Stories from 9 July 2011
Syria: Bloggers Rally for Anas Maarawi
Anas Maarawi is the latest Syrian blogger to have been imprisoned. He was detained on Friday July 1, 2011, in his neighborhood of Kafarsouseh in Damascus, and nothing has been heard of him since. Bloggers are rallying for his release.
Angola: Human Rights Activist “Partially” Released
The Angolan human rights activist Agostinho Chicaia has been released from jail, though he is “still without his passport, thus unable to go back home”, reports [pt] the blog Branqkituma. Chicaia was “arbitrarily arrested” at the airport of Kinshasa (D. R. of Congo) on June 20 “under an international arrest...
Lithuania: Emigration Problems
With a Grain of Druska writes about Lithuania's worsening demographic situation: “[…] Population has decreased about 19 per cent (the same as if 62.3 million US citizens left the U.S.A.). And best case scenario, another 16.7 per cent of the population will disappear. You would think that supporting families, creating...
Malaysia: Bersih Rally on Social Media
More than 1,400 people were arrested by the police in today’s Bersih 2.0 rally which was organized to push for electoral reforms in Malaysia. Police used teargas to disperse a crowd which reached up to 50,000 according to the organizers.
Hungary: Public Media Job Cuts
Hungarian Spectrum writes about the staff cuts at the three Hungarian public media outlets: “My understanding is that the two television stations [MTV and Dune TV] and Magyar Rádió have a total of something like 3,500 employees. From the little one can learn about the government's plans, most likely 1,000...
Macedonia: Singer Shakira and Local Political Propaganda
Razvigor :-) reports that several Macedonian pro-government media outlets have “revived an old Internet hoax about supposed Macedonian roots of global music star Shakira in order to provide more air time for a local politician.”
Greece: Journalist suffers total hearing loss from police brutality
Greek journalist Manolis Kypraios has suffered total hearing loss from injuries sustained while photographing the general strike protests of June 15, 2011 in Athens, Greece. In his testimony [el] posted on Exandas Documentaries, he says he was fired on with a stun grenade at point blank range by a riot police officer, after...
Chile: Former Presidential Candidate Accused of ‘Enslaving’ Employees
Chilean television network Canal 13 has aired a documentary in its program 'Contacto' in which they denounce the bad conditions in which Paraguayan immigrants work in former presidential candidate Francisco Javier Errazuriz's companies - even calling them "slavery". The serious accusation has caused a stir on Twitter.
India: The Impact Of Money Laundering In Swiss Banks
Sharvi Mewada at Youth Ki Awaaz talks about the impact of laundering out black money from India to foreign banks, especially Swiss banks.
Pakistan: Violence In Karachi
Kashif Aziz at Chowrangi writes about the recent wave of political killings and arson in Karachi, which has left more than 100 people dead in last 4 days. The blogger accuses the government for not doing enough to stop these.
Sri Lanka: Wild Animals Get Their Own Hospital
Malaka Rodrigo at Window To Nature informs that a hospital for animals, the first of its kind in Sri Lanka, has been set up in Hiyare Forest Reserve by the Wildlife Conservation Society of Galle (WCSG) with aid from the Nation’s Trust Bank.