Băneasa case judge charged with abuse of office and Wrongfully Convicting Defendant #Romania

Judge Corneliu-Bogdan Ion-Tudoran, who ruled in Romania’s high profileBăneasareal estate development case,has been charged with wrongly convicting a defendant and for abuse of office for his conduct in the case. The Băneasa development involved businessman Gabriel Popoviciu and concerned 221 hectares which was owned by the University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine (USAMV), through…

ECHR Asks Russia to Release Navalny

The Court has granted an interim measure in favour of Aleksey Navalny and has asked the Government of Russia to release him Mr Navalny’s current application before the Court was lodged on 20 January 2021 under Article 34 of the European Convention on Human Rights. On the same date the applicant made a request to…

Vladimir the Underpants Poisoner

On 2 February, a Moscow court sentenced the Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny to two years and eight months’ imprisonment. The Russian authorities have pursued his sentencing for the alleged violation of his probation while Mr. Navalny was recovering in Germany from an assassination attempt by poisoning suffered in the Russian Federation by a military…

Corruption Index CPI 2020 Published by TI

Transparency International (TI) has published their annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). This index ranks countries based on their exposure to corruption in the public sector. Scores range from 0 (most corrupt) to 100 (least corrupt). The CPI 2020 found that Hungary scored 44 in 2020 and ranked 69th overall – placing the country alongside Bulgaria…

Calls for More Sanctions Against Russia

In the European Parliament, the Socialists and Democrats Group has strongly condemned the arrest of Alexei Navalny, one of Russia’s most influential dissidents and anti-corruption activists. Navalny was arrested on his return to Moscow after having spent five months in Germany recovering from a near-deadly poisoning last August.  The S&D Group calls for a strong EU…

Hands Off Navalny!

The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen has issued the following statement following the arrest of Alexei Navalny at Moscow Airport yesterday:- “I condemn the detention of Alexei Navalny yesterday by the Russian authorities, upon his return to Russia. The Russian authorities must immediately release him and ensure his safety.” “Detention of…

China’s National Security Law Raises International Concern

The text of the following statement was released by the Governments of the United States of America, Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. “We, the Foreign Ministers of Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom, and the United States Secretary of State, underscore our serious concern at the mass arrests of 55 politicians and activists in…

EU Statement on Hong Kong

We publish here in full the text of a declaration issued by the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Policy. The authorities in Hong Kong arrested over 50 people on 6 January 2021 on charges pursuant to the National Security Law (NSL). The charges in question relate to the holding in July 2020 of pro-democracy primary…

Turkey Imprisons 18 Women Journalists after Rally

Three women journalists were detained and another was beaten by police on 5 January during a protest in the Turkish capital Ankara against the disappearance of a Kurdish student a year ago. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and their affiliate, the Journalists’ Union of Turkey (TGS) condemned the violence and demanded the…