Thailand Sirikan Charoensiri received the 2017 L4L-Award

On 19 May, Thai human rights lawyer Sirikan Charoensiri (‘June’) received the fourth L4L-Award (Award) in Amsterdam. The Award was presented at the end of the seminar 'The Voice of Rights, about lawyers and freedom of expression', which many people attended. Jorge Molano, a Colombian lawyer who received the 2015 L4L-Award, presented Sirikan Charoensiri with the Award. Sirikan Charoensiri was the first woman to receive the L4L-Award and her moving 'acceptance speech' was broadcast live. You can now view both the seminar and the award ceremony online.

On 27 June the Dutch Embassy in Bangkok hosted a reception  to congratulate Sirikan Charoensiri on receiving the Award! A video produced by Human Rights in the Picture of both the Award ceremony and Sirikan Charoensiri was displayed at this reception. Click here to watch the video.

Turkey L4L observes hearing in Istanbul and Deniz Sürgüt released

On 6 July 2017, there was another hearing in Istanbul in the long-running case against 46 lawyers accused of being involved in terrorism. L4L was in Istanbul to observe the hearing. In fact the hearing only lasted 30 minutes. The trial was then adjourned to 5 December. One of the defence lawyers noted that the presiding judges were kind, seemed to know the file and seemed to understand both the requests of the defence lawyers and their position. "Even a small thing like this makes us happy these days". 

There was also some good news from Turkey: on 16 June 2017, the Gümüşhane High Criminal Court released lawyer Deniz Sürgüt who had been held in pre-trial detention for 22 months. He is currently under house arrest. His trial has been adjourned until 7 September. The day before the Court hearing, on 15 June, L4L campaigned for Deniz Sürgüt’s release.  

Egypt Concerns about the deteriorating situation of lawyers

L4L has grave concerns about the situation of lawyers in Egypt. Several lawyers, amongst them Tarek Hussein, Mohamed Ramadan and Khalid Ali, were arrested recently. We believe these incidents are part of a wider crackdown against human rights defenders, including lawyers, and independent civil society, perpetuated by the Egyptian government. This crackdown threatens to bring about a complete eradication of the human rights community in Egypt. L4L has sent a letter to the Egyptian authorities expressing its concerns, and calling for the release of these lawyers.

Belarus Trial against Oleg Volchek

During a hearing on 4 July 2017, the Frunzensky District Court of Minsk changed Oleg Volchek’s sentence of 13 days imprisonment to a fine of 575 Belarusian Rubles (approximately €260). This hearing was the result of Oleg Volchek’s complaint about procedural violations and his conviction in absentia on 2 May 2017 when he was found guilty of participating in an unauthorised peaceful assembly. Neither Oleg Volchek nor his lawyer had been informed about the hearing on 2 May. On 3 July, L4L called on the authorities to drop all charges against Volchek and put an end to all acts of harassment against him, including at the judicial level.

UN-activities

• On 12 June 2017, the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute delivered an oral statement to the United Nations Human Rights Council on behalf of L4L and other NGOs. This statement was delivered during the 35th session of the Human Rights Council, during the Interactive Dialogue with the UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers.

• In preparation for the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Vietnam in 2019, L4L, together with the Law Society of England and Wales and Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada, has written a mid-term report. In this report, we set out the extent to which Vietnam has implemented the recommendations on the role of lawyers it accepted during the 2014 UPR process.
  

• On 15 June 2017, L4L and Lawyers' Rights Watch Canada delivered an oral statement to the United Nations Human Rights Council during the Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Myanmar.

• The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) has recently published an Opinion calling for the immediate and unconditional release of the prominent Vietnamese human rights lawyer and blogger Nguyen Van Dai. The WGAD Opinion is the result of a petition that was filed jointly by L4L, Media Legal Defence Initiative, Lawyers Rights Watch Canada, PEN International and Viet Tan in November 2016.

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