Stories about Protest from December, 2012
Journalists, Opposition Thrown Out of Macedonian Parliament Amid Street Protests
On Monday, Dec. 24, the Macedonian capital Skopje was shaken by a violent protest - and a counter-protest - related to the Parliament's approval of the 2013 state budget. Filip Stojanovski reports.
Last-words analysis – Why Tibetans Self-immolate?
Ogyen Kyab has translated Chinese scholar Wang Lixiong's analysis of the reasons behind the Tibetans self-immolation.
Rohingya Refugees Rejected by Singapore
Singapore turned away 40 Rohingya shipwreck survivors who were rescued by a Vietnamese ship. Singapore netizens and human rights groups reacted strongly to the decision of authorities to send away the refugees.
Prank Reveals the Depths of Anti-American Propaganda in the Russian Media
Anonymity affords ordinarily timid individuals the courage and opportunity to behave dishonestly. That, anyway, is the story we typically hear, especially in the context of the Internet. As Oleg Kashin recently pointed...
Hungarian Radio Employee Defends Government on Hidden Camera Video
Atlatszo.hu published [hu] a hidden camera video of Fruzsina Tóth, a protester representing the students (she is also a first-year sociology student), talking to a woman who claimed to be...
Massive Police Presence on “Friday for Detainees” in Saudi Arabia
Shortly after the arrest of Suleiman al-Rashoudi, the head of independent human rights organization Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA), anonymous activist group @e3teqal [which translates to detain] announced that today, December 21, will be a “Friday for Detainees” and called for country-wide sit-ins. Despite heavy police presence, many were able to protest in the country where demonstrations and sit-ins are banned.
Hungarian Protesters Occupy Bridge, Three Students Arrested
Student protest rallies continue in Hungary. On Wednesday night, the protesters occupied a Budapest bridge, and three of them ended up getting arrested.
Video Plea for Public Toilet Facilities in Jharkhand, India
Amit Topno, a ‘Video Volunteers’ community correspondent reports that the residents of Nichitpur village in the Indian State of Jharkhand do not have any working public toilet. The villagers plea...
Tempers Flare As Court Frees Dagestani Boxer Who Killed Russian Teenager
Rasul Mirzaev, a 26-year-old mixed martial arts world champion from Dagestan, is a convicted killer. His victim was a 19-year-old Russian man, Ivan Agafonov, whom he murdered in a scuffle outside a nightclub in August 2011. On November 27, 2012, a Moscow court let him walk free, after a little more than a year in custody. The RuNet has responded with often vehement emotion.
Caribbean: What Happened in 2012 (Part 2)
The first part of this post observed that in the Caribbean blogosphere, the year was punctuated by hunger strikes - the first in Cuba and the second in Trinidad and Tobago. Part 2 of the regional blogosphere's 2012 summary recalls other issues that got Caribbean netizens talking - from the Olympics to the need for greater political transparency…
Reflections on the Croatian Generals’ Acquittal
Alan Jaksic of Balkan Anarchist posts a follow-up to his initial comments on the Nov. 16 reversal of the convictions of the Croatian generals Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markač: […]...
Caribbean: What Happened in 2012 (Part 1)
This year, events in the regional blogosphere were curiously bookended by hunger strikes. Part 1 of this 2012 recap takes a look at the topics that most shaped online discussion in the Bahamian, Cuban and French-speaking Caribbean blogospheres.
Argentina: Remembering December 19, 2001
From Argentina, blogger Rafael, on Fin del capitalismo ¿salvaje? [The end of the wild? capitalism] remembers some of the events [es] occured on December 19, 2001: On the night of...
The Spanish Government's “Boomerang” Hashtag
On December 12, the People's Party (PP) of Madrid decided to launched an information campaign on healthcare reform, creating the hashtag #quenotelienconlasanidad [#dontletthemscrewyouonhealthcare] on Twitter. Thousands of netizens took advantage of the campaign to flood the PP's hashtag with tweets, making it a trending topic for reasons very different from those originally intended by its creators.
Hungarian Students Call for Nationwide Strike
Hungarian high school and college students, who are demanding that the government set university admission quotas to a reasonable level and help those from lower income households to access higher education, are calling for a nationwide strike on Wednesday.
Japan: Signature Campaign Calling for the Release of Anti-Nuclear Scholar
An online signature campaign has been launched to call for the release of Masaki Shimoji, Associate Professor of Economy at Hannan University, who has been arrested by Osaka police on...
Bahrainis Protest on National Day
December 16 and 17 are official holidays in Bahrain. The first day is National Day and the second is to celebrate the accession of King Hamad. Unofficially, December 17 is also Martyrs' Day - a day to remember the scores of victims who have lost their lives over the years as Bahrainis continue to struggle for their political rights. While many celebrated, others took to the streets to protest as turmoil continues to rock this restive Arab state.
Immigrants March for Equal Rights in Brazil
On December 2, a protest organised by foreigners residing in São Paulo took to the streets demanding full access to basic rights like health, security and decent work. The participants were Latin Americans and Africans who live in the city, and are fighting for their rights to be recognised by the Brazilian state.
100,000 March for Rights to Marry for All in France
Hundred thousands people marched in France in support of marriage rights [fr] for all on December 16.
Russian Documentary Filmmakers Abandon YouTube After Police Investigation
On December 12, filmmakers halted the online publication of one of Russia's most curious documentary efforts: "Srok" ("The Term"), a video project hosted on YouTube and LiveJournal, chronicling and capturing the events of the opposition movement. The project's suspension came after federal investigators searched the home of one of its directors.
Minister Wert Sparks Humour on the Net
An article on online newspaper Núvol with the title “Send up #Wert” [ca] collects discussions, cartoons, jokes and word games inspired by statements and the education law reform proposed by...
