Stories about Freedom of Speech from May, 2008
Russia: Documentary on Politkovskaya
Sean's Russia Blog writes about a new documentary “on the life, work, and death of Anna Politkovskaya.”
Iran: Blogger writes book on the impact of the Internet
Cyrus Farivar is a USA-based blogger, journalist and writer. He is currently working on a book about the impact of the internet on society. Cyrus writes about internet impact on Iran, Senegal, South Korea and Senegal. He was recently in Iran and has taken several photos of Iranian carpets, food,...
China: Ethnically diverse forum shut down
Uighur Online's attraction was in that it tolerated occasionally offensive and hateful opinions as valid parts of discussion; its closure now only demonstrates the short-sightedness of those responsible. As with any influential blog or BBS forum in China, Uighur Online's administrators were already in theory forced to censor any language which might alarm authorities. Now, all talks are off.
Cuba: Warnings from Sanchez
Uncommon Sense links to a post that Havana-based blogger Yoani Sanchez has written, which suggests that she may soon be arrested, saying: “Please pray for this brave woman, and for her continued safety.”
Paraguay: First Actions for Lugo
Edgar Ruiz Diaz of Las Preguntas de Venerando [es] provides his thoughts on the first steps that Paraguayan President-elect Fernando Lugo should take upon taking office, such as lowering his own salary, as well as of senators and deputies.
Government confiscates Cambodia Daily supplement
deathpower reports about the government's confiscation of Cambodia Daily newspaper because of its “Burma Daily” supplement. details are sketchy writes: “The speculation is that the government is worried that the Cambodia Daily will, if it hasn’t already, print embarrassing revelations about the Burmese government, thus causing a fast ally to...
Ukraine: Crimean Tatar Deportations; “Tercuman”
Window on Eurasia writes about the 64th anniversary of the Crimean Tatar deportations by Stalin – and about Tercuman, a newspaper launched by Ismail Gaspirali, a Crimean Tatar educator and publisher.
Croatia: Marko Perkovic Thompson
Balkan Baby writes about Marko Perkovic Thompson, “Croatia's leading rock star of present times.”
Egypt: A Taxi Driver's Words of Wisdom
Israeli-American blogger Daniel Lubetsky, traveling in Egypt, interviews his taxi driver on leading figures in the Middle East. “I asked him to rank people or countries, thumbs up or thumbs down. Here were his rankings on 24 questions from Bush to Ahmadinejad, from Olmert to Nasrallah, from Bin Laden to...
Ukraine: “Great Ukrainians” Voting Fraud?
Okeksandr Demchenko writes about the alleged voting fraud in the “Great Ukrainians” TV show.
Iran:12 women sites got filtered in last 24 hours
Change4equality says [Fa] that 12 Iranian sites supporting women's rights such as Change4equality or Photochange got filtered by Iranian authorities today,19th of May.
India: Orkut and the Indian Police
Writing Cave on a man in India being arrested by the police for publishing “obscene” material about a politician on Orkut.
Jordan: Hackers Eyes on Palestinian Blogs
It's funny how every time I write about Palestine, I get a slew of hack attempts ranging from the most primitive to the most complicated scary ones. I won't get into much details, but I've been noticing a huge amount of unnatural activity,” writes Jordanian blogger Qwaider.
Film censorship in Singapore
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly writes about efforts of the Singapore government to disrupt and stop the screening of a film about former Singapore leader Lee Kuan Yew.
Iran:Six Bahai's Leaders were arrested
Naghidiagr, Iranian blogger, informs [Fa] us that Iranian security forces arrested six Bahai‘s religious leaders in Iran. The blogger reminds that Bahai students have no right to go to univestiy in Iran.
Blogger of the Week: Jillian York
Today's Blogger of the Week celebrates the work of Jillian C York, our Morocco author, and a regular contributor to Voices without Votes. A freelance writer, blogger, and author of a guidebook to Morocco, Jillian currently lives in Boston, US, after spending two memorable years in Meknes, Morocco.
China: Right Time to Question
Many comments said that the whole nation should focus on rescue and put aside criticisms. Garbledtext from Bullog pointed out that it is a right time to question in order to avoid further mistake during the earthquake rescue [zh].
Ukraine: A Blog on Crimea and Crimean Tatars
Lots of interesting and informative posts on Crimea and Crimean Tatars, including the most recent one, with photos, about Khydyrlez, “the annual Crimean Tatar May celebration of strength and vitality” – by Marusia of My Simferopol Home.
Russia: Church vs Blogger Priests
Window on Eurasia writes that the Moscow Patriarchate is planning “to discipline Russian Orthodox priests who use the Internet to advance views at variance with those of the hierarchy or to challenge the church’s leadership in other ways.”
Belarus: Gay Pride and Other Developments
A brief update on Belarus – including the recent gay pride parade in Minsk – at Eternal Remont.
Bulgaria: Murder of Georgi Stoev
Maya of Maya's Corner writes about the murder of writer Georgi Stoev, 35: “In his youth, Stoev was involved in Bulgarian organized crime. […] Later on, he turned his back on mafia and began to write books about it. […] [My husband] usually skips voting, but now every time when...
