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On the 7-th of March the editor-in-chief of the opposition newspaper “Azadliq” – Ganimat Zahidov was sentenced to four-year imprisonment. Zahidov was convicted for “deliberately causing light injuries” and “hooliganism” in a trial in which the court did not allow key defense witnesses to testify. The charges were brought against him after a street skirmish on 7 November 2007. (10-MAR-08)
     

The Azeri Media Rights Institute has prepared a draft law proposal “On Protection of Confidentiality of Journalist Sources.” According to the draft law, journalists cannot be forced to reveal their correspondence, notes and documents. (25-MAR-2008)
 

On March 10 on the streets of Lhasa Tibetan monks of the Sera and Drepung monasteries started their peaceful protests. 11 March the Chinese authorities used tear gas and two days later military and police forces to pacify those marches. The Polish Helsinki Foundation has appealed to the Polish government and asked them to raise the issue on human rights violation (21-MAR-08)
 

On March 10, 2008 on the streets of Lhasa Tibetan monks of the Sera and Drepung monasteries started their peaceful protests. 11 March 2008 – the Chinese authorities used tear gas and two days later military and police forces to pacify those marches. It is said that there were hundreds of killed and wounded. Protests are breaking out in consecutive monasteries and are being pacified by the authorities.(21-MAR-08)

14 persons might face up to 3 years of prison, charged for ‘organization and active participation in the actions that grossly violate the public order’. They all participated in the peaceful demonstrations organized by entrepreneurs in Minsk at the beginning of this year. Human rights activist warn about a new wave of political repressions. (16-MAR-08)
 

Amnesty International welcomes the release of Zmitser Dashkevich on 23 January 2008 and urges the Belarusian authorities to release Alexander Kazulin immediately and unconditionally as well. Over 2.400 people have already joined an online photo petition calling for the release of prisoners of conscience in the Republic of Belarus. Read the Press Release below. (15-MAR-08)
 

On 13 March the Azeri”Azadlig” Newspaper journalist Agil Khalil was attacked by four unknown people as he was leaving the office of “Azadlig newspaper”and stabbed in the chest, near his heart by knife. It was the second assault on Khalil in a month, which brought him to hospital. (15-MAR-08)
 

Amnesty International welcomes the release of Zmitser Dashkevich on 23 January 2008 and urges the Belarusian authorities to release Alexander Kazulin immediately and unconditionally as well. Over 2.400 people have already joined an online photo petition calling for the release of prisoners of conscience in the Republic of Belarus. Read the Press Release below. (15-MAR-08)
 

On 17 June 2008, the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg is going to consider the complaint of the Polish Autocephalous Orthodox Church (PAOC) versus Republic of Poland regarding its right to property to nationalized Post-Uniate places of worship. The Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, according to which this is one of the few inter-denominational conflicts in present-day Republic of Poland, is involved in the case.(14-MAR-08)

The Chinese, Indian, and Nepali governments should release detained Tibetans and permit them to demonstrate peacefully, Human Rights Watch said today. Protesters in Lhasa, Tibet, Dharamsala, India and Kathmandu, Nepal who were attempting to observe “Tibetan National Uprising Day,” the anniversary of the Tibetan rebellion against Beijing´s rule in Tibet in 1959, were dispersed and arrested. The protests in Lhasa were the largest political demonstrations there since 1989. (14-MAR-08)
 

The Chinese, Indian, and Nepali governments should release detained Tibetans and permit them to demonstrate peacefully, Human Rights Watch said today. Protesters in Lhasa, Tibet, Dharamsala, India and Kathmandu, Nepal who were attempting to observe “Tibetan National Uprising Day,” the anniversary of the Tibetan rebellion against Beijing´s rule in Tibet in 1959, were dispersed and arrested. The protests in Lhasa were the largest political demonstrations there since 1989. (14-MAR-08)