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Afonso S. Muatchipuculo (22), António J. Fernando (18) and Justino H. Valente (21) were released on 17 July. The three youth had been sentenced to seven months in prison by the Malange Provincial Court in Angola on 9 April after an unfair trial. They were arrested on 4 April by the police in Malange province in Angola for allegedly throwing stones at the Vice-President’s convoy during a demonstration.
Amada Martínez, human rights defender from the Tekoha Sauce Indigenous community of the Avá Guaraní People in south-east Paraguay, was threatened by three armed men wearing uniforms of the Itaipú Binational (Paraguay-Brazil) hydroelectric plant on 8 August, in the presence of three minors, her sister and a taxi driver.
Shahidul Alam, photographer and outspoken social activist, has been charged under Section 57 of Bangladesh’s Information and Communication Technology Act after giving an interview to Al-Jazeera on the current wave of school student protests in Bangladesh. Detained and charged solely for exercising his right to freedom of expression, Shahidul Alam must be immediately and unconditionally released.
Human rights defender Hanan Badr el-Din has started a hunger strike over a court decision on 5 August to renew her detention for 45 more days. Hanan Badr el-Din, who is a prisoner of conscience, has been in pre-trial detention since 6 May 2017.
Military official accuses Venezuelan Indigenous environmental rights defender Lisa Henrito of “treason” - on national television - due to her activism in the defence of the Pemón Indigenous People's traditional territory.
Indigenous human rights defenders face sustained intimidation and threats of physical violence in light of their continuing efforts to protect their land. Incidents of harassment by a private company developing plantation projects have been reported by the community to local police.
Algerian blogger and prisoner of conscience Merzoug Touati began a hunger strike on 8 July in protest at being imprisoned solely for peaceful online posts. Held in solitary confinement since he began the hunger strike, there are concerns for his physical and mental wellbeing. He should be immediately and unconditionally released.
The fate and whereabouts of IT specialist Victor Filinkov and civil society activist Yuliy Boyarshinov remain unknown. They were last seen on 28 July, in a detention centre in Yaroslavl, Russia but are now believed to be in transit to an undisclosed location. There are grave concerns for their safety.
Three activists, Moussa Tchangari, Ali Idrissa and Nouhou Arzika were released on 24 July after being handed a three-month suspended sentence. A fourth activist, Lirwana Abdourahmane, was sentenced to one year in prison for “contempt of court by speaking” on 23 July and remains imprisoned. The four human rights defenders were among a group of people arrested and detained on 25 March by security forces in Niamey, Niger in connection with a peaceful protest.
Human rights defender Juana Raymundo went missing on the night of 27 July in the Quiché department in northwest Guatemala and her dead body was discovered the next day. She was 25 years old, and a member of the Campesino Development Committee (Comité de Desarrollo Campesino, CODECA). She is the 8th human rights defender killed in Guatemala in less than three months.