· April, 2007

Stories about Protest from April, 2007

Egypt: Blogger's Wedding Planned

“Egyptian bloggers will hold a “wedding party” in Talaat Harb Sq., Friday 4 May, 6pm, to celebrate the marriage of our future president Gamal Mubarak to the lovely Khadiga, which will be held simultaneously in Sharm el-Sheikh. The bloggers’ protest party will be held under the slogan: “Heyya ah! Baladna...

Ukraine: Opposition Rally

  30 April 2007

Ukrainiana posts pictures from a recent opposition rally in Kyiv and writes: “As the rally drew to a close, it started raining lightly. A group of opposition supporters headed for the Counter-Maidan and streamed past it unobstructed, with 0.0 casualties. Sorry, Mr. Yanukovych, no civil war. Just a civil walk.”

Trinidad & Tobago: Akon Controversy Continues

  30 April 2007

A hip-hop artist, a 15 year-old girl, a Port of Spain nightclub, some YouTube - and subsequently, WestIndianTube - videos. The Trinidad and Tobago blogosphere wasted no time in sounding off on the April 12th scandal that's raised numerous issues for the citizens of the twin-island nation.

France: Expelling Illegal Immigrants

  30 April 2007

Continuing the debate on expelling illegal immigrants living in France, SEMEtt ou l'étincelle noire (Fr) writes about a political asylee who was shipped back to Liberia, a group of long-term illegal immigrants who decided to form an organization to publicly demand naturalization, and how the mass explusions are eroding civil...

Serbia: Blogosphere Reacts to Protect Press Freedom

  30 April 2007

Two hand grenades were placed on a window sill of Serbian journalist Dejan Anastasijevic's apartment on Saturday, April 15. The explosions caused material damage but no injuries. There were numerous comments about who might have stood behind the attack. Bloggers started a petition requesting prompt reaction of the police for the sake of press freedom.

Fiji: May Day 2007

  29 April 2007

The intelligentsiya blog has a post on the significance of the month of May in Fijian political history. The blog urges the readers to “to use May Day 2007 as an instrument of passive protest against Fiji's ruling illegal junta has put paid to such misgiving, or, more candidly, such...

Egypt: Worldwide Free Kareem Rallies

A series of rallies were held worldwide to draw attention to jailed Egyptian blogger Kareem Nabil Suliaman, who have been sentenced to four years in prison for insulting both Islam and Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak. Supporters gathered in Berlin, Germany, the United Kingdom, Bucharest, Romania, Stockholm, Sweden, Washington DC, US...

Russia: Blondes Who Disagree

  27 April 2007

Robert Amsterdam comments on the rally of The Blondes Who Disagree, calling it “an obvious attempt to ridicule and discredit the recent Marches of Those Who Disagree, which were so brutally suppressed by the authorities.”

Estonia: “A Russian Rebellion”

  27 April 2007

As Tallinn seems to have entered the second night of rioting over the removal of a Soviet war memorial, here's a blogger's recap (with photos, RUS, by LJ user mrprophet) of what happened the previous night: A Russian rebellion Today I've been to a true Russian rebellion, senseless and relentless....

Kurdistance: A Week Like Any Other

The news coming out of the Kurdish blogs this week is as varied as the landscape of Kurdistan itself. From predictions on Syrian Kurd alliances with Israel, to censorship in Turkey; from explorations of Northern Iraq, to essays on intolerance, the Kurdish bloggers cover it all. But for this week, I think we will begin with why, to Kurds, April is considered as the "Bride of the Year".

Ethiopia: students at Addis Ababa University go on strike

  26 April 2007

Ethio-Zagol writes about crisis at Addis Ababa University: “The student protest at Addis Ababa University is in its second day today after it was ignited yesterday by some students at Arat Kilo campus. The Students said they started chanting anti-university administration slogans when they learnt that the body of dead...

DRC: Opposition Ends Boycott of Parliament

  26 April 2007

The Congo's largest opposition party, allied to Jean-Pierre Bemba, President Kabila's main rival in the last presidential election, has ended its boycott of the Congolese parliament. UDPS Liege lays out the main issues that led to the boycott and their demands: security garanties, real freedom of expression, and a permanent...

Niger: Teacher Strike, Violent Student Protests

  26 April 2007

In Niger, violent protests by students (Fr) continued at the University of Niamey. The students are demanding (En) striking primary and secondary school teachers return to work. Nigerien civil society has meanwhile announced its support for the students‘ “fight for the improvement of their living and working conditions” (Fr)

Syrian Independence Day and Elections

Syria celebrated it's independence and Parliamentary elections with a lot of official fanfare, but very little excitement from bloggers as a reported two per cent of the constituents turned up at the polling stations. Yazan Badran sums up the reactions as bloggers debate the results and updates us about the jailing of a prominent human rights lawyer.

Japan: Pre-election protest party

  26 April 2007

Amamiya Karin writes in Magazine 9 [Ja] about protest parties held in Koenji last weekend organized by Suginami Ward Assembly candidate Matsumoto Hajime. Although Matsumoto finally lost the election, the party was a great success, featuring live music, dancing, and plenty of stage-diving. Matsumoto, one of the youngest contenders, pushed...

Taiwan: Youtube Censors anti WTO Protest Video

  26 April 2007

Blasts found out (zh) that Youtube has categorized an anti-WTO protest documentary as not suitable for viewers under 18: “This video may contain content that is inappropriate for some users, as flagged by YouTube's user community. To view this video, please verify you are 18 or older by logging in...

Hong Kong: Queen's Pier Last Night

  26 April 2007

Plastichk has written a citizen report on the last night of Queen's Pier and criticised the government's refusal to preserve the pier in situ (zh). The Pier is a colonial symbol during the British rule in Hong Kong. There is a on-going citizen campaign to preserve the pier.