Stories about Freedom of Speech from November, 2010
Russia: Interview With @KermlinRussia
A Good Treaty does a short interview with @KermlinRussia (RUS), who “regularly posts acerbic, ironic tweets mocking news stories about Russia’s leaders”: “For instance, hours after news emerged that journalist Oleg Kashin was savagely beaten and put into a medically-induced coma, Kermlin tweeted the following: ‘Today’s beating of oppositionist journalist...
Ukraine: FEMEN Activists Protest Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani's Death Sentence
A group of female activists from FEMEN protested the death sentence given to Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani in front of the Iranian Embassy in Kyiv on Nov. 3 (a YouTube video) and at the opening ceremony for an event promoting Iranian culture on Thursday (photos of the topless protesters by Sergei Svetlitsky,...
Trinidad & Tobago: Fazeer's Firing
Bloggers discuss the firing of talk show host Fazeer Mohammed – KnowTnT.com: “If the first premise of a national media house is to promote government's agenda then it is their right to hire agents who will work towards this…”; Lisa Allen-Agostini counters: “If it is government policy to usurp the...
Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago: Illegal Monitoring
As news breaks that illegal interception of private conversations was taking place within Trinidad and Tobago's National Security Ministry, Barbados Underground wonders whether the same thing could be happening in Barbados and asks: “Who is guarding the guards?”
South Korea: Unicef T-shirt Guy Blocked From Entering G20 Venue
As G 20 Summit kicks off tomorrow, the summit venue is under maximum security. The government's ‘too much security’, though understandable, has drawn public annoyance online. Twitterer @michaelPARK83 tweeted that he had been blocked [ko]from entering the summit venue only because he was wearing a T-shirt with certain words on, which was ‘Unicef’.
Brazil: why does the media fear debate?
On his blog, Ricardo Kotscho asks himself [pt] why Brazil's mainstream media is so afraid to debate new regulation of the sector. Meanwhile, Rogério Tomaz Jr, from the blog Conexão Brasília Maranhão, discusses [pt] the need for greater social control of the media in order to promote democracy.
Russia: Soccer Hooligans Might Be Involved in Assault on Oleg Kashin
Investigative blogger Anticompromat re-posts [RUS] a new version of attack on Oleg Kashin. He quotes LJ-user cleric_r saying that the assault might be connected with soccer fan groups. Kashin knew way too much about the relations between soccer fan groups, pro-Kremlin youth movements, and President's Staff. LJ-user semen_f19 adds [RUS]...
Kazakhstan: LiveJournal Suspends Oppositioner's Account
LiveJournal has suspended account of Rakhat Aliev, Kazakh opposition politician and a former president Nazarbaev‘s son-in-law, LJ-user Dolboeb reports. Previously Kazakhstan blocked entire LiveJournal in order to silence Aliev. At the same time, it is the second suspicious suspension in LiveJournal – on November 3, 2010 Russian opposition blogger pilgrim_67...
Trinidad & Tobago: Silencing the Media
“Fazeer Mohammed is a writer and broadcaster in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad. Last Saturday he was fired from the Caribbean New Media Group, a STATE-RUN media house in T&T”: The Undisputed Truth finds it curious that “his removal came right after a little confrontational interview with government Minister Dr. Suruj Rambachan.”
Chile: Students Walk More Than a Thousand Kilometers for Public Education
Three Chilean university students began walking this past September 30th. They walk for Chilean education and will cover more than 1000 km through Chile until they arrive in Santiago, the capitol. They march in a peaceful protest against the privatization of education in their country.
China: Comments on Ai Weiwei's River Crab Banquet
Over the weekend, prominent Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei was under house arrest, a move believed to be coming from powerful political figures in Shanghai. Ai had planned to fly to Shanghai to host a goodbye party at his condemned studio on Sunday. Although the authorities say the studio...
Egypt: Blogger Kareem Amer Still in Jail
“After 1460 days in prison, Kareem officially completes his prison sentence. Tomorrow will mark exactly 4 years since his imprisonment on November 6, 2006. Unfortunately, Kareem has yet to be freed,” reports Free Kareem, on the fate of the Egyptian blogger Kareem Amer.
Nepal: Analysis Of Blocked Sites
XNepali Blog posts a two part analysis on the blocked sites in Nepal and finds that some sites were included in the ban list wrongly.
Cuba: The Remaining 13
“No individual Cuban not named Orlando Zapata Tamayo is more responsible for the release this year of 39 Cuban prisoners of conscience than Guillermo Farinas”: Uncommon Sense reports that the hunger striker will re-start his protest if Cuba does not release all the political prisoners as promised.
Russia: More Assaults on Journalists
Igor Podgorny reports on the attack on Sergey Mikhailov, Saratov journalist, that took place on November 5th, 2010. Kommersant writes about another attack on Anatoliy Adamchuk, journalist from Zhukovskiy city (Moscow region). Adamchuk was assaulted on November 7th, 2010.
Armenia: Digital Democracy
Writing on Ararat, Global Voices author Simon Maghakyan, sponsor of a recent online petition demanding the passage of legislation against domestic violence in his native Armenia, comments on the increasing use of new and social media by activists in the former Soviet republic.
Indonesia: Cyber attacks against groups which exposed torture video
The websites of groups which exposed the torture video in West Papua involving Indonesian soldiers have been targets of cyber attacks last week.
Russia: Bloggers Discuss Attack on Journalist Oleg Kashin
The brutal attack on Oleg Kashin, a prominent Russian blogger and journalist, became topic #1 in RuNet several hours after it had occurred. Kashin is still in a medically induced coma; his legs, jaws and fingers are broken, one of the fingers on his hand has been amputated. The main questions that the bloggers are asking now are, "Who did this?" and "Will the attackers and their patrons be punished?" While there are at least three possible answers to the first question, there's no answer for the second one.
Russia: Demanding Adequate Investigation of Attack on Kashin
A dozen people or so have gathered in front of the Moscow Criminal Police building (Petrovka, 38), demanding an adequate investigation of last night's attack on journalist Oleg Kashin, who is now in a medically induced coma. Some photos and Twitter reports (RUS; hashtag #KSHN) – by @plushev, @berillii, @adagamov,...
Russia: Journalist Oleg Kashin Severely Beaten in Moscow
Journalist Oleg Kashin (LJ user kashin/@KSHN) was severely beaten in Moscow Friday night and is now in intensive care. LJ users p0grebizhskaya and navalny host some of the initial Russophone discussions on the attack; Twitter reactions (RUS) are here. One of Kashin's recent texts for the Russian daily Kommersant dealt...
Denmark: Kurdish TV Station Accused of Supporting Terrorism
Roj TV, a Kurdish-language satellite television station based in Denmark has been accused of supporting terrorism by the Danish attorney-general. It may lose its broadcasting license once the case goes to trial. The prosecuting authorities claim the station has ties to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).