Stories about Protest from November, 2007
Georgia: Media Doubts
Casting doubts over the reliability of the media in the South Caucasus, TOL Georgia says that an earlier report about one protester dying as a result of the clash in Tbilisi last week has been removed from the pro-opposition news source. During the April 2004 crackdown on opposition protests in...
Iran:Several Sufi Muslims Arrested
According to [Fa]Gonabadi blog,security forces attacked Sufi Muslims (dervishes) in Borujerd in Lorestan province and arrested more than 200 of them. The blogger says about 50 of these Sufi Muslims were beaten up and got injured.International media reports this event too.
Georgia: Discontent
Social Science in the Caucasus, the blog of the Caucasus Resource Research Center, takes the opportunity after last week's unrest in Tbilisi to analyze data collected since 2004 on the level of discontent in Georgian society.
Georgia: Media Concerns
Resistance Georgia says that unless Imedia TV returns to the air, the 5 January presidential election can hardly be considered “in any way democratic.”
Malaysia: Street Protest for Fair Elections
Jeff Ooi has images and videos from the protest organised by the opposition parties and NGOs. The protests called for free and fair elections.
Georgia: Protestor Dies
Quoting news sources, TOL Georgia says that one protestor has died as a result of last week's clash between opposition supporters and Georgian police in Tbilisi.
Georgia: Accusations
Resistance Georgia points the finger at the Deputy Chair of Parliamentary Defence Committee for masterminding last week's suppression and violent dispersal of an opposition protest in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi. Incidentally, the anti-Saakashvili blog by human rights lawyer Anna Dolidze has also been quoted by the New York Times.
Georgia: Ambassador Resigns
Resistance Georgia and TOL Georgia report that Levan Mikeladze has resigned as Georgian Ambassador to Switzerland in protest at last week's police crackdown in Tbilisi. TOL Georgia applauds the diplomat for his courage while Resistance Georgia reproduces his letter explaining why.
Georgia: Non-violent Resistance
Via TOL Georgia and Unzipped, the former President of the Georgian Young Lawyers Association, Anna Dolidze, has set up a blog dedicated to “non-violent resistance to Saakashvili's dictatorial regime in Georgia.”
Georgia: Democracy in Crisis
TOL Georgia reports that democracy is in crisis in Georgia and says that it is obvious that Saakashvili will do anything in order to avoid the fate of his predecessor who he was responsible for removing from power in 2003.
Russia: Aleksei Pichugin's Trial Blogger Nominated for the BOBs
For the second year in a row, LJ user sivilia-1 (Russian journalist Vera Vasilieva) is taking part in Deutsche Welle's Best of the Blogs Awards (the BOBs). Her blog is devoted to coverage of the case of Aleksei Pichugin, former security chief of former oil giant Yukos, sentenced to life in prison for involvement in at least three murders; his arrest in 2003 marked the beginning of the Kremlin's attack against Mikhail Khodorkovsky. In the post translated below, sivilia-1 explains to her critics the choice of her blogging subject matter.
Pakistan: Student Protests update
An update on student protests at LUMS in Lahore at Naitazi.com.
Georgia: Update
Oneworld Multimedia has posted an update on the situation in Georgia following the declaration of a state of emergency after this week's clashes with police in central Tbilisi. The blog also notes that the former French Ambassador to Georgia and ex-Georgian Foreign Minister has said that she will consider running...
Georgia: A True Democrat?
La Russophobe says that the decision by Mikhail Saakashili to hold an early presidential election is sign that the Georgian president is a “true democrat.” The blog argues that the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, would not have done the same under similar circumstances.
Japan: Stop Fingerprinting Non-Japanese
Arudou Debito announced an action on November 20 at the Justice Ministry against the policy on fingerprinting of non-Japanese.
Georgia: Election Gamble
Registan also has more on news that a early presidential election has been scheduled for January 5 in Georgia. The blog says that the move by the country's president is “tentatively good news for Georgia and the US” and “hopefully will put Georgia back on more or less the right...
Georgia: Early Presidential Election
TOL Georgia reports that an early presidential election has been called for January following clashes with police in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi. In an earlier post, the same blog asks who is to blame for the situation in the country.
Ukraine: 1,000 Riot Police vs 50 Crimean Tatars
Ukrainiana critiques TV coverage of the recent clash between nearly a thousand of Ukrainian riot police and 50 Crimean Tatars at Mount Ay-Petri in Crimea – and asks some questions: “Why is it that some have to bear the full brunt of the law while others stay above the law?...
Pakistan: Student Protests, Police and the Underground Life
Students in Pakistan have joined activists in protesting the state of emergency imposed in the country. On 3rd November, the Lahore School of Management Sciences (LUMS) released a draft resolution on behalf of the faculty, students and staff condemning “gross political injustices that the nation has experienced in the past...
Georgia: Armenia Urges Political Solution
Oneworld Multimedia says that the Armenian Foreign Ministry has urged a “political solution” to the crisis in neighboring Georgia. As up to 90 percent of Armenian trade passes through Georgia, the blog says that such a declaration was to be expected.
Georgia: Online Petition
Unzipped posts details of and a link to an online petition which calls upon the international community to intervene in Georgia following yesterday's clash in central Tbilisi. It also requests the release of political prisoners, the lifting of the state of emergency as well as an end to restrictions on...