Stories about Freedom of Speech from April, 2006
Iran: Blogger Remains in Jail!
Webgardian writes according to ILNA (Iran Labour National Agency) Arash Sigarchi's, jailed blogger & journalist, appeal was rejected by Supreme Court. He must stay in jail for three years.
Belarus: Support for Jailed Opposition Leaders
Minsk, March 2006 – by anonymous: “One young woman was arrested while standing outside an internet cafe near October Square on Monday, as the tent camp was formed. She was released after three days, and returned on Friday to the prison walls to hand out letters from other detainees she...
China: Blogger still held
With help from her father and friends, Nina Wu—older sister of illegally-detained Beijing or Bust blogger Hao Wu—has become a one-woman lobbying force as seen in today's post ‘contact‘.
Russia: Protes in Ufa Ignored by Media
As a discussion of media ownership and censorship in Russia is taking place at Russia Blog, Daut of Ufa Blog writes about a recent protest rally in Bashkortostan's capital that no local media have covered and no one seems to be aware of: “A demonstration in America will probably also...
Belarus: BBC Responds to Blogger
BBC responds to David McDuff of A Step At A Time regarding the possibility of broadcasts in the Belarusian language in Belarus – in addition to broadcasts in Russian, Ukrainian and English: “The problem surrounding delivery of the product into the region remains the key stumbling block. The World Service...
Pulse of the Saudi Blogosphere
Football and ice hockey, hijab and fatwas, bloggers meetups, and much much more from the Saudi blogosphere this week. Let's go… Starting with Swalfy, who did not seem so surprised that Riyadh Gitex, which supposed to be the biggest IT exhibition in Saudi Arabia does not has a website. He...
Belarus: Milinkevich Arrested and Sentenced
Belarus bloggers react to the news of Aleksandr Milinkevich's arrest: Andrei Khrapavitski points out that “today practically all the key names of the Belarusian oppositions have appeared on prison rolls;” TOL's Belarus Blog sees this as “the biggest test for Belarusian people after the falsified presidential election;” and br23 blog...
China: Rock festival coming
Friend Gram at Holidarity pulls quotes from the organizer of The Midi Festival—China's biggest each year—to be held in Beijing during the Golden Week holiday next week. “Before you could never do a big outdoor festival,” writes organizer Zhang Fan. “We're trying to let the government accept that rock ‘n’...
Taiwan: Punks still DIYing
Sack Be Jim at gotmahmojo finds DIY punk ethic, graffiti and a seldom-seen side of Taiwanese society while visiting a collective of artists squatting in an abandoned building in the island's capitol: “I was really excited to see something positive and creative going on in the city, since its been...
Polish Blogosphere Update
Ever wonder what a day in the life of someone living in Poland would look like condensed into a 10-minute video? Neither did I until I came to Poland. The Blog from Poland set up a webcam from a Warsaw city window. Can you spot the shiny, yellow and red...
Belarus: Photos From Charnobylski Shlyakh
LJ users andrews_kovas and eugene_grabkin post their photo reports from Charnobylski Shlyakh, a protest rally that took place in Minsk yesterday.
Belarus: Charnobylski Shlyakh Arrests
Iryna of TOL's Belarus Blog writes about more arrests and detentions in Belarus, following yesterday's protest rally “Charnobylski Shlyakh.” She also quotes Syarhei Kaliakin, an opposition activist: “20 years ago Chernobyl disaster has taken place. 10 years ago a political Chernobyl has happened, when the legally elected parliament was disbanded...
Belarus: Graffiti Artist Faces Lengthy Prison Sentence
David McDuff of A Step At A Time links to an item at Maidan about a young Belarusian facing seven to 12 years in prison for having written “We want something new!” on the wall of a building in Minsk.
Russia: Kateryna Chumachenko's 1983 Letter
Michael Averko, a Diaspora Russian contributing to Russia Blog, writes about the letter that Kateryna Chumachenko, a (formerly) Diaspora Ukrainian wife of president Yushchenko, wrote to the Washington Times 23 years ago. In it, Chumachenko wrongly suggested “that Russian-Americans didn't petition to have Russia listed as a captive nation.” A...
China: Detained writers remembered
Has it really been a year since Hong Kong journalist Ching Cheong was charged by China for spying? And two months since Beijing or Bust blogger Wu Hao's arrest for what has yet to be announced? AsiaPundit‘s myrick reminds us in ‘lest we forget’.
China: Photoblogs—translation not needed
In the write-at-your-own-risk world of blogging in China, there are no fine lines between what's acceptable, what will get you blocked and what will get you thrown in jail. Lists of words and topics appear from time to time, but nothing official has ever been released. It's tragic. What for...
Marriage, Birthday and identity crisis in the Moroccan blogosphere
I'll start today with some good news. The first one: Morocco is among the four African countries which count the biggest numbers of internet users in a continent where only 22 million people use the net, that is 2.5% of the 900 million people living in Africa. But, this number...
China: Technorati blocked
Technorati has been blocked. Albeit limited, Technorati used to be the best Chinese-language aggregating one could hope to get.
Nepal Revolution: Victory
The king has accepted the seven party alliance's roadmap.
Russia: Svetlana Bakhmina's Sentence A “Replay” of the 1930s
Alex(ei) of The Russian Dilettante's Weblog writes that the case of the former Yukos lawyer Svetlana Bakhmina might be a “replay” of the 1930s and deserves “international interference or protests.” “The convicted mother of two, who has been in detention since 2005, is not only legally innocent — her standing...
Belarus: Alternative Student Resource
Iryna of TOL's Belarus Blog writes about a Belarusian-language alternative online student resource – www.studenty.by: “More than 10,000 people visited the web-site when the first cartoon about Vasilek, a freshmen university student who came to Miensk from a small village, was posted a couple of months ago (you can see...
