· December, 2006

Stories about Freedom of Speech from December, 2006

Chile: Pinochet & Jara

  20 December 2006

Justin Delacour posts an article written by Alexander Billet, which examines Pinochet's legacy as it relates to “radicals” like Victor Jara, “a songwriter and poet; a deadly combination to any iron-fisted regime…”

Russia: “Chess Revolution”

  19 December 2006

Very Russian writes about what could have been Russia's “Chess Revolution”: “This is beginning, just slightly, to look like what’s been the Kremlin’s worst nightmare since the Orange Revolution.” Sean's Russia Blog has more on this weekend's protest – here and here.

Estonia: Amnesty International Report

  19 December 2006

David McDuff of A Step At A Time (and Edward Lucas) – on Amnesty International's “report on Estonia which – almost incredibly – charges that country with “human rights abuses” allegedly committed against its Russian-speaking residents.”

Lebanon: Hassan Nassrallah

  19 December 2006

The secretary general of Hezbollah S H Nassrallah and his speech that was directed to the demonstrators partaking in the sit-in protest in Beirut was the subject of many posts in the Lebanese blogs this week. And as usual, the opinions are as diverse as the political point of views...

GV Summit Delhi '06 Session Four: Tools and Technology

  18 December 2006

The room is alive with post-coffee buzz, as this session, led by Salam Adil and Preetam Rai, tries to get under the skin of the tools and technology that would broaden out the range of people writing and reading blogs worldwide. In Salam’s twist on GV’s tagline, The world is...

Russia: “The Dissenters’ March”

  16 December 2006

Marsh Nesoglasnykh (“The Dissenters’ March” or “The March of Those Who Disagree”) – screenshot from the rally's website, www.namarsh.ru According to news reports, over 2,000 people showed up at a “rare” anti-government rally in Moscow today. LJ user rifleman_sa has posted a photo report (RUS) from the Marsh Nesoglasnykh (“The...

Russia: Litvinenko's Poisoning an Accident?

  14 December 2006

Copydude believes that Litvinenko's lethal poisoning could have actually been “a smuggling accident.” Also, here's his overview of Russia's unfriendly relations with its neighbors and the West: “Poland has a beef ban and an energy problem. Poland has a port blockaded by Kaliningrad. The lifeline Odessa-Plok pipeline has just been...

Serbia: Belgrade Blog Roundup

  14 December 2006

From portraits of the city soul that abound in details of daily life to corruption allegations and the latest riots that occurred at a basketball game, find out more about this Balkan metropolis. Belgrade, Nov. 2005 – by seriocomico Dule Nedeljkovic writes about an ordinary morning in Serbia's capital (SRP):...

DRC: “Kabila Wants to Kill Our Families”

  13 December 2006

According to UDPS Liege, (Fr) Zacharie Babaswabe, a spokesperson for President Kabila, recently said on national television that: “If [diaspora Congolese] continue to threaten us in Europe, we are going to attack their families [who live in the Congo].” The blog concludes: “The killings at the hands of the UPI...

Poland: Martial Law Remembered

  13 December 2006

The beatroot writes what the martial law in Poland felt – and tasted – like: “Martial Law, Poland, December 13, 1981 […] tasted like plastic. There is an evocative free gift with this week’s edition of Newsweek Polska. It’s a little box of chocolates. Inside the period looking box are...

Russia: The Blogosphere

  13 December 2006

ZheZhe [dot] us – a blog run by people who position themselves as “neither Russophiles or Russophobes, but Russorealists” – has a lengthy review of the Russian blogosphere. It also welcomes translations and original English-language posts by Russian bloggers (see comments to this post at Siberian Light).

South Asia : People, Prayers, Movies and Politics

  13 December 2006

The latest buzz from different blogs from South Asia: Bangladesh: - Mezba of a Bengali in TO, a Bangladeshi expat living in Canada describes why is it beneficial to sacrifice an animal back to his country during Eid-ul-Azha. - Rumi of Drishtipat predicts the fate of Bangladesh's future if the...

Anguilla: New Anti-Corruption Blog

  12 December 2006

Anguilla has a new blog dedicated to speaking out against corruption and Adam applauds the effort, saying, “It's challenging to engage in conversations about changing public life when you're on a small island.”

Lebanon: Demonstrations, Demonstrations

  12 December 2006

A series of anti-government or opposition and pro-government protests and demonstrations are literally taking the country by storm. Lebanese bloggers are, as expected, expressing their positions, whether pro, con or independent through opinions, analysis, sarcasm, art, etc. The posts quoted here are, as usual, not all inclusive. All the other...

Global Voices Delhi summit – only a few days to go!

  11 December 2006

The last details are being put together for the Global Voices annual summit being held in Delhi on Saturday 16 December. But the physical location shouldn't make a difference – please join us online from wherever you are! You can join via Internet Relay Chat (IRC). The IRC address is...

Student Protest, Election and USA-Iran Talks

  11 December 2006

According to the mainstream media and bloggers thousands of Iranian students demonstrated on the 6th of December in different Iranian universities around the country. The main slogan was “University is Alive”. University students and academics have gone through a very difficult time since last year. During this period some student...