Stories about Freedom of Speech from June, 2009
Iran: Art for protest's sake
Bloggers and citizen artists online have been creating designs and cartoons to add a touch of art to the insistent Iranian protest movement that has risen in response the June 12 presidential election results.
China: Internet boycott on July 1st?
ESWN translated Ai Weiwei's call for internet boycott on July 1st and some other opposite opinions on the boycott action. There are other actions call, such as this 2009 Declaration of the Anonymous Netizens.
Ukraine: MP Viktor Lozynsky's Case
Ukrainiana writes about Viktor Lozynsky, a Ukrainian MP who has recently been involved in the brutal shooting of a 53-year-old unemployed man.
Qatar: Media Freedom Centre Head Resignation Mourned and Celebrated
After a tumultuous eight months as director-general of the nascent Doha Centre for Media Freedom, Robert Ménard announces his resignation. The centre, which will also lose three department heads, will continue to operate. Bloggers from Qatar weigh in. Doha bloggers, many of whom have been closely watching the DCMF's movements for signs that the region is finally moving toward media freedom, are expressing mixed emotions about this outcome - some, utterly delighted, while others, completely dismayed.
Bahrain: The Word Is Out
Bahraini blogger Mohammed AlMaskati comments on how easy it is to get the ‘real’ news about Bahrain today, from outside the country at least: “A simple search for the word ‘Bahrain’ will return you clips of demonstrations, anti-governmental poetry, sermons and riots…The views of our so-called ‘opposition’ are out for...
Israel: 7th Most Internet Connected Country in World
Israel is the world's 7th most internet connected society, reports Lirun of East Med Sea Peace. “It means many things,” he writes: “Freedom of information, freedom of expression, freedom of e-activism, freedom of e-entrepreneurship, freedom of media verification, freedom of online association and congregation. It's unlimited…”
Fiji: A roadmap towards elections?
Fiji’s Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama told an audience his government will soon begin work on the country’s new constitution and a “road map” to elections set to take place in 2014. He didn’t provide a timetable, or framework, but it is the first signs of the country gaining a new political and social code since April, when the President annulled the country’s 1997 Constitution.
Iran: Neda becomes a symbol for the protesters
Neda was an Iranian woman who was shot dead by Basij militia on Saturday during a protest of thousands against the Iranian presidential election results that declared Mahmoud Ahmadinejad president. Her death was captured on video by bystanders and uploaded to the internet. She died with her eyes wide open, and her last moments reached millions of people.
Russia: Views on Events in Iran
“As hundreds of thousands protesters fill the streets of Tehran and other provincial centers, one can’t help think that we’ve seen this all before,” writes Sean Guillory of Sean's Russia Blog, comparing the events in Iran to “the ‘colored revolutions’ in Ukraine, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, (the failed attempts in) Moldova and...
Ukraine: Blogging Priest Scandal
Profy writes about a scandal involving a Ukraine-based Russian Orthodox priest – LJ user abbatus-mozdok – whose blogging manners were deemed inappropriate by the church officials.
Bahrain: Newspaper Suspended For A Day
On Monday, 22 June, Bahrain's oldest newspaper in circulation Akhbar Al Khaleej was suspended for the day after printing an article critical of certain Iranian leaders and making reference to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's alleged Jewish origins. The move would seem to have been made to avoid provoking unrest amongst the Shi'a majority in Bahrain.
Egypt: Play and put an end to Torture
Against Torture in Egypt posted this game - designed by IRCT (The International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims) – on the occasion of the United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture (June 26).
Egyptian Rap Song in support of Iran
Urging Egyptian youth to fight against corruption, Wa7da Masreya posted an Egyptian rap song [EN & AR] in support of Iran.
Jordan: MPs Drafting a Law which requires Website Passwords
A new electronic sites law is being reviewed and drafted by the Jordanian Parliament which requires website administrators to provide their site's passwords to the government's Printing and Publication Directorate. In case the admins refuse, says the draft, the sites will be closed down by the concerned authorities. Blogger Osama Romoh reacts to the news.
China: More corpses found in Shishou hotel; disputes continue.
The death of a chef triggered a mass protest that finally brought over ten thousand armed police into the town for crackdown. The dead’s families along with thousands of people resisted the police and protected the corpse, because they know once the body was taken away, the death would be identified as a suicide and the truth will be lost forever.
Trinidad & Tobago: R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Trinidad and Tobago-based blogger Attillah Springer addresses the judge whose ruling caused construction on the proposed Alutrint aluminium smelter to come to a halt: “This victory is for denuded hills and depleted fish stocks. This victory is for every unsolved crime, every unkept campaign promise. What you have done has...
Breezeblog: Valuing a Free Press
As Breezeblog links to a story which reports that 24 journalists have been arrested in Iran, he reminds “all Bermudians to value their right and access to a free press more than ever.”
United Kingdom: Court decides against a blogger's rights to anonymity
A new legal precedent has been set for UK bloggers. Last week, in the England and Wales High Court, Mr Justice Eady ruled that a police officer who previously wrote about his working life on his NightJack blog, did not have the right to remain anonymous.
Russia: Birthday interview with Khodorkovsky
Dziennik Rosyjski [POL] encourages people to pose questions, by way of Gazeta.ru, to Russian jailed energy tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky on his fifth birthday in incarceration.
China: July 1 Operation: Jump the Great Fire Wall
Wenyunchao called for a joint operation to demonstrate against the Green Dam on July 1 via twitter: Operation July 1: Oppose Green Dam, unite and jump the Great FireWall (translated by goldkorn)
Iran: Suffering in Iran
An Iranian blogger writes in Namnam blog, how he was arrested in Shiraz when he participated in a protest demonstration. The blogger says he was beaten up and humilated by security forces for more than one hour.
