Stories about Freedom of Speech from January, 2008
Russia: German Sadulayev's Appeal
Window on Eurasia writes about a Chechen writer's appeal to his fellow countrymen.
Serbia, Albania: Kosovo Rapper
BBC's Mark Mardell interviews “Kosovo’s premier rapper” Genc Prevlaka.
Czech Republic: Presidential Debate
Dr. Sean's Diary comments on the Czech presidential debate between incumbent Václav Klaus and challenger Jan Švejnar.
Afghanistan: Journalist in Danger
Nasim Fekratْ urges action on the death threats that are addressed to Basir Ahang, 27, an independent journalist who was directly involved in the release of Gabriele Torsello, the Italian journalist, who was kidnapped by Taliban in Helmand province.
Russia: Khodorkovsky on Hunger Strike
Robert Amsterdam posts updates on Mikhail Khodorkovsky's hunger strike in protest against the treatment of jailed former Yukos executive Vasily Alexanyan – here and here.
Russia: Internet Regulations
Perspectives on the new Russia writes about the Russian government's plans to regulate the internet.
China: Hu Jia's family become human “state secrets”
And likely very skinny ones at this point, having been locked away from journalists and lawyers and bringers of milk formula for over a month now. Since AIDS activist-turned house arrested blogger Hu Jia's arrest, he's been described as a one-man human rights organization, that bloggers like him are the...
Yemen: Free Kareem Site Blocked
Yemeni blogger Sami Noman says that the Free Kareem site is blocked in his country. Free Kareem was set up by activists to call for the release of Egyptian blogger Kareem Nabil Sulaiman, who has been sentenced to four years for insulting Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and Islam on his...
Egypt: TV Producer Howida Taha Arrested
“Howida Taha Al-Jazeera's producer who is standing in front of the Egyptian courts for the charges of defaming and spreading lies about Egypt , the Egyptian police and interior ministry was arrested today for filming documentaries without permission !!!” announced Egyptian blogger Zeinobia.
Belarus, Latvia: “Ploshcha”
Marginalia watches Ploshcha (“The Square”), a film about the March 2006 mass protests in Minsk – “and watching it is a good way to mark Ceauşescu's birthday and Suharto's death” – and muses on freedom in Latvia and the lack of it in Belarus.
Bermuda: Police-Blogger Suspended
Bermudan Police Officer and blogger Allan Palmer reports that he is officially “on suspension” following a blog post that he wrote.
China: Mobile Surveillance Shock?
Imagethief comments on the xenophobic news report of mobile surveillance in China and suggests the Chinese side to choose their words wiser.
Tunisia: Four Lebanese Jailed for Facebook Remark
Tunisian Subzero Blue wonders after reading about the arrest of four Lebanese students for making crude remarks on Facebook: “When people get thrown into jail for stuff like this you can't help but feel how long the road ahead still is. Should this really be an issue? Don't these judges...
Russia: Kasyanov and Invalid Signatures
Mark MacKinnon writes about Mikhail Kasyanov's failed attempt to run for president and provides “an incomplete list of the invalid signatures phenomenon in post-Soviet elections.”
Iran:”Women Magazine” was banned
Razeno informs [Fa] us that “Women Magazine” after being published for 16 years,was banned by Iranian government today,on 28th of January.The blogger says that this magazine published an article about “martyrdom seekers”. Article's title was “they go to be killed in order to kill”.You can see the cover of the...
Egypt: Abu Tarika
Sports and politics? Eman Abd Al Rahman sheds light on how an Egyptian football player manages to make his voice count on the soccer field.
Thailand: Book on Coup Banned
Bangkok Pundit and New Mandala comment on a book that is now banned in Thailand.
China: Auditing Device for Censorship
CNbeta has an anonymous post about new censorship method. It is an auditing device for tracking down uploading and downloading content at schools, hotels, internet cafe, etc.
Yemen blocks independent news websites
Numerous Yemeni websites have been blocked recently by government-controlled ISPs. Among them is the popular YemenPortal, Yemen’s first multi-source news crawler and search engine, which extracts headlines from news sites that are being blocked by the authorities. YemenPortal is inviting Yemeni internet users to access the website through a mirror they build at yemen.arabiaportal.net.
Lithuania: Vytautas Sriubikis; the Hill of Crosses
Viola in Vilnius writes about Lithuanian flautist Vytautas Sriubikis – and briefly mentions the Hill of Crosses, quite an extraordinary place near the town of Siauliai, which “not surprisingly is a hill covered in crosses, and a bit of a place of pilgrimage.”
Serbia: Support for Vladimir Vukčević
Alan Jakšić of Balkan Anarchist declares his support for Serbia's war crimes prosecutor Vladimir Vukčević, who has recently “received a death threat from fellow Serbs in the diaspora.”
