Judicial system

สำหรับเผยแพร่ทันที 24 มกราคม 2556 แถลงการณ์มูลนิธิผสานวัฒนธรรม กรณีศาลตัดสินคดีนายสมยศ พฤกษาเกษมสุข ตามที่ศาลอาญาได้มีคำพิพากษาในคดีหมายเลขดำ อ.1952/2554 ในวันที่ 23 มกราคม 2555 ระหว่าง พนักงานอัยการสำนักงานอัยการสูงสุด โจทก์ และ นายสมยศ พฤกษาเกษมสุข จำเลยในคดีมาตรา 112 ประมวลกฎหมายอาญา ด้วยการจัดพิมพ์ จัดจำหน่าย และเผยแพร่บทความคมความคิด ของผู้ใช้นามปากกา จิตร พลจันทร์  ในบทความเรื่องแผนนองเลือด และบทความเรื่องยิงข้ามรุ่น  ในนิตยสารเสียงทักษิณ (Voice of Taksin) โดยศาลพิเคราะห์ว่า บทความดังกล่าวเป็นการดูหมิ่น หมิ่นประมาท แสดงความอาฆาตมาดร้าย ต่อพระมหากษัตริย์ ดังนั้นการที่จำเลยนำบทความไปจัดพิมพ์ จัดจำหน่าย และเผยแพร่ จึงมีเจตนาหมิ่นประมาท ดูหมิ่น และแสดงความอาฆาตมาดร้ายต่อพระมหากษัตริย์ เป็นความผิดตามประมวลกฎหมายอาญา มาตรา 112 พิพากษาลงโทษจำคุกสองกระทง กระทงละ 5 ปี เป็นจำนวน 10 ปี […]

Press Statement On the Conviction of Mr. Somyot Prueksakasemsuk The Bangkok Criminal Court read a verdict on the Black Case no. O1952/2554 on 23 January 2013 between the public prosecutors v Mr. Somyot Prueksakasemsuk, a defendant in an offence against the Penal Code’s Article 112 (lèse majesté). Mr. Somyot was accused of publishing, distributing and […]

A 45 year-old woman was gang raped in the early hours of January 23 in Wijerama, Nugegoda (some reports give her age as 47). This gruesome incident only received a few lines in some of the newspapers and in the media. Yet a similar incident that occurred in New Delhi, India, when a medical student […]

We reproduce below the letter written to His Excellency the President of Sri Lanka, the Hon. Mahinda Rajapaksa regarding the case of Mr. Wengadasalam Sudeshkar who faces the death sentence by beheading in Doha, Qatar. The AHRC urges its readers to write to the President of Sri Lanka at the address shown below to urgently […]

Before the world, along with Sultan of Oman, Qaboos bin Said Al Said as chief guest, and presided over by the President of India, Honourable Pranab Mukherjee, India will celebrate its Republic Day tomorrow. The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) congratulates India and the people of this great nation on the 64th year of constituting […]

(Hong Kong, 25 January 2013) The Supreme Court of Pakistan, in its effort to gain popularity with the fundamentalists, has admitted a petition filed against Islamabad’s ambassador to the United States of America for committing blasphemy by demanding the withdrawal of the death sentence from the blasphemy laws. The petition was filed by a business […]

We are saddened by the death of our dear Fr. Tissa Balasuriya at the age of 89. We are equally happy to celebrate his successful, colourful and controversial life.  He was a brilliant intellectual from his youth. Born at remote Kahatagasdigiliya, he graduated from the University of Ceylon in Economics, winning the prestigious Khan Gold […]

On January 23, 2013, the Criminal Court in Bangkok read the verdict in Black Case No. O.2962/2554, in which Somyot Prueksakasemsuk was charged with two violations of Article 112 of the Criminal Code.  Somyot Prueksakasemsuk is a long-time labour rights activist and human rights defender. Somyot was prosecuted in relation to two articles published in Voice […]

High Excellency President Mahinda Rajapakse Honorable Speaker of the Parliament Chamal Rajapakse Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte Sri Lanka January 23, 2013 Concerning the removal of Chief Justice Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake Your Excellencies, The International Commission of Jurists and the undersigned senior judges and eminent jurists from around the world condemn the recent removal of Chief Justice […]

Speaking at a function held in Kolkata yesterday, the President of India, Honourable Pranab Mukherjee has asked the country’s judiciary to: “ensure that those who are in the wrong side of the law are dealt with swiftly and effectively to maintain social balance.” Iterating further, Mukherjee said: “though the Indian judiciary has preserved its pre-eminent […]

The systems of government in Asian countries may broadly be described under the following categories: Democratic – the government structure is based on the liberal democratic structure, and the bureaucracy functions with basic laws and rules that are in conformity with this structure; Militaristic – where the basic structure is based on military command and […]

(Hong Kong, January21, 2013) The Asian Human Rights Commission on Monday released a special dossier of recent cases of arrest, detention, torture and extortion carried out by Burma military and police personnel in Kachin State. The 36 cases from 2012 have all been conducted under the Unlawful Associations Act, 1908, a draconian colonial-era statute under […]

Senator the Hon Bob Carr Minister for Foreign Affairs Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade R.G. Casey Building John McEwen Crescent BARTON ACT 0221 Dear Minister, IMPEACHMENT OF SRI LANKAN CHIEF JUSTICE  I am writing to express the Law Council of Australia’s concern regarding reports of threats and intimidation against the legal profession and judiciary […]

(Hong Kong, January 18, 2013) Dozens of Hong Kong-based migrant workers, including Sri Lankans; migrant and human rights groups, protested today the execution of Rizana Nafeek, a Sri Lankan maid, in Saudi Arabia. (Photos courtesy of APMM) Nafeek was executed on January 9 for the death of her employer’s child. The Government of the Kingdom […]

Romesh de Silva PC is one of the topmost lawyers in Sri Lanka, a former president of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka. He led the legal team which represented Dr. Shirani Bandaranayaka (CJ) in all forums during the impeachment saga. Jayampathi Wickremarathna PC, who was formerly the senior consultant in the Constitutional Affairs Ministry […]

The political frictions generating from the overreach of the Supreme Court will be far more damaging to Pakistan and its people than any gains which may be made during the investigations under the supervision of the Supreme Court The statement of the Asian Human Rights Commission on the orders of the Supreme Court for the arrest of […]

“Nothing’s ever gone too far. Anything can be reversed; these are human decisions.”  – Noam Chomsky (An interview with the Al Jazeera- Jan 12 ) President Rajapaksa does what he wishes to do. That should not surprise us as this is simply who he is. He impeached the Chief Justice saying that the law was […]

Fr. Tissa Balasuriya OMI, a Sri Lankan Catholic priest who once came to the attention of the world due to his excommunication by Rome which was later lifted, passed away yesterday in Colombo. He had been unwell for some time and was 89 years of age at the time of his death. He was a […]

An Open Letter from the Asian Human Rights Commission to the chairpersons of four parliamentary committees Daw Aung San Suu Kyi Chairwoman, Pyithu Hluttaw Rule of Law & Tranquillity Committee Thura U Aung Ko Chairman, Pyithu Hluttaw Judicial & Legal Affairs Committee U Aung Nyein Chairman, Amyotha Hluttaw Public Complaints & Petitions Committee Dr Aye […]

On January 15, the Supreme Court of the Philippines (SC) heard oral arguments questioning the constitutionality of the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 and its conformity to international norms and standards. The Cybercrime Prevention Act is one of the many unprecedented pieces of legislation in the Philippines in recent years. The Cybercrime Law is expected […]