Stories about Freedom of Speech from November, 2010
Azerbaijan: Video blogger Adnan Hajizade released
In a surprise decision, an Appeal Court in Azerbaijan today ordered the conditional release of video blogging youth activist Adnan Hajizade. The news, as well as reaction, quickly spread on Facebook and Twitter.
Azerbaijan: Video blogging youth activist released
Threatened Voices has changed the status and updated the profile page of video blogging youth activist Adnan Hajizade following news that an Appeal Court in Azerbaijan ordered his conditional release earlier today after 16 months in detention. Despite significant international outcry, however, Emin Milli, an associate of Hajizade arrested at...
Ukraine: Press Freedom and Civil Society
At OpenDemocracy.net, Iryna Kolodiychyk writes about the “encroachment on media transparency and press freedom” in Ukraine, while Olena Tregub and Oksana Shulyar analyze some of the recent civic activism initiatives and conclude that Ukraine's “civil society may be reformatting itself, to develop perhaps a more potent civic power for future...
Egypt: Kareem Amer is Free!
After spending a total of 1,470 days in prison, Egyptian blogger Kareem Amer has finally been released. That period is 10 more days than the four year sentence he was slapped with for insulting Islam and President Mohammed Hosni Mubarak of Egypt on his blog.
Russia: Siberian Light's Weekly Blog Roundup
Weekly Russia Blog Roundup at Siberian Light covers the week of Nov. 13.
Russia: A Selection of Kashin's Blog Posts Translated
More on journalist Oleg Kashin's case from the Anglophone Russia blogosphere: on OpenDemocracy.net, Mumin Shakirov translates and analyzes a selection of Kashin's blog posts; Sean's Russia Blog writes that Kashin “has become yet another assault weapon in a much larger political battle.”
Tunisia: Launch a Blog Campaign Kicks Off
After a seven-month lull in blogging activities, thanks to a crackdown by authorities which resulted in the blockage of more than 100 blogs, Tunisian bloggers are joining forces to encourage even more people to start sharing their thoughts and experiences online. Launch a Blog campaign has just been launched with the aim of attracting new bloggers to fight back censorship.
Russia-France: Antifascists Rally for Khimki Forest in Louvre
French antifascists shot a video [FR/EN] of a protest action in Louvre, France. Activists demanded cancellation of the highway that would cross Khimki forest park as well as stopping prosecution against Alexey Gaskarov and Maxim Solopov, two activists who are incriminated in assaulting Khimki City administration.
Cuba: Before & After
Translating Cuba blogs about the two most over-used words in the country, adding: “There is a third reality that belies the stubborn reality: both Before and After contain everything.”
Cuba: Prisoners Still in Jail
Sin Evasion says of the missed deadline to release the remaining prisoners of conscience: “Once again, the government has proven that it doesn’t know how to honor its commitments.”
Russia: Anti-Corruption Blogger Claims Officials Stole 4 Billion Dollars
Alexey Navalny‘s website navalny.ru is down after publishing materials on Transneft, Russian oil pipeline operator. The compromising materials claiming that top officials were involved in stealing over 4 billion dollars from the government budget, however, are available at his LiveJournal account [RUS] and several mirror websites (here and here).
Latvia: The Kristovskis Scandal
All About Latvia covers the xenophobia scandal that involves Latvia's new foreign minister Ģirts Valdis Kristovskis – here, here, and here.
Trinidad & Tobago: Illegal Spying
Trin joins “in the national outrage and wait[s] for action” as more details come to light about illegal wiretapping of citizens by the former government.
Ecuador: The Government and Social Networking
Use of the Internet and social networks by the government of Ecuador is rapidly increasing. Is this an attempt to increase government transparency, a new media strategy or alternatively, is this the government's way of bypassing the media silence?
Brazil: more criticism of media regulation
André Kenji, from the blog Dissidência, compares [pt] media regulation in Brazil and the USA, saying that public TV licenses cannot be treated as the private property of media owners. Meanwhile, Jorge Seadi at Sul21 comments [pt] that UNESCO has also proposed more independent control over the media in Brazil.
Iran: Mehdi Khazali, jailed blogger was released
Several news sites reported that Mehdi Khazali, jailed blogger and physician was released on 200000 dollars bail.
North Korea: A Closer Look At North Korea, By A Russian Web Designer
Photos of North Korea taken by a Russian web designer, has been retweeted by @chakanangma, @demoon84 and many other South Korean Twitterers.
Nigeria: Remembering an Activist, Fifteen Years After his Execution
In 1995 Ken Saro-Wiwa, a prominent activist and outspoken critic of the oil industry in Nigeria, was executed along with eight of his associates. Saro-Wiwa was a hero for many Nigerians, and his execution inflamed the international community against the notoriously authoritarian regime of Sani Abacha and the practices of Royal Dutch Shell. Fifteen years after his death, bloggers reflect on his legacy.
Cuba: A Call to Keep Up the Pressure
Uncommon Sense re-posts “an extraordinary interview” with one of the Damas de Blanco, who “calls on the international community to pressure the Castro dictatorship to free her husband and 12 other prisoners who have refused forced exile as a condition of their release.”
Russia: Commentary on Oleg Kashin Beating
A roundup of the English-language reports and commentary on the beating of journalist Oleg Kashin (as well as the cases of Mikhail Beketov, Konstantin Fetisov and Anatoly Adamchuk): Julia Ioffe at Foreign Policy and The Moscow Diaries (here and here); Miriam Elder at GlobalPost; Natalia Antonova at GlobalComment; Poemless; Sean's...
Russia: Khodorkovsky's Final Statement; Kuril Islands Dispute
The Moscow Diaries, Robert Amsterdam, and Siberian Light reprint Mikhail Khodorkovsky's closing statement delivered in a Moscow courtroom on Nov. 2. Vadim Nikitin and Anatoly Karlin discuss the Khodorkovsky case and the Kuril Islands dispute – here, here, and here.
