News from June 2019
By DOJ Newswire | Jun 21, 2019
News Release: United States Attorney Trent Shores announced today that a Tulsa man was ordered to federal prison for defrauding a bank of nearly $5 million and for bankruptcy fraud. In December, Zealand Benjamin Thigpen III, 68, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to defrauding Arvest Bank of $4,754,488 from 2015 to 2017.
By State Newswire | Jun 21, 2019
News Release: The constitution, laws, and executive decrees provide for freedom of religion and worship and prohibit discrimination based on religion. The constitution recognizes Roman Catholicism as the religion of the majority of citizens but not as the state religion. In March the Ministry of Education issued a...
By State Newswire | Jun 21, 2019
News Release: The constitution prohibits religious discrimination and grants individuals freedom of religion in conformity with the law. The law criminalizes abuses against religious freedom. On Jan. 31, the government adopted a new national Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) strategy that included interfaith efforts...
By State Newswire | Jun 21, 2019
News Release: The constitution codifies the separation of religion and the state, establishes freedom of religious choice, prohibits religious discrimination, and stipulates the government shall not interfere in the practice of any religion, nor shall any religion interfere in the affairs of the state. On January...
By State Newswire | Jun 21, 2019
Release: The constitution provides for the freedom to change religion or belief and the freedom to show and spread religious belief through worship, teaching, observance, or practice. The law designates the Ekalesia A Kelisiano Tuvalu (the Congregational Christian Church of Tuvalu or EKT) as the state church...
By State Newswire | Jun 21, 2019
Release: The constitution guarantees freedom of faith and conscience, and it and the penal code prohibit discrimination against any religion or its members. The constitution delegates regulation of the relationship between government and religious groups to the 26 cantons. Voters in St. Gallen Canton approved...
By State Newswire | Jun 21, 2019
Release: The constitution guarantees freedom of religion and the right to worship according to one’s own beliefs but states citizens must accept restrictions established by law to protect the rights of others and to satisfy “just demands based upon considerations of morality, religious values, security, and public...
By State Newswire | Jun 21, 2019
Release: The U.S. government estimates the total population at 19.7 million (July 2018 estimate). According to the 2006 census, 61 percent of the population is Muslim, predominantly Sunni, 19 percent is Roman Catholic, 4 percent belong to various Protestant groups, and 15 percent maintain exclusively indigenous...
By State Newswire | Jun 21, 2019
Release: The Interim National Constitution provides for freedom of religious creed and the rights to worship, assemble, and maintain places of worship. Some laws and government practices are based on the government’s interpretation of a sharia system of jurisprudence, which human rights groups state does not...
By State Newswire | Jun 21, 2019
Release: The constitution provides for the separation of religion and state and stipulates all persons are entitled to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion, except as required by law to protect public safety, order, health, or morals, or the rights of others. It also provides for equal protection under...
By State Newswire | Jun 21, 2019
Release: The constitution prohibits religious discrimination and provides for freedom of thought, conscience, and religion, including the right to worship, alone or in community with others, and to change religion or belief. Although the law requires new religious groups to register, unregistered groups were...
By State Newswire | Jun 21, 2019
News Release: The constitution provides for freedom of religion and belief. A concordat with the Holy See designates Roman Catholicism as the official state religion and extends to the Catholic Church special privileges not granted to other religious groups. Privileges include funding for expenses such as administration...
By State Newswire | Jun 21, 2019
News Release: The constitution establishes the country as a “secular state" but defines secularism as “protection of the age-old religion and culture and religious and cultural freedom." It provides for the right to profess and practice one’s own religion. The constitution prohibits converting persons from one religion...
By State Newswire | Jun 21, 2019
News Release: The constitution provides for freedom of individuals to manifest their religion or belief and prohibits religious discrimination. It names two co-princes - the president of France and the Roman Catholic Bishop of Urgell in Catalonia, Spain - as joint heads of state. In accordance with the constitution,...
By State Newswire | Jun 21, 2019
Release: A new constitution took effect in December and provides for “absolute freedom of religion," the separation of the Georgian Orthodox Church (GOC) and the state, and equality for all regardless of religion. It also prohibits persecution based on religion. Previously, in March the ruling party withdrew ...
By State Newswire | Jun 21, 2019
Release: The constitution prohibits religious discrimination and provides for freedom of religion, including the freedom to practice, propagate, and give expression to one’s religion, in public or in private and alone or with others. Religious and civil society groups reported the government occasionally monitored...
By State Newswire | Jun 21, 2019
Release: The constitution accords individuals the right to choose, change, and freely practices their religion and prohibits religious discrimination. It specifically recognizes the right of indigenous communities to express their religion freely. The constitution states the relationship between the state and...
By State Newswire | Jun 21, 2019
Release: The constitution provides for freedom of conscience, thought, and religion and the right to practice religion freely. In February soldiers on Manus Island allegedly attacked three asylum seekers from Iran, Iraq, and Pakistan, which required the victims to seek medical attention. There was no public information...
By State Newswire | Jun 21, 2019
Release: The constitution provides for freedom of religion and prohibits discrimination based on religion. The government continued to ban the use of marijuana, including for religious activities, which affects some practitioners of the Rastafarian religion. Civil society sources stated Rastafarians still faced...
By State Newswire | Jun 21, 2019
News Release: The constitution states freedom of conscience and belief is inviolable, and it guarantees free exercise of religious beliefs. The constitution prohibits federal, state, and local governments from either supporting or hindering any religion. On Sept. 19, a court convicted three of 14 defendants of...
