Law and judiciary

The Ministry of Health has completed a draft law on alcohol regulation, which will set a minimum drinking age, increase taxes on alcohol and place other controls on the sale, consumption and advertising of alcohol. Dr Ray Rany, head of tobacco and alcohol at the Health ...

Three activists have been sentenced to four months in prison for holding a prayer session in support of student demonstrations earlier this year, the latest in a string of convictions for violating Burma’s controversial Peaceful Assembly Law. Myint Myint Aye, 57, Khin May Si, 65, and ...

Government officials have agreed to reconsider elements of a proposed NGO law, but ruled out further public consultation on the widely criticised legislation, signalling a final vote would be held soon. The promise to review some provisions came during the government’s first public workshop on the ...

Thai police continue to investigate trafficking in south Thailand, following the discovery of scores of jungle graves on the Thai-Malaysia border in May. Yet there are questions about the long-term effectiveness of Thailand’s crackdown on resilient and lucrative trafficking syndicates.Witnesses have been intimidated, police say. Key suspects are ...

The 14 students who rallied against last year’s coup were released temporarily from prison in Bangkok Wednesday morning and vowed to continue their protest. The temporary release followed the military request to extend their detention pending investigation of their defiance of the government’s ban on political gatherings. ...

Phnom Penh’s remote Prey Speu Social Affairs Centre – a de facto prison used to indefinitely incarcerate some of the capital’s most vulnerable citizens – has granted unusual access to the media, coinciding with a visit from Cambodia National Rescue Party lawmaker Ke Sovannaroth.   Eighty-nine men, ...

Local prison authorities in Arakan State’s Buthidaung Township say more than 100 “Bengalis” were released this week after serving the duration of their sentences in connection with violence between Buddhists and Muslims that wracked the state in 2012.   Prison staffer Win Kyaw confirmed the release of ...

Myanmar’s parliament has approved a law that would regulate marriages between Buddhist women and men from outside their religion. The move by legislators was condemned by activists and human rights groups, who said the law was passed under pressure from hardline Buddhist monks. The bill is one ...

Bail has been granted to 11 activists detained after a brutal crackdown on student demonstrations earlier this year, family members said, while five other requests were denied by a court in central Burma.   A hearing culminated with the decision to release 10 students and one supporter ...

More than 120 Myanmar fishermen arrested by the Indian navy for illegally plying India’s waters were returned to Myanmar last week, a government official said. U Aung Kyaw, deputy director of the Department of Relief and Resettlement, said on 10 July that the return of the ...