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Over the last two years, the HFHR has carried out the programme “Health Care in Polish Prisons – The Pursuit of Compliance with Human Rights Standards”. “After two years of our programme we are well aware of numerous systemic problems in the area of prison health care”, says Maria Ejchart, project coordinator. “

In 2011 Józef Głuchowski sued two bank establishments in Warsaw alleging that his personal interests had been infringed upon as the banks had denied him access to toilet facilities.In October 2009 Mr Głuchowski visited two banks located at Plac Bankowy, a busy business area in Warsaw city centre. He had to use the toilet there. For that purpose he went to the room which, according to his knowledge, was a designated toilet facility. Yet the door was locked and the room marked as ‘utility area’.

In Baku, Azerbaijan’s capital, the police arrested on 26 January 2013 around 40 demonstrators who protested against the rule of President Ilham Alijew and expressed support for residents of the city of Ismayilli, whose earlier protests had been brutally dispersed.

The requirements for candidates for judge’s assistants and court personnel do not match the reality. Furthermore, it follows from the HFHR report entitled the remuneration system for judge’s assistants and court personnel is unclear and inadequate, and is coupled with unsatisfactory perspectives for promotion and professional development.

The Court of Appeal in Łódź discontinued the case against the creator of the Antykomor.pl web portal with respect to the charges involving defamation of the President of Poland.

President Bronisław Komorowski will apply to the Constitutional Tribunal for the preventive review of the amendment to the Act on Upbringing in Sobriety and Counteracting Alcoholism, announced Krzysztof Hubert Łaszkiewicz, Secretary of State at the Presidential Chancellery during the Thursday’s press briefing.

The Circuit Court in Poznań, re-hearing the case of Łukasz Kasprowicz, a blogger from Mosina, a town located near Poznań in western Poland, discontinued on 10 January 2013 the criminal proceedings brought against Mr Kasprowicz (case no. IV Ka 1158/12) citing negligible social harm presented by the alleged offence.

In a letter to the HFHR, the Ministry of Interior agreed to review the practice of applying the provisions governing the status of foreigners unable to obtain a passport. According to initial communications with the Head of the Office for Foreigners, the MoI approached the issue differently than administrative organs.

In November 2012, 20 years had passed since the launch of the Legal Assistance for Refugees and Migrants Programme of the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights. Basic tasks of the Programme include providing free of charge legal advice to foreign clients seeking the HFHR’s assistance, as well as taking advocacy and litigation actions.