Irek Murtazin, photo by Sergey Varshavchik

On Nov. 26, the Kirov district court of Kazan, which is the capital of the Republic of Tartastan, convicted Irek Murtazin, a 45-year-old journalist and blogger, of defamation and incitement to hatred, reports Gazeta.ru [RUS]. The court sentenced Murtazin to one year and nine months of imprisonment in a penal colony (a form of imprisonment where convicts live not in a jail but in a special colony for prisoners).

About a year ago, in Dec. 2008, Murtazin - former head of Shaimiev's press service and currently an opposition blogger, aka lj-user irek-murtazin [RUS] - was accused of defamation against Mintimir Shaimiev, President of Tatarstan. On Sept. 12, 2008, Murtazin published a post in which he mentioned a piece of gossip about Shaimiev's death. He wrote [RUS]:

Пришла страшная весть…
…на 72-ом году жизни, во время отдыха в Турции (в Кемере) скоропостижно скончался Минтимер Шарипович Шаймиев.
Честно говоря – не верится. Точнее, не хочется верить. Потому что, если это правда, то начнется такая свара, такая нешуточная борьба за то, чтобы занять освободившееся кресло, что чубы у холопов будут трещать и вдоль и поперек. И именно из-за подобных перспектив, ближайшее окружение Минтимера Шариповича попытается скрыть эту информацию. Чтобы успеть перегруппироваться (вплоть до скоропостижной эвакуации из страны). Именно поэтому официальная информация, думаю, будет не раньше чем через неделю.

The rumor of Shaimiev's death was disproven on the same day, but the shares of the oil company allegedly owned by the representatives of the so-called “Shaimiev clan” dropped significantly, says Lenta.ru [RUS]. In Dec. 2008, Murtazin was officially accused of defamation and infringement upon personal inviolability of Shaimiev (It is important to note that the court acquitted Murtazin only on this latter charge).

The trial lasted almost a year, and prosecution kept adding new accusations, blaming Murtazin for defamation and libel not only on his blog, but also in Murtazin's book “Mintimir Shaimiev: The Last President of Tatarstan. Part 1″ as well as in his news bulletin “Our Kazan News” (”Наши казанские вести,” which Murtazin described [RUS] in Oct. 2008 as a “print digest” of his LiveJournal blog).

Murtazin said he didn't agree with the verdict and would file an appeal.

Photographs from the trial are available here.

***

Irek Murtazin's bio (according to Anticompromat.org)

Born in 1964 in Bogatye Saby settlement, Tatarstan
1981-1990 - served in the Soviet Army, also in GRU (military intelligence unit)
1985 - graduated from the Kazan Higher Tank College
1990-1991 - assistant to the legislator Vladimir Lopatin
1995 - graduated from the Moscow Government Law Academy
1991-1995 - editor-in-chief of newspapers “Russian North” and “Gubernskie Vesti”
1993-1995 - editor-in-chief of TV-7, a local TV channel in Vologda
1995-1999 - bureau chief of the VGTRK (the largest state-owned TV company) in Kazan
1999-2002 - head of the press service of the President of Tatarstan
2002-2003 - head of TV channel “Tatarstan”
2003-2004 - head of VGTRK's Minsk, Belarus, bureau
2006-2007 - member of the regional branch of A Just Russia party in Tatarstan
2008-2009 -publisher and editor-in-chief of the news bulletin “Our Kazan News” (printed outside Tatarstan in Cheboksary, Republic of Chuvashia)

26/11. Image by Flickr user -g-r-a-c-e-. Used under a Creative Commons License

One year ago, Mumbai, India's financial and entertainment capital came under a well-coordinated terrorist attack that lasted for 3 days. Downtown Mumbai, or “town” as it is popularly known was the target of 10 young men who reportedly arrived by boats from Pakistan and attacked the railway station, the main artery for commuters and a series of luxury hotels, a popular bar and a Jewish home. At least 200 people died in the attack and at least 308 people were injured. All but one young Pakistani attackers survived. That lone survivor Kasab is in India and has been the primary source of information about the attack. Nobody has claimed the body of the 9 young men, who launched the attack and paralysed Mumbai.

Only one word, fear! Collage by Flickr user Keerthi. Used under a Creative Commons License

For three days people around the world witnessed the brutal carnage unfold on their television sets. In hindsight it appears that the 10 young men were receiving instructions from a source in Pakistan on how to execute the attack.

Earlier today on the eve of the first anniversary of 26/11 the Government of Pakistan announced that it has charged seven suspects for organizing the attack. The seven arrested men have not pleaded guilty to the charge according to reports.

Madhavi at The Trajectory blog writes that Pakistan's actions comes after a year of “vehement denial” of the attacks. She continues:

“The most high profile name among those charged is Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, head of the banned militant group Laskar-e-Taiba.”

Madhavi's post has an interesting twist in the end when she asks:

“Pakistan has handed India an anniversary gift for 26/11 in the form of Lakhvi & company’s verdict; the people of India are still hoping to receive forgotten anniversary gifts. March 13th 1993, December 13th 2001, July 11th 2006, November 26th 2008…how many more strikes do we need before even a single mastermind of these terrorist attacks is punished by the Government of India?”

Nita at A Wide Angle View of India wonders why are the foot soldiers (the Mumbai police) being blamed for doing an effective job in staving off the attack? It is not the foot soldiers that need to be blamed, but the top politicians and security folks of Mumbai. She writes:

“So many died in vain, but not a single person has taken responsibility for the carnage. We need to mourn the dead, but we also need to ask for the answers. It is the top cops and the politicians who are to blame. For the lack of coordination and action. It is really pathetic and in really bad taste to see television channels blast the foot soldiers. Try and shame those poor unequipped men who had rifles that were rusted, men who ran helter skelter because they had no leader to direct them. Men who weren’t even sure where the terrorists were, how many there were, what they were up to. […]

The foot soldiers in Mumbai had nothing. If some of them ran, let us not blame them.”

While there were lots of articles written and many recommendations made in the immediate aftermath of 26/11 not much progress has happened, writes Filter Coffee. He writes:

“Sadly, barring a few cosmetic rearrangements, not much has changed in India, and no one, least of all Mumbaikars seem to care.”

Nyaypati Gautam of India Story appears to echo the feelings of Filter Coffee about the lack of change in the past year. But, he wonders what it is that he can do to bring about some change? He writes:

“We continue to be as apathetic as before. If any terror strike were to happen today I fear that the same things would get re-enacted. I hope I have got it wrong but I have a dirty feeling that I am not. It is so frustrating. What can I do to channelise this anger in a meaningful way?”

Many people used Twitter to share news and express their opinions. Here are a few examples of those messages:

RodrigoRMorais: USA Today is saying “Mumbai commemorates one-year anniversary of terror attacks”. What is there to commemorate about?

aniljayakumar: A minute for Mumbai………….

NitinNDTV: all of us will forever remember 26/11,but let's not forget victims of earlier attacks & the brave men who continue to die in defending India

madhavgk: Politicians abused after 26/11 last year… politicians abused after 26/11 this year… nothing changes in Indian politics!

nsohanlal: 26/11 Jingoism on twitter today… Alas will be forgotten as a mundane Monday come Sunday!

Following the loss of Egypt in the qualifying match, Algerian blogger Abdulsalam Baroudi from Bilad Talsiman writes an ‘open letter' to the people of Egypt. He writes:

On the aftermath of the match, the blogger adds:

Mr Baroudi continues his letter noting:

He then asks:

On Algerian-Egyptian relations, he writes:

Baroudi tries to dispel accusations against his country saying:

The blogger also discusses the role of video spread across websites showing young Algerian men wielding knives. He explains:

In conclusion, Baroudi writes:

words as violence must break SILENCE

UNIFEM, in the Say No to Violence channel on YouTube has already documented some of the actions being taken around the world to end gender violence. This first video shows the Ngara Girls High School in Nairobi, Kenya, where young girls are being taught to say No to Violence, to stand up for their rights and also how to deal with rape, assault, harassment and other forms of gender violence:

Also in Kenya, the Kenyatta National Hospital has a Gender Violence Recovery Center, where women and their children can go and receive care in cases of violence against them. In this next video, they tell of their experience running the center, the context they are in, and women who have been victims of gender violence speak out:

In Peru, the Flora Tristan organization is having a protest and mass gathering for another aspect they believe is related to gender violence: the denial of free access to birth control methods and the new law that determined that the day after pill (emergency contraception) wouldn't be distributed free of cost. They will be doing an educational campaign in a park in Lima and giving out information about birth control, also handing out day after pills and birth control packets as a symbolic protest:

In the context of all Latin America and the Caribbean, UN-INSTRAW launches this video as part of an awareness campaign :

Latinoamérica y el Caribe es un lugar peligroso para las mujeres. Más de 50 por ciento de las mujeres de la región han sido objetos de agresiones. En la República Dominicana, por ejemplo, 1,453 mujeres fueron asesinadas entre los años 2000 y 2008. En el marco del Día Internacional para la Eliminación de la Violencia Contra la Mujer, UN-INSTRAW lanza un nuevo video sobre la seguridad de las mujeres latinas y caribeñas.

In Spain, women participated in the 5th Self-Defense seminar against gender violence, where they are taught how to protect themselves in case they face a dangerous situation. Training is geared towards enabling them to disable their aggressor momentarily so they can run away from danger.

And from Chile, Hip Hop Artist COFLA has made a song titled Femicide. Whereas hip-hop lyrics are often thought to promote violence against women, this artist has put out a song condemning how men go from promises of love and protection to violence, aggression and even murder:

Have there been similar efforts and activities in your hometown or country? Please let us know in the comments how your community is moving towards ending violence against women!