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News digest: 25 October 2012

Albania judges admit corruption and bribes (Balkan Insight): "According to the survey, which polled 58 per cent of Albania’s judicial contingent, only 18 per cent of respondents said the justice system was not corrupt, 58 per cent described corruption as a perception and 25 per cent believed it was corrupt"

CZECH REPUBLIC: iHned.cz: Spy virus sending data to China appears in CzechRep (Prague Daily Monitor): "The AdvaICT company has revealed a spy virus sending gigabytes of internal data to Chinese servers in one of its Czech organisations, the IHNED.cz server has reported. The Czech Republic has become another country after the Middle East and Peru, where this spy programme has appeared"

EU Council debates Bulgaria's Schengen bid, decision unlikely (Novinite): "Bulgaria's interior minister will attend EU Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting in Luxembourg on Thursday, which will discuss the country's Schengen bid, but postpone a final decision"

EU: Reception conditions for asylum seekers: Better and more harmonised living standards and more effective rules for fighting abuse (pdf, press release): "The Council adopted today a political agreement on the directive laying down standards for the reception of asylum seekers (recast). This political agreement fully reflects the result of negotiations with the European Parliament. Once formally adopted, member states will need to transpose the new provisions into national law within two years. Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom are not bound by the directive." See: Amended proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down standards for the reception of asylum seekers (Recast) [First reading] - Political agreement (pdf)

EU: Migrant women trapped in sex trade (Inter Press Service): "When French police broke up a Nigerian human trafficking ring that allegedly forced young migrant women into prostitution, the arrests cast a sharp light on the plight of what the authorities called “modern-day slaves”, here and throughout Europe"

GERMANY: Can a memorial end discrimination? (Deutsche Welle): "Sinti and Roma have fought for a Holocaust memorial in Germany for decades, not only because they were victims of genocide, but also because they still face discrimination today. Their wish has finally been granted"

Greek police accused over racism and asylum rights (BBC News): "Now three new reports cast light on the substance of our story - which was: alleged police torture of anti-fascist detainees, Golden Dawn's influence inside the Greek police force, and its potential influence on the operational behaviour and priorities of the police in the Attica region around Athens"

NETHERLANDS: Van der Laan urges 'lighter' approach to refugees caught in deportation trap (The Amsterdam Herald): "Amsterdam's mayor has called for a more flexible approach to be taken towards asylum seekers who refuse to return to their home country"

NORWAY: Illegal immigrants released from custody (The Norway Post): "Illegal immigrants to Norway which were placed in custody have to be released due to lack of prison capacity"

Russian handbook insults immigrants (euronews): "What was intended to be a friendly guide for labour migrants to Russia, has instead been taken as an insult. The brochure gives practical advice on dealing with authorities, such as guards and police, but workers have taken exception to the fact that the booklet represents them as work tools"

SERBIA: Serbia to adopt amnesty law (Balkan Insight): "The Serbian parliament will pass an amnesty law on Wednesday, aimed at easing the overcrowding in Serbian prisons"

SPAIN: Catalan lawmakers warn of Spanish 'military threat' (EUbusiness): "European Union MPs from Catalonia sparked an uproar in Spain on Wednesday by warning of a military threat from Madrid and seeking EU intervention"

SPAIN: Crowds surround parliament building in Madrid (euronews): "Crowds of angry protestors have surrounded the Parliament building in the centre of Madrid, where politicians are meeting to thrash out next year’s budget plan"

Turkey accused of pursuing campaign of intimidationa gainst media (The Guardian): "Ankara is pursuing a systematic campaign of intimidation against the Turkish media, including the prosecution and jailing of writers, and demands for those who challenge government policies or actions to be sacked, two independent investigations have concluded"

UK: 'Bent for the job': A short history of police corruption and miscarriages of justice 1963 to 1990 (The Justice Gap)

UK: Crimestoppers, Facewatch and ACPO form strategic partnership (Monitoring European Police!): "Crimestoppers, Facewatch and the Association of Chief Police officers (ACPO) announced today that they have agreed to work in partnership with a focus on sharing technology and improving the tools available for crime reduction initiatives"

UK: G4S uses 'unacceptable' force on pregnant detainee at UK family detention centre (OpenDemocracy)

UK: Home Office downgrades threat to England from Irish republican groups (The Guardian)

UK: Human trafficking victims failed by defence teams, CCRC alleges (Law Society Gazette)

UK: Manchester Metropolitan: 'Bullying' university bans world-renowned professor who spoke out (The Independent): "A world-renowned professor has been suspended from work for questioning university recruitment policy, in a move which supporters argue is a threat to “academic freedom” and reveals a “culture of bullying” at the institution"

UK: Netpol launches new resource helping protesters find decent lawyers (Netpol): "Netpol, the Network for Police Monitoring, has today launched a list of solicitors that are experienced in dealing with the police and protesters"

UK: Prisoner voting ruling from Strasbourg must be followed, says attorney general (The Guardian): "Dominic Grieve says government must accept politically divisive European court of human rights decision on right to vote." See also: Prisoners will not get the vote, says David Cameron (BBC News): "Britain will continue to defy a European Court ruling saying prisoners must be given the right to vote, Prime Minister David Cameron has said." And: UK's disdain for European Court of Human Rights is condemned (The Independent)

UK: Sri Lankan asylum seekers' deportation halted at the last minute (The Guardian): "High court reprieve for Tamils on deportation flights from UK after appeals that they risk being tortured on return to Sri Lanka." See also: Failed Sri Lankan asylum seekers deported from the UK (Business Standard) and News flash on Sri Lanka charter flight (Free Movement): "The UK Border Agency has suddently withdrawn parts of its new October 2012 Operational Guidance Note on Sri Lanka. Paragraphs 3.3.4 and 13.6 have been substantially amended... It would seem that several of the passages about the safety of return were simply not true."

UKRAINE: Far-right party wants exclusive nationality (euronews): "A far-right movement is likely to enter Ukraine’s parliament in the upcoming elections, polls indicate – for the first time"

UN: Social media used for recruiting terrorists (Al Arabiya): "Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc., the world’s biggest online social networks, are increasingly being used by terrorists to recruit sympathizers and spread their propaganda, a United Nations report revealed on Monday." See: The use of the Internet for terrorist purposes (pdf)

USA: Boeing's new missile remotely disables computers as it flies by (Gizmodo): "This is CHAMP: Boeing's new missile otherwise known as the Counter-electronics High-powered Microwave Advanced Missile Project. It automatically disables PCs and other electronic devices as it soars through the skies, using a burst of powerful radio waves—and it was successfully tested last week"

USA: Guantanamo defence: No war means no war crimes (Al Arabiya): "A U.S. military war tribunal is weighing a question that might seem better suited to a history class than a courtroom: How long has the United States been at war? Al-Qaeda’s al-Nashiri faces trial for war-time offenses. But his lawyers say that since the U.S. wasn’t at war at that time, the 47-year-old shouldn’t be tried at Guantanamo"

USA: Man banned mid-trip by no-fly list gets stranded in Hawaii (Wired): "The farce that is the government’s no-fly list got another bizarre twist when the spouse of a Navy lieutenant, flying on a military jet to visit his wife in Japan last week, was booted from his flight during a layover in Hawaii"

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