Global Voices Online » Freedom of Speech

Saudi Arabia: A Blogger's Praise Of Britain

Ayesha Saldanha — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 19:38:26 +0000

Maram Meccawy is a Saudi writer and blogger, currently living and working in the UK. She recently wrote a post called “Why am I ready to defend Britain?“

Maram starts by saying:

كنتُ دائماً أعلن أنني أحب بريطانيا..فهنا أحلى ذكريات طفولتي، وهنا الوطن الثاني الذي عشت فيه (ولا أزال) ردحاً من عمري. ولم تكن لدّي مشكلة كبيرة مع كون بريطانيا دولة عدوانية بامتياز (تاريخياً وفي الحاضر أيضاً ) باعتبار مشاركتها في الحربين على أفغانستان والعراق، لأنني كنت هنا منذ البداية وأعرف بأن هناك فرق شاسع بين ما يقوم الساسة بتنفيذه وبين ما يريده الشعب حتى في دولة ديمقراطية مثل المملكة المتحدة. فأنا أدرك بأن أقوى المنظمات الشعبية المعارضة للحرب موجودة هنا، وأفضل الأفلام الوثائقية التي فضحت جرائمها أنتجت في هذا البلد. وأراقب يومياً الجدل الدائر في الصحافة والإعلام وأروقة السياسة حول رغبة الشعب في رؤية قواته تنسحب من هذين البلدين وأن يفتح باب المحاسبة والمحاكمة لكل من تسببوا بهذه الجرائم.

I've always said that I love Britain…This is where the best memories of my childhood are, this is my second country, where I have lived for a long period of my life (and still do). I did not have a big problem with the fact that Britain is an aggressive state (historically and in the present as well) especially in regards to its participation in the two wars against Afghanistan and Iraq, because I have been here since the beginning and I know that there is a great difference between what the politicians implement and what the people want, even in a democratic country such as the United Kingdom. So I understood that the most powerful grassroots anti-war organisations are here, and the best documentary films exposing the country's crimes have been produced here. And I see on a daily basis the ongoing debate in the press and media and the corridors of power regarding the people's wish to have their troops withdrawn from these two countries, and to open the way to holding accountable and putting on trial all those responsible for these crimes.

ومع مقتي الذي لا أخجل من التصريح به علناً ورفضي للسياسات الخارجية لحكومات لندن المتعاقبة، إلا أنني كنت دائماً أكن احتراماً كبيراً لسياساتها الداخلية والتي تقوم على احترام حقوق الإنسان وعلى إنشاء مجتمع متعدد الثقافات.

Despite my hate, which I am not ashamed to admit publicly, and my rejection of the foreign policies of successive London governments, I have always had great respect for their domestic policies which are based on a respect for human rights and the establishment of a multicultural society.

فأنت في بريطانيا ليس مطلوباً منك أن “تنصهر” أو ” تتبرطن” حتى يعتبرك الناس واحداً منها. تستطيع أن تكون مسلماً وبريطانياً، يهودياً وبريطانياً، وأسودأً وبريطانياً، وتستطيع أن تصل بالأمس أو تولد هنا ومع ذلك تقول بفخر بأنك بريطاني ولن ينكر عليك أحد ذلك. صديقاتي الفرنسيات والإسبانيات وغيرهن من الأوربيات المتحدرات من غير البلد ذاته الذي يحملون جنسيته (حتى لو كان بلداً أوربياً مجاوراً) يعلنون بصراحة بأن الوضع ليس كذلك في بلدانهن. فالجزائري يظل غريباً في فرنسا ولو كان جده هو من هاجر إلى باريس قبل مائة عام يوم أن كانت الجزائر بالأصل جزء من فرنسا.

When you are in Britain you are not required to “assimilate” or “become British” for people to consider you one of them. You can be Muslim and British, Jewish and British, and black and British; you can have arrived yesterday or have been born here, and still say proudly that you are British – no one will deny you that. My French, Spanish, and other European girlfriends with roots outside those countries whose nationality they hold (even roots in a neighbouring European country) openly admit that the situation is not that way in their countries. An Algerian remains a foreigner in France, even if his grandfather was an immigrant to Paris a hundred years ago at the time that Algeria was actually part of France.

حدثان في الأسبوع الماضي لفتا انتباهي بخصوص خصوصية بريطانيا.

Last week two events drew my attention regarding the particular quality that Britain has.

Maram goes onto to describe attending a recruitment event at Oxford University with the oil company she works for. During the event some protestors started demonstrating about what they argued the oil company had done in various parts of the world, accusing it of having acted criminally. Security guards started to remove the protestors, but a company official agreed to let them have their say for five minutes, saying that he respected their right to freedom of opinion. However, after the five minutes were up the protestors would not allow the official to continue, and kept heckling. Despite the disruption, the company official was disappointed when one of the protestors was finally carried away by force; he said that Britain was a free country and no one should be thrown out because he or she disagreed with the company's activities.

The second event that caught Maram's attention was a particular episode of the weekly BBC television programme Question Time, in which a panel of politicians and others face questions on current issues from a studio audience. Controversially, Question Time had allowed the chairman of the rightwing British National Party and Member of the European Parliament, Nick Griffin, to be part of the panel for this programme. Nick Griffin has previously been convicted of distributing material likely to incite racial hatred.

After setting the scene, Maram describes what happened on the programme:

عودة إلى غرفن فقد أعطي الفرصة ليحدثنا عن خزعبلاته ويشتم الجميع دون أن يؤذيه أحد! وإنما استطاع زملائه في البرنامج من الأحزاب الأخرى وعلى رأسهم الوزير جاك سترو وكذلك الجمهور الحاضر (من بيض وسود وآسيوين ومسلمين ويهود ومسيحيين وغيرهم) بأن يردوا على أفكاره المتخلفة بمنتهى الهدوء والتحضر ويعروه أمام الجمهور البريطاني، فبدا (خريج جامعة كامبريدج) وكأنه طفل يحاول إغاظة الكبار بقول كل الكلمات التي طلبوا منه سابقاً أن لا يقولها..ثم بدا كفأر في مصيدة لا يقوى على الخروج منها…وكان أجمل تعليق ذلك الذي قاله أحد الحضور من المسلمين إذ عرض عليه أن يشتري له تذكرة للقطب الشمالي ليستمتع بالحياة في بيئة بيضاء لا تعكرها الألوان المزعجة!

Going back to Griffin, he was given the opportunity to tell us his nonsense and curse everyone without anyone troubling him! Indeed his fellow participants on the programme from other parties, led by the minister Jack Straw, and the audience present (white, black, Asian, Muslim, Jewish, Christian and others) were able to respond to his backward ideas in a very calm and civilised manner, and expose him in front of the British public. This Cambridge University graduate seemed like a child trying to anger his elders by repeating all the words he had previously been told not to say…Then he seemed like a rat in a trap, unable to leave it…The best comment was by one of the Muslims in the audience; he offered to buy him a ticket to the North Pole to enjoy life in a white environment, unmuddied by annoying colours!

انتهت الحلقة منذ أربعة أيام … ولم يخسر أحد وظيفته، ولم تقم انتفاضات ولا نزلت قوات الشغب إلى الشوارع! وواصلنا جميعاً حياتنا بسلام.
بعد أن شاهدت الحلقة ليلتها أطفأت جهاز التلفاز، وذهبت لأنام وأنا أشعر بفخر خفي لأنني متواجدة في هذا البلد العظيم وبالتالي جزء منه، وأغمضت عيني وأنا أقول لنفسي بأن البلد الذي يمنح هذا القدر من الحرية للناس ليعيشوا ويتحدثوا دون خوف – مالم يخالفوا القوانين المعلنة المعروفة – لهو أجدر بقعة جغرافية بأن يتداعي الناس للدفاع عنها ولم لم ينتموا إليها عرقاً أو ولادة أو سكناً أو رحماً..فوطن الحرية هو واحة يستظل تحتها الجميع..في حين أن أوطان القمع هي سجون لأهلها..وشتان ما بين الواحة وزنزانة السجن الباردة..

The episode was four days ago…and no one lost his job, no uprisings were started, and the anti-riot police did not move into the streets! We have all continued our lives in peace.
After watching that show that night, I turned off the television and went to sleep with a secret pride that I live in this great country and as a result am part of it. I closed my eyes telling myself that the country which offers its people this amount of freedom to live and speak without fear - as long as they don't break any known laws - is the most worthy geographical spot for people to rally to its support, even if they do not belong to it ethnically, by birth, or by residence…A nation of freedom is an oasis for everyone to enjoy its shade, while the nations of oppression are jails for their people…and what a difference between an oasis and a cold prison cell…

Cuba: Yoani Sanchez & Other Bloggers Seized

Janine Mendes-Franco — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 21:55:22 +0000

Perhaps it was only a matter of time, but Yoaní Sánchez, Cuba's most famous blogger, who has received countless international awards for her activism, was detained briefly and beaten by Cuban authorities on November 6, along with fellow bloggers, Claudia Cadelo (a Global Voices contributor) and Orlando Luís Pardo Lazo. The three were on their way to an anti-violence march in the Cuban capital, Havana.

Spanish blogger Rosa Jiménez Cano, who works at the Spanish news daily El País, reported that she received the following SMS text meessage from Yoaní around 2am Madrid time:

Fui detenida junto a Orlando L. Pardo y Claudia Cadelo nos llevaron a la fuerza estilo siciliano. Golpes. Nos dejaron tirados en una esquina.

I was arrested along with Orlando L. Pardo and Claudia Cadelo they carried us off sicilian style. Knocks. We were left lying in a corner.

The morning after the events, Yoaní posted the following account on her blog:

Cerca de la calle 23 y justo en la rotonda de la Avenida de los Presidente, fue que vimos llegar en un auto negro –de fabricación china– a tres fornidos desconocidos: ‘Yoani, móntate en el auto' me dijo uno mientras me aguantaba fuertemente por la muñeca. Los otros dos rodeaban a Claudia Cadelo, Orlando Luís Pardo Lazo y una amiga que nos acompañaba a una marcha contra la violencia. Ironías de la vida, fue una tarde cargada de golpes, gritos y malas palabras la que debió transcurrir como una jornada de paz y concordia. Los mismos ‘agresores' llamaron a una patrulla que se llevó a mis otras dos acompañantes, Orlando y yo estábamos condenados al auto de matrícula amarilla, al pavoroso terreno de la ilegalidad y la impunidad del Armagedón.

Me negué a subir al brillante Geely y exigimos nos mostraran una identificación o una orden judicial para llevarnos. Claro que no enseñaron ningún papel que probara la legitimidad de nuestro arresto. Los curiosos se agolpaban alrededor y yo gritaba ‘Auxilio, estos hombres nos quieren secuestrar', pero ellos pararon a los que querían intervenir con un grito que revelaba todo el trasfondo ideológico de la operación: ‘No se metan, estos son unos contrarrevolucionarios'. Ante nuestra resistencia verbal, tomaron el teléfono y dijeron a alguien que debió ser su jefe: ‘¿Qué hacemos? No quieren subir al auto'. Imagino que del otro lado la respuesta fue tajante, porque después vino una andanada de golpes, empujones, me cargaron con la cabeza hacia abajo e intentaron colarme en el carro. Me aguanté de la puerta… golpes en los nudillos… alcancé a quitarle un papel que uno de ellos llevaba en el bolsillo y me lo metí en la boca. Otra andanada de golpes para que les devolviera el documento.

Near 23rd Street, just at the Avenida de los Presidentes roundabout, we saw a black car, made in China, pull up with three heavily built strangers. ‘Yoani, get in the car,' one told me while grabbing me forcefully by the wrist. The other two surrounded Claudia Cadelo, Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo, and a friend who was accompanying us to the march against violence. The ironies of life, it was an evening filled with punches, shouts and obscenities on what should have passed as a day of peace and harmony. The same ‘aggressors' called for a patrol car which took my other two companions, Orlando and I were condemned to the car with yellow plates, the terrifying world of lawlessness and the impunity of Armageddon.

I refused to get into the bright Geely-made car and we demanded they show us identification or a warrant to take us. Of course they didn’t show us any papers to prove the legitimacy of our arrest. The curious crowded around and I shouted, ‘Help, these men want to kidnap us,' but they stopped those who wanted to intervene with a shout that revealed the whole ideological background of the operation, ‘Don’t mess with it, these are counterrevolutionaries.' In the face of our verbal resistance they made a phone call and said to someone who must have been the boss, ‘What do we do? They don’t want to get in the car.' I imagine the answer from the other side was unequivocal, because then came a flurry of punches and pushes, they got me with my head down and tried to push me into the car. I held onto the door… blows to my knuckles… I managed to take a paper one of them had in his pocket and put it in my mouth. Another flurry of punches so I would return the document to them.

Yoaní's post goes on to describe further brutality inflicted on herself and Orlando, and their eventual release:

Nos dejaron tirados y adoloridos en una calle de la Timba, una mujer se acercó ‘¿Qué les ha pasado?'… ‘Un secuestro', atiné a decir. Lloramos abrazados en medio de la acera, pensaba en Teo, por Dios cómo voy a explicarle todos estos morados. Cómo voy a decirle que vive en un país donde ocurre esto, cómo voy a mirarlo y contarle que a su madre, por escribir un blog y poner sus opiniones en kilobytes, la han violentado en plena calle. Cómo describirle la cara despótica de quienes nos montaron a la fuerza en aquel auto, el disfrute que se les notaba al pegarnos, al levantar mi saya y arrastrarme semidesnuda hasta el auto.

We were left aching, lying in a street in Timba, a woman approached, ‘What has happened?'… ‘A kidnapping,' I managed to say. We cried in each others arms in the middle of the sidewalk, thinking about Teo, for God’s sake how am I going to explain all these bruises. How am I going to tell him that we live in a country where this can happen, how will I look at him and tell him that his mother, for writing a blog and putting her opinions in kilobytes, has been beaten up on a public street. How to describe the despotic faces of those who forced us into that car, their enjoyment that I could see as they beat us, their lifting my skirt as they dragged me half naked to the car.

At the time of writing, Yoaní's post had attracted 1,412 comments.

Claudia also quickly entered her version of the incident on her blog:

We refused to get in the car, there were three of them and they threatened us:

‘Get in the car, now.'
‘Let us see your documents, or bring a policeman.'

Orlando had his cell phone in his hand. ‘Pardo, don’t record,' said the one in the orange shirt, and I got my cell out. Nobody noticed me, I sent the first Tweet… In less than three minutes a patrol car came up with a couple of cops—a woman and a man—completely dumbstruck by the scene. They carried out their orders almost in slow motion, the woman told me:

‘Don’t resist.'

‘They are undocumented,' it occurred to me to enlighten her.

Yoani was clinging to a bush, I was clinging to her waist, and the woman was pulling me by the leg. They had already dragged Orlando off, outside my field of vision. A man at the bus-stop looked on with an expression of terror, people didn’t say a single word. The officer, very young, got me in an armlock that immobilized me. I could have kicked a little but I was too astonished at seeing Yoani’s legs sticking out the rear window of the State Security car.

Her post goes on to relate the chain of events in great detail, but she ends on a triumphant note:

Then the first call came, with a 00 international prefix, and I knew nothing had been in vain, even if we had all been arrested and the march suspended. When, later, I saw the video that Ciro brought me, I knew for certain: They lost; it's the countdown.

Commenting on the incident, diaspora blogger Uncommon Sense expresses some surprise, since “those of us overseas who presume that because Yoani, Claudia and the others are so well known, the Castro dictatorship would never dare arrest them.” Yet arrest them they reportedly did. He continues:

Of course, we should never be surprised at what the regime does when it comes to trying to silence its opposition on the island.

And we should never underestimate the importance of the protection we provide every time we read one of their blogs. Obviously, it doesn't provide them absolute immunity, but it is conceivable that someone like Yoani Sanchez would have a long ago been locked away in the Castro gulag were it not for the fact that she is so well known.

What you provide them with each click is the moral support vital for their continuing struggle for freedom.

Meanwhile, Babalu Blog, after publishing the story as breaking news, kept updating the post as more details became available, including an 8:15 am entry showing evidence of physical abuse via a photo that was sent to Penultimos Dias by Orlando Luis Pardo. Cuban American Pundits‘ John R. learned of Yoani's detention from Babalu and goes on to comment:

It can only be said that the Cuba Governement is afraid, and that these heirs to Cuba's future are extremely brave.

The blog also searched mainstream media sites to determine how big the story was and was disappointed to learn that “the only thing CNN is covering on Cuba is how Miller Beer and Haagen Dazs ice cream may be sold in Cuba — for a premium nonetheless. As Cuban citizens are sequestered and beaten for their exercising of free speech, Chicago Foods (and other companies) are negotiating how beer and ice cream are to be sold on the island.” (CNN eventually went on to cover the story of the bloggers' seizure.) The post goes on to comment on the U.S. economic embargo against the island, saying:

For those who claim that a new era has dawned on Cuba should take a close look at the incident that happened with a peaceful group of Cuban bloggers. Nothing has changed. Oppression remains in the cities while luxury and freedom exudes in the resorts.

I don't know about you, but I'm no longer eating Hagen Dazs ice cream nor drinking Miller beer.

Oswaldo Payá of the Movimiento Cristiano Liberación issued a statement expressing solidarity with Sánchez and other victims of repression. My big, fat Cuban family is also standing in solidarity with her Cuban sisters:

I have the supreme luxury of writing about anything that excites or amuses me at any given time. And I do.

Today I want to make you aware if you're not already, of a group of dissident bloggers presently under fire for blogging in Cuba.

Unlike me, they write about the everyday indignities of living in castro's gulag. You understand, of course, that in a communist country, dissension is not just discouraged, it is oftentimes attacked.

Yet these brave bloggers persist…Tonight, Yoani Sanchez and a group of dissidents were picked up, harassed, detained and beaten as they prepared to attend, ironically, a demonstration against the use of violence.

They knew and called her by name and forced her into a car where she figured that this was a kidnapping which would end in her execution. Although she and her dissident companions were beaten severely they were subsequently released.

Her safety lies here. On blogs like mine.

Along the Malecon gives some background to the incident and firmly believes that “the legend of Yoani Sanchez grew Friday after Cuban authorities snatched her off the street, shoved her into a car and roughed her up before freeing her”:

Luis Eligio, of the counterculture group OMNI-Zona Franca, and two rappers organized the march. On Oct. 20, Sanchez was one of more than 10 bloggers who staged a ‘virtual protest' using Tweets, cell phone text messages and blog posts to call for the release of political prisoners. All this puts the socialist government in a tough spot. The more force authorities use, the easier it will be for opposition activists to recruit followers. These incidents also help galvanize international support for Sanchez and other bloggers. This support grows at an exponential rate, colonizing cyberspace and making it difficult for the Cuban government to effectively counter.

In a separate post, the blogger highlights the views of those who are a tad sceptical about the whole event, one of whom is Cuban journalist Vladia Rubio Jiménez, who writes in her blog:

Francamente, me resulta bien oscuro el asunto. ¿A partir de ahora seremos testigos de “espontáneas” marchas de protesta? ¿Contra qué violencia estaban pronunciándose esos muchachos con sus abstractos carteles? ¿Sería contra la que está ocurriendo en Afganistán, Honduras, o contra lo acontecido en la más importante base militar norteamericana donde un enloquecido disparó y dejó muertas a 13 personas y varios heridos?

Frankly, I find the matter rather shady. From now on will we have to witness 'spontaneous' protest marches? Violence against what were these guys demonstrating with their signs? Would it be against what is happening in Afghanistan, Honduras, or against what happened on the biggest U.S. military base where a madman shot and left 13 people dead and several injured?

She continues:

Por lo que leo, parece haber sido una manifestación organizada sobre todo a través de algunos blogs, entre ellos Octavo Cerco; y también me asombra ver las posibilidades tecnológicas de que disponen: teléfonos celulares, rápidas conexiones a Internet que incluso les permiten subir los videos… En ninguna parte dice con claridad quién convocó esa marcha.

From what I read, it seems to have been a demonstration organized mainly through some blogs, including Octavo Cerco and it also amazes me to see the available technology at their disposal: cell phones, fast Internet connections that even allow them to upload videos… Nowhere does it say clearly who called for that march.

Yohandry's Weblog echoes her sceptisicm:

Pero bien, Claudia Cadelo dejó este vídeo en su blog. No comprendo cómo pueden subir sus videos a Youtube tan rápido, pero allí está. Ella misma por Twitter dijo que no había llegado hasta el performance, además de que explicó que estaba detenida.

Cómo pudo hacer Twitter detenida, cómo subió el video desde un carro de la policía?

Entra en acción Yoani Sánchez. Ahora bien, Yoani Sánchez cuenta a las siempre listas agencias y emisoras que tienen la misión de cubrir sus actividades lo ocurrido con ella y otros bloggers que se encaminaban al performance, quizás con el objetivo de provocar, nadie sabe.

Les dejo la grabación, ¡esos medios tan ágiles al servicio de Yoani! Adelanto que cuenta que ella tiene celular, computadora y seguirá haciendo Twitter, cosa que no acabo de comprender, cuando ella misma dice que no tiene libertad para trabajar en Cuba.

Y yo esperaré ahora la otra versión de lo ocurrido. Como dice el dicho, siempre hay un ojo que te ve.

But well, Claudia Cadelo left this video on her blog. I do not understand how they can upload their videos on YouTube so fast, but there it is. She even said on Twitter that she had not been able to get to the performance, and she explained why she was detained.

How could she have been on Twitter while she was detained? How did she upload the video from a police car?

Yoani Sánchez enters the scene. Well, lets see, Yoani Sánchez tells the agencies and stations, whose mission is to readily cover her events, what happened to her and to other bloggers who were going to the performance. Maybe with the intention of provoking. No one knows.

Here is the recording. These media act so rapidly to service Yoani! I must say that she has a cell phone, a computer, and she will keep on using Twitter, something I simply cannot understand when she says that she has no freedom to work in Cuba.

And I will wait for the next version of the incident. Like the saying says: there is always an eye that sees you.

Social media users are certainly keeping a close eye on developments. Even as Claudia tweeted about the incident, apparently while it was happening - “Estoy detenida about 22 hours ago from txt” was her first entry - her Twitter followers have shown their support, with one user calling her “muy valiente” (”very brave”).

The thumbnail image used in this post, “The Freedom of Speech”, is by Caveman 92223, used under a Creative Commons license. Visit Caveman 92223's flickr photostream.

Georgia Popplewell and Firuzeh Shokooh Valle contributed to this post.

Egypt: Praise for Threatened Voices

Amira Al Hussaini — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 20:12:08 +0000

Egyptian Ibn Al Dunya, who writes at Fustat, praises a new Global Voices Online project - Threatened Voices, which tracks the suppression of online free speech.

Cuba: Details of the Sánchez detention emerge

Georgia Popplewell — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 17:00:44 +0000

The detention, beating and subsequent release of bloggers Yoaní Sánchez, Claudia Cadelo and Orlando Luis Pardo by Cuban state security on November 6, is receiving widespread coverage in both the mainstream media and the blogosphere and twittersphere. Yoaní has written (es) about the incident on Generación Y, her blog, and English-language blogs like Babalú Blog, Repeating Islands and Uncommon Sense are following the story. An audio interview (es) with Sánchez about the incident has been posted to YouTube.

Azerbaijan: Reaction to yesterday's blogger trial

Onnik Krikorian — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 12:34:22 +0000

As the trial of video blogging youth activists Adnan Hajizade and Emin Milli continues in Baku, two English-language bloggers from Azerbaijan react to yesterday's aborted court hearing. Both seem pessimistic and unhappy with how the trial has been conducted to date, but nonetheless say they will continue to fight for the two men's release.

In particular, L4L shares his observations from yesterday's hearing, and specifically on the decision not to enter phone records in Hajizade and Milli's defense into court.

During today’s hearing of “Wild-beating-taekwando-champions-bloggers-Adnan-and-Emin” case I was able to enter courtroom for the first time. Mixed feelings of what was happening. I saw Emin and Adnan, saw how strong they are. And this made me happy and proud. I had dozen or so rounds of laugh in the expense of “victims” Vusal and Babek. I was annoyed as hell.

Azercell answered to enquiry of the court and gave reports on calls made on July 8 by “victims” and Adnan. […] reports of Adnan’s calls shows that he was in the 39th police station. This little fact demolishes the case of the prosecutor. This shows that Adnan and Emin weren’t brought to police station handcuffed. […]

[…]

Then Vusal showed that he is “real Caucasian man” with valor and strong feeling of “qeyret”. He asked judge not to give Azercell’s report on his calls to defense. “I don’t want them to disturb my relatives and those close to me”. […] naturally, judge is “real Caucasian man” too, so he understood Vusal’s tender feelings and was with him on that.

Anyways. Amnesia. Adnan and Emin answered few questions after Vusal and Babek and they were so clear and accurate, contrast was almost scary. […]

[…] People like Emin and Adnan who made their choice and are proudly standing by it. Who will not back off. We should help their case. Only this way this nation will shake its AMNESIA.

Meanwhile, Flying Carpets and Broken Pipelines remembers events to date, but also looks to the future.

Its been 4 months since Emin and Adnan's arrest- time goes by but somethings simply don't change. […]

[…] happiness and sense of victory slowly disappeared as in July, two youth activists- Emin Milli (30) and Adnan Hajizada (26) were arrested and charged with “hooliganism” and are now facing up to 5 year of imprisonment. They didn't do anything- they were attacked by two men who are now treated as “victims” and are set free while Emin and Adnan are spending their time behind bars. But they are keeping their chin up. […]

[…]

Looking back it makes one wonder will there ever be a change? Will people actually enjoy their lives rather than worry about making extra money to feed their families? Will our youth be able to study in corruption free universities and actually get a descent education? Will people be happy again? For now, there is only one answer, time will show so let it go by but be patient and hopefully we, or our children, or our grand children will see that change…

Incidentally, the date set for the next hearing (11 November) will coincide with a roundtable discussion on the case at the Central European University in Budapest, Hungary.

Hooliganism or Freedom of Speech? The case of two bloggers detained in Azerbaijan

On July 8, 2009, two bloggers and political activists, Andnan Hajizade and Emin Milli, were arrested in Azerbaijan on charges of “hooliganism”. The bloggers were detained shortly after posting a video on YouTube mocking the Azeri government's purchase of donkeys from Germany. After nine trials, the two bloggers (both without prior criminal records) remain imprisoned. The four presenters will form a panel discussion to speak about this particular case of the bloggers and what it means for freedom of speech in Azerbaijan as well as the greater Caucasus region.

Present for the event will be Parvana Persiani, Hajizade's girlfriend and a senior figure in the OL! Azerbaijani youth movement, who will also be attending next week's World Blogging Forum in Bucharest, Romania.

Global Voices Online will interview her there and Persiani will also feature in a live online interview on Kosmoshow.

Full coverage of the detention and trial of Adnan Hajizade and Emin Milli is available in the Azerbaijan section of Global Voices Online and on the OL! Blog (in English and Azeri). The hashtag #EminAdnan is also used on Twitter.

Tunisia: Blogger Fatma Arabicca Detained

Amira Al Hussaini — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 06:04:20 +0000

Tunisian blogger Fatma Riahi, who blogs as Fatma Arabicca, has been charged with defamation on her own blog and is now being detained. A group has been formed on Facebook in support of the 34-year-old blogger, who is also being accused of blogging on Debat Tunise (Tunisia Debate).

Yoaní Sanchez & other Cuban bloggers detained, beaten

Georgia Popplewell — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 01:54:58 +0000

On the evening of November 6, Babalú blog linked to a post by Penultimos Dias (es) reporting that a number of prominent Cuban bloggers, including Yoaní Sánchez and Global Voices contributor Claudia Cadelo, were detained by state security forces. An update from Penultimos Días reported that Sanchez and Orlando Luis Pardo were “verbally abused and severely beaten”.

Russia: Major Search Engine Closes Its Blog Rating

Alexey Sidorenko — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:35:32 +0000

Yandex.ru, Russian most popular search engine, announced on November 3 that it would close its blog ranking service Yandex Blogs Top (YBT) [RUS] by the end of the month. A spokesman for Yandex.ru said the reason for closure was that the blog rating “had become a specialized media platform.” Bloggers accused the company of giving in to political pressure from the Russian government.

Anton Volnukhin (aka Ya.blogs user Antonme), a spokesman for Yandex.ru, wrote on the company blog [RUS]:

We noticed that service, which had been initially created as a mirror, a reflection of the blogosphere, became an amplifier, a media tool. The effect of a positive feedback took place: many bloggers started to write, comment and include links with a purpose to “bring a post to the top.”

Just about everyone started to use this tool - from the disseminators of the links “please help collect money” to radicals of any kind. As a result, radicals of one kind started to accuse Yandex of helping radicals of another kind and vice versa. Journalists got into the habit of looking through the blog ranking, bringing posts to the top became a paid service and now the authorities perceive the ranking as vox populi.

Transformation of the blog ranking into a specialized media platform doesn't allow us to develop this service as a part of Yandex portal. We don't see any perspective to make it a mass service - and the development of Yandex is mainly focused on mass services. This is why we decided to stop supporting the service and, at the same time, simultaneously provide everyone with the technical ability to create their own ranking of popular blogs, their own version of the answer to the question “what do popular bloggers care about?” Similar rankings already exist on different sites of RuNet. We hope that the usage of data from Yandex Blog Search will create many similar services and will help everyone find a suitable ranking.

Artemiy Lebedev (aka LJ-user tema [RUS]), one of the most influential and controversial personalities of RuNet, is the first who started using Yandex Blog Top RSS on his Web site [RUS]. Lebedev claimed that the ranking was shut down due to the reasons not mentioned in the official statement from Yandex:

Well, to be short, Yandex got completely fed up with complains about the blog ranking which has always been the most crystal clear and honest rating in the world.

This is why rating will continue to exist on the Web site of Artemy Lebedev's Studio…

Because it is written in the studio charter that politicians and priests can f…k themselves, the director of the company will not hesitate to tell any politician or pries to f…k themselves.

First, let f…k themselves […] anyone who is not OK with the fact that the ranking is created by a robot on the basis of objective parameters.

The other version of Yandex Blog Top RSS also appeared on the site Whoyougle [RUS].

Yandex.ru has bigger audience than many cable TV-channels in Russian (20 million visitors in September 2009 [RUS]). Bloggers used the popularity of the site to bring many controversial topics to the attention of the Russian audience by including links and adding comments to the posts. Some believe this led to political pressure resulting in the elimination of the blog ranking.

Habrahabr user SSE [RUS] claims [RUS] that political pressure on Yandex wasn't a secret:

It became known as early as in October that someone “at the top” wasn't very happy with the free ranking of alternative points of view.

Andrey Malgin (aka LJ-user avmalgin[RUS]) explained [RUS]:

A pleasing picture that we saw in TV newscasts was very different from the things that bloggers, especially politicized ones, were writing about. Now this has been ended…

Roman Ivanov (aka LJ-user kukutz [RUS]), Yandex “chief Lulz officer” (Yandex virtual spokesman), argues [RUS] that the Yandex blog ranking did not attract a large audeince and had only 7 thousand visitors a day. At the same time, the amount Yandex Blog Search monthly visitors in September 2009 was around 2,5 mln visitors in September 2009 [RUS] or 12,5 percent of the total monthly visitors of Yandex.ru. Many RuNet users strongly disagree with this statistics and claim that the blog ranking was much more popular than Yandex officially announced.

Additional info

Yandex.ru dominates Russian search engine market. According to Vedomosti newspaper [RUS], it is accouned for 54,5 percent of the Russian search traffic. In July 2009, ComScore research [ENG] stated that Yandex is among top 10 world's search engines with 1,5 percent of the world search traffic.

Azerbaijan: Activist blogger trial resumes, delays persist (updated)

Onnik Krikorian — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:59:02 +0000

Although not its official birthday, Global Voices Online made its first ever post on threats made against Iranian dissident blogger Hossein Derakhshan, aka Hoder five years ago today. And in the same week that Threatened Voices, an online project to map bloggers under attack worldwide was launched, Derakhshan marked the first anniversary of his incarceration in prison.

Today is also notable for another event — the continuing trial of detained video blogging youth activists Adnan Hajizade and Emin Milli in Baku, Azerbaijan. The last court hearing was adjourned because witnesses did not turn up. Media Helping Media comments on the latest developments in what many consider to be a politically motivated case to silence dissent in the country.

The trial of Adnan Hajizade and Emin Abdullayev (also known as Milli) was adjourned ten days ago after a brief appearance by the two on hooliganism and violence charges.

[…]

Those campaigning for the release of the two men suspect that there may be political reasons behind the delays.

Media freedom groups have been protesting about the arrests and detention and claim it is part of an effort to limit freedom of expression.

Two days ago, Emotions on Air, Mind Mute, a newly launched English-language Azeri blog, reflected on the the case against the two young activists.

I started to intensely think about Emin and Adnan. I came to be proud of their parents,teachers and elders. I became curious about books they have read. I got jealous of friends they have, as they were lucky to know these great men personally.

Now it hurts very much that they are in prison. Their great time of lives has been stolen. Their summer has been taken away. Their parents spend sleepless nights. They have been deprived to enjoy their work, make mistakes, hang out with youth and talk to them. Their email inboxes are flooded with messages and run out of extra space.

But they keep on inspiring youth. They are hoping and planting seeds of liberty. They are spiritually free despite that their physical freedom is limited.

[…]

I think of my future now. How will it be? Will it come at all given the society I live in. Will I be arrested one day? My kids I will have.. if ever. […]

All I know is I want them to be hooligans like Emin and Adnan.

Nevertheless, many of Hajizade and Milli's supporters remained resigned to more delays.

As it was, the hearing was held although witnesses displayed selective memories. As usual, friends and supporters of Hajizade and Milli used new and social media such as Facebook and Twitter to update others.

The fact that key witnesses and the alleged victims themselves were unable to provide testimony prompted one supporter to hope that the trial might now end.

However, although it was proven that the two activists had reported an incident of physical assault against themselves, missing key evidence soon gave many reason to fear the worst. [Update: Eurasianet has since reported that the phone records were ruled inadmissible by the judge]

Amidst criticism that the authorities are stringing out the trial indefinitely, their fears were probably well founded. Despite calling a break, the hearing was not resumed.

Yet, while the action against Hajizade and Milli looks set to continue in a trial considered by the international community and local civil society organizations to be highly flawed, perhaps the last laugh went to Hajizade and Milli's supporters who noticed the irony when the two activists were taken away.

Also somewhat ironically, the date set for the next hearing will coincide with a roundtable discussion on the case at the Central European University in Budapest, Hungary.

Hooliganism or Freedom of Speech? The case of two bloggers detained in Azerbaijan

On July 8, 2009, two bloggers and political activists, Andnan Hajizade and Emin Milli, were arrested in Azerbaijan on charges of “hooliganism”. The bloggers were detained shortly after posting a video on YouTube mocking the Azeri government's purchase of donkeys from Germany. After nine trials, the two bloggers (both without prior criminal records) remain imprisoned. The four presenters will form a panel discussion to speak about this particular case of the bloggers and what it means for freedom of speech in Azerbaijan as well as the greater Caucasus region.

Global Voices Online hopes to interview her there and Persiani will also feature in a live Internet interview on Kosmoshow.

Russia: Markelov's Alleged Killers Arrested

Veronica Khokhlova — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:49:54 +0000

Russia Blog reports on the arrest of the alleged killers of lawyer Stanislav Markelov and journalist Anastasiya Baburova.

CEE: “20 Years After the Fall of the Berlin Wall” - a Poll

Veronica Khokhlova — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 23:42:17 +0000

Foreign Policy Association's Russia blog writes about the results of a Pew Research Center's poll on poverty, wealth and attitudes in Central and Eastern Europe “20 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall.”

Iran: Green Movement defies regime again

Hamid Tehrani — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:23:19 +0000

Iran's Green Movement opposition organized mass street protests on the 4th of November (13th of Aban), taking advantage of the official rallies being held on the same day to mark the 30th anniversary of the occupation of the US embassy in Tehran. The opposition protests were met with a violent crackdown by security forces.

As has come to be expected, Iranian citizen media recorded “history” on their mobile phones.

Protesters in Tehran trampled on a portrait of the country's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, an act that would have been unimaginable a few months ago.

A message to Obama: Either you are with us or with them.

Mehdi Karoubi, an opposition leader, among the people.

Security forces attack protesters

Syria: Magazine Suspends Work in Protest of Censorship

Anas Qtiesh — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:31:16 +0000

Man of Paper reports [ar] on his blog that Shabablek, a Syrian magazine, has suspended all work indefinitely in protest of the pervasive censorship from the side of the Syrian Ministry of Information.

Cuba: Blogging Prejudice

Janine Mendes-Franco — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:53:39 +0000

Late one night, a Cuban taxi driver stops for Yoani Sanchez because of the colour of her skin, but when he learns that she's a blogger, his unease reveals another kind of prejudice: “His spectrum of classification stigmatizes not only some shades of color, but also certain leanings of opinion…that also lead, on this Island, to displays of segregation and rejection.”

Cuba: Gays Arrested

Janine Mendes-Franco — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:23:39 +0000

As six Cuban homosexuals are reportedly arrested, Uncommon Sense says: “their real ‘crime' — like that committed by all Cubans, gay or straight, labeled as ‘pre-criminal social dangers' — is that with their lifestyle, [they] have chosen to not conform with the ‘revolutionary ideal.'”