<p>(New York, May 27, 2011) &ndash; The Court of Appeal&rsquo;s decision to uphold the author Alan Shadrake&rsquo;s contempt of court sentence for &ldquo;scandalizing the judiciary&rdquo; is a major setback for free expression in Singapore, Human Rights Watch said today. The charges should be dropped, Human Rights Watch said.</p>

<p>Reporters Without Borders reiterates its support for Democratic Voice of Burma&rsquo;s call for the release of the 17 DVB journalists who are currently jailed in Burma. One of these journalists, Ngwe Soe Lin, is spending his 30th birthday today continung to serve the 13-year sentence he was given for his investigative coverage of children orphaned by Cyclone Nargis.</p>

<p>Leading feminists say that having Yingluck Shinawatra as a candidate for the country's top job is not a milestone in the struggle for greater gender equality, because Yingluck is an unknown quantity and does not necessarily represent women's interests.</p>

<p>There is more than one prisoner of conscience in Thailand, although the number of those detained under lese majeste law and their names known to Amnesty International (AI) is &quot;not for public consumption&quot;, said Benjamin Zawacki, AI's researcher for Thailand and Burma.</p> <p>&quot;We don't declare every time someone is a prisoner of conscience,&quot; Zawacki said in a phone interview with The Nation yesterday.</p>

<p>KHON KAEN &ndash; Pheu Thai will win 80 of Isaan&rsquo;s 126 constituency MP seats in the upcoming election, Northeastern Red Shirt leaders projected this past Sunday. Approximately 150 UDD provincial and district level leaders met at Khon Kaen University&rsquo;s Mo Din Daeng Hotel to share their election forecasts and formulate their campaign strategies.</p>

<p>23 May 2011 &ndash; The announcement on 16 May 2011 by Burmese president Thein Sein that all prisoners will receive a one-year sentence reduction is so woefully inadequate that it should be regarded as nothing but another attempt to present a fa&ccedil;ade of change while the regime continues to restrict fundamental freedoms and commit serious crimes against civilians, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), the Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma (Altsean-Burma) and the Burma Lawyers&rsquo; Council (BLC) said today.</p>

<p>A Filipino radio broadcaster in Mindanao received threatening SMS (text) messages on 14 and 17 May 2011.</p> <p>Jun Albino of Magnum Music and News Radio 99.9 FM in Cagayan de Oro City first received a message on his mobile phone at around 6:51 a.m. (local time) of 14 May 2011, saying: &quot;Mr. Albino, stop talking about Bigcas if you still want to attend the festival, or we might cut your head off.&quot; The Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) kept getting a busy tone when it tried to call the mobile number (+639333203705) used in sending the threat.</p>

<p>Authorities in Rangoon, Burma have banned video recordings of press conferences of the regional government after a foreign-based media group broadcast a video clip of the first such event.</p>

<p>18 May 2011 marks the 19th anniversary of what Thai people remember as &quot;1992 Black May incident,&quot; when a popular uprising was met with brutal and violent suppression by the military. Official reports put the death toll at 44 with 38 missing, however in actual, more people were victimized. The victims&rsquo; families continue to suffer because of the non-revelation of the truth and the absence of justice.</p>

<p>Konfederasi KASBI (Confederation of Congress of Indonesian Unions Alliance) is deeply concerned over the re-arrest of labour activist Somyot Pruksakasemsuk and worried about his safety in the prison.Somyot Pruksakasemsuk was arrested on 30th April 2011 and is currently being held at Klong Prem Central Prison, in Bangkok. We believe this is part of a systematic repression against pro-democracy activists in Thailand.</p>

<p><em>Lack of sympathy for calls for justice, democracy still evident</em></p> <p>One year on, tens of thousands of red shirts converged at Ratchaprasong Intersection yesterday to commemorate the end of the bloody military confrontation with the reds. Many are still grappling with how the government managed to get away with the crackdowns that began on April 10 and ended on May 19, leaving a combined death toll of 92 from both sides - but mostly red shirts - and more than a thousand injuries.</p>

<p>The Asian Human Rights Commission has earlier informed you about the attack on FMA Razzak instantiated by army officer, Major Mustafizur Rahman Bokul and his family, who attempted to gouge out Razzak's eyes. The right leg and hand were broken with several bones suffered fractures. The police have not yet started a credible investigation into the matter that will ultimately narrow down the path of getting justice for the wounded human rights defender.<br /> For further details, please see: http://www.humanrights.asia/campaigns/attack-on-fma-razzak.</p> <p>UPDATED INFORMATION:</p>