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Mauritanian journalist faces three years in jail for throwing shoe at cabinet minister
On Thursday, Cheikh Baye Ould Mohamed was found guilty of “violence against a public official in the exercise oƒf his duties” after a one-day trial in the capital Nouakchott, say AFP sources. One of the accused’s lawyers, Brahim Ould Ebetty has already told the news agency that they would be working to appeal the “senseless” verdict. MIDDLE EAST EYE

ACLU, other groups sue Baton Rouge police for violating protesters’ rights
The ACLU and other groups filed charges on Wednesday against law enforcement officials for violating the constitutional rights of people protesting the death of Alton Sterling. Roughly 200 protesters were arrested over a three-day period. THE WASHINGTON POST

Egypt standardizes Muslim sermons, tightening grip on mosques
Egypt has launched a program of having Muslim clerics read a standardized government-written sermon at Friday prayers, a move by the state to tighten control over religious discourse. A committee of state-hired scholars will write each week’s sermon for clerics to read word-for-word. ABC NEWS

Liberal Chinese journal, claiming interference by overseers, files lawsuit
A liberal Chinese journal whose publisher and top editors were dismissed or demoted this week said it was fighting back with a lawsuit.The magazine also said that the password for managing its official website had been changed, and that it had been unable to publish its announcements there. THE NEW YORK TIMES

Nationalist provocateur Nay Myo Wai let free in defamation case
After being detained for over two months for allegedly defaming the country’s top leaders on social media, ultra-nationalist provocateur Nay Myo Wai was discharged by a court in Irrawaddy Division on Friday. Nay Myo Wai is a vocal supporter of the Buddhist nationalist group Ma Ba Tha and serves as chairman of the Peace and Diversity Party. THE IRRAWADDY

Trolling legislation needs to be simplified, says British Law Commission
Free speech campaigners, such as Article 19, have raised concerns about the confusion surrounding the broad definition of “grossly offensive” in the 1988 and 2003 acts. “This confusion is increased by the scarcity of legal argument available due to the frequency of guilty pleas in cases of this nature,” the Law Commission says. THE GUARDIAN