Free Republic

In Germany's Lower Saxony and Bavaria, citizens are now barred from publicly displaying the letter "Z," which has become a symbol used by the Russian army during the war. Anyone who displays the symbol at demonstrations or publicly showcases it on cars or buildings could now face a fine or up to three years in jail, according to the Moscow Times. "It is incomprehensible to me how this symbol 'Z' could be used in our country to condone this crime," Boris Pistorius, Lower Saxony's interior minister, said in a statement, according to the news outlet. Similarly, Bavaria's Justice Minister Georg...

Brazil's federal police today arrested 10 people and smashed a network allied to ISIS that was preparing 'acts of terrorism' at next month's Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. President Michel Temer has called an emergency cabinet meeting and Justice Minister Alexandre de Moraes said the operation spanned nine states across Brazil, although the arrests were made in the southern states of Sao Paulo and Parana. A court in Parana said there were indications the group was planning to use weapons to launch attacks similar to the Paris atrocities in November last year. Earlier this month Mr Moraes said a jihadist...

Justice Minister Heiko Maas said this week that he wants to bring an end to the practice of tolerating polygamous marriages among immigrants in Germany. “No one who comes here has the right to place their cultural entrenchment or religious thinking over our laws,” Maas told Bild newspaper. “Therefore, no multiple marriages will be allowed to be recognized in Germany.” In Germany, marrying another person after you are already married is illegal and punishable by up to three years in prison. …

he French justice minister has resigned, blaming a "major political disagreement" with her government. Christiane Taubira stepped down from her job shortly before anti-terrorism proposals that she disagreed with went before parliament. If passed, the laws would mean that people who are convicted of terrorism offenses are stripped of citizenship. The plans were put forward after the 13 November Paris attacks in which 130 people were murdered.

As usual, the world’s media have it wrong about Israel. The Jewish State remains a forward-thinking beacon of democracy, equality and justice. Witness Ayelet Shaked, Israel’s newly appointed justice minister who at the age of 39 is likely one of the few women anywhere in the world to hold such a senior government position. She’s a secular leader of a religious party, and lives in North Tel Aviv. The extremists are on the left, holding minimal influence or power, and thankfully, with Shaked’s Jewish Home party now holding senior roles in Netanyahu’s coalition, the radical fringe of the New Israel...

Japan’s trade and justice ministers resigned Monday after accusations they misused campaign funds in the biggest setback so far for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s conservative administration. The two ministers were among five women Abe named to his Cabinet in a reshuffle early last month. Their resignations may help to control the damage to his relatively high popularity ratings, but are a blow to efforts to promote women in politics and business as part of economic revival policies. […] Two other female Cabinet members known as Abe’s close allies on the right have been criticized for suspected ties with racist groups....

Ireland’s justice minister resigned Wednesday in a surprise blow to the country’s 3-year-old coalition government after a state-ordered investigation concluded that he mishandled the complaints of a police corruption whistleblower. Alan Shatter said in a letter he was quitting to ease criticism of the government when the more than 300-page report is published later this week. Prime Minister Enda Kenny, who received the report Tuesday night, announced the news to the audible gasps of lawmakers in Ireland’s parliament. Many opposition politicians had called for Shatter to resign, but it’s rare in Ireland for any politician to quit in the face...

With the NSA spying scandal continuing to make headlines in Europe, the German Justice Minister, Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, has raised the possibility of new, tangible measures to punish corporations that participate in American spying activities. In an interview with Die Welt, the liberal Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger called for the creation of EU-wide rules to regulate the protection of information, and said that once those rules are in place, “United States companies that don’t abide by these standards should be denied doing business in the European market.”Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger said that a package of EU measures is required in order to fight “the widespread spying of...

Iran's minister of justice has been killed in a car crash, state media reports December 28, 2006 TEHRAN, Iran: Justice Minister Jamal Karimirad was killed in a car accident in central Iran on Thursday, Iranian state television reported. Karimirad, 50, was motoring with his family from Tehran to the central city of Isfahan when the car crashed in the district of Salafjegan, 170 kilometers (106 miles) south of Tehran, the television announcer said. The broadcast gave no details of the accident, but said that members of his family had been admitted to hospital in the city of Qom. It did...

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A suicide car bomber drove into a convoy carrying Iraq's justice minister on Saturday, killing five bodyguards but leaving him unscathed, in an attack claimed by a group led by al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. A statement posted on an Islamist Web site said the attack was carried out by the military wing of Zarqawi's Tawhid and Jihad group, blamed by Washington for a series of deadly suicide bombings in Iraq and for executing at least three hostages. Witnesses said the attacker drove toward the convoy close to the home of Justice Minister Malik al-Hassan and...