Stories about Freedom of Speech from May, 2006
China: Down with reactionary blogger
This year is the 40th anniversary of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Ah Q weekly used an old propaganda poster from Cultural Revolution to make sarcastic remarks on the recent “management” of blogsphere. The original poster depicts a worker using Mao's tiny red book to hit the reactionary class. The new...
Hong Kong: June 4 and civic rights movement
The theme of June 4 candle night vigil this year is Civic Rights Movement in China. InMediaHK.net has a collections of articles including 1. the recent development of internet media and civic rights movement; 2. politics of memories concerning the Chinese cultural revolution and June 4 incident with a proposal...
Belarus: Hunger Strikes and Persecutions
Andrei Khrapavitski writes about “repressions and deaths” in Belarus, as well as two hunger strikes – by the young politicians and a businessman facing a 6-year sentence for tax evasion.
Kurdistance: NGO Project Update
Ok, so maybe the title of today's post is a little bit of a misnomer, but our commentators today all mention NGO projects…and I'll give you some extra links to other Kurdish NGO projects as well. Pearls of Iraq officially starts her purple ribbon campaign for the people of Iraq...
Jailed Cartoonist, Riots in Universities & Anniversary of a Victory
Last week Global Voices reported about the cartoon affair and unrest in Azeri community. This affair goes on and Mana Neyestani, the cartoonist who drew this cartoon, and his editor, Mehrdad Ghasemfar, were arrested. Several bloggers discuss this affair again this week. Birthday in prison We read in Free Mana...
Iran: Student Leaders in Jail
According to Daneshe Sorkh, Abede Tavancheh and Yashar Ghajar, two student leaders were arrested after demonstration in universities in Tehran. The blogger has published their photos on his/her blog and ask for their freedom.
Caribbean: What blogging is for
“Blogging … challenges the elitism that pervades the Caribbean and is a great experiment in the democratization of data,” says Geoffrey Philp in a thoughtful essay on the potential role of blogging in the region. “Blogging provides the kind of freedom that is anathema to many gatekeepers who want to...
Latvia: Second Gay Pride Parade
All About Latvia writes about the politics of this year's gay pride parade (to be held in Riga on July 22): “For political parties who objected the march last year, this will be a chance to win over the hearts of the skeptical public for the fall parliamentary elections by...
Russia: “Moscow Has Lost Its Pride”
Vilhelm Konnander and Ufa Blog discuss the failure to hold the first gay pride parade in Moscow.
Russia: “And You Call It A Gay [Pride] Parade?”
This past Saturday marked the 13th anniversary of the decriminalization of homosexuality in Russia, and a number of people attempted to take part in a gay pride parade in Moscow – despite the ban by a city court and mayor Yuri Luzhkov's words from the day before: “As long as...
Be irrepressible! a campaign for global internet freedom
As more and more nations carve up the so-called global, borderless internet into separate spheres of control through filtering and censorship, often using technology supplied by large IT companies, Amnesty International has launched a new campaign – irrepressible.info to raise awareness of and protest against the infringements on the basic...
Russia: Pogrom Instead of Gay Pride
LJ user greenmih posts photos from the pogrom that took place in Moscow on Saturday instead of the gay pride parade, which had been banned by Moscow's mayor (RUS). Riot police, Orthodox Christians, skinheads and radical nationalists prevented those who did gather despite the ban to proceed and assaulted them....
Nepal Moving Towards Peace Talks
After the victory of the April Revolution, and a major House Proclamation that has seriously curbed the powers of the king and renamed the army from Royal Nepal Army to Nepal Army, and a phase one talk with the Maoists, the seven party alliance government still has a lot of unresolved issues. The pace is felt to have been too slow.
Ethiopia: More websites barred.
RSF report that three more Ethiopian blogs have been barred Ethiomedia.com, Freeourleaders.org and Nazret.com
Belarus: Helsinki Committee Banned
Vilhelm Konnander reports on the ban of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee by Aleksandr Lukashenko's regime.
Estonia: Interview With Aili Jogi
Giustino of Itching for Eestimaa writes about Aili Jogi, who, at the age of 15, together with a friend, destroyed the first monument to the Soviet soldiers in Tallinn, the Estonian capital.
China: Wu Hao case
The desperation of imprisoned Beijing or Bust blogger Wu Hao's sister Nina can be felt on her MSN Spaces blog which hasn't been updated for nearly two weeks. The most recent post informs readers that her little brother has been denied access to a lawyer. “Unbelievable!” says one reader. “Nina,...
China: Jailed journalist campaign
myrick at Asiapundit blogs on Amnesty International's new irrepressible.info campaign which aims to protect free speech on the internet, and a parallel campaign to see jailed journalist Shi Tao set free.
Ethiopia: Shortsighted government
CoffeeChillinsun comments on the short sightedness of Ethiopia's government in expelling journalist, AddisFerenj two months ago. She is not travelling throughout Europe and speaking on the human rights situation in Ethiopia.
Arabisc: Arabic Bloggers Ken
From Egypt… Malek who was scheduled to be free few days ago is now officially free. He just made his first post, titled: Free Morning. Malek writes: الحمدلله تم الافراج عني اليوم في حوالي الساعه الرابعه والنصف من قسم ترحيلات الخليفه لحد دلؤتي مقريتش حاجه اتكتبت عني بس بجد شكرا...
Armenia: A1 Denied Frequency
Onnik Krikorian says that the popular A1 has been again denied a broadcast frequency, a decision Onnik says is “yet another blow to press freedom” in Armenia.
