuality was decriminalized in China in 1997, and removed from official psychiatric diagnostic manuals in 2001.

More and more highly educated urban Chinese have begun coming out in recent years, and while some find acceptance among their peers, social attitudes still strongly favor heterosexual marriage and children.

How many Chinese identify as LGBTQ+ is unknown. The country’s health and family planning ministry has estimated that there are between five and 10 million gay men in China, but activists say the actual number is far higher.

LGBTQ activists say there have been a growing number of anti-discrimination lawsuits filed by the community in China since around 2010, as well as some rare though unsuccessful bids to register same-sex marriages.

The Sadar Bazar police in Shahjahanpur have registered an FIR against Newslaundry journalist Nidhi Suresh pursuant to a defamation complaint filed by journalist Deep Srivastava. The FIR was filed at 3.43 pm on July 4.

Srivastava filed his complaint on grounds of defamation. The Uttar Pradesh police accepted it and filed an FIR under Sections 500 and 501 of the Indian Penal Code. The FIR was filed on the basis of a tweet by Suresh; it does not clarify which tweet.

It should be noted that the Supreme Court of India has held that for criminal defamation, the complainant must file a complaint before a magistrate under Section 200 of the Code of Criminal Procedure as the said offences under Section 500 and 501 of the Indian Penal Code are non-cognizable.

At 11.07 am on July 5, Suresh received a phone call from the investigating officer (without any formal notice) asking her to record a statement in Shahjahanpur on the basis of the FIR.

She received a second phone call at 6.05 pm the same day, asking that she “go to the station personally and give a written and oral statement”. When she said she was in Delhi, not Uttar Pradesh, the officer said, “You need to be here in person.”

On July 1, Suresh had reported on a woman named Ayesha Alvi who had petitioned the Delhi High Court on being “harassed” by the media after she converted to Islam. In her petition, Alvi had mentioned receiving a call from a mobile number and the caller “threatened that he will publish the news about my conversion and that I would get arrested and he demanded money from me and when we denied he threatened again. Thereafter he forcefully took 20 thousand rupees from us”.

This information reported by Suresh was in the public domain.

In her report, Suresh said that she called the number and the person “identified himself as Deep Srivastava, reporter at News18”.

The report said that Srivastava “told Newslaundry there was ‘no truth’ in the claim that he had extorted money from Ayesha. When asked if Ayesha had initially refused to give him a video statement, Srivastava said, ‘I can’t talk about this over the phone.’ He then cut the call.”

On July 3, the police headquarters of the Kashmir zone issued a legal notice to Varadarajan, editor-in-chief of the independent news website The Wire, indicating that police were considering legal action against the outlet for allegedly “propagating concocted stories” and “rumor mongering,” and requesting Varadarajan’s response to those allegations within one week, according to a copy of the order, which CPJ reviewed, and Varadarajan, who spoke to CPJ via messaging app.

The police document cites a June 7 article regarding the killing of a Kashmiri resident in police custody, and a June 28 article on the killing of a police officer in the region’s Pulwama district. Varadarajan told CPJ that The Wire stood by both stories.

“Jammu and Kashmir authorities’ notice threatening legal action against journalist Siddarth Varadarajan only adds to the ongoing targeted harassment of The Wire in obvious retaliation for its critical reporting,” said Steven Butler, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator, in Washington, D.C. “Authorities should immediately withdraw the notice and allow The Wire and all media outlets to report freely on issues of public interest.”

Rohit Kansal, a Jammu and Kashmir government spokesperson, did not respond to CPJ’s request for comment sent via messaging app. CPJ also emailed Kashmir Police Inspector-General Vijay Kumar for comment, but did not receive any reply.

Last month, police in the state of Uttar Pradesh opened a criminal investigation into The Wire and three other journalists for allegedly sharing an unverified video that could cause social unrest, as CPJ documented at the time.

Previously, in April 2020, Uttar Pradesh police filed a criminal complaint against Varadarajan for allegedly spreading discord, enmity, and rumors during the COVID-19 lockdown.

Politicians and journalists on Sunday criticised the summons notice issued to anchorperson Nadeem Malik by the Federal Investigation Agency's (FIA) Counter-Terrorism Wing to appear before it and cooperate in the case regarding the video scandal of former accountability court judge Arshad Malik.

According to the notice dated July 2, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, the FIA has summoned the anchorperson under Section 160 of the Criminal Procedure Code. "Please refer to your 'Nadeem Malik Live Programme' on Samaa News dated April 28, 2021, [that] revealed that you have important information which can be relevant for the agency to further investigate the above mentioned case and to link some relevant persons with this case," said the notice.

Malik was requested to appear at the FIA's headquarters on July 6 with "all relevant information, documents and evidence."

In the aforementioned programme, Malik said he was informed by two individuals, part of the FIA team investigating Judge Malik, that "the other party" — declining to identify it — had found an old objectionable video of the judge. The unidentified persons had summoned the judge and told him that the video would "come out in public view" if he didn't give a favourable decision in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills corruption reference.

"Judge Arshad Malik then went and announced the decision and Nawaz Sharif was disqualified," the anchorperson had said, adding that he was quoting verbatim what he had been told by the sources. He had also said that he could not divulge on-air the full details that had been shared with him since they involved certain individuals from "very powerful institutions".

Reacting to news of the notice, PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal "strongly" condemned it and hailed Malik as "one of the most professional journalists of Pakistan."

PML-N Information Secretary Marriyum Aurangzeb said the notice was "highly condemnable and is yet more proof that this fascist regime won’t rest till the little remaining space for freedom of speech is eliminated", calling for the FIA to "immediately withdraw" it.

"FIA’s notice to Nadeem Malik, a reputable journalist, for personal appearance before the agency over his remarks on the notorious Arshad Malik case, is the latest example of unfolding fascism," said journalist Syed Talat Hussain. He claimed that the media was facing a "total assault".

Columnist and journalist Ansar Abbasi also praised Malik as an "honourable journalist" and said he became the "latest victim of [the] FIA’s misadventures against [the] media."

Meanwhile, Murtaza Solangi, executive editor of Nayadaur Media, called on Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Athar Minallah to take suo moto notice of the incident and summon the FIA officials for their "continued and consistent harassment of journalists".

Earlier this week, Justice Minallah, while hearing petitions filed against ongoing inquiries by the FIA’s cybercrime wing against journalists Bilal Ghauri, Asad Toor and others, had warned the investigation agency to exercise its powers judiciously or else the court would impose heavy cost on the officers for misuse of authority.

When the chief justice inquired from the FIA cybercrime wing’s director Babar Bakhat Qureshi about the number of pending complaints, Qureshi informed the court that they were in the thousands. The chief justice then asked him why the FIA was giving the impression that it was proceeding against only journalists.

“You need to dispel this impression, since crushing the dissenting voices is against the Islamic injunctions and norms of civilised society,” he had remarked. What is the Arshad Malik case?

In December 2018, Judge Malik had convicted Nawaz in the Al-Azizia reference, sentencing him to seven years in jail. However, he had acquitted the former prime minister in the Flagship reference.

In July 2020, after a year-long inquiry, the Lahore High Court’s administration committee had removed Malik from service on charges of misconduct relating to a video scandal that broke in 2019, and which sent ripples through political and legal circles.

The scandal was brought to the limelight by PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz, who had at the time come forward with video clips purportedly showing Malik confessing that he had been “pressured and blackmailed” to convict Nawaz Sharif in the Al-Azizia corruption reference.

The former judge passed away in December 2020 after contracting the coronavirus.

The Government of Malaysia must end its intimidation of artists and human rights defenders and protect the freedom of expression, the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) said in a statement today.

On 2 July 2021, filmmaker Anna Har and cartoonist Amin Landak were questioned over an animated short film titled ‘Chili Powder and Thinner’, produced by the Freedom film Network (FFN), of which Anna Har is co-founder. The film depicts police brutality and torture in police custody in Malaysia.

Shortly after questioning, the police raided the FFN office and the home of Amin Landak,[1] confiscating desktop computers, a router and a laptop from Amin Landak’s house. They had earlier taken possession of Anna Har and Amin Landak’s mobile phones. The police also raided the office of human rights organisation and FORUM-ASIA member Pusat Komas, which shares an office with FFN, and seized a modem and router.

The two are being investigated under Section 500 for defamation; Section 505 (b) of the same code which makes it a criminal offence for ‘whoever makes, publishes or circulates any statement, rumour or report with intent to cause, or which is likely to cause, fear or alarm to the public, or to any section of the public whereby any person may be induced to commit an offence against the State or against the public tranquility’; and Section 233 of the Communication and Multimedia Act (CMA) for improper use of network facilities or network service.

‘These laws are a part of a slew of repressive legislation frequently used to restrict the freedom of expression and information. These laws have also been increasingly used to intimidate critics and human rights defenders in Malaysia. The investigation of Anna and Amin, along with the police raids on FFN, Pusat Komas and on Amin’s home are clear forms of intimidation and harassment. Amidst a deteriorating civic space in Malaysia occurring at an alarming rate, these actions send a chilling message that anyone seeking to question the police will face reprisals,’ said Shamini Darshni Kaliemuthu, Executive Director of FORUM-ASIA.

Allegations of the use of torture in detention by police are rife in Malaysia. A report by the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia noted that at least 10 percent of detainees interviewed alleged that they had witnessed, heard or been victims of torture or other types of violence.[2]

Human rights organisation and FORUM-ASIA member Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM), the co-creator of ‘Chili Powder and Thinner’, has documented allegations from detainees who had suffered beatings, sexual assault, solitary confinement and other forms of cruel and inhumane treatment.[3]

Malaysian civil society organisations have also long called on the government to establish an independent commission to investigate cases of police misconduct including abuse and torture in police custody, to no avail.

‘Instead of addressing these grave allegations and taking steps towards holding perpetrators accountable, the government has instead chosen to crack down on defenders and artists who have spoken out. Laws such as the CMA and Sections 500 and 505 of the Penal Code criminalise expression, silence victims and reinforce a culture of impunity where acts such as police brutality remain unpunished,’ said Shamini.

FORUM-ASIA calls for the repeal of repressive legislation, and for the government to end the intimidation of artists and human rights defenders.

‘We condemn the government’s harassment and intimidation against the Freedom Film Network and its artists. We stand in solidarity with them and all human rights defenders who have continued to find ways to raise human rights violations despite an increasingly repressive environment in Malaysia. They amplify the voices of the most vulnerable, and ensure victims of State violations are not forgotten,’ Shamini said.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls for the immediate release of Mai Phan Loi, a Vietnamese journalist who once ran an official law magazine but who, for the past five years, has provided his fellow citizens with reliable, independent information about economic, social and environmental issues. All charges against him must be dropped, RSF said. Hanoi police officially announced the investigation against Mai Phan Loi on 2 July, one week after he was initially arrested on 24 June, on a warrant with the extremely vague charge of “tax evasion,” which carries a possible seven-year prison sentence under article 200 of the penal code. It did not specify the nature of the alleged crimes or the amount supposedly evaded.

Loi made a name for himself in the Vietnamese blogosphere thanks above all to a series of interviews he conducted with experts on economic, social and environmental issues in Vietnam. Before that, he was the deputy editor of Phap Luat (The Law), a state-controlled magazine covering legal issues.

The authorities refused to renew Loi’s press card five years ago after he investigated the mysterious circumstances in which CASA 8983, a Vietnamese air force reconnaissance plane, disappeared in June 2016.

“We are not fooled by the tax fraud accusation brought against Mai Phan Loi,” said Daniel Bastard, the head of RSF’s Asia-Pacific desk. “Everything indicates that it is just a pretext to silence a journalist who tried to do his job to inform his fellow citizens properly. We demand his immediate release and the withdrawal of this clearly trumped-up charge.”

Editorial freedom

The same charge of tax evasion was also used to arrest another expert on legal issues, Dang Dinh Bach, on the same day as Loi’s arrest.

As well as a journalist, Loi also made a name for himself as a defender of editorial freedom in the Vietnamese media. It was as such that he was included in a group of six civil society representatives who met then US President Barack Obama during Obama’s visit to Hanoi in May 2016.

Loi joins the growing list of Vietnamese journalists who began working for the state media and were arrested after later choosing to work freely and independently. The victims of the wave of arrests of such journalists, which began more than a year ago, include Pham Doan Trang, a recipient of the RSF Press Freedom Prize in 2019.

Vietnam is ranked 175th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2021 World Press Freedom Index.

Police in the southern Kazakh city of Shymkent have detained more than a dozen activists, including three who have been on a hunger strike for weeks to push for the release of political prisoners.

Some 50 men in civilian clothes surrounded three hunger strikers and more than a dozen of their supporters on July 1 in front of the Shymkent city administration's headquarters and forcibly took them to a police station.

The chief of the city police department's anti-extremism desk, Ernar Altaev, who was at the site, refused to explain to RFE/RL why the group, which was also protesting court decisions to ban two political movements, was detained.

Two masked men at the site opened umbrellas with which they tried to block the cameras of RFE/RL reporters from recording the detentions, a method previously used by unknown individuals apparently associated with local authorities in the tightly controlled former Soviet republic.

Dozens of activists have been on hunger strike since June 19 in several cities in the Central Asian nation, including Nur-Sultan, Almaty, Oral, Oskemen, and Shymkent. They have been demanding the cancellation of court decisions to label as extremist and ban the unregistered opposition Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DVK) movement and the associated Koshe (Street) party.

Several activists in Kazakhstan have been handed prison sentences or parole-like sentences in recent years for their support or involvement in the activities of the DVK and Koshe, as well as for taking part in unsanctioned rallies organized by the two groups.

DVK is led by Mukhtar Ablyazov, the fugitive former head of Kazakhstan’s BTA Bank and an outspoken critic of the Kazakh government.

Human rights groups have said Kazakhstan’s law on public gatherings contradicts international standards as it requires preliminary permission from the authorities to hold rallies and envisions prosecution for organizing and participating in unsanctioned rallies, even though the nation’s constitution guarantees its citizens the right of free assembly.

Police in Kazakhstan’s largest city, Almaty, have detained several activists who have been involved in ongoing pickets in front of the Chinese Consulate to demand the release of their relatives held in China's Xinjiang-Uyghur Autonomous Region.

Baqyt Sembai, a wife of one of the protesters, told RFE/RL that police arrested her husband and his mother while they were at home on July 1.

Baibolat Kunbolat, Sembai's husband, had been released from jail two days earlier after being detained for filming a rally in front of the Chinese Embassy. He was sentenced to 15 days in jail after a court in Almaty found him guilty of "organizing an unsanctioned rally."

A court reduced his sentence by half after dozens of people protested his imprisonment.

Nurgul Ibraeva, the wife of the leader of the Real Volunteers of the Fatherland group, Bekzat Maqsutkhan, told RFE/RL that police also detained her husband on July 1. Maqsutkhan's group has been actively raising the issue of the plight faced by ethnic Kazakhs in Xinjiang for years.

Last week, several women were fined for their participation in the picketing of the Chinese Consulate in Almaty.

In recent years, many similar protests have taken place in Kazakhstan, with demonstrators demanding Kazakh authorities officially intervene in the situation faced by ethnic Kazakhs in Xinjiang.

The U.S. State Department has said that as many as 2 million Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and members of Xinjiang's other indigenous, mostly Muslim ethnic groups have been taken to detention centers.

China denies that the facilities are internment camps, but people who have fled the province say people from the groups are undergoing "political indoctrination" at a network of facilities known officially as reeducation camps.

Kazakhs are the second-largest Turkic-speaking indigenous community in Xinjiang after Uyghurs. The region is also home to ethnic Kyrgyz, Tajiks, and Hui, also known as Dungans. Han, China's largest ethnicity, is the second-largest community in Xinjiang.

Photojournalist Nimesh Jung Rai associated with www.nepallive.com- a news portal- was attacked by the police persons in the federal capital, Kathmandu, on July 3.

Rai was taking photographs of the torch rally organized by the agitated student wings of five major opposition political parties. The torch rally was begun from Minbhawan, Kathmandu.

As the rally moved toward the main road, the police began thrashing the protestors and also baton-charged the photojournalist Rai. Rai was beaten while he was shooting the protest.

Rai informed, “Although I produced my Press ID Card and showed camera, the police persons continued beating me.” He got injury on his knee with baton-charge.

Freedom Forum condemns the attack on photojournalist Rai. It is sheer violation of press freedom. The security persons must respect journalists’ right to free reporting. Suppressing journalists is the suppression of information and press freedom, which is not acceptable in democracy. The high authority of Nepal Police should instruct the lower level staffs on how they could respect journalists and separate journalists while taking control the protest.

One year after China imposed a draconian national security law on Hong Kong, police locked down Victoria Park, a former site of mass protest rallies and marches, and cordoned off downtown streets, while supporters of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) hung flags along the streets and sang revolutionary songs.

Dozens of police in Causeway Bay surrounded and arrested veteran protester Alexandra Wong, a frequent participant in the 2019 protest movement, for waving a British flag, photos posted to social media showed.

A young boy was also chased by officers through the Fashion Walk mall before being dragged aboard a police vehicle, photos posted to Twitter on the 24th anniversary of the 1997 handover to Chinese rule showed.

Bystanders said he had apparently been targeted for carrying a bag that was yellow, the color used by the pro-democracy movement and two mass protest movements since 2014.

Police also arrested three activists from the group Student Politicism in Mong Kok at around 5.00 p.m. local time, on suspicion of "distributing seditious publications," according to a police statement and social media reports.

And barrister Chow Hang-tung, who heads a group that once organized an annual candlelight vigil marking the June 4, 1989 Tiananmen massacre, was rearrested on suspicion of "inciting others to participate in an unauthorized assembly" under public order laws.

Hundreds of police took to the streets of Causeway Bay, arresting 19 people on suspicion of offenses that included "disorderly conduct," failing to heed police warnings, and "desecrating the national flag."

They also handed out 19 fixed penalties for breaches of a ban on gatherings linked to coronavirus restrictions.

Two women who were fined said they had only been in a group of two, when the maximum number allowed is four.

"We don't know how this happened. They pulled us to one side and said we had violated the gathering restriction order," a woman surnamed Ng told RFA. "There were just the two of us, nobody else."

"I don't know what the Hong Kong government is turning into."

Her friend, surnamed Lee, said she had been hit with a H.K.$5,000 fine "for no reason."

"We just came out to go shopping," she said. "I work hard as a cleaner and they just fine me H.K.$5,000 for no reason."

Protesters turn out in small groups

Despite a police ban on what had been an annual mass protest march on July 1, people turned out in small groups to chant slogans and wave flags and protest banners, police said in a statement on their Facebook page.

Later in the evening, a man allegedly stabbed a police officer in the district at around 10.00 p.m., the police said.

"The officer sustained injuries to the left side of his back and was sent to hospital for treatment, while the assailant was subdued on the spot," the statement said.

Rights groups hit out at the rapid deterioration of human rights protections since the national security law was imposed on Hong Kong by China's National People's Congress (NPC) standing committee.

Chinese and Hong Kong officials have said the law was needed to deal with an attempt by foreign powers to foment a "color revolution" in Hong Kong, a reference to the 2019 protest movement that began as mass, peaceful opposition to plans to allow extradition to mainland China.

But its sweeping provisions allowed China's feared state security police to set up a headquarters in Hong Kong, granted sweeping powers to police to search private property and require the deletion of public content, and criminalized criticism of the city government and the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Dozens awaiting trial

Dozens of opposition lawmakers are awaiting trial for subversion for taking part in a democratic primary, while at least seven journalists have been arrested for "colluding with a foreign power" in connection with opinion pieces in the Apple Daily newspaper, which was forced to close after its assets were frozen in a raid by national security police on June 17.

"Since the law has gone into effect, [the] authorities have used it to drastically curtail freedom of expression and other human rights far beyond what international human rights law permits," the Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) network said in a joint statement with other rights groups.

"The Hong Kong government has accused the [Apple Daily] of publishing approximately 100 videos or articles that are suspected of violating the National Security Law while refusing to specify which videos and articles," it said.

Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai is currently serving a 14-month sentence for participating in pro-democracy protests in August 2019 while awaiting trial for "colluding with a foreign power" under the national security law.

"Shutting down the city’s most popular Chinese language newspaper and detaining its staff is the most obvious and emblematic violation of the right to freedom of expression in Hong Kong today," CHRD said in the statement, that was signed by Safeguard Defenders and Humanitarian China, among other groups.

It also cited the government's assertion of editorial control over public broadcaster RTHK, where a number of prominent journalists have been fired or sanctioned for producing content critical of the authorities.

The groups also cited constraints on academic freedom at Hong Kong's universities, with events canceled, debates modified, and lecturers reported by student informants over potential violations of the law.

Targeting the opposition

Eric Lai, research fellow at the University of Georgetown law school, said it was clear that the government is using the law to target the political opposition, with the majority of arrests under the law being of opposition politicians.

He said the refusal to release national security suspects on bail had interfered with the presumption of innocence that was previously a feature of Hong Kong's common law jurisdiction.

"We can't see any sign that they are presuming innocence, because a large proportion of defendants aren't being released on bail," he said.

"They have also changed the trial system by abolishing jury trials [in national security cases]," Lai told RFA. "The point of a jury trial ... is to make the trial more fair and open, but they are taking the opposite approach."

An independent Vietnamese journalist hunted by police for online writings called “anti-State” by authorities has been arrested after evading capture for more than a month, RFA has learned.

Le Van Dung, also known as Le Dung Vova, was taken into custody on Thursday by Hanoi police, state media reports said on July 1, adding that Dung had not resisted arrest and had shown a “cooperative attitude” when taken by police.

Speaking to RFA, Dung’s wife Bui Thi Hue confirmed news of Dung’s arrest, saying she had been informed of his capture by an acquaintance.

“I received the news from someone I know that my husband was arrested this morning,” Hue said. “They only told me about the arrest, though, and did not say they had seen it happen with their own eyes. I am just saying what I was told.”

Dung, also known as Le Dung Vova—owner of the Facebook-based online CHTV news channel—was away from home when police tried on May 25 to place him under arrest on charges under Article 117 of Vietnam’s Penal Code for reporting on corruption, land disputes, and other issues deemed politically sensitive by authorities.

Unable to arrest Dung, police left instead with a laptop computer and two mobile phones belonging to his wife Bui Thi Hue, Hue told RFA’s Vietnamese Service on May 25. Vietnamese authorities later issued a special warrant calling for Dung’s arrest, placing notices in major media outlets around the country.

Article 117 of Vietnam’s Penal Code imposes penalties for “creating, storing, and disseminating information, documents, items, and publications opposing the Socialist Republic of Vietnam” and is frequently used by authorities to stifle peaceful critics of the country’s one-party communist state.

Harsh forms of persecution

With Vietnam’s media all following Communist Party orders, “the only sources of independently-reported information are bloggers and independent journalists, who are being subjected to ever-harsher forms of persecution,” the press freedoms watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says in its 2021 Press Freedoms Index.

Measures taken against them now include assaults by plainclothes police, RSF said in its report, which placed Vietnam at 175 out of 180 countries surveyed worldwide, a ranking unchanged from last year.

“To justify jailing them, the Party resorts to the criminal codes, especially three articles under which ‘activities aimed at overthrowing the government,’ ‘anti-state propaganda’ and ‘abusing the rights to freedom and democracy to threaten the interests of the state’ are punishable by long prison terms,” the rights group said.

Vietnam’s already low tolerance of dissent deteriorated sharply last year with a spate of arrests of independent journalists, publishers, and Facebook personalities as authorities continued to stifle critics in the run-up to the ruling Communist Party Congress in January. But arrests continue in 2021.

ver 500 residents of Khori village who lined up on the border of Delhi and Haryana in Faridabad on Wednesday were stopped from protesting against the eviction orders of the Supreme Court. The court had ordered the eviction and the demolition of the residential colony in a bid to protect the green cover of Aravalli mountain range. In its judgement on June 7, the court had sought compliance reports from Haryana government officials within six weeks.

Section 144 was imposed in the village prohibiting the gathering of four or more persons following the apex court judgement. On Wednesday, at the congregation, the residents were expecting to show symbolic resistance and send out a message to the Haryana government that they cannot be evicted in the midst of the ongoing pandemic without any arrangements for rehabilitation.

As residents lined up to enter Ambedkar Park in their locality for the protest gathering, they were faced with enormous backlash from the police forces who later resorted to lathi-charge. The police said that they could not let a protest gathering take place in the view of the orders of the Supreme Court and the state government.

Sushil Kumar, a resident of Khori village who had come to participate in the gathering, said, “This is what they do to innocent people like us–we have no space to even raise our voice and share our anxieties. Today was so symbolic to us and we have been treated with lathis. If there is COVID scare associated with our gathering, does the same not apply to the 400 police persons stationed across our village?”

The police were seen dragging out protestors and using force on them. Two student activists from the group BCEM, Ravinder Kaur and Rajveer Singh, were also detained at the Surajkund police station amid the crackdown on protesters. The police while confirming their detention stated that the activists have been called in for questioning as they violated Section 144.

Breaking down during the protests, Sameena Khan, who has lived in the village for over two decades, said, “No one wants to stand in the scorching Delhi heat. All we want is for the roof over our heads to stay. For me, it is death first and then the house–I would rather die. The police are asking us to go back to our homes and not protest but they are taking away our homes too, where do we go?”

The anxieties of the residents continue to rise with their voices being suppressed and no clear means of rehabilitation in sight. While the date for the demolition has not been finalised yet, many fear that demolitions are scheduled to take place as soon as next week.

The residents, who are being labelled as encroachers, reiterated that they had bought the land from builders who worked in connivance with the forest department and the state police. “The BJP has betrayed us, they had promised to protect us, instead we have been used as scapegoats and vote banks. When we do come out to raise our voice this is what happens to us. We are being cornered from every side and asked to leave, but where do we go?” one of the protesters asked.

Post the SC order, electricity and water supply in the village remain snapped causing deep distress amid the rising heat in Delhi. The residents have been going as far as three kilometres away to the Lal Kuan area to get water supply.

The residents of Khori had previously staged a protest on June 11. However, about 100 persons now face charges for participating in the protest while others were detained. The charges against the residents include Sections 109, 114, 147, 149, 186, 188, 269, 283, 341 and 506 of the IPC, and Section 61 of the Disaster Management Act. The residents had gathered on the main road raising slogans against the state government and municipal corporation authorities. The arrests had led to the creation of an atmosphere of fear and anxiety.

Currently, the residents have pledged to keep their movement alive to demand answers from the state administration and refuse to leave their homes.

More activists have been jailed in Kazakhstan’s capital, Nur-Sultan, as police keep on rounding up activists amid preparations to mark the 81st birthday of former President Nursultan Nazarbaev in the tightly controlled Central Asian country.

Police in the western city of Oral detained activist Marua Eskendirova on June 30. Hours later, a local court found her guilty of taking part in unsanctioned rallies earlier this year and sentenced her to 10 days in jail.

A day earlier, a court in the Kazakh capital, Nur-Sultan, sentenced activists Nurlan Altynbaev and Aidar Syzdyqov to 10 days in jail each, and Aizhan Abenova to 15 days in jail after finding them guilty of violating laws on holding public gatherings earlier in the year.

The activists rejected the charges.

On June 28, two other activists, Marat Musabaev and Qaiyrgeldy Nurghaliev, were sentenced to 20 and 15 days in jail respectively on the same charges.

Local activists say that the incarcerations are connected to the call by Mukhtar Ablyazov, the leader of the Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DVK) movement, for a demonstration on July 6, the day the country's capital, Nur-Sultan, is celebrated in tandem with Nazarbaev's birthday.

Kazakhstan changed the name of its capital to Nur-Sultan in 2019 to honor Nazarbaev, who ruled with an iron fist from the nation’s independence in 1991 until 2019. The renaming of the capital from Astana to Nur-Sultan sparked protests across the country at the time.

Nazarbaev continues to wield considerable influence as chairman of the Security Council and enjoys almost limitless powers as elbasy -- leader of the nation.

Kazakh authorities have banned DVK and its associate, the Koshe (Street) party, labeling them as extremist organizations.

Dozens of activists have been on hunger strike in Nur-Sultan and several other cities in Kazakhstan, including Almaty, Oral, Oskemen, and Shymkent, since June 19, demanding the cancelation of court decisions to ban DVK and Koshe.

Under President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev, who was handpicked by Nazarbaev, Kazakhstan continues to clamp down on the freedom of speech and harass opposition members.

Police last year detained dozens of journalists and bloggers and launched criminal cases for alleged crimes such as spreading false information and inciting the public, according to Adil Soz, a local media watchdog.