The criminal case against prominent Russian human rights defender Valentina Cherevatenko for “violation of ‘foreign agents’ law” was closed on 19 June due to an “absence of the elements of the crime”.

Dong Guangping’s court hearing scheduled for April 2017 has been cancelled by authorities with no reason provided.

Since being summoned for questioning by the Sri Lankan police for hosting a memorial for the war dead, Father Elil Rajendran was successful in securing a court order directing the police not to question him further.

Wei Xiaobing, He Lin, Liu Guangxiao, Li Shujia, Wang Meiju and Qin Mingxin have been criminally detained on suspicion of “assembling a crowd to disturb social order” after they held a seaside memorial for deceased Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo in Jiangmen, Guangdong province.

The pre-trial investigation into the case of Crimean Tatar human rights defender Emir-Usein Kuku, falsely accused of membership in an alleged terrorist organisation in Crimea, has now concluded.

On 24 July President Duda vetoed two of the three controversial legislative amendments regarding judicial reforms but signed a third amendment.

On 1 August, the family of Syrian-Palestinian human rights activist Bassel Khartabil Safadi received the news that he was extrajudicially executed in October 2015.

Syrian-Kurdish opposition activist Mohsen Taher was released from Allaya prison in Qamishli, north-eastern Syria, on 29 July.

A judge has asked the prosecutor to collect further evidence for the trial of Falun Gong practitioner, Chen Huixia, for her indictment of “using an evil cult to undermine law enforcement”.

Human rights defender Tarek Hussein was released on 27 July. After being arbitrarily detained for 40 days, the former prisoner of conscience has now joined his family.