Uwazi

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) urges for the release of Chinese political commentator Ou Biaofeng, already detained for two years and who was sentenced on 30 December 2022 to three years and six months in prison for “subversion”.

“As a political commentator, Ou Biaofeng published fact-based essays that allowed the Chinese public to access information on regime's human rights abuses despite heavy censorship. Regime should release him as well as all other press freedom defenders detained in China.

On 30 December 2022, after two years in detention, Chinese political commentator and blogger Ou Biaofeng, 42, was sentenced by a court in the city of Zhuzhou City in Hunan Province (southern China) to three years and six months for “inciting subversion of state power”. Ou was also deprived of his political rights for three years and had 70,000 renminbi (almost 10,000 euros) confiscated, on the pretext that they were an “illegal income” earned from a series of articles critical of the Chinese government published in Apple Daily, Ming Pao and on the website of the civil society organisation Human Rights Campaign in China.

On 3 December 2020, Ou was placed in administrative detention for 15 days for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” and was two weeks later transferred to one of China’s “black prisons,” under the regime of “Residential Surveillance at a Designated Location” (RSDL) in which detainees are deprived of legal representation and unable to communicate with the outside world. On 22 July 2021, Ou was then formally arrested on the charge of “inciting subversion of state power” and moved to the No. 1 Zhuzhou Municipal Detention Center.

Since Chinese leader Xi Jinping took power in 2012, he began a crusade against journalism as shown in RSF’s report The Great Leap Backwards of Journalism in China, which details Beijing’s efforts to control information and media within and outside its borders.

China ranks 175th out of 180 in the 2022 RSF World Press Freedom Index and is the world's largest captor of journalists with at least 111 detained.

Members of the youth group Anakbayan raised alarm after their official Facebook Page was deleted, while their members were locked out of their personal accounts after multiple log-in attempts from anonymous accounts.

At 3:00 p.m. of Dec. 30, the group noticed that the official Facebook Page of Anakbayan PH was no longer accessible both by the public and its page administrators. Meanwhile, at least ten members received e-mails from Facebook, notifying them that there had been multiple log-in attempts in their accounts.

“This (attack) comes as various of our chapters and other mass organizations have received notices for being unpublished, suspension and restriction of personal accounts,” said Anakbayan, through a post by one of its members.

“We vehemently condemn this brazen attack on the youth. This is a conscious and orchestrated attack to deplatform dissent and to silence the critical voice of the youth,” the group said.

According to Anakbayan, the attack happened while the organization is being very vocal on issues faced by the youth such as attacks on academic freedom through the NCST Program, and the worsening economic crisis in the Philippines.

At the moment, the organization and its members are looking into ways to retrieve Anakbayan’s Facebook page. They have created a temporary page, which can be viewed here.

In December, Myanmar courts sentenced at least eight independent journalists to prison terms ranging from three to 10 years, according to news reports and journalists who spoke to CPJ.

Separately, on January 4, junta authorities released at least six jailed journalists as part of a wider amnesty of over 7,000 prisoners to mark the nation’s Independence Day, according to news reports, a database compiled by the local rights group Assistance Association of Political Prisoners (AAPP), and a separate database compiled by the Detained Journalists Information Myanmar private Facebook group, which was shared with CPJ via email.

Myanmar ranked as the world’s third worst jailer of journalists, with 42 behind bars when CPJ conducted its annual prison census on December 1, 2022.

“Myanmar’s cruel carousel of jailing, sentencing, and granting early release to journalists is a form of psychological warfare aimed at breaking the will of independent journalists and media outlets,” said Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative. “Authorities must immediately cease treating members of the press as criminals and should release all reporters held in custody for their work.”

And on December 30, a court in Yangon sentenced Thurein Kyaw, founder and publisher of the independent outlet Media Top 4, to 10 years in prison with hard labor under Article 49(a) of the Counter Terrorism Law, according to news reports. Thurein Kyaw was beaten by unidentified attackers and initially detained on February 3, 2022, while covering a rally in support of the military junta in Yangon, according to news reports and photographs of his injuries circulated online.

Three youths who survived a three-storey fall to the ground while trying to escape a military raid in Yangon’s Botahtaung Township last year were given 12-year prison sentences on Tuesday, according to a court source.

Ye Min Oo, Min Thitsar Aung, and Wai Yan Htet were among 10 people sentenced in connection with the raid at a hearing held inside Insein Prison, the source said.

All 10 were facing charges under the Explosive Substances Act, including illegal possession of explosives and endangering public safety. The sentences ranged from five to 12 years.

On August 10 of last year, regime forces stormed an apartment on 44th Street in Botahtaung, where they arrested three of the defendants—Thiha Kaung Sett, Poe Kyawt Kyawt Khant, and Wai Phyo Aung.

Ye Min Oo, Min Thitsar Aung, and Wai Yan Htet were caught after falling from the roof of the building as they attempted to flee, while two others—Wai Wai Myint and Wai Zaw Phyoe—plunged to their deaths.

The others sentenced on Tuesday were Kyaw Kyaw Oo, a taxi driver who was arrested before the raid; Kaung Sett and Min Hein Khant, who were apprehended later; and Sai Win Lwin Htut, whose details were not available at the time of reporting.

According to the father of Ye Min Oo, families were not allowed to meet with the prisoners until after they received their sentences.

“I’m in no position to say anything about the other kids, but Ye Min Oo is a very adaptable person. He can survive essentially anywhere,” he said, noting that his son—who was transferred to an interrogation centre soon after his release from the hospital—had still not fully recovered from his injuries.

“He only told us to give him some support from the background so that he could live comfortably in prison. He’s in good health save for a limp in his left leg, which I think is going to be a lifelong disability,” he added.

Poe Kyawt Kyawt Khant, the only woman among the 10 detainees, was handed a five-year sentence for possession of explosives, according to Myanmar Now’s source.

She was pregnant at the time of her arrest and reportedly gave birth inside Insein Prison in late February, the source added.

Kyaw Kyaw Oo, Kaung Sett, and Min Hein Khant each received 12-year sentences after they were found guilty of illegal possession of explosives and being accessories to offences under the Explosive Substances Act.

Kaung Sett and Min Hein Khant, who were arrested in November of last year, were also accused of being members of an urban guerrilla group and are facing additional charges, according to the court source, who was unable to provide further details.

Kaung Min Thant, the only person to escape the raid on the 44th Street apartment, told Myanmar Now that he managed to get away by hiding on the roof of the building for 12 hours before fleeing to a safe area.

On 27 December, two Ubon Ratchathani high school students were detained for flashing three-finger salutes, a well-known symbol of resistance, at an intersection on a road that was closed ahead of King Vajiralongkorn and Queen Suthida’s royal motorcade.

Another student who witnessed the incident said that he rode his motorcycle out to the intersection at around 14.00 to run an errand and discovered that the road was closed. He was not aware of the pending motorcade. Two of his friends, whose motorcycles were parked in front of him, flashed three-finger salutes for a moment. Once the traffic was allowed to resume, a police officer pulled them over. The witness thought that they were going to be fined for not wearing a helmet but later learned that they had been detained for their salute.

According to a Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) report, at around 15.30, the two students were detained at Muang Ubon Ratchathani Police Station. Lawyers were not allowed to see them. Volunteer lawyer Wattana Jantanasilp was denied permission to meet with the students and given no explanation of what had happened. Wattana was informed by the police that they had summoned the students’ parents, as well as an official from the Provincial Education Office and a child psychiatrist.

At 8.20, TLHR said that the students were released without charge, but the police refused to allow photos to be taken of the daily record on their detention.

King Vajiralongkorn and Queen Suthida were visiting Ubon Ratchathani to attend a religious ceremony at Wat Pah Nanachat Temple in Warin Chamrap district at 17.00 yesterday.

A food delivery driver named Nattawut (last name withheld) also said that a police officer from Muang Ubon Ratchathani Police Station called him to ask that he remain at home while the King and Queen were visiting the province. He refused, explaining that he needed to work. The officer then asked if he could follow Nattawut while he worked. When the driver agreed, the officer said that he did not need to be with him all the time and instead would call him periodically to check his location.

Last October 2022, Nattawut ran into difficulties with the police because he was live-streaming when a group of people flashed the three-finger salute and shouted at Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha. One person in the group was detained by police officers and taken away. Another person was pushed to the ground. Nattawut was threatened by the police, who ordered him to delete the recording of the livestream.

A court in An Giang Province has sentenced activist Nguyen Nhu Phuong to five years in prison plus three years of probation for spreading “anti-state propaganda,” in accordance with Article 117. A member of the No-U group, Phuong participated in many protests in years past such as against the Formosa environmental disaster and the Cybersecurity Law. During the pandemic, Phuong reposted a video purported to be of an An Giang provincial chief refusing to order the police to prevent people in the city from escaping to the countryside. Prosecutors argued at the trial that the video was fake and damaged the reputation of the Party. In a rare sign of openness, Phuong’s mother and wife were allowed into the courtroom. Born in 1991, Phuong went to Japan to study in 2014. He set up an import business after returning to Vietnam. He’s currently under investigation for a separate drug charge.

Lawyer Mr Dang Dinh Manh, representing Mr Phuong, reported:

On the morning 26 Dec 2022, An Giang province court sentenced Mr Phuong to 5 years jail plus 3 years probation on anti-state propaganda charge pursuant sec 117 of the penal code. His mother and his wife were allowed in court.

Mr Phuong was born in 1991. In 2014, he went to Japan to study. On his return, he opened a shop selling Japanese imports. He had participated in anti-Chinese hegemony protests.

On his Fb page, he often expressed his opinion on social, political issues. Authorities had assessed many of his articles and concluded that they were extremely negative against the state, the Vietnamese Communist Party and top leaders, causing social disorder, public confusion...

During the investigation phase and the trial, Mr Phuong acknowledged he was the owner of several Fb accounts and the author of articles that were considered as violating the law.

The trial lasted over 2 hours, the sentencing statement was read in 15 minutes.

After the trial, Mr Phuong was transported to Ba Ria temporary detention centre, where he was still subject to another criminal prosecution proceedings on 'storing and using illegal drugs'.

He will face an additional sentence on top of the recent one. Mr Phuong is facing an extremely difficult time ahead - his lawyer Mr Manh wrote.

In the space of a week, Myanmar’s military have arrested a banned news agency’s editor and passed prison sentences on three other journalists, including Han Thar Nyein, a nominee for this year’s Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Press freedom Prize. RSF calls on the UN to toughen international sanctions on Myanmar’s generals to deter them from resorting to ever more terror.

“The endless arrests and continued detention of journalists by Myanmar’s military authorities is sickening,” said Daniel Bastard, the head of RSF’s Asia-Pacific desk. “The world cannot watch the country succumb to the terror being used by the junta to control the news media. We call on Tom Andrews, the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, to take action to toughen the international sanctions targeting its generals.”

Nominated in November for RSF’s Prize for Courage, Han Thar Nyein was tried in the utmost secrecy yesterday, 26 December, by a court inside Insein prison in the Yangon suburbs and was sentenced to five years in prison for allegedly violating Section 33 (A) of Myanmar’s Electronic Transactions Law, which penalises acts detrimental to the security of the state. The details of his trial were leaked to social media the same day and were verified by RSF.

Manipulated legislation

Han Thar Nyein was already sentenced in March to two years in prison with hard labour under Section 505 (a) of Myanmar’s penal code, which penalises spreading “false news” and is widely used to persecute journalists. He will have to serve the two sentences consecutively, meaning he will have to spend a total of seven years in prison.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) urges for the release of Hong Kong journalist Tang Cheuk-yu, who was sentenced on 22 December 2022 to 15 months for possession of alleged “offensive weapons” while covering news for Taiwan’s Public Television Service.

On 22 December 2022, freelance journalist Tang Cheuk-yu, was sentenced to 15 months for “possession of offensive weapons in a public place,” during one of Hong Kong protests. Tang was first arrested on 18 November 2019 for “unauthorised assembly” and carrying a multipurpose knife and a laser pen while filming the siege of Hong Kong Polytechnic University for Taiwan’s Public Television Service (PTS). The court acknowledged that Tang worked as a journalist at the time of the arrest.

“Carrying tools like a multipurpose knife isn’t unusual for reporters while in the field, and sentencing a journalist for possession of so-called ‘offensive weapons’ is clearly an attempt to punish him for doing his work,” says RSF East Asia bureau head, Cédric Alviani, who urges the Hong Kong government to “release Tang Cheuk-yu alongside all other journalists and press freedom defenders detained in the territory.”

Over the past two years, the Hong Kong government has been leading an unprecedented campaign against press freedom which included the prosecution of at least 23 journalists and press freedom defenders, 11 of whom are currently detained, and the forced shutdown of major independent media outlets including Apple Daily, while the climate of fear led at least five smaller media outlets to cease operations.

Hong Kong, once a bastion of press freedom, has plummeted from 80th place in 2021 to 148th place in the 2022 RSF World Press Freedom Index, marking the index’s sharpest drop of the year. China itself ranks 175th of the 180 countries and territories evaluated.

The police in Dak Lak province detained religious freedom campaigner Y An Hdrue and a fellow worshiper as they tried to attend a Christmas service at the Evangelical Church of Christ.

The Protestant church is not one of the country’s approved religions and does not belong to the State-linked Vietnam Fatherland Front.

According to the Montagnard Stand for Justice Facebook page, early on Sunday morning, Y An Hdrue, 52, and fellow worshiper Y Pok Eban, 37, traveled to Cuor Knia 2 village in Buon Don district’s Ea Bar commune to attend a Christmas service at the invitation of the church.

The traffic police stopped them when they arrived, demanding to see their vehicle documents and driver's licenses.

Y An Hdrue is a former prisoner of conscience who served four years in prison for demanding religious freedom and fighting land grabs.

“Going to the gas station near Cuor Knia village, the traffic police and security forces stopped our motorbike and asked to check our papers,” he told RFA. “After checking our papers, they said they were fake."

Even though Y An Hdrue told them he had passed his driving test and been given a license by the police the two men were forced to go to Ea Bar commune’s police headquarters.

“They forced us into the commune. We were held from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. before we were allowed to go home,” he said.

During the 10 hours, a group of five to six plainclothes policemen took turns questioning the two men, Y An Hdrue said. The officers refused to give their names, positions and places of work.

The police confiscated the men’s phones and searched through the files on them. Y An Hdrue told RFA his phone contained the International Human Rights Law and Vietnam's Law on Religion and Belief as well as some documents reporting human rights violations in Vietnam that he had collected and sent to foreign human rights groups.

Before they were released the two were forced to sign confessions.

Y An Hdrue admitted to storing information about human rights violations in Vietnam on his phone. The police then returned their papers and ordered them to drive home, keeping their phones.

Speaking from the U.S., Pastor Aga of the Central Highlands Evangelical Church of Christ told RFA followers in Dak Lak province had planned to celebrate Christmas at the house of Ea Bar commune vice president Y Kreek Bya.

He said members of the congregation told him the police warned them not to attend the service.

“The Provincial Police called to threaten them, saying that if they left their homes to go to Cuor Knia village where Y Kreek Bya was, they would be sent to prison, making them very scared and confused,” he said. “Some people still went and some had their phones and motorbikes confiscated.”

Pastor Aga said some followers hung a celebratory banner written in the Ede language at Y Kreek’s house but local authorities sent someone to take it down.

Even after harassment by the police and local authorities, he said many believers from Ea Bar commune still attended the Christmas service.

RFA called the police in Buon Don district and Dak Lak province several times to try to verify the information, but no one answered the phone.

The Vietnamese government has repeatedly accused the Central Highlands Evangelical Church of Christ of being reactionary and anti-State.

In January the People's Public Security newspaper published an article on its website accusing the religion of gathering dignitaries and ethnic minority followers in the Central Highlands and the U.S. "to establish their own religion and ethnic minority state in the Central Highlands," a claim the Evangelical Church has denied.

On Dec. 2, the U.S. State Department included Vietnam in the group of countries on its Special Watch List for religious freedom.

The State Department said there are not enough violations of religious freedom to label Vietnam a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) which is the highest level of censure for countries that violate religious freedom. However, it said it would monitor the government closely and add it to the CPC if there was no improvement.

On December 25, in the Rangunia region of the southeastern Chittagong division, a group of six to seven men confronted Azad, a reporter covering the environment and politics for the privately owned newspaper The Business Standard, while he was photographing brick kilns that were allegedly operating illegally, according to multiple news reports and the journalist, who spoke with CPJ by phone.

Azad identified himself as a journalist, and the men then forced him into a vehicle at gunpoint, and they threatened to kill him; they then beat him and brought him to a local government official’s office, where they assaulted him further and robbed him, he told CPJ, saying he was released after about 90 minutes.

Azad suffered a neck fracture and pain in his chest, abdomen, and hands, according to the journalist and medical documents that CPJ reviewed.

“The abduction and gruesome beating of Abu Azad demonstrate the grave dangers facing journalists who cover environmental issues in Bangladesh,” said Beh Lih Yi, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator. “Authorities must swiftly and thoroughly investigate this incident and hold the perpetrators accountable. Bangladesh must put an end to its dreadful record of impunity involving attacks on journalists.”

Azad told CPJ that one of the attackers was Mohiuddin Talukder Mohan, a member of the Islampur Union Parishad government unit, and said he was brought to Mohan’s office, where three additional men joined the others. The men deactivated the office’s security cameras, beat him with their hands and pistols, kicked him repeatedly, and confiscated his mobile phone, wallet, and identification card, Azad told CPJ.

At the office, Mohan called Sirajul Islam Chowdhury, chair of the Islampur Union Parishad, who threatened the journalist, saying, “nothing will happen if a journalist like you was killed,” and then ordered the men to beat Azad further and destroy his phone, Azad told CPJ.

The men withdrew all the money from Azad’s mobile banking app, bKash, and stole 10,000 taka (US$97) in cash that he carried with him, the journalist told CPJ, adding that they demanded an additional 50,000 taka (US$486) as ransom, which he did not provide.

While releasing him, one of the men hit Azad on the neck with a steel rod, the journalist told CPJ. As of Wednesday, January 4, Azad had not received his phone, wallet, money, or identification card, he said.

CPJ contacted Mohan via messaging app for comment but did not receive any reply. CPJ texted Chowdhury for comment but did not receive any response.

On December 26, Azad filed a police complaint against 10 people, including Mohan and Chowdhury, for assault, extortion, kidnapping, and attempted murder, according to the journalist and The Business Standard.

Police arrested one suspect that day, identified as the manager of a brick kiln, who appeared in court on Wednesday, January 4, and was ordered to be transferred to jail, the journalist and The Business Standard said. On Tuesday, January 3, the Bangladesh High Court granted anticipatory bail to Mohan and Chowdhury, protecting them from arrest for four weeks, Azad said, adding that the other suspects have not been apprehended.

CPJ sent a request for comment via messaging app to Md Mahbub Milky, officer-in-charge at the Rangunia Model Police Station, where Azad filed his complaint, but did not receive any response.

Mohan and Chowdhury are both members of the ruling Awami League party and both have business and political interests in the kilns, Azad told CPJ.

CPJ emailed the Awami League for comment but did not receive any reply.

The Taliban violently suppressed a rare women’s demonstration in Herat province.

Several dozens of female protesters took to the streets in Herat on Saturday morning (December 24th) to protest against the Taliban’s regressive order, and their protest was immediately dispersed by the Taliban.

Despite being violently suppressed by the Taliban, protesters in Herat still continue to chant slogans, and the Taliban frequently used water cannons for dispersing crowds and limiting access to certain areas, sources indicated.

Protestors consider the Taliban’s order to ban university education for girls against Islamic principles, calling on the Taliban to “respect the holy book and do not deny women’s rights of access to education.”

The Taliban’s decision to ban university education for women has led to widespread objections at the national and international arenas.

6 women among 8 protesters arrested by Taliban members in Afghanistan’s northern Takhar province.

The Taliban have suppressed a march initiated by female students in Taloqan city, sources in Takhar confirmed.

Sources detailed the Taliban arrested two male protesters yesterday and six female protesters today.

Most of the protestors are students of local-based education centers and private universities who had gathered in Yunus Abad and Maarif Alley.

According to sources, the Taliban dispersed the protesters and did not allow local journalists to cover the march.

Meanwhile, female protesters in Herat were also violently dispersed by the Taliban. The Taliban used water cannons to disperse the protesters.

The Nonthaburi Juvenile and Family Court has found 19-year-old activist Thanakorn (last name withheld) guilty of royal defamation for giving a speech criticizing the monarchy during a protest on 10 September 2020.

Thanakorn was charged with royal defamation and sedition for a speech given during the 10 September 2020 protest at Nonthaburi Pier about King Vajiralongkorn’s alleged taxpayer-funded travels to Germany. Thanakorn also raised questions about why there is a need to use a different way of speaking with the royal family and asked whether the monarchy is still something the Thai people can believe in.

Thanakorn was initially charged with sedition along with activists Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul, Panupong Jadnok, Shinawat Chankrajang, and Parit Chiwarak, who also participated in the protest, and later charged with royal defamation after the inquiry officer ruled that the speech insulted the King.

Thanakorn, who identifies as being part of the LGBTQ+ community, was 17 years old when they were charged, and so they were tried in a juvenile court. Last Thursday (22 December), Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) reported that the Nonthaburi Juvenile and Family Court found them guilty of royal defamation and sentenced them to 3 years in prison. Since they were a minor when they were charged, the Court reduced their sentence to 1 year and 6 months, suspended for 2 years, during which time they will be on probation. The Court also dismissed the sedition charge due to lack of evidence.

This is the second time Thanakorn has been found guilty of royal defamation. They were previously convicted for a speech given at a protest on 6 December 2020, in which they said that Thailand is not a democracy but an absolute monarchy and spoke about the role of the monarchy in military coups. The Central Juvenile and Family Court sentenced Thanakorn to 2 years in prison but ruled to commute their prison sentence to a juvenile training centre and ordered Thanakorn to undergo training for a minimum of 1 year and 6 months or a maximum of 3 years, but not after they turn 24 years old.

Defying the Taliban’s latest ban on university education for women, dozens of Afghan women's rights activists and girl students Thursday staged a protest in Kabul, Takhar and Nangarhar provinces, demanding that women be allowed access to education and employment.

“Rights for everyone or no one,” the women wearing Islamic hijabs chanted as they marched through the streets in the western part of the capital, Kabul, home to the country’s largest universities.

Eyewitnesses said the protests in Kabul were quickly shut down by Taliban security officials and that at least five women and a couple of male protesters were arrested. Sources connected to women activists confirmed two of those arrested were released.

One of the female protesters, who asked that her name not be used for fear of Taliban retaliation, told VOA, “The Taliban forces beat us up and arrested some of our female and male protesters and took them away. They scattered us apart. However, we will not let it go. We will fight for our rights.”

'They kicked us out'

The Taliban’s armed security guards on Wednesday allowed male students to attend exams but stopped female students from entering their classrooms in different universities.

"We went to the university to give our exam; our male classmates were able to get in the hall, but we were not allowed by the armed Taliban forces. They kicked us out of the university with violence and cruelty, as if we had committed a huge crime. We have four exams left. What is going to be our future?” said one female student from Nangarhar University who asked not to be identified for safety reasons.

“I had studied and prepared for my exam until very late that night. As soon as I woke up and saw the news about the ban, my dreams shattered. I started crying. Why are we treated as criminals? We have no respect and no values for these people,” said Bahar Ahmadzai, a student at Kabul Medical University.

The ban was announced Tuesday, a day before the universities’ final exams.

Following broad condemnation of the move, the Taliban’s higher education minister, Neda Mohammad Nadeem, defended the decision in a post on Twitter.

“The Nation is angry with me because of the closure of girls' education, while this is the order of the Messenger of Allah," the tweet said. "Islam does not allow women to do prostitution in the name of education. A woman is like a piece of land owned by a man, and she is obligated to be at his service, not perusing education.”

In the eastern city of Nangarhar, some male university students also walked out of their exams in protest against the Taliban’s decision to ban female students from higher education.

One male student, who also declined to provide his name, said, “We did not attend the exam and we will not until our female classmates are allowed to take exams, too.”

On Wednesday after female students were not allowed to take part in the exams, several male professors from various universities in multiple provinces resigned in protest.

'Dark day'

Obaidullah Wardak, assistant professor at Kabul University, said, “I and some of my colleagues resigned in protest against this dark day. We will not return to the university unless the decision is revoked by the Taliban.”

Afghan writer and human rights activist Shafiqa Khpalwak called the ban on girls’ education a crime against humanity. She asked the international community and Islamic countries to step forward and help the Afghan women in this fight against extremism.

“This catastrophe does not only concern the rise of women but threatens the whole existence of our country," she said. "The so called 'international community' is also responsible for the crisis and now they cannot look away from us, they cannot walk away from the mess they have created. We need them to come up with practical and pragmatic solutions that will eventually bring results for us.”

“Afghan women are alone in this fight against radicalism. They need help!” she added.

Lida Afghan, a Danish-Afghan artist whose art highlights social problems and women’s rights, said it is time for the world to stand with the Afghan women.

“I was supposed to focus on my exams today and then I got the news that Afghan women are banned from going to the university," Lida said. "I thought: It could have been any of us if our parents hadn’t fled the country. In these tough times the whole world should be standing up for the Afghan women, knowing it could have been one of us.”

The Taliban have so far shut girls’ secondary schools; banned women from public parks, gyms and baths; imposed mandatory hijab “covering faces”; and imposed executions and harsh public punishments such as flogging.

Several countries including the United States and the U.N.'s mission in Afghanistan asked the Taliban leadership to "immediately" revoke the decision.

Men in official uniform armed with HK rifles charging in and dismantling barricade at the entrance and exit of Klong Sai Pattana Community, SPFT, while coercing and intimidating women/land rights defenders and community members and seizing their phones, SPFT members calling out the barbaric operation by the officials and preparing to stage a protest at Government House to demand justice, while reporting the case to the police in Chai Buri According to the Southern Peasants' Federation of Thailand (SPFT), on 21 December 2022 around 12.30, the land rights defenders of Klong Sai Pattana Community under the Southern Peasants' Federation of Thailand (SPFT) were confronting with more than 15 men clad in forestry official uniform, Territorial Defense Volunteer uniform and administrative official uniform, in three vehicles, some of which with a sticker of the Department of Provincial Administration while others had no licenses plates. They were charging in to dismantle barricade at the entrance and exit of the community causing damage to the barricade. They also forcibly held two land rights defenders in custody including one woman and one man without producing any warrant. They even threatened that “If you shut down the gate, you will face prosecution.” They proceeded to seize the two defenders’ phones and delete the photos they had taken while the intimidation was taking place and adjusted the frequency on their walkie talkie making the rights defenders unable to communicate with other fellow community members. It was to prevent them from immediately reporting the situation while they were subjected to rights violation to their fellow rights defenders. After dismantling the barricade, the men in uniform have released both individuals who then drove their motorcycle to bring the situation to the attention of their community members. That day marked the 14th anniversary of the struggle and the demand for the right to land of the Southern Peasants' Federation of Thailand (SPFT). HRDs of the Southern Peasants' Federation of Thailand (SPFT) have then reported the case to the local police in Chai Buri District for record. While the police were preparing the record of the incidence, the men in official uniform were reportedly returning to the community, but this time, they stopped at about 1.5 kilometers from the entrance. They announced that they wanted to participate in the event held to mark the 14th anniversary of one of SPFT community‘s member, but were told that the event had been finished. The officials then went back. Around 15.20, while walking back inside their community, SPFT members have found more than 20 officials led by the President of the Sai Thong Tambon Administration Organization, officials from the Surat Thani Office of Social Development and Human Security, the Chai Buri District Chief Officer, officials from the Agricultural Land Reform Office (ALRO) and Territorial Defense Volunteers armed with HK rifles and pistols, had

gone inside the community whose members are peasants who have been struggling to demand their right to land. According to Pratheep Rakhangthong, a SPFT’s land rights defender and leader, the arrival of the official was not a peaceful action but rather a sign of repression. If they want to do this nonviolently, they must have sought to dialogue with us. We put on the barricade to preempt further loss since until now; we have lost at least four members of our community. We do not want to see further loss. As a result, we need to put up some protection. In addition, the road access into our community has been made possible by our persistent demand and struggle. During our struggle, the local authorities have hardly paid any attention to us. The road access is also not built on a public road, and it has been built exclusively for the use of the community. Therefore, the community wants to have power to manage our own security to prevent further loss and imminent intimidation. Chusri Olakit, a women land rights defender and leader of SPFT said that the incidence has stemmed from a couple of earlier requests made by the Sai Thong TAO to ask for permission to use this road access, although we refused to give them access citing the road’s bad condition. We fear that if we allow the use by vehicles with heavy load, it will further exacerbate the road condition. We would allow access by small vehicles, though. However, all of a sudden, without notifying us in advance, they sent people here to charge at our checkpoint. Given this incidence, it makes us concerned that this will happen again similar to how our community members have been subjected to repeated assassinations. We have no idea if we will be safe in our life and property tonight, or tomorrow night. The act of the authorities was barbaric. They just barged in and dismantled our property. Now, our community members feel unsafe since the people who claim to be government officials have constantly harassed and intimidated us during their invasion. The authorities have to offer an explanation for this act. If not, we will go and seek a negotiation in front of the Government House. The District Chief Officer has dared us to do anything and anytime. Klong Sai Pattana Community is situated in Tambon Sai Thong, Chai Buri District, Surat Thani, and is one of the four communities established by members of the Southern Peasants' Federation of Thailand (SPFT), the landless peasants who demand their right to land and agricultural rights. They help the state to investigate the land occupied illegally by private investors without paying their rent to the state. In 2002, the land rights defenders have demanded that the Provincial Governor of Surat Thani set up an inquiry committee. As a result of the committee’s investigation, it was found the land has been illegally occupied by private investors although local authorities have failed to execute their duties accordingly. In 2008, the land rights defenders have formed themselves and established the Klong Sai Pattana Community and continued to demand policy reform by the state. The state has been urged to allocate land to small-scale farmers and landless workers based on the “community title deed” model in collaboration with the People's Movement for Just Society (P-Move). In addition, Klong Sai Pattana Community has been subjected to constant intimidations. During 2010-2016, the Community’s four members including two women human rights defenders have been assassinated, while one another sustained serious injuries. No one has been held accountable and punished for the crime. As a result, the community has to come up with measures to protect their own security in life and property.

Land and environmental rights defenders in Thailand are struggling to make their voice heard, particularly since the 2014 coup d'état. Since then, the shrinking space to address their concerns has been drastically compromised. Land right defenders (HRDs) in Thailand have been systematically crimininalised, prosecuted and even killed for their human rights and environmental work. These recent attacks SPFT highlight the lack of effective mechanisms to protect women and HRDs in Thailand, particularly those operating in rural areas with limited resources. They are not isolated incidents, but they are part of a larger pattern of human rights violations, which illustrate the increasing tensions between state, corporations and the communities affected by their business activities. Protection International Thailand urge Thai government and all stakeholders to recognise the link between the climate crisis and the growing violence and repression against women/land and environmental defenders and take immediate meaningful steps to protect the role of women and defenders in promoting ambition and enhancing climate action.

Students at Mahasarakham University attempted to protest during the university’s graduation event, before being stopped by police and military officers, one of whom pushed a student into a nearby pond.

In a Facebook live video broadcast at around 13.00 on 20 December by the student activist group Move High, two students were seen standing among family members of graduates waiting for the ceremony, which was presided over by Princess Sirindhorn, King Vajiralongkorn’s younger sister. The students were holding signs saying “All humans are born equal” and “Feudal degrees” and were surrounded by plainclothes police officers.

While walking away from the spot where they were originally standing, they were surrounded by plainclothes and uniformed military officers, who told them to put the signs away and leave. As they were passing a pond on campus, an officer attempted to seize the signs, pushing them into the water in the process.

Kriangkrai Banchongpuk, a 1st year student from the Mahasarakham University’s College of Politics and Governance, said that the students wanted to show that everyone is equal, royal or not, and that graduates do not need to receive their degree certificates from members of the royal family. He said that the certificates can be given by a university dean or the students’ lecturers or parents to reduce the cost of organizing a graduation ceremony.

Kriangkrai said that he and his friend were surrounded by plainclothes military and police officers and uniformed military officers. He said that the students tried to tell the officers that they were exercising their constitutional right, but the officers said that they are responsible for security at the event and asked the students to leave.

He said that the students were told the officers would escort them out, but he believed they were tricked as the officers led them behind a building and tried to take their signs away. Once they refused to put the signs away, the officers tried to pull the signs out of their hands and in the process pushed Kriangkrai into a nearby pond.

After Kriangkrai’s friends pulled him out of the water, a police officer who said he was an inspector from the Muang Mahasarakham Police Station came to apologize to them and said that they will be allowed to leave campus without being followed. However, Kriangkrai noted that the officer knew his name even though he did not know the officer.

Nevertheless, the students were followed by three plainclothes officers who approached them and asked them to go to the police station for ‘a talk’ and coffee. They initially refused but had to relent and were taken to a nearby coffee shop before another friend came to pick them up.

Once the students arrived at their home, they were visited by plainclothes police officer, a uniformed military officer, and an official from the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security who said they had come to monitor the students because they were concerned the students would try to protest again. The officers only left the house after the end of the graduation ceremony, when Princess Sirindhorn left the campus.

Authorities in the eastern Chinese province of Nanjing have jailed a prominent democracy activist for a further four years on subversion charges after he criticized the government's handling of the pandemic as it emerged in Wuhan, Radio Free Asia has learned.

The Nanjing Intermediate People's Court handed the four-year jail term to former Nanjing Normal University lecturer Guo Quan for "incitement to subvert state power" on Dec. 20, after he had been held for nearly three years in pretrial detention.

Guo stood trial on the charges on Sept. 9, 2021, where he was accused of seeking to "divide the people from the ruling party" and negate the existing political system by advocating multi-party democracy, on the basis of less than 20 articles criticizing the CCP's COVID-19 response, social injustice, and official corruption.

Guo, 54, who has also served as a judge, addressed the court for nearly two hours, presenting a systematic legal defense of the articles.

He was initially detained by Nanjing police on Jan. 31, 2020 and held at the Nanjing No. 2 Detention Center on charges that were unknown at the time.

Guo had previously served a 10-year jail term from 2009 on the same charge after he set up the China New People's Party in 2007 in a bid to campaign for multi-party democracy in China, an idea that has been banned by Beijing.

Guo's lawyer Chang Boyang said his client had likely gotten a harsher sentence because it was his second conviction for subversion.

"Back during the pandemic in Wuhan three years ago ... he expressed his opinions on the attempts to cover up the extent of the outbreak on WeChat," Chang told Radio Free Asia on Wednesday.

"The charges against him really didn't stand up, but he was handed this four-year jail term mainly because of his earlier sentence, as repeat offenders are dealt with more severely," he said.

'There is nothing we can do'

Guo's octogenarian mother Gu Xiao that she was unable to attend the sentencing hearing for health reasons.

"I didn't attend because I'm not in good health," Gu said.

She said two of Guo's defense lawyers, Chang Boyang and Shi Weijiang, had planned to go but had been unable to due to testing positive for COVID-19.

"The lawyer called me afterwards and told me he had been sentenced to four years," Gu said.

She said there was nothing to be done about it.

"If they want to pin another crime on him, what can we do? There is nothing we can do. Can we talk back or protest against it?"

Gu, who said she has never agreed with Guo's political activism, dismissed Guo's plan to appeal the sentence.

"It's not going to happen," she said. "Appealing is 100 percent pointless. I have hired more than a dozen lawyers for him [over the years] but it hasn't done any good."

"He's already served three years, so I just have to wait one more year," Gu said. "I just hope I can stay alive that long."

She added: "I was a very good person and I have lived a good life, a very ordinary and low-key life, but this son of mine has turned my old age into a living hell. Even if he comes back [from prison], he won't have a job, and I will have to support him instead of the other way around."

Sending a warning

U.S.-based commentator Hu Ping said Guo had managed to make a difference to the democracy movement in China, despite the consequences he now faces.

"He practices freedom of speech and association, and won't give in even under huge pressure," Hu said. "He has definitely made a contribution to the Chinese democracy movement, and his case has attracted international attention."

Hu said Guo was likely jailed at this time to send a warning to anyone who took part in recent "blank paper" protests against COVID-19 curbs in the wake of a fatal lockdown fire in Xinjiang's regional capital Urumqi.

"We have lost contact with a lot of people [since the protests] and their whereabouts are still unknown," Hu said of fellow democracy activists in China.

"They're bringing out the older cases and pronouncing these judgments with great fanfare, because they want to threaten and intimidate the public, to shock them," he said.

Kazakh rights activist Sanavar Zakirova has been sentenced to 10 days in jail on a charge of "disobeying police." Zakirova was detained along with several other women on December 20 after they demonstrated in Astana demanding that President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev meet with them over social problems faced in the country. It is not known if the other detained women faced trials as well. Zakirova has been sentenced to several jail terms in recent years and has been prevented from registering her Nashe Pravo (Our Right) political party.

Lu Phan Kar, who led anti-regime protests in Ayeyarwady region’s Pathein city, has been sentenced to another two years in prison for incitement against the military.

Pathein Prison Court handed down the sentence on Monday under Section 505 (a) of Myanmar’s Penal Code.

Lu Phan Kar is a published poet who began leading anti-junta demonstrations in Ayeyarwady region following the Feb. 1, 2021 military coup. Protests swelled to around 5,000 people in the days leading up to his arrest in Pathein the following month.

He was charged with incitement against the military, sedition against the State and withholding information on an attempt to commit treason.

Last November, Lu Phan Kar was sentenced to 26 years in prison under Sections 122 and 124 of the Penal Code for sedition and misprision of treason, and six months for breaking prison rules.

“I found out that he received the additional sentence when I met with him yesterday,” said a friend, who wished to remain anonymous for safety reasons.

“At first, I thought the cases would total 25 years but I heard that the court sentenced him to 28 years and six months. He doesn’t even hire a lawyer anymore. He only hired a lawyer for one case … and won’t hire one now because he will be jailed anyway.”

In November 2021, eight political activists, including three former National League for Democracy lawmakers from Ayeyarwady region were sentenced to 20 years each for sedition and defamation of the State.

More than 16,500 people have been arrested in the 22 months since the coup for their real or alleged involvement in Myanmar’s pro-democracy movement, with 13,088 of them still in prison according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.

About the Human Rights Defenders: Mr. Vivekanand Pathak, Mr. Rahul Patel, Mr. Ajay Samrat, Mr. Abhishek Yadav, Mr. Navneet Singh, Mr. Harendra Yadav, Mr. Ayush Priyadarshi and Mr. Satyam Kushwaha students and ex-students of Allahabad University who have continuously and peacefully protested against the fee hike by the University. Background of the Incident: In June 2022, the fee of Allahabad University’s fee for under-graduate courses, was increased by 300%+. (from Rs 975 per year to Rs 4,151 per year). Since September 2022, Allahabad University students and student leaders have been protesting against the fee hike continuously, by protests, social media and even threatening self-harm, demanding that the fee hike be rolled back. On December 18, 2022, a fierce clash took place between students protesting against the fee hike and the police. During this there was chaos in the university campus. Some of the agitating students had even announced self-harm by burying themselves. After that, the police started forcibly removing the students who were trying to take bhu-samadhi (land burial) during which there was a lot of clashes between the police and the students. Details of the Incident: On December 19, 2022, around 12:30pm Mr. Vivekanand Pathak, an ex-student of the university was going to the university campus bank in relation with his KYC. Suddenly the security guard, Mr. Prabhakar Singh stopped him from entering the campus. When Mr. Pathak said that he was going for some work in the campus, they had an argument and the guard hit him with sticks and butt of a gun. This caused him to fall to the ground with his head bleeding. Seeing him falling on the ground, the students present there run to pick him up. Seeing this the guard started firing. Mr. Ajeet Yadav, a student leader said that Mr. Pathak even called an employee of the bank and said to the guard that “if you do not believe then talk to an employee of the bank. At this, the guard threw the mobile and started abusing Mr. Pathak. Suddenly he attacked Pathak with the butt of his pistol. By the time we reached there, some more guards had come there and started firing on seeing the students. There must have been around 5-6 rounds of firing.". The students also alleged that they were trampled by boots. According to media reports, many vehicles were damaged in the violence that followed. On December 20, 2022, at 03:17 pm an FIR 0682 was registered against Mr. Vivekanand Pathak, Mr. Rahul Patel, Mr. Ajay Samrat, Mr. Abhishek Yadav, Mr. Navneet Singh, Mr. Harendra Yadav, Mr. Ayush Priyadarshi and Mr. Satyam Kushwaha by Mr. Prabhakar Singh, security guard of Allahabad University at Colonelganj police station, Prayagraj. The FIR was registered under sections of IPC 147- Punishment for rioting, 323- Punishment for voluntarily causing hurt, 336- Act endangering life or personal safety of others, 427- Mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees, 435- Mischief by fire or explosive substance with intent to cause damage., 504- Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace and 392- Punishment for robbery. The FIR stated that student leader Mr. Vivekananda slapped the guard, snatched the mobile and other students together beat the guards and vandalized the collage. Another FIR was registered was registered against 43 security guards at the Colonelganj Police Station on a complaint by Mr. Vivekanand Pathak.

Kazakh authorities should release investigative journalist Mikhail Kozachkov immediately and ensure that members of the press are not prosecuted in retaliation for their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday.

On Sunday, December 18, officers from Kazakhstan’s Financial Monitoring Agency (FMA) in the southern city of Almaty arrested Kozachkov, who covers alleged corruption and abuses by government officials and prominent business figures for independent news website Vremya and his Telegram channel, according to news reports and a report by local free speech organization Adil Soz.

In a statement on its Telegram channel, FMA accused Kozachkov of helping a criminal group carry out illegal hostile takeovers of local businesses by publishing information discrediting the takeovers’ victims. The statement added that the journalist was under investigation for spreading state secrets.

CPJ was not able to obtain contact information for the journalist’s lawyer, but Adil Soz told CPJ that the journalist, via his lawyer, denied the accusations. A news report, citing a Facebook post that Adil Soz confirmed as authentic, said the journalist denied the accusations, calling them retaliation for articles he wrote about FMA and its head.

An open letter to Kazakhstan President Qasym-Zhomart Toqayev published by Adil Soz and signed by dozens of prominent Kazakh journalists, media outlets, and free speech organizations said there were numerous indications that Kozachkov’s arrest was a “political order, linked to his journalistic investigations.”

“The arrest of Mikhail Kozachkov, a well-known anticorruption journalist who frequently published allegations against state officials, law enforcement agencies, and wealthy businessmen, is concerning, especially given reports of procedural and rights violations against him by the investigating body,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. “Kazakh authorities should reveal the nature of the charges or release Kozachkov pending a transparent and impartial investigation of his case and ensure that his legal rights are fully upheld.”

In its statement, FMA accused Kozachkov and an acquaintance of the journalist of receiving 52 million tenge (US$111,200) from the criminal group to obtain and publish information discrediting several of its victims. FMA said the group was run by a man identified by Kazakh media as an assistant of the brother of former President Nursultan Nazarbayev.

FMA officers searched Kozachkov’s home following his arrest, those reports said, and the journalist’s lawyer told local news outlet Nege.kz that Kozachkov was placed in 48-hour detention, and that a court would decide on further custody measures.

Officers conducted the search without a lawyer present, detained the journalist for “several hours” without the chance to communicate with his lawyer, and did not allow the journalist to talk privately with his lawyer, Adil Soz reported.

In articles for Vremya and on his Telegram channel, Kozachkov offside, which has around 91,000 subscribers, Kozachkov regularly reported allegations of corruption against government and law enforcement agencies and had recently covered alleged abuses by FMA, according to a Vremya statement and a CPJ review of the journalist’s reporting. The FMA statement claimed Kozachkov published articles critical of FMA after learning that it was investigating Kozachkov’s associates.

In its statement, Vremya said it stood by Kozachkov’s reporting, saying he always verified information and that the outlet “scrupulously” checked his articles and consulted legal advisors before publication.

Kozachkov had recently received threats against him and his family, been subjected to online slander, and complained of surveillance, the open letter and Vremya statement said.

CPJ emailed FMA for comment but did not receive a reply. In response to the open letter, President Toqayev’s spokesperson, Ruslan Zheldibay, said Kozachkov’s legal rights must be “fully observed” and called on the prosecutor general’s office to ensure that any investigation into him was legal.

On December 20, the investigation agency of the Hanoi Police Department officially indicted Hoang Ngoc Giao, a Vietnamese NGO leader and a legal expert, on charges of “committing tax evasion” under Article 200 of the Penal Code, State media reported. But earlier, three anonymous sources told RFA Vietnamese that Giao was arrested on December 16 for “providing classified information to foreign entities.” The Hanoi People’s Procuracy reportedly approved the arrest of Giao. Hoang Ngoc Giao is also the director of the Institute for Policies on Law and Development (PLD), a locally registered NGO that carries out research on Vietnam’s development policy. The organization remains under the management of the Vietnam Union of Science and Technology (VUSTA), a government-controlled agency. The investigation agency of the Hanoi Police Department has not provided preliminary investigation results regarding Giao’s alleged “tax evasion.” The NGO leader is also an advisor who regularly assists the government in improving the country’s legal framework. Last month, Giao chaired a workshop proposing amendments to Vietnam’s Land Law at the Government Guest House in Hanoi. In early 2020, he demanded an independent investigation into the police raid of Dong Tam Village, a land conflict hotspot. Last October, Giao was elected chairman of the Vietnam - China International Trade Arbitration Center (VCITAC). The director of PLD is the latest NGO leader indicted on “tax evasion” charges. Previously, four directors from different Vietnamese nonprofit organizations were charged and imprisoned on similar charges. They include the prominent environmental activist Nguy Thi Khanh, who won the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize in 2018 for her anti-coal advocacy. Convicted tax evaders face up to seven years of imprisonment in Vietnam.

More than a dozen activists of the opposition movement Oyan, Qazaqstan! (Wake Up, Kazakhstan!) have been detained in the country’s largest city, Almaty, as the Central Asian nation marks the 31st anniversary of its independence.

RFE/RL's correspondents in Almaty say that Bota Sharipzhan, Mira Ongharova, Fariza Ospan, Naghashybek Bekdaiyr, Aidana Aidarkhan, Beibarys Tolymbekov, Bauyrzhan Adilkhanov, and Asem Zhapisheva are among those who were detained on December 16.

Many of the activists were detained while they were making their way to the Independence Monument in the city center to commemorate the anniversaries of two violent crackdowns on protests that coincide with Kazakhstan's Independence Day.

One is the 1986 anti-Kremlin youth demonstrations, known as Zheltoqsan, in Almaty that erupted after Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev replaced Kazakhstan's long-term ruler, Dinmukhammed Konaev, with Gennady Kolbin, an ethnic Russian sent by Moscow to head the then-Soviet republic.

Demonstrations against the appointment were put down by a violent crackdown by Soviet authorities. Hundreds of people are believed to have been killed by security forces, although officially only several people were said to have lost their lives during the demonstrations that lasted for three days.

Also, 11 years ago police opened fire at protesting oil workers in the southwestern town of Zhanaozen, killing at least 16 people and one person in the nearby town of Shetpe.

Several opposition activists across the Central Asian nation were detained before December 16 on charges related to their previous participation in unsanctioned rallies.

In December, Myanmar courts sentenced at least eight independent journalists to prison terms ranging from three to 10 years, according to news reports and journalists who spoke to CPJ.

Separately, on January 4, junta authorities released at least six jailed journalists as part of a wider amnesty of over 7,000 prisoners to mark the nation’s Independence Day, according to news reports, a database compiled by the local rights group Assistance Association of Political Prisoners (AAPP), and a separate database compiled by the Detained Journalists Information Myanmar private Facebook group, which was shared with CPJ via email.

Myanmar ranked as the world’s third worst jailer of journalists, with 42 behind bars when CPJ conducted its annual prison census on December 1, 2022.

“Myanmar’s cruel carousel of jailing, sentencing, and granting early release to journalists is a form of psychological warfare aimed at breaking the will of independent journalists and media outlets,” said Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative. “Authorities must immediately cease treating members of the press as criminals and should release all reporters held in custody for their work.”

On December 16, a special court in Yangon’s Insein Prison sentenced Wai Lynn, founder of the local outlet Tingangyun Post, and Ma Htet Htet, an editor at the outlet, to five years each in prison under Section 5 of the Explosives Substances Act, which penalizes the unlawful possession of explosive substances, according to news reports and an AAPP statement.

Both reporters had been charged under Article 505(a), a broad provision that criminalizes incitement and the dissemination of false news, and under the Counter Terrorism Law before their convictions under the separate provision.

On either December 16 or 17, freelance journalist Soe Yarzar Tun was sentenced to four years in prison with hard labor under Section 52(a) of the Counter Terrorism Law, according to a report by The Irrawaddy and a statement by the AAPP. Soe Yarzar Tun was arrested in Bago City on March 10, 2022.

A demonstration demanding the repeal of the Criminal Code (KUHP) in Bandung, Thursday (15/12/2022) afternoon, ended in chaos. The action, which was carried out by hundreds of masses from a combination of students from all over West Java, was dispersed by the police.

The action this time was the form of the umpteenth time rejecting the Criminal Code which was later passed by the DPR and the government some time ago. The masses carried the theme of the action "West Java Sues, Bandung Seas Anger".

One of the participants in the action, Audi, said that initially the action went smoothly. The students demanded that the Criminal Code, which contains problematic articles, be repealed immediately. They gave speeches voicing their demands in front of the West Java DPRD Building until 18.00 WIB.

The demonstrators had asked to have an audience with members of the West Java DPRD, but several people's representatives only stood at the door, not meeting the demonstrators.

After the sunset call to prayer, conditions began to become unfavorable. Allegedly there was a provocation that made the action heated up.

"And finally, right after the call to prayer, we started to break up," said Audi, to Bandungmoving.id when met at the Bandung Polrestabes, Thursday night.

In the midst of a chaotic situation, the masses asked members of the West Java DPRD to leave. But then the first water cannon shots started at around 19.30 WIB. This causes the masses to scatter.

After having retreated for a while, the masses returned to the fence area of the West Java DPRD Building. It was then that the students said they started receiving tear gas shots. The crowd scattered, some of them fainted.

Police armed with batons then chased and dispersed the demonstrators. As a result, a number of students were injured, several people were rushed to the hospital.

"We are advancing again, the tear gas was shot behind the (first) DPRD fence, only then the second tear gas was shot out. There the masses started to get upset, there started a lot of victims from students in West Java," said Audi.

Audi itself became one of the victims. The student from a private university in Bandung admitted that he was hit with a bat and was knocked unconscious. Two of his friends were even caught and taken to the Bandung Polrestabes.

Not only that, several other campus students also became victims of repression. Among others, from UIN Bandung. Preliminary data from the students noted that 17 people were arrested and taken to the Bandung Polrestabes. This data is still being updated.

Head of BEM Unpad, Virdian Aurellio regretted the repressive actions of the police in securing the action. He recorded how many students were examined and their devices were detained to be taken to the Bandung Polrestabes.

"We didn't do anything to point fingers, where here, we checked our wallets, checked our cellphones, then our friends were told to squat like criminals," he said.

On the other hand, a number of public defender activists from the Bandung Legal Aid Institute (LBH), the Indonesian Legal Aid Association (PBHI), and LBH Berani experienced difficulty accessing them when they tried to provide legal assistance to students who were arrested at the Bandung Polrestabes. New legal assistance can be given at 22.25 WIB.

"Like the previous pattern regarding entry, we provide access to legal assistance, of course we encounter difficulties. To be precise, they were prevented even though we had received complaints, we were carrying out legal aid work, but still (obstructed)," said Heri Pramono from LBH Bandung.

A court in Yangon’s Insein Prison has sentenced Ye Lin Oo, who served on the central executive committee of Dagon University Students’ Union, to a further seven years in prison.

A students’ union member told RFA the sentence was handed down on Thursday, under Section 52(a) of the Counter-Terrorism Law.

He had already received a three-year prison term on March 10, under Section 505 (a) of the Penal Code, for incitement against the military.

“Ye Lin Oo has been sentenced to 10 years in prison. Currently, there are no more charges to face,” said the students’ union member, who wished to remain anonymous for safety reasons.

“Young students are sentenced to long terms in prison although they are innocent. Even if they have been given the death penalty, young students will not give up or step back. We will speed up the revolution.”

Ye Lin Oo was arrested along with five other students’ union members on Sept. 14, 2021 in central Yangon’s Kyauktada township. The six were accused of participating in anti-junta activities.

The 25-year-old was studying archeology at Dagon University before the Feb. 2021 military coup. He stopped going to university after the coup and took part in pro-democracy campaigns.

“His parents are very upset,” said Ye Lin Oo’s friend Khant Naing. “They had already estimated he would spend many years in prison … but he was sentenced to another seven years, which made them sad. The family regularly sends him the medicine and food he needs.”

He added that Ye Lin Oo’s parents are worried because prison officials have been moving student activists to prisons with brutal conditions, far away from their families.

Dagon University Students’ Union says 40 of its members have been arrested in the 22 months since the military coup.

Death Sentences

On Nov. 30, a secret military court in Yangon’s Insein Prison sentenced seven Dagon University student activists to death under Article 302 of Myanmar's Penal Code for allegedly killing a retired army officer.

Former Lt. Col. Saw Moe Win was shot at a bank he managed in Yangon's South Dagon township on April 18. Students Khant Zin Win, Thura Maung, Zaw Linn Naing, Thiha Htet Zaw, Hein Htet, Thet Paing Oo, Khant Linn Maung -- all males -- were arrested three days later and charged with his murder.

A spokesperson for the junta’s Prison Department told RFA this month the executions would probably not take place for several months because the students could appeal against their sentences.

The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners said on Thursday that the junta has arrested 16,557 people for their alleged or known roles in the pro-democracy movement, 13,083 of whom are still being held in prisons across Myanmar.

About the Human Rights Defenders: • Villagers of Gangaloor block in Chhattisgarh who are protesting the establishment of illegal paramilitary camps in Pusnar and Burji villages. • Moolwasi Bachao Manch is a civil society platform steered by educated youth that works towards protecting the constitutional, legal and cultural rights of socially marginalised groups. The Moolwasi Bachao Manch also spearheads similar ongoing peaceful protests against paramilitary camps proposed/set up without gram sabha consent in several other places in south Bastar area of Chhattisgarh such as Silger, Nahadi and Dharmaram.

Background of the Incident: Villagers in Gangaloor block in the Maoist-insurgency affected Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh have been opposing the establishment of new paramilitary camp in Burji village without due process. In end-2021, villagers – predominantly tribals – began a peaceful sit-in protest at Burji village, located 3 km away from Gangaloor police station, demanding the withdrawal of all proposed security camps in the block. The dharna was organised under the banner of Moolwasi Bachao Manch, and a stage and temporary shelters were constructed at the venue to facilitate the indefinite protest. Hundreds of villagers including men, women and children from Gangaloor and adjacent blocks took turns to visit the dharna site every day for over a year to participate in the protest. The protestors alleged that proposed paramilitary camps in Burji and Pusnar villages were in violation of provisions in the Forest Rights Act, 2006 and the Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996, as they did not have consent from gram sabhas.

They demanded withdrawal of proposed paramilitary camps, and protested against the construction of a concrete road through the farm lands of hundreds of families in Gangaloor, Pusnar, Hiroli and other villages. They also demanded justice for the victims of police firing in Silger village (May 2021) and other encounters in Bastar. Activists from Moolwasi Bachao Manch also met and/or wrote to various government authorities in 2021 and 2022 demanding withdrawal of proposed paramilitary camps. Details of the Incident: Shortly after midnight on December 15, 2022, a large contingent of police and paramilitary personnel led by Mr. Anjaneya Varshney, Superintendent of Police Bijapur; Mr. Ashok Patel, Divisional Forest Officer; Mr. Pavan Verma, Officer in Charge, Gangaloor Police station; and Officer in Charge, Bijapur Kotwali Police station arrived at the protest spot in Burji in official vehicles. The police used brute force to break up the peaceful assembly of about 200 protestors. They bulldozed the stage and temporary shelters set up by protestors and destroyed or threw away their belongings such as rice, dal, vegetables, utensils, and clothes. When villagers and activists from Moolwasi Bachao Manch protested against the vandalism, police began a lathi-charge. They charged at protestors, many of whom were still asleep, and hit them with batons, forcing them to flee from the dharna site. The police force then moved to Pusnar. At 10 AM on December 15, 2022, when the protestors started trickling back to the protest site, they chased away villagers who, hitting them with batons. Meanwhile, other police and paramilitary personnel proceeded to Pusnar village, located 7-8 km away through dense forests, where they set up a security camp within a few hours. More than 25 protestors suffered serious injuries on their head, back, hands and legs due to the assault by police. Though many of them were unable to walk or stand upright for over a week, they did not visit the government hospital or access medical treatment fearing intimidation and arrest by police. Since the construction of the camp in Pusnar, police and paramilitary personnel stationed there have not allowed villagers to harvest their crops in farmlands in the vicinity of the camp. Police also beat and chase away villagers when they venture into the forest to fetch firewood and other forest produce. Tribal villagers and Moolwasi Bachao Manch activists who were part of the dharna in Burji had been highlighting violation of their constitutional and legal rights through peaceful means for over one year. While the government paid little heed to their concerns, a security camp was established in Pusnar overnight on December 15, 2022. It also appears that police personnel led by the Deputy Superintendent of Bijapur unleashed violent reprisals and assault on protestors on two occasions.

Kazakh activist Marat Abiev has been placed in pretrial detention for two months after serving a 15-day jail term for organizing an unsanctioned protest rally on November 26, the day of President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev's inauguration. The Astana City Court on December 14 did not specify what charges Abiev faced. Toqaev was reelected in an election held on November 20. A monitoring mission by the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights said after the election that the election lacked "competitiveness."

A 19-year-old protester who was arrested during a protest on 13 October 2020 has been sentenced to 2 years and 5 days in prison on charges resulting from the protest, including violation of the Emergency Decree and resisting officials.

Sasaluk (last name withheld) was among the 21 people arrested when crowd control police forcibly dispersed a protest at the Democracy Monument on 13 October 2020. The dispersal was reportedly done to clear the road for a royal motorcade.

During the 13 October 2020 protest, activists were occupying the area ahead of a mass protest on 14 October 2020. In this latter demonstration, protesters marching from the Democracy Monument to Government House were again forcibly dispersed in the early morning of 15 October 2020.

Sasaluk was charged with violating the Emergency Decree, joining an assembly of more than 10 people, causing violence and disrupting public disorder, obstructing traffic, violating the Public Cleanliness Act by placing objects on the road, destruction of property, refusing to follow an official order, assault, and resisting arrest.

The public prosecutor accused Sasaluk and other protesters of blocking the street by parking vehicles in the area, and trying to prevent police officers from arresting activist Jatupat Boonpattararaksa by blocking them with metal fences, as well as throwing objects and paint at the officers, who were also assaulted. The public prosecutor said that protesters did not disperse when ordered to do so by a police officer, who told them that they must open the road to prepare for a royal motorcade.

Since he was charged before he turned 18, Sasaluk was tried by the Central Juvenile and Family Court, which sentenced him on Tuesday (13 December) to a total of 2 years and 5 days in prison.

According to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR), he was sentenced to 1 year in prison for violation of the Emergency Decree, 1 year for joining an assembly of more than 10 people, causing violence, public disorder and destruction of property, and 5 days for refusing to follow an officer’s order.

The Court then commuted the sentence, ordering Sasaluk to be sent to a juvenile training centre for 6 months. He must also complete his junior high school education, Mathayom 3 or Year 9, and take two occupational training courses.

TLHR reported that the Court did not allow observers in the courtroom while the verdict was being read, claiming Covid-19 prevention measures. They also noted that the public prosecutor had earlier decided not to indict 6 other activists charged at the same protest for violation of the Emergency Decree on the grounds that the protest did not risk the spread of Covid-19 since protesters were wearing masks and the area was a large, open space.

Sasaluk’s family members were shocked and saddened by the verdict as they expected the Court to dismiss the violation of the Emergency Decree charge, since the State of emergency has already ended.

Sasaluk was later granted bail pending appeal using a 5000-baht security covered by the Will of the People Fund, a bail fund for pro-democracy protesters and activists.

Another NagaWorld worker was questioned by a Phnom Penh court on Tuesday in a case filed by the casino corporation, where very little has been made public about the events leading to the charges.

NagaWorld workers have been protesting against the casino corporation for firing more than 1,300 workers last year, with little more than 100 workers refusing to accept termination compensation. After months of strikes and protests, the casino corporation filed a court complaint against at least nine workers alleging breaking and entering, intentional damage and illegal confinement.

But workers say they are unclear what incident the charges are based on. Several workers who have already been questioned in the case said they were only shown photos of them standing outside the casino complex protesting.

Seak Panha, 32, appeared in court on Tuesday and was questioned for around 90 minutes. She was asked about her participation in the protests and if anyone ordered her to join the labor action. She said the investigating judge repeated these questions even though she gave the same answers.

She was also shown the photos of the protesters outside the casino on August 19 and 20 but said that she was not in any of the photos.

“The questions are to pressure the workers. For me, it is mental pressure,” she said after her questioning. “Taking the court procedures forward is like a mental threat to us to stop protesting against the Naga company.”

Unionist Nop Tithboravy said seven workers had been questioned in the case and two others were scheduled to be questioned on December 15 and 27, respectively.

Apart from the criminal charges, NagaCorp has also filed a civil suit to get a court to enforce its compensation package for workers. While most workers have accepted compensation, the Ministry of Labor said 124 have yet to take severance packages.

The court is still investigating charges against around a dozen NagaWorld union leaders and members, with union leader Chhim Sithar, who was on bail, arrested at the Phnom Penh Airport for allegedly violating her bail conditions. She had traveled to Australia for a labor conference but the court said she was not allowed to leave the country, as per her bail conditions.