Stories about Freedom of Speech from January, 2009
Europe: Entropa
Belatedly, links to some posts on Entropa: Margarete of The Foreigner's Guide to Living in Slovakia believes “it should be taken down”; Kosmopolito thinks that “the debate around the project is also part of the installation”; BBC's Mark Mardell writes that “the fact that it is a hoax does not...
Egypt: Blogger Facing Lawsuit
“I spoke before about the Egyptian citizen Journalism blog from Port Said “El Hakika”. Its owner and blogger Tamer Mabrook was facing the first civil lawsuit against a blogger for defaming a corporation,” writes Zeinobia, from Egypt.
Armenia-Turkey: Genocide Historian Responds
My The Caucasian Knot details and comments on attempts by one group in the U.S.-Armenian Diaspora to silence a prominent Genocide historian. Coinciding with the second memorial of Hrant Dink's murder in Istanbul, Ara Sarafian was quoted by the Turkish media as saying it was ironic that many Armenians seeking...
Belarus: “Image Is All”
Catherine Reilly's piece on Belarus – at OpenDemocracy.net (more Belarus stories by the same author – here).
Trinidad & Tobago: The Fourth Summit of the Peoples
Trinidad and Tobago sees the launch of a new blog about “the upcoming fourth Summit of the Peoples, the alternative to the fifth installment of the Summit of the Americas conferences…where emerging…voices from the Caribbean—farmers and fisherfolk, anti-smelter and gender activists—can connect with themselves and others across the globe, and...
Armenia: Musings
Ara Balozian continues to ponder life, the universe and everything on his blog, Ara Home Page. In his two latest posts, the controversial independent writer and thinker considers what it is to be Armenian and contemplates the Armenian view of history.
Bahrain: Scores of Websites Blocked
Scores of websites have been blocked in Bahrain, following a new crackdown by the Ministry of Information. The latest sweep makes sites ranging from Google Translate to those of social, religious, human rights and political groups inaccessible to people in Bahrain.
Thailand: Australian writer jailed for lese majeste
Australian writer Harry Nicolaides was given a three year prison sentence for lese majeste in Bangkok on Monday. He was charged with the offense of offending the monarchy for a passage in a book he published in 2005 titled Verisimilitude. Only 50 copies of the book were ever printed and...
Iran: A popular sport program under fire
Several news sites and blogs reported that '90’ ,a very popular sport program is under fire by government because it criticised Iranian football authorities. Jomhour, an Iran based blogger, says[fa] that Iran Telecommunication sabotaged the system so no one could send any text message to the show. The blogger adds...
Russia: Memorial Event at Prechistenka
LJ user drugoi posts 14 photos from the memorial event that took place earlier today at the spot where lawyer Stanislav Markelov and journalist Anastasia Baburova were shot on Jan. 19.
Turkey: Hrant Dink Murder Unresolved
Journalist in Turkey comments on yesterday's anniversary of the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist and editor, Hrant Dink. The blog says that two years later there is no political will in Turkey to bring the masterminds of the killing to justice.
Turkey: Armenian “Martin Luther King Jr.” Commemorated
The second anniversary of a murdered journalist once again had the power to move mountains in strained relations between between Armenia and Turkey, two states separated by the biblical mount Ararat and an unholy history. Yesterday's commemoration might not have been on such a large scale, but newspaper articles, editorials, and reaction from bloggers show that the murder of a prominent member of Turkey’s dwindling Christian Armenian minority by a Turkish ultra-nationalist continues to shock the world.
China: Control 2.0
David Bandurski from the China Media Project comments on the global media venture proposed by Chinese government by looking into the speech of Li Changchun (李长春), China’s top media control official as the politbruo standing committee member in charge of ideology back in December 2008. The blogger believes that, the...
China: 50 Cents Party Fearmongering
Chinageeks feels that 50 Cents Party will be more an annoyance than threat to web 2.0.
Russia: Lawyer Markelov and Journalist Baburova Shot Dead in Moscow
Russian human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov, 34, was shot to death Jan. 19 as he walked from a news conference in central Moscow. Journalist Anastasia Baburova, 25, who accompanied Markelov, was also shot as she tried to intervene; she died in hospital a few hours later. Many Russian bloggers reacted with shock and outrage to these broad-daylight shootings. Below are some of the initial responses, translated from Russian, as well as links to a few posts in English.
China: Let's All Denounce Each Other!
The anti-smut campaign in China has resulted in websites denouncing each others on indecent, obscene and immoral content. (more from ESWN).
Russia, Israel: Gaza War Online
IZO reports that “a blog in support of the current Israeli military action in Gaza on the super-popular social site odnoklassniki.ru (27 million members) was hacked and destroyed after it entered into polemics with an anti-Israel site on Facebook”; and comments on the controversial post by Anton Nossik/LJ user dolboeb,...
Belarus: A Roundup on Politics
Belated links to posts on media freedom, entrepreneurs’ protests, and web activism in Belarus, a country with the “100% opposition-free” parliament – at Andrei Khrapavitski's Belarusian American Blog.
Bulgaria: Protest in Sofia
Maya Markova of Maya's Corner posts a report on the Jan. 14 rally and rioting in Sofia: “Participants and eye-witnesses say that protesters were given absolutely no order or warning, that they were beaten indiscriminately, including children, women (see photo), elderly people and people already lying on the ground, that...
Lithuania: Rioting in Vilnius
Lituanica reports on the riots in Vilnius: “82 rioters were detained, 15 people were injured. 2 million Litas of damage was done to Seimas. Some of the arrested had knifes, iron bars and Molotov cocktails. The police use tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the crowd of rioters.”
Latvia: Rioting in Riga
In his post about the Jan. 13 peaceful protest rally followed by rioting in Latvia's capital, Aleks Tapinsh of All About Latvia wrote that the country's PM had "told the people in his New Year’s Eve address how penguins deal with severe winter - they huddle together to stay warm - the same way as Latvians ought to do when going through the economic turmoil." What happened in Riga Tuesday has thus been labeled by some as the "penguin revolution." Below are some accounts and opinions from the blogosphere.
