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Lawfare In Perú: Trial Of Rupture

March 12, 2025 Clau O'Brien Moscoso, Black Agenda Report. , , ,
On March 4, José Pedro Castillo Terrones, Peru’s first Indigenous rural president, went before the Supreme Court in what he, his lawyers and supporters have called a “show trial” for the supposed crime of rebellion. Since being overthrown in a 2022 coup, Castillo has spent the past two years in Penal Barbadillo (a prison) in conditions described as torture. He is said to be under pre-trial detention, itself a violation of his human rights. Shortly after Castillo gave an announcement that he would pursue closing Congress , a primary demand of the Peruvian masses for years, Congress swiftly moved to impeach him. In a chain of procedural missteps, Congress rammed through (illegally, as his lawyers argue) the impeachment of Castillo.

Trial Against Ousted President Pedro Castillo Begins In Peru

March 7, 2025 Pablo Meriguet, People's Dispatch. , , ,
The trial against former Peruvian President Pedro Castillo began in Peru on March 4. Castillo is accused of rebellion, abuse of authority, and disturbing the public peace for allegedly attempting to dissolve the National Congress at the end of 2022. Castillo has been held in jail for over two years since his dismissal by the Congress. Also accused are the former president of the Council of Secretaries of State, Betssy Chávez, and the former First Secretary, Aníbal Torres. The latter has pleaded not guilty to all charges. Castillo appeared without a lawyer at the opening of the oral trial in the Special Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice, presided by Judge José Neyra Flores.

Yves Engler: ‘I’m Being Charged For Responding To Anti-Palestinian Hate’

February 24, 2025 Yves Engler, Orinoco Tribune. , , , , , , , , , , ,
Tomorrow, the Montreal police will arrest me for posting to social media against Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Today, I received a phone call from a Montreal police officer by the last name of Crivello. She asked me to come to a downtown police station where I will be charged for harassment and indecent communication. Crivello said a complaint was submitted against me months ago by a legal firm on behalf of racist media personality Dahlia Kurtz. Crivello said I had described Kurtz as a “genocide” supporter and “fascist” on Twitter. Guilty as charged.

New Report Shows A Surge In European SLAPP Suits

December 21, 2024 Stella Levantesi, DeSmog. , , , , , ,
Lawsuits to silence those speaking out and fighting in the interest of the public are increasingly being used as a form of private censorship, according to a new report published last week by the Coalition Against SLAPPS in Europe, or CASE. Developed in collaboration with the Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation, the report shows that SLAPPs continue to rise in Europe and identifies a total of 1,049 cases between 2010-2023. The lawsuits cover a broad range of topics, and environmental issues made up the second-most-targeted subject of all the SLAPP suits reported, behind corruption.

Roadblocks Erected Throughout Bolivia To Protest Arce Government

October 23, 2024 Alfredo Rada, Orinoco Tribune. , , , ,
In Bolivia, the government of Luis Arce is confronted by the protests of peasants and workers, who are carrying out massive roadblocks. The pressure measure, which began five days ago, already affects four of the nine departments of the country and continues to expand. The government’s strategy of containment and delegitimization of this mass action, a strategy that was led by the minister of the presidency, Marianela Prada, and the minister of government, Eduardo del Castillo, did not yield results. Both authorities took on the task of minimizing the scope of the protest, stating that it was only seeking to protect Evo Morales.

President Petro Is Not Alone: ​​Colombia Marches Against Coup Attempt

October 13, 2024 Ana Perdigón, Orinoco Tribune. , , , , ,
Colombians took to the streets to protest against the coup d’état that the Colombian right wing is attempting to carry out against President Gustavo Petro. With the slogan #MarchoContraElGolpe (“I march against the coup”), various political and social forces of the Colombian left gathered in Plaza Bolívar in Bogotá. The ruling coalition Historic Pact called for the demonstration that was held this Friday, October 11, to condemn the weaponized investigation launched by the Colombian National Electoral Council (CNE) on alleged irregularities in the limits of the financing of Petro’s presidential campaign.

US-Backed Media, Activists Behind Attacks On Honduran Government

September 15, 2024 Wyatt Reed, The Grayzone. , , , , , ,
The Honduran government has slammed the US for attempting to initiate a “coup d’etat” in the Central American country, after the media outlet Insight Crime released decade-old footage appearing to show the current president’s brother-in-law negotiating a payment with men who later confessed to trafficking drugs. The tape was leaked amidst a diplomatic spat with the US over the Honduran government’s friendly relations with Venezuela following its disputed elections in July. Days before the footage emerged, Honduran president Xiomara Castro hinted at its release while announcing an end to a longstanding extradition deal with the US: “I will not allow the instrument of extradition to be used to intimidate or blackmail the Honduran Armed Forces.”

Secret Chats Expose Decade Of US Meddling In Ecuador

September 5, 2024 Oscar Leon, The Grayzone. , , , ,
Exclusive interviews and leaked messages reveal how a key ally of the US weaponized the fight against corruption and criminal organizations to selectively prosecute Ecuador’s heads of state, viciously persecuting Rafael Correa and his Revolución Ciudadana movement on flimsy evidence, while delaying investigations into much graver crimes allegedly committed by his successors. Recently-leaked secret chats obtained by The Grayzone expose how Ecuadorian prosecutor Diana Salazar leaked information to a subject of an ongoing investigation, undermining the prosecution of associates of Ecuador’s current and previous US-aligned presidents, and acted hand-in-glove with the United States government, which essentially selected and controlled prosecutions from Washington.

Latin America Condemns Ecuador’s Storming Of The Mexican Embassy

April 7, 2024 Zoe Alexandra, People's Dispatch. , , , , , , , ,
The decision by the government of Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa to forcibly enter the Mexican Embassy in Quito with dozens of police officers to arrest former Ecuadorian official Jorge Glas has been met with widespread repudiation across Latin America and the Caribbean. Xiomara Castro, Honduran president and the president pro-tempore of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), announced on Saturday that two emergency meetings of CELAC would be held on Monday April 8 and Tuesday April 9 to address the situation in which the American Convention on Asylum and the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations were both violated by Ecuador against Mexico.

Kellogg’s Initiates Lawfare Against Venezuelan Workers

November 14, 2023 Ultimas Noticias, Orinoco Tribune. , , ,
The British company Kellogg Latin America Holding Company Limited has launched a fresh legal offensive against Venezuela by filing an investment arbitration claim with the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) based in Washington DC. As reported by the Ibero-American Arbitration Center’s magazine, the claim was filed on November 9, 2023, and the multinational corporation is invoking the Venezuela – United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Bilateral Investment Treaty of 1995. In 2018, the company unilaterally ceased operations, abruptly leaving over 500 workers jobless.

NLG Condemns Georgia Indictments Of Stop Cop City Protesters

September 6, 2023 National Lawyers Guild. , , , , ,
The National Lawyers Guild condemns in the strongest terms the state of Georgia’s indictments, announced today, Tuesday, September 5, against 61 people targeted for allegedly being part of the movement to #StopCopCity. These indictments, filed by Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, aim to quell the growing, massive public movement to bring an end to the construction of a military police training facility in the Atlanta Forest, and to use RICO, domestic terrorism and money laundering charges to portray a popular movement as an unlawful conspiracy. “The National Lawyers Guild strongly condemns the state of Georgia’s organized effort to silence, criminalize, and punish movements for justice,” says NLG President Suzanne Adely.

The Silence On Imran Khan

August 10, 2023 Craig Murray, Consortium News. , , , , , ,
Given the large population in the U.K. of Pakistani origin, the lack of serious media coverage of the overthrow and incarceration of Imran Khan, and the mass imprisonment of his supporters, is truly extraordinary. Imran Khan was last week sentenced to three years in prison — and a five-year ban from politics — for alleged embezzlement of official gifts. This follows his removal as prime minister in a C.I.A.-engineered coup, and a vicious campaign of violence and imprisonment against Khan and his supporters. It is currently illegal in Pakistan to publish or broadcast about Khan or the thousands of new political prisoners incarcerated in appalling conditions.

Imran Khan Sentenced To Three Years In Jail

August 7, 2023 News Desk, The Cradle. , , , ,
Former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan was sentenced to three years in jail on 5 August by a court in Islamabad on charges of illegally selling state gifts. The popular opposition leader was promptly arrested from his home in Lahore after the court handed down the sentence. The court also disqualified him from politics for five years, banning his political activities. Before being taken into custody, Khan released a video on social media saying his arrest was “expected” and calling on his supporters to protest peacefully. “When you receive this message, I will be arrested, and I will be in prison,” said Khan. “I only have one request, one appeal for you. You must not sit quietly inside your homes.

Colombia Achieves Milestone In Peace Process; Right-Wing Escalates

August 5, 2023 People's Dispatch. , , , ,
The Colombian government and the National Liberation Army (ELN), the country’s largest left-wing guerrilla group, on Thursday, August 3, began a 180-day bilateral ceasefire. The truce will remain in force until January 29, 2024. The historic step was agreed upon on June 9 during the third round of peace negotiations between the two sides in Havana, Cuba. The development marked the most concrete progress to date for leftist president Gustavo Petro and his government’s plan to bring “total peace” to the country and end over 60 years of internal armed conflict, during which more than 450,000 people were killed.

Saab Oral Argument Focuses On Legitimacy Of Maduro Government

December 30, 2022 Teri Mattson, WTF is Going On in Latin America and the Caribbean. , , ,
On December 20, in the U.S. District Court of Southern Florida, Judge Robert N. Scola heard oral arguments on Alex Saab’s motion to dismiss the case against him. The factual issue for the Court to decide was “whether Mr. Saab was a special envoy from Venezuela to Iran traveling on a mission when he was detained in Cape Verde and extradited to the U.S. and, therefore, entitled to diplomatic immunity.”  Dan was present for the hearing and will discuss, in detail, the hearing results.  WTF has been following The Case of Alex Saab since his detainment on Cape Verde 12 June 2020. Today is our third update.
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