Poland wants the EU to approve the restriction of people's right to asylum if they enter from Belarus, among other "emergency" measures. Poland tried to add to an EU Commission proposal an article which may allow making asylum applications for people who illegally crossed the border with Belarus only at designated border crossing points.
Source: EUobserver
A video evidencing the abuse of inmates in prisons in Russia’s Omsk region has been released by Gulagu.net. It was obtained from the Omsk regional branch of the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) and shows the quarantine cells for new arrivals and the way the inmates were abused and forced to work on weekends under threat of torture.
Janez Janša and his far-right party (SDS) have repeatedly targeted the civic freedoms he previously defended. In June 2021, the country was placed on the CIVICUS Monitor Watchlist because of the rapid deterioration in civic freedoms, in particular those about environmental rights and culture. Independent journalism is also seriously undermined.
Source: euronews
250 euros a month will be paid by the Spanish government to low-income youths to help them pay a rent and leave their parents‘ house given the large number of young adults in the country who cannot afford to move out.
Source: Reuters
In 2019 and 2020, less than one in five people accused of a domestic violence offence were convicted and strike out/withdrawal applications were made in 65 per cent of cases, significantly more than other types of offences.
Source: Irishtimes
The European Union condemned Russian authorities´ move to add Alexei Navalny, an imprisoned opposition leader, and some of his top allies to the registry of terrorists and extremists as "not acceptable" and part of "continued repression against the critical voices in Russian society". The decision by Russia's Federal Financial Monitoring Service means his bank accounts will be frozen under Russian law.
Source: Euronews
Forty years since the decriminalisation of homosexuality, the French National Assembly has passed unanimously a new law criminalising the use of so-called "conversion therapy" to attempt to change the sexual orientation or gender identity of LGBTQ people with fines of up to €30,000 and two years in jail.
Source: BBC
Paivi Rasanen, a former Finnish interior minister has gone on trial for hate speech against gay people, for making derogatory comments based on the Bible. According to prosecutors, her statements violate the equality and dignity of homosexuals and therefore go beyond the limits of freedom of speech and religion. The court will have to decide whether citing the Bible can be considered a crime in some cases in Finland.
Source: BBC
The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has told the Court of Appeal that the Health Service Executive (HSE) is applying the Disability Act 2005 in a way that undermines disability rights in Ireland. According to the watchdog, the way in which the assessment of need is carried out under the 2005 Act is incomplete, as it determines that a person has a disability but does not provide a diagnosis of the disability.
Source: Irish Legal News