News from June 2019
By State Newswire | Jun 21, 2019
Release: The constitution designates Islam as the state religion but upholds the principle of secularism. It prohibits religious discrimination and provides for equality for all religions. The government continued to provide guidance to imams throughout the country on the content of their sermons in its stated...
By State Newswire | Jun 21, 2019
Release: The constitution provides for freedom of conscience and worship. The law prohibits religious discrimination and provides civil remedies to victims of discrimination. Religion and state are officially separate. The National Office of Religious Affairs (ONAR), an executive government agency, is charged...
By DOJ Newswire | Jun 21, 2019
News Release: CAMDEN, N.J. - A Camden woman today admitted accessing a protected computer without authorization to steal money from her employer and then laundering the proceeds of her theft, U.S Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.
By State Newswire | Jun 21, 2019
Release: The constitution guarantees every citizen “the right to freely profess and practice religion subject to public order, morality or health and to the other provisions of this Constitution." The law prohibits speech or acts insulting or defaming any religion or religious beliefs; authorities used these...
By State Newswire | Jun 21, 2019
Release: The constitution provides for freedom of religion and affirms the state does not support any particular religion. Legal statutes prohibit discrimination based on religion. The government launched an interagency, computer-based system to monitor and report on issues of discrimination, including discrimination...
By State Newswire | Jun 21, 2019
Release: Given the scope and severity of reported religious freedom violations specific to Xinjiang this year, a separate section on the region is also included in this report.
By State Newswire | Jun 21, 2019
News Release: The constitution provides for freedom of religion and individuals’ right to change, manifest, and propagate the religion of their choosing. Rastafarian community representatives reported their reluctance to use marijuana for religious purposes because marijuana use was illegal and subject to punitive...
By State Newswire | Jun 21, 2019
Release: The constitution provides for freedom of religion, including freedom of thought, freedom to practice one’s religion, and freedom from oaths contrary to one’s beliefs. Rastafarians said they continued to press the government to legalize marijuana use. Representatives of the Rastafarian community reported...
By DOJ Newswire | Jun 21, 2019
News Release: United States Attorney Ron Parsons announced that a Sturgis, South Dakota, man convicted of Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine was sentenced on June 18, 2019, by Chief Judge Jeffrey L. Viken, U.S. District Court.
By State Newswire | Jun 21, 2019
Release: The constitution provides for freedom of religion, including the freedom of individuals to change their religion. Rastafarians continued to disagree with the government’s ban on marijuana, stating it was integral to their religious rituals. They said, however, that draft legislation introduced in September...
By State Newswire | Jun 21, 2019
Release: The constitution provides for “freedom of conscience and religion," prohibits discrimination based on religion, and mandates the separation of the activities of state and religious institutions. The law requires religious institutions to register with authorities but provides little detail on registration...
By DOJ Newswire | Jun 21, 2019
News Release: Defendant Stabbed Victim Seven Times. WASHINGTON - Anthony Crawford, 23, of Washington, D.C., pled guilty today to first degree murder for fatally stabbing a D.C. woman as she ran in Northwest Washington, U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu announced. Crawford pled guilty on June 21, 2019, in the Superior Court...
By State Newswire | Jun 21, 2019
News Release: The constitution establishes a secular state and provides for freedom of religious thought, expression, and practice. All religious groups must register with the government. In February and March President Patrice Talon met with leaders of the Catholic Church, the Protestant Methodist Church of Benin (EPMB), the Islamic Union of Benin (UIB), and the Group of the Evangelical Church Association of Benin (CAEEB) to discuss government reforms and ways to defuse social discord.
By DOJ Newswire | Jun 21, 2019
News Release: BRIDGEPORT, Conn. - DEA New England Division Special Agent in Charge Brian D. Boyle and United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut John H. Durham announced that a grand jury in Hartford has returned a four-count indictment charging John Matthews, also known as “Jay" and “Gotti," 34, and Deandra Bloschichak, also known as “Tash" and “Tosh," 19, both of Bridgeport, with fentanyl distribution offenses.
By State Newswire | Jun 21, 2019
News 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 provides for freedom of religious belief. The 2014 Report of the UN Commission of Inquiry (COI) on Human Rights in the DPRK, however, concluded there was an almost complete denial by the government of the rights to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion, and in many instances,...
By DOJ Newswire | Jun 21, 2019
News Release: LITTLE ROCK-A Little Rock man was sentenced Thursday for possessing and distributing child pornography that showed children as young as one year old being sexually abused. Kenneth Laren Harvey, 49, of Little Rock, was sentenced to 180 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge James M. Moody, Jr. The United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, Cody Hiland, announced today’s sentencing.
By State Newswire | Jun 21, 2019
Release: The constitution grants freedom to practice, worship, and assemble for religious services. The law does not require registration of religious groups. A religious group, however, must register to be eligible for specific benefits such as recognition of clergy as marriage officers and tax exemptions. The constitution requires the Sabbath, which the government defines as Sunday, be “kept holy" and prohibits commercial transactions on Sunday, except as permitted by law.
By State Newswire | Jun 21, 2019
Release: The new constitution adopted in August specifies Islam is the state religion and defines the national identity as being based on a single religion - Sunni Islam - but proclaims equality of rights and obligations for all regardless of religious belief. The constitution also specifies that the principles...
By State Newswire | Jun 21, 2019
Release: The constitution declares the country a Christian nation; the constitution also prohibits religious discrimination and provides for freedom of conscience, belief, and religion. Prominent religious groups continued to state the government should not be involved in religious affairs, such as organizing...
