Stories from 3 March 2012
Serbia: First Conviction for Online Hate Speech
The High Court in Belgrade has recently brought its first conviction for online hate speech, sentencing Simo Vladičić to three months in prison and two years of probation for threatening members of the LGBT community via the Facebook group 500.000 Srba protiv gej parade/500,000 Serbs against gay parade in September...
Russia: Photos from Elections in Yakutsk
On the Yakutsk City Facebook page, local blogger Bolot Bochkarev (eYakutia is one of his projects) has started posting photos [ru] from the presidential and mayoral elections in the capital of the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic, which is six hours ahead of Moscow.
Russia: A Last-Minute Overview of Pre-Election Blogging
Sunday's presidential election contrasts greatly with Vladimir Putin's first race in 2000, when his sole platform was counter-terrorism in the North Caucasus. Donna Welles offers a last-minute overview of pre-election Russia blogging.
Colombia: Chief Prosecutor Viviane Morales Removed from Office
The State Council, a regulatory institution of the Supreme Court, declared the election of Chief Prosecutor Viviane Morales invalid, arguing that in December 2010 the Court's internal rules were violated, causing irregularities in the voting, as La silla Vacía [es] explained. The news became a local trending topic on Twitter...
Pakistan: Shia Genocide – Spreading From Karachi to Kohistan
The changing political course in Pakistan post-Osama Bin Laden denotes a new wave of terrorism unleashed on religious minorities, especially the Shiites. In the past year many Shiites spanning from Karachi to Kohistan have been specifically targeted and killed, which some analysts are terming as genocide.
India: TV Channels Protest Against Lawyers In Kannada
Sans Serif reports that several local TV channels in Kannada blacked out their screens for two minutes on air to protest the violence unleashed on journalists by lawyers at the Bangalore courts last Friday.
Iran: Election cartoon
Nikahang, a blogger and leading cartoonist, has published a cartoon on former Iranian president,who reportedly voted in parliamentary elections.
Iran: Bloggers have criticized Khatami for voting
Iranian media report that former president Mohammad Khatami, a chief reformist figure, cast a vote in the ninth parliamentary elections. Several bloggers such as Noor Afkan says[fa] Khatami betrayed people by voting in this election while there are many political prisoners.
Angola: Documentary “Death Metal Angola”
New York-based producers of a documentary called “Death Metal Angola”, about the emerging metal scene in Angola and a rock festival in the city of Huambo, are raising money for post-production costs on crowdfunding platform IndieGogo. The film's tagline: “The hardest hardcore is Angolan hardcore.”
Japanese Police Raided North Korean-linked Science Association
Police in Tokyo raided the office of a North Korean-linked science association over illegal PC exports allegations. North Korea Tech blog explains the association's past records and suspicions surrounding them.
Russia: Pre-Election Summaries
At OpenDemocracy.net, LJ user drugoi (Rustem Adagamov) “outlines how his trust in the outgoing president vanished and sums up the mood in Russia’s capital just days ahead of the country’s presidential election.” Sean Guillory of Sean's Russia Blog examines the “known knowns and unknown unknowns” of the upcoming vote and...