Stories about Freedom of Speech from November, 2007
Poland: Public Media Funding
The beatroot writes about sources of funding for Poland's public media.
Syria: A Protest Against Censorship
To crown the two months of rapid internet censorship, last week the Syrian government decided to block Facebook (The popular social network site) and Shabablek, a very popular local forum for young people, among other websites. Now, cyberactivists are defying the challenge and demanding their freedom of speech.
Iran:Reza Valizadeh,a leading blogger was arrested
According to[Fa] Negarakha and many other bloggers,Reza Valizadeh,journalist and blogger,was arrested today in Tehran.The blogger has been Baznegar site's manager.
Iraq: Assasination Attempt Against Journalists
Ladybird from Iraq claims that there was an assassination attempt against two Al Hayat reporters for revealing forgery.
Uzbekistan: Harrassing Journalists
Joshua Foust calls not to forget the journalists who have given their lives in the pursuit of truth, taking Uzbekistan as an example, although he notes that journalists are not being killed there as often as in, say, Russia.
Russia: The Communist Opposition
Sean's Russia Blog reports on the Western media reactions to the Dissenter’s March and notes: “You wouldn’t known the Communist were in contention if you rely on English media for your electoral news. […] However distance the KPRF may be numerically, maybe its time to face reality and see them...
Russia: The Opposition(s)
A post and a subsequent discussion of the “strange symbiotic relationship between power and resistance” – in Russia and elsewhere – at Sean's Russia Blog.
Russia: Interviews With Kasparov's Lawyers
Robert Amsterdam posts interviews with two of Garry Kasparov's lawyers – Karinna Moskalenko and Olga Mikhailova – who talk about his arrest following an opposition rally on Saturday.
Russia: Katrina vanden Heuvel on Dmitry Muratov
At Editor's Cut blog, the Nation‘s Katrina vanden Heuvel writes about the volatile pre-election situation in Russia and about Dmitry Muratov, “a tenacious and brave editor” of Novaya Gazeta, who was in New York last week to receive the Committee to Protect Journalist's International Press Freedom Award.
Russia: Election “Without a Choice”
Mark MacKinnon writes about one of the creators of Russia's “managed democracy” system and the lessons drawn by Putin from the Orange Revolution in Ukraine and the Rose Revolution in Georgia: “Who cares what the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe election monitors have to say? They're all tools...
Russia: Campaign Update
De Rebus Antiquis Et Novis posts an update on the election campaign.
Ukraine: Holodomor Commemoration
Taras Kuzio writes about the changing attitudes towards Holodomor. Ukrainiana posts photos from the Holodomor commemoration ceremony that took place in Kyiv Saturday.
Iran:Students were beaten up in prison
In Allameblog,Ali Tavakoli says[Fa] that his brother, Majid Tavakoli, and Ahmad Ghasabian,two jailed student activists,were beaten up by security agents in prison and were injured seriously.
Georgia: Media Petition
Resistance Georgia reports that Georgian journalists on both sides of the political divide are signing a petition to protest Imedi TV beign taken off the air during the recent clashes in Tbilisi.
Qatar: Dubai Closes Pakistani TV Stations
“One of the ugly fallouts of the state of emergency in Pakistan was the media crackdown by Musharraf's regime,” writes Qatar-based blogger Abdurahman Warsame, who adds that the UAE closed down two Pakistani television stations.
Ukraine: Maidan is 3
Ukrainiana posts photos and video from the third anniversary of the Orange Revolution in Kyiv and criticizes president Yushchenko for not being self-critical enough: “What about our purchasing power? What about our average life expectancy? What about the AIDS epidemic? What about the casualty rate in the mining industry? What...
Russia: “Dirty Tricks” and Opinion Polls
Ten day to go before the Russian Duma election, Dmitri Minaev of De Rebus Antiquis Et Novis reports on the "dirty tricks" used in this year's campaign, and LJ user drugoi conducts an online opinion poll, whose results, among other things, show that the new parliament is likely to be elected by the Russian bloggers' grandmothers.
Iran: Arrest and Destruction
The Iranian government has continued its policy of repression against women's rights activists and Sufi Muslims in recent weeks. Maryam Hosseinkhah, a women’s rights activist and journalist was arrested a few days ago, and a Sufi Muslims’ Center was destroyed by security forces about one week ago.
Russia: Pre-Election “Excesses”
Sean Guillory “can’t help chuckle at the Putin and United Russia’s excesses.”
Bahamas, Cuba: At The Crossroads
WeblogBahamas.com links to US Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez's speech at a Heritage Foundation series called Cuba at the Crossroads.
China: Mars Language
Lu ren is so frustrated about the sensitive words censorship that he starts to explore the application of Mars language (zh): a combination of Chinese words and Pinyin. For example, “i” stands for “love” in Chinese.
