Chinese activist and lawyer Xu Zhiyong was arrested by authorities July 17 on suspicion of having "gathered crowds to disrupt public order." Xu, a law lecturer at the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications and founder of the Open Constitution Initiative (Gongmeng), was placed under house arrest on April 12. Xu's arrest came after President Xi Jinping pledged to increase efforts to combat government corruption. Xu was previously detained by Chinese police in 2009 on charges of tax evasion. Coinciding with Xu's arrest, earlier this week Wang Wenzhi, a reporter for the official Xinhua News Agency, accused China Resources (Holdings) chairman Song Lin of corruption. The article was later removed.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) on July 18 rejected Libya's request to suspend the order to hand over Saif al-Islam Qaddafi, son of the late Moammar Qaddafi. It also ruled that its forum is more appropriate than the Libyan forum because of the accused's stated preference, genuine fear of bias, and the scope of crimes alleged by each prosecutor. The scope of the ICC's allegations is broader than that stated in the Libyan charges, allowing for a wider spectrum of evidence. The ICC ruled that the Libyan government failed to show how his appearance in the ICC would create an irreversible situation, as is required for the court to order such relief in a request to suspend appearance.

A judge for the US District Court for the District of Columbia on July 16 denied (PDF) a motion by Guantánamo Bay detainees to end forced feeding of hunger-striking prisoners. The petitioners maintained that the practice was cruel and that it would interfere with their religious practices during the month of Ramadan, which began on July 8 and requires fasting during daylight hours. In her opinion, Judge Rosemary Collyer found that the court does not have jurisdiction to decide the case. She also noted that even if the court had jurisdiction, she would not have granted the order, saying: "there is nothing so shocking or inhumane in the treatment of Petitioners—which they can avoid at will—to raise a constitutional concern that might otherwise necessitate review." Collyer also pointed out that the Guantanamo staff had plans to accommodate the petitioners' religious needs during Ramadan.

Egyptian authorities on July 10 ordered the arrest of Mohammed Badie, spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood (Ikhwan), as well as nine other leading Islamists, in an escalation of the crackdown against protesters of Egypt's current military-backed leadership. Badie is accused of inciting violence in Cairo on July 8 in which more than 50 people were killed. Reports of the violence conflict, as the Brotherhood reports that soldiers carried out a massacre of peaceful demonstrators, while police and military forces say they acted in self-defense. The issued warrants further highlight the military's zero-tolerance policy toward the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamists, who continue to hold daily mass protests demanding the reinstatement of ousted president Morsi. Many Egyptians had hoped that Wednesday's start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan would help to calm the ongoing turmoil, but the sunrise-to-sunset fasting may only diminish protest activity during daytime hours.

Egyptian blogger Ahmed Douma, who had been sentenced to six months in prison for insulting ousted president Mohammed Morsi, was released on July 6, according to state news agency MENA. The prosecution requested Douma's release in June, dropping the charges against him. Despite the release order, Douma remained in custody for another trial on a separate charge. Douma was charged along with 11 others with inciting violence during protests in March in which at least 160 people were injured. The Cairo Criminal Court acquitted all 12 defendants because the evidence against them was deemed void.

Egyptian authorities on July 4 shut down four Islamist-run television stations viewed as sympathetic to ousted President Mohamed Morsi. This crackdown occurred only a day after the Egyptian military removed Morsi from office and installed an interim government headed by High Constitutional Court judge Adly Mansour. The military also raided the offices of Al Jazeera's Egyptian news channel and detained at least five of its staff members, four of whom were later released. Another station run by the Muslim Brotherhood was removed from the air as it was showing pro-Morsi protesters chanting "down with military rule" following the announcement that Morsi had been removed from power. 

A United Arab Emirates (UAE) court on July 2 gave sentences of up to 15 years in prison to 69 out of 94 people on trial for planning an Islamist coup. The group of defendants includes unnamed doctors, academics, lawyers and other professionals arrested over the past year for allegedly forming a secret network with ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. The court found that the defendants planned to raise money to stage a coup against the Emirati ruling families. Most of the defendants are members of the conservative Reform and Social Guidance Association (al-Islah), a nonviolent Islamist political association advocating greater adherence to Islamic precepts. According to media sources eight suspects received prison terms of 15 years after being tried in absentia. The court gave 10-year sentences to 56 of the suspects, seven-year terms to five others and acquitted 25. The trial began in March. The UAE tolerates no political opposition within its borders.

The Egyptian military on July 3 deposed President Mohamed Morsi, suspended the nation's constitution, and installed an interim government headed by High Constitutional Court judge Adly Mansour. Protests had erupted throughout Egypt over the weekend calling for Morsi's resignation for his alleged failure to address economic and security issues during his one-year tenure as president. The military announced its plans to overthrow Morsi early in the day, and by the late afternoon soldiers and tanks surrounded the presidential palace where thousands of Morsi's supporters had gathered. Thereafter, General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi officially declared Morsi's removal from office. Morsi condemned the military's actions as an unjustified and illegitimate coup that he rejects. An aide in the Office of Assistant to the President of Egypt on Foreign Relations responded to the military's actions as they occurred: