Stories about Digital Activism from March, 2006
Belarus: Day 4 Update and Radio Open Source Belarus Talk Show
br23 blog sums up the fourth day of the protest in Minsk and links to a Radio Open Source talk show on Belarus, in which he took part yesterday.
Ukraine: Anti-Lukashenko Rally in Kyiv
LJ user samuel_smith posts photos from a rally (RUS) that took place in front of the Belarusian embassy in Kyiv today. The protesters mocked the recent election in Belarus by casting ballots that had no alternative candidates on them, thus giving Aleksandr Lukashenko 183% of the vote. They also went...
The (virtual) life of a regional editor
GVO's South Asia editor podcasts about her online activities
DRC: “I Have a Dream”
Blogger Tony Katombe of Le Blog du Congolais publishes (FR) an eloquent email received from a Belgian reader who thanks him for shedding light on Belgium's past and present entanglements with the DRC. Katombe then embarks on his version of “I Have a Dream” in which through his blog he...
Hong Kong: Glutter on Hao Wu
Glutter is in shock over the detention of Beijing or Bust blogger and documentary film-maker Hao Wu (Wu Hao in Chinese), with whom she took part in a BBC World Service panel discussion on censorship in China. She posts a transcript of the discussion.
Belarus: Radio Liberty Reports Violence Against Protesters
LJ user l_u_f_t posts a Radio Liberty report (BEL) claiming that the police are beating up protesters who are going down into the subway to go home and then return to the square. There's a photo of one boy with an impressive scratch on his body. The boy, Mikhail Avdeev,...
Belarus: Opposition Leaders Break Up
Ivan Lenin of Rush-Mush comments on the recent breakup between the two opposition leaders, Milinkevich and Kozulin: “Milinkevich has got a wonderful opportunity to create a change, thanks to the courage of the thousands Belarusians who braved the very real threats from Luka and the cold; the tens of thousands...
Belarus: Students Face Expulsion
LJ user lipski reports (RUS) that photos from the Oktyabrskaya Sq. protests have reached the dean's office of Belarus State University's history department: two students from the department are on these pictures, and faculty members are now considering expelling these students. Also, dean's office of the geography department demands lists...
Belarus: ‘Tent City’ Photos
LJ user litota posts March 20-21 photos from the ‘tent city’ at Oktyabrskaya Sq. in Minsk: Kozulin negotiating with the police; warming up with hot tea; greeting passangers inside public buses; delivering the tents and running away from the police; WC in a tent set up over a sewer hole;...
Belarus: Plans to Invite U2 to Minsk Maidan
19. People's Blog on the Presidential Election reports (RUS) that Lyavon Volski, a Belarusian rock musician whose band NRM is often not allowed by the regime to play in Belarus, intends to invite U2 to sing at Minsk's Oktyabrskaya Sq. in support of democracy in Belarus.
Belarus: Blog Report Updates
Ivan Lenin of Rush-Mush monitors and translates updates on the situation in Minsk on Belarusian blogs. Report on how the night on Oktyabrskaya Sq. went for the protesters is here.
Belarus: March 20 Rally Notes (9)
LJ user lipski writes (RUS) that two groups of around 1,000 people total remain on the square: one group guards the electricity generator and audio equipment, another is by the tents. People who are leaving the square individually, not in groups, are said to be arrested outside the square.
Belarus: March 20 Rally Notes (8)
br23 blog reports hundreds of riot police units stationed in the backyards of the buildings adjacent to Oktyabrskaya Sq. The protesters, however, are determined to stay “until the new election date is set, in July.” LJ user samuel_smith writes (RUS) that cars with drinking water and food for the protesters...
Belarus: March 20 Rally Notes (7)
LJ user maty has posted (RUS) March 20 photos from Oktyabrskaya Sq. More to be posted soon.
Belarus: March 20 Rally Notes (6)
LJ user maty reports (BEL): “Milinkevich has had negotiations with the police. The police has allowed people to stay at the square. People are chanting “Police With the People” and are setting up tents. Maidan begins.”
Belarus: March 20 Rally Notes (5)
LJ user lipski reports (RUS) that the riot police demand to turn off the music playing at the square at 11 p.m.; opposition leaders have agreed. People are still encouraged to spend the night at the square. A representative from Mogilyov said that regional delegations are expected to arrive in...
Belarus: March 20 Rally Notes (4)
Opposition leaders have declared the March 19 election a coup and are demanding to cancel the results, reported lipski (RUS) a while ago. Also, Milinkevich has asked everyone to stay at the square overnight and all day tomorrow.
Belarus: March 20 Rally Notes (3)
LJ user samuel_smith reports (RUS): people are leaving because it's cold; a Ukrainian LJ user advises to put something underneath the tents to make them warmer – on the photos, the tents appear to be on the bare ground; a bell is ringing; speakers at the rally include a head...
China: Hu Jia still ‘missing’
Thirty-one days after her AIDS activist husband Hu Jia goes missing, presumed detained, his wife Zeng Jinyan uses her blog as a platform to appeal to everyone to keep asking the question: “Where is Hu Jia?”. She writes a letter to her National People's Congress municipal delegate for Beijing, Wu...
Belarus: March 20 Rally Notes (2)
According to LJ user l_u_f_t (RUS), people from the regions are beginning to arrive and five tents have been set up at Oktyabrskaya Sq. already. LJ user samuel-smith writes (RUS) that “there's a ring around the tents. People surround them so that the police couldn't take them away. From time...
Belarus: March 20 Rally Notes (1)
LJ user lipski reports (RUS) from Oktyabrskaya Sq. in Minsk for the second night in a row: weather's good; the square's not blocked; politically active young people decided not to set up a ‘tent city’ because officials have allegedly confiscated 1,500 tents, but there are plans to put up their...
