Responding to the acquittal of three women human rights activists in Poland on charges of ‘offending religious beliefs’ for distributing posters of the Virgin Mary with a halo in the rainbow colors of the LGBTI pride flag, Catrinel Motoc, Senior Campaigner in Amnesty International’s Europe Regional Office said:

Responding to the reports that 18 people were killed and many more wounded as police and military forces confronted peaceful protesters across Myanmar, Emerlynne Gil, Deputy Regional Director for Research of Amnesty International said: “It is shocking and deeply alarming that the police and military responded with lethal force against entirely peaceful protesters, leading to a surge in fatalities yesterday. These protesters must be allowed to exercise the right to gather peacefully to express their opinion about the country’s current situation.

Amnesty International defines a prisoner of conscience (POC) as a person who has been deprived of their liberty solely because of their conscientiously held beliefs, or for discriminatory reasons relating to their ethnicity, sexuality, gender, or other identity, who has not used violence or advocated violence or hatred. Claims that Amnesty's decision on Aleksei Navalny was a response to external pressure are untrue and ignore our longstanding and detailed internal policy.