· December, 2008

Stories about Law from December, 2008

Uganda: Being a journalist is unpredictable

  31 December 2008

Daniel Kalinaki, an editor at the Ugandan daily The Monitor, explains that being a journalist in Uganda is an unpredictable profession: this week the paper has received a letter to “present ourselves at the Criminal Investigations Directorate to assist the police investigations that a story we published in the paper...

Bermuda, Grenada: Freedom of Information

  31 December 2008

Bermudian blogger Vexed Bermoothes reports that Grenada is in the process of introducing a Freedom of Information Act and public sector integrity legislation, with additional plans to “establish a common code of practice and ethics for media.”

Thailand: Revenge of the reds

  31 December 2008

Forget the yellow protesters who occupied Thailand’s airports last month. Today’s anti-government protests in Bangkok are organized by supporters of the ousted government. They have vowed to launch bigger street actions “to restore democracy.” Do not confuse them with the Left. They just like the color red.

Barbados: Football Match Mayhem

  30 December 2008

As four people are shot at a football match, Barbados Free Press says that this is “what happens when you combine no rule of law with no effective police force and a top-down culture of corruption in government…”

Bahamas: Students & Drugs

  29 December 2008

“In the Bahamas, the average age for male and female students who peddle and smoke weed/drugs is age 13 and 14, respectively”: Adrian Gibson at Weblog Bahamas says that “the illicit drug plague has ripped our social fabric and will unremittingly haunt the history of our island chain for many...

Turkey: Apology Shakes Apologia over Armenian Genocide

  28 December 2008

Challenging 90 years of institutionalized denial of the massacre and deportation of the Ottoman Empire's indigenous Armenian community during WWI, tens of thousands of Turkish intellectuals, academics, writers, journalists and dissidents have apologized online for the "Great Catastrophe."

Egyptian and Tunisian Bloggers against Censorship

  26 December 2008

In December 2006 frustrated Tunisian bloggers launched the "Action Blank Post" initiative in defense of freedom of speech. Supporting bloggers from all over the world posted a blank on their blogs on the 25th of December, and now bloggers have united again in this anti-censorship tradition, as Marwa Rakha shows.

Southeast Asia: Newsmakers of 2008

  26 December 2008

For Southeast Asia, 2008 was a year of terrible disasters, both natural and man-made. Rice consumption was reduced, milk products were contaminated with melamine, jobs were lost, bloggers were arrested, and homes were destroyed. But the situation is not hopeless.

Zimbabwe: Update on Jestina Mukoko's abduction

  25 December 2008

Denford Magora's Zimbabwe Blog posted some photos of human rights activist Jestina Mukoko (who was abducted a couple of weeks ago) appearing in court yesterday accused of recruiting insurgents to topple Mugabe. A few hours later he reported that “although not being freed, it looks as though the abductees will...

Barbados: Journalists Appear in Court

  24 December 2008

Barbados Free Press is keeping an eye on the case of the two arrested journalists, calling the open court hearing “a stunning victory by the dozens of local news media people who showed up to support”, while at the same time denouncing local mainstream media for not making an issue...