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Guadeloupe: “Political Manipulation”

Fabienne Flessel — Mon, 21 May 2012 18:39:18 +0000

In a post entitled “On Kalkil Politik” [Cr], Guadeloupean blogger Gwakafwika explains his complete distrust in the recent appointment of 1 Guianese and 2 Guadeloupean-born Ministers in the new socialist French government. He calls it a political manipulation.

Haiti: Haitian Flag Day

Fabienne Flessel — Mon, 21 May 2012 18:36:55 +0000

Haitians all over the world recently celebrated the 209th Haitian Flag Day along with the country's educational system. Martinican blogger at Bel Balawou publishes a stream of pictures [Fr], taken during the event in Haiti, while Haitian Alterpresse explains and comments [Fr] on the main speeches of the day.

French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique: Ministers Appointed for Skills or as Tokens?

Fabienne Flessel — Mon, 21 May 2012 18:30:43 +0000

Before his election as the 24th President of the French Republic, left-wing candidate Francois Hollande, had promised a new government with two specificities: an equal number of women and men and ministers - and from all ethnic and cultural backgrounds.

With a great majority of voters for candidate Hollande in the Presidential elections hailing from in the Overseas regions, French-Caribbean bloggers were impatient to see which French Guyanese, Martinican or Guadeloupean politicians would be assigned a key government ministry.

Prior to the official announcement on May 16th 2012, a Guadeloupean blogger at Indiscrétions thought it was unlikely that Christiane Taubira would get any major position [Fr]:

Christiane Taubiraby, image taken from her own blog. Photo by Jean Francois Robert. Visit Taubira's blog @http://chtaubira.tumblr.com/

La guyanaise Christiane Taubira, qu'on a entendu et réentendu en boucle sur les médias oraux nationaux le 10 mai, pourrait être ministre. Un ministère symbolique, tout comme sa présence d'ailleurs. Car, malheureusement, on ne donne que des fonctions symboliques aux ressortissants d'outre-mer quand on les prend au gouvernement. A quand un vrai ministère, comme le Budget ou l'Agriculture ?

French Guyanese Christiane Taubira, whom we have heard over and over again on French national media, on May 10th, could become a minister - of a token ministry, just like her presence by the way. Because, unfortunately when French Overseas-born are appointed in the government, it is only to be in charge of minor ministries. When will they be assigned significant positions as Minister of Budget and Public Finances or Minister of Agriculture?

This time around things are different and as Martinican Bel Balawou announces [Fr]:

Christiane Taubira originaire de la Guyane, a été nommée ministre de la justice et garde des sceaux dans le gouvernement de Jean-Marc Ayrault.

Christiane Taubira, born in French Guyana, was appointed as the Minister of Justice in the government of Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault.

Guyanese blogger at Blada reposts [Fr] some of the official messages sent to congratulate the newly-appointed, but expresses, nevertheless, some mixed feelings:

Deux raisons de faire sauter les bouchons de champagne sous les palmiers… ou d'avaler cul sec un bol de vinaigre lorsqu'on a une haute idée de ce que peut être la justice.

Two reasons to pop bottles of champagne under the palm trees [Ed: of Cayenne, French Guyana]…or to drink bottoms up, a glass of vinegar, when you hold justice in high esteem.

Official government publicity photo of George Pau Langevin taken from her profile on the website of the French National Assembly (http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/)

Bel Balawou also congratulates [Fr] George Pau Langevin, a Guadeloupean-born political woman who was chosen to become the Junior Minister in charge of Education Achievement.

Among these well-acclaimed assignments, reactions to the appointment of Victorin Lurel to the Ministry of the Overseas Departments is discordant. Guadeloupean blogger at Carib Creole News publishes a post entitled “Victorin Lurel, Last Minister of the Last Colonies [Fr] in which he denounces the inconsistencies of the new Minister:

Lurel ministre, qui s’en étonne ? Personne. Lurel ministre des « outremers» (à CCN nous disons des Dernières Colonies : MDC) c’est la big surprise. Notre ex président de Région avait toujours clamé urbi et orbi, qu’il ne souhaitait surtout pas, ce ministère qu’il considérait comme « dévalué ».
Sa « préférence » allait vers l’agriculture ou les collectivités territoriales. Mais il semble bien que Lurel n’ait guère eu la possibilité de choisir.

Lurel is one of the Ministers, is it a surprise? Absolutely not. Lurel is the minister of the “Overseas” regions (at CCN, we say of the Last Colonies: MLC), here is the big surprise. The former president of our former local executive, had loudly proclaimed all over the place that, he definitely did not want this ministry which he regarded as “underrated”.
He declared he would prefer ministries like the ones in charge of agriculture or devolved administrations. Yet, it seems that he did not have a choice.

In this same post, CCN reminds his readers that since the 2009 social crisis in Guadeloupe, Lurel who was then member of the left-wing parliamentary opposition to Sarkozy's government, never stopped tackling the numerous causes of the discontent (prices, employment, status of Creole language, education and vocational training and governance) and condemning the policies enforced by the government then. He wonders how the new minister is going to solve the problems he once pointed at.

Victorin Lurel; photo taken from his Twitter profile @VictorinLurel

Regarding Lurel's appointment, Bel Balawou publishes no personal comment but reposts a letter [Fr] from Patrick Karam, a Guadeloupean-born former junior minister in Sarkozy's government, who unexpectedly expresses his complete support to his former rival, Victorin Lurel.

Le plus compétent et populaire des ultramarins, qui fut de tous les combats en faveur des outre-mer, l’homme qui a tenu bon face au LKP pendant la crise de 2009 et dont le comportement irréprochable et courageux avait été salué par le Président de la République Nicolas Sarkozy […]

The most able and popular of the Overseas-born [Ed: politicians], who has defended the Overseas regions in all their struggles, who stood in front of the LKP at the time of the 2009 social crisis and whose honest and brave behavior had been ackowledged by President Nicolas Sarkozy […]

These inconstencies are also pointed at by Martinican blogger at Montray Kréyol, who publishes a letter from Victorin Lurel, in a post entitled “The Contortions of Toto” (Toto being Lurel's nickname in his native Guadeloupe) [Fr]. In this letter, Lurel, before being appointed, legitimizes President Hollande's choice to honor French stateman Jules Ferry on his inauguration day. The choice was judged awkward and Lurel's support even moreso, since Ferry was the well-known advocate of the French colonial expansion.

Martinican blogger at Bondamanjak humorously wonders [Fr] why no Martinican-born politican was appointed in this new government.

Le hic dans cette histoire c'est que la Martinique, terre d'Aimé Césaire… creuset de la démocratie participative est étrangement absence de cette réunion de compétences.

The problem here is that Martinique, land of Aimé Césaire…the soil of partipatory democracy is surprisingly missing from this combination of skills.

Visit French mainstream online magazine, Le Nouvel Obs, to see the new faces of the French executive [Fr].

The thumbnail image used in this post, “The French National Assembly”, is by tiseb, used under an Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0) Creative Commons license. Visit tiseb's flickr photostream.

Colombia: Tweeting Marathon to Demand Senator's Resignation

Silvia Viñas — Mon, 21 May 2012 17:40:56 +0000

Twitter users have organized [es] a tweeting marathon to demand the resignation of Senator Eduardo Merlano after the politician refused [es] to undergo a sobriety test. The goal is to reach 50,000 tweets (the amount of votes that got him elected senator) and through these tweets argue that he needs to resign. Netizens also created the account Renuncie Senador (@renunciesenador) [es] (”Resign, Senator”) and the hashtag #FueraMerlano [es] (”Out Merlano”).

Mali: Interim President Injured as Protesters Enter Presidential Palace

Lova Rakotomalala — Mon, 21 May 2012 17:06:59 +0000

Malijet reports that Interim President Dioncounda Traoré was hurt [fr] during protests [fr] that asked for his removal and caused three casualties.

Cuba: Fifth Cuban Congress against Homophobia

Firuzeh Shokooh Valle — Mon, 21 May 2012 16:28:10 +0000

Blogger, journalist and LGBT activist Francisco Rodríguez Cruz (Paquito el de Cuba) discusses Mariela Castro Espín's [es] message on occasion of the 5th Cuban Congress against Homophobia recently celebrated on the Island. Castro Espín is the daughter of President Raúl Castro and head of the state-run agency on sex education.

Puerto Rico: Old San Juan, for Rent and for Sale

Firuzeh Shokooh Valle — Mon, 21 May 2012 16:17:15 +0000

Eloísa Gordon analyzes the decadence and transformation of Old San Juan [es] -the colonial city in the capital, San Juan- within the logics of globalization.

Puerto Rico: Filiberto Ojeda Documentary

Firuzeh Shokooh Valle — Mon, 21 May 2012 16:09:44 +0000

The team behind the documentary on the life and death at the hand of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of Puerto Rican freedom fighter Filiberto Ojeda Ríos [es] have sued the public agency Film Corporation of Puerto Rico for withdrawing funding for the film.

Dominican Republic: Juan Bosch and the Elections

Firuzeh Shokooh Valle — Mon, 21 May 2012 16:02:17 +0000

Journalist Nelson del Castillo analyzes the political significance of Juan Bosch [es] -the Dominican politician, writer, essayist, historian and educator- on occasion of the national presidential elections held yesterday, May 20, 2012.

Yemen: Millions Go Hungry in Ongoing Food Crisis

Noon Arabia — Mon, 21 May 2012 15:44:18 +0000

In Yemen, one of the poorest countries in the Arab world, millions of people are facing a severe humanitarian crisis, widespread hunger and chronic malnutrition.

In March the charity Oxfam International gave a dire warning in a press release:

Yemen is at the crossroads of humanitarian catastrophe international aid agency Oxfam said today in reaction to new figures from the World Food Programme, which showed a radical increase in the number of people facing severe hunger in the country. The new figures indicate that 45 percent of the population in Yemen do not have enough to eat - more than 10 million people, with half of these people severely food insecure and in need of urgent emergency aid.

However, mainstream media is more interested in the existence of Al Qaeda in the country, supposedly justifying the US drone war.

Yemeni Mohammed Adel Alamer tweeted in dismay:

@M7mmdAdel: 10 million Yemenis facing #famine in Yemen! The world only cares about #Qaeda and #DroneStrikes them and to hell with the 10 million

Oxfam offered more figures:

@Oxfam:.@WFP [World Food Programme] reports #Yemen food insecurity levels have doubled since 2009. Today 5 million people go hungry so often that it affects their long-term health

Yemen has had massive food security problems for years, and Al Jazeera English recently produced two videos highlighting how the ongoing political turmoil has aggravated the situation and is putting the lives of many children at risk.

British-Yemeni blogger Omar tweeted Al Jazeera's photo of a severely malnourished child:

@OmarMash: ‘The tiny bodies are still breathing' - Babies starve in Yemen's hospitals, he's a lucky one, he made to the hospital.

Severely malnourished Yemeni child, Sana'a, Yemen, April 2012. Image by Al Jazeera (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Yemeni blogger Afrah Nasser wrote a post entitled “Hunger in Yemen”:

Food crisis is increasingly becoming epidemic in Yemen. Reports of starvation and malnutrition among children in Yemen have been gripping headlines for a while. Last night [April 27], UNICEF spokesman Mr. Mohammed al-Asaadi spoke to al-Jazeera about this issue and said, “Around 1 million children are food insecure and malnourished. At least 120 thousand under-5 children may die between now and the end of 2012 if no action is taken.” […] I wonder what the government is doing exactly to tackle this issue. It's really sad that politicians in Yemen could ignore the children's plight.

Omar tweeted:

@OmarMash: The #YemenFoodCrisis is only going to increase in severity if not immediately dealt with by international donors, the Yemen government and the GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council].

He added:

@OmarMash: I have a horrible feeling that in 6 months time the #YemenFoodCrisis will at its peak, only then will the world's attention be focused.

London-based Yemeni Loubna Maktary urged immediate action to be taken to save Yemen's dying children:

@LoubbyM: Children in Yemen are dying of HUNGER!!! Stop ignoring them. Yemen is not a political problem, it is a human catastrophe #YemenFoodCrisis (:

It is hoped that the food crisis will be discussed at the Friends of Yemen Conference in Riyadh on May 23. UNICEF has called for children to be kept at the centre of the conference's security and political dialogues.

To learn more about Yemen's food crisis read this Storify.

Zambia: Judge Suspensions Unfold into Embarrassing Drama

Gershom Ndhlovu — Mon, 21 May 2012 13:48:54 +0000

The suspension of one Supreme Court Judge and two high court judges and setting up of a tribunal to investigate their conduct by President Michael Sata is slowly but surely turning into an embarrassing drama.

A day after President Sata swore in the tribunal headed by Malawi high court judge Lovemore Chikopa, Zambian high court judge, Flugence Chisanga, ruled against it in an injunction in a move that inevitably pitted the judiciary against the executive.

President Sata swears in Malawian Judge Lovemore Chikopa to head the tribunal probing three Zambian judges. Picture courtesy of State House via Zambian Watchdog

Ms Justice Chisanga said:

Upon hearing counsel for the applicants and reading the affidavits of Judges Mutuna and Kajimanga respectively, it is hereby ordered that the applicants be and are hereby granted leave to apply for judicial review.

And it is further ordered that the leave so granted shall operate as a stay of the decisions of his Excellency the President to appoint a tribunal, to suspend the applicants and any adverse measures against the applicants in relation to the performance of their Constitutional duties as duly appointed Puisne Judges pending determination of this matter or further direction by this court.

Justice Minister, Sebastian Zulu, quickly issued a statement that was placed on the state house website saying the judiciary was panicking, ordering the Solicitor-General to overturn the ruling:

I have ordered the solicitor General to immediately have that stay revoked on the ground that under section 16 of the state proceedings Act. An Injunction may not be granted against the state.”
“An Order of stay is in fact a mandatory injunction which is ordering that the tribunal should not take off, That is what the law does not allow. It (law) doesn't allow such an order as far as I a[m] concerned.

Zulu also told a press briefing that the court’s decision was illegal and amounted to a direct attack on the president’s decision.

One of the three suspended judges, High Court Judge Philip Musonda. Photo courtesy of statehouse.gov.zm.

Ruling in the matter after the application by the State to have the injunction against the tribunal dismissed was set for hearing on May 24.

The matter also engulfed the Chief Justice whom the University of Zambia Students Union called upon to step down.

Netizens have followed this matter keenly on social media forums.

Ms Justice Chisanga won kudos for her courage. Commenting on a related post on Zambian Watchdog, Solicitor wrote:

What a galant lady this Chisanga is she. Fearless and sticks to then law without looking at who is involved. this how judiciary should be. The weak judges must learn from this judge who can’t succumb to executive presure. I hope she will be the next chief justice after [Enerst Sakala] as she will uphold the rule of law. Pf cadres on blogging should stop trivializing such bluntant abuse of eecutive powers by its president and some of those in his party. Zambia doesn’t belong to MCS nor to his party and the likes of membe and Nchitos but to all of us.We need a relaible judicial system which will defend the rights of fair justice for every one without looking at the faces of those involved and this is what lady Chisanga has just demonstrated…

MUKUKA MBULU – AYANGA NA MAKA on the development under the same story wrote, wrote:

The measure of any Judiciary is whether it can stand the pressure from the Executive and in this case Judge Chisanga has more than redeemed the Juciary. The measure of any corruption fight is whether you can confront and arrest not just your enemies but also your friends and in this case Mr. Sata has failed completely by refusing to confront his friends to compel them to pay back the K14bn owed to DBZ or even to talk about it. Contrast this to what the President would have said and done if the K14bn was owed by Henry Banda. The Corruption fight is DEAD because it is targeted only at enemies and this case proves it. Thank you Judge Chisanga. The coutry owes you the same way it owes Christon Tembo who gave up the Vice Presidency of Zambia to fight the Chiluba Third term bid while the same Mr. Sata was supporting Chiluba.

In one exchange between two tweeps, the following was gleaned:

@munshyamunshya: My advice to Zulu & Co. don't pick a fight with the entire judiciary.

@imatambo: @munshyamunshya: are the supreme court judges above the law? In the interest of separation of powers they should be checked by the executive

@munshyamunshya: @imatambo No, judges aren't above law. And so when they are corrupt you report them to ACC and Judicial Complaints commission!

One sceptic tweep doubted the authenticiy of the judicial review:

@sandaykc: @Zambia_Reports @missbwalya @gndhlovu @the_josephk @VOAAfrica Good attempt for judicial review but we all know by now this is all academic.

Zambia: President Sues Citizens and Media for Alleged Defamation

Gershom Ndhlovu — Mon, 21 May 2012 13:05:50 +0000

Zambian President Michael Sata is suing an opposition leader, a newspaper, a radio station and an academic for alleged defamation.

President Sata recently sued United Party for National Development leader Hakainde Hichilema, the Daily Nation newspaper, radio station Hot FM and University of Zambia lecturer Cholwe Beyani for defamation of character and demanded to be paid K1.2 billion or US$ 266,667 in damages.

Artistic depiction of Michael Sata as Zambia's Black Moses. Image source: 90 Days Countdown Facebok group.

President Sata also indicated that he wanted Hichilema to retract the defamatory story published in The Daily Nation newspaper edition of May 16, 2012, in which the paper quoted the opposition leader as saying Sata awarded a K600 million contract to his friend to renovate State House.

The Lusaka Times story quotes the letter to the Daily Nation as saying:

We have been retained by Mr. Michael Chilufya Sata, the current president of Zambia and of the Patriotic Front political party, to act for him in a matter concerning your defamation of him in the article in the Nation Newspaper edition published on 8th of May, 2012 (Vol. 2, Issue 175) entitled ‘Sata Shielding Crooks.’

President Sata also demanded a retraction, an apology and K500 million from a University of Zambia (Unza) lecturer Cholwe Beyani for defamation who for saying the removal of lawyer Vincent Malambo from representing the Development Bank of Zambia (DBZ) was an attempt by the head of state to shield his friends from prosecution.

Sata also filed a defamation suit against Hichilema over alleged defamatory remarks the UPND leader made when he featured on Hot FM’s Hot seat live programme on April 26. President Sata is demanding K500 million as compensation.

Sata in his suit also also demanded another K500 million from Hot FM Radio as the publisher of the alleged defamatory remarks and for the radio station to retract the defamatory remarks made by Hichilema.

According to instructions sent to his lawyers Ituna Partners, Hichilema has been given 7 days to apologize and retract the statements he made.

On May 11, the offices of international lawyer Robert Amsterdam, representing former President Rupiah Banda’s son, Henry, wanted in Zambia for questioning on allegations of various crimes that may have been committed during his father’s reign, received correspondence from President Sata’s legal representatives threatening litigation and demanding compensation in response to public statements made by Mr Amsterdam on the PF’s government’s pursuit of political opponents.

Said the sharp-tongued Amsterdam (this author has interviewed him before):

President Sata’s crude efforts to silence and bully opponents with threats and intimidation will not work, and we would in fact welcome the opportunity to lead a serious public debate on the unlawful conduct of this administration… As a public figure, I had no idea that President Sata was so sensitive to criticism, but given this government’s stance toward freedom of the press, it shouldn’t come as a surprise.

While President Sata is suing citizens, he himself is constitutionally immune from civil and criminal prosecution as head of state. Netizens have added their voice to the President suing his critics.

Commenting on the Zambian Watchdog, Mambwe wrote:

Close friends of Sata (Guy Scott, GBM, Kambwili) should pluck up some courage to advise their President that his Republican status does not allow him to behave like an ordinary man in the streets of Lusaka, Kitwe of Ndola where he can exercise the luxury of making money by sueing percieved enemies to courts. A President must learn to absorb cruel and well-meaning criticism from the public. The Speakers Corner in London’s Hyde Park have preserved such a facility where the Queen can be criticised severely. If Sata is sensitive to honest criticism, then he must resign, declare to forego his presidential immunity and face his colleagues on a level playing ground. His lawyers will have to fight it out with other sharp-shooting talented legal minds.

Advocate wrote:

If the nation had to sue for the unfulfilled promises within 90 days,how many cases could there be.I thought a President should have thick skin to critism and other comments.There should be a well designed system to rebut various accusations inorder to inform the public about the truth.That is what leadearship is all about.Are people expected or forced to be quite even if they suspect something has gone wrong within the Executive.Dictatorships start this way.

Turkey: Poetic Commemoration of Uludere Airstrike Victims

Stratos Moraitis — Mon, 21 May 2012 12:59:33 +0000

On December 29, 2011 in southeastern Turkey several Turkish Airforce F-16s bombed a convoy of Turkish Kurds on mules who were engaged in border trade, apparently mistaking them for Kurdish rebels. Thirty-four were killed; the average age of the victims was twenty.

While the Uludere (Roboski) bombing is still in the news headlines today, interest has been focused on the government's silence and the ongoing investigation, and the human side of the tragedy has been neglected.

However, last week poet and author Bejan Matur visited the region and posted her impressions on her Twitter account [tr], in both her poetic prose and photos.

A mother at her son's grave.

@bejanmatur: bugün geldim roboskiye ve gidemedim. yaslı kızkardeşlerin sesleri bırakmadı beni…

I arrived at Roboski today and couldn't leave. The voices of mourning sisters didn't let me.

@bejanmatur: roboskide gece;sınıra düşen top sesleri, F-16 ucusşları ve bütün gün mezarlıkta ağıt yakan kadınların anlattığı ölü oğullar. ahh yeter mi?

Night in Roboski: shelling on the border, the sounds of F-16 flights, and fallen sons about whom mothers ululate all day long at the cemetery. Ah, is that enough?

At her brother's grave.

@bejanmatur: o kadar uzaktık birbirimizden. o kadar yalnız kendimizle…

We were so far away from each other… However in solitude with ourselves…

@bejanmatur: Tum bunlar olurken butun gece ve gun roboskide top sesleri dinmedi. helikopterler, karsi tepelerden yukselen dumanlar arasinda yasanan hayat

As these events were happening, all day and all night shelling sounds never ceased at Roboski. A life between ever-flying helicopters and smoke from the shells on the mountain across.

His look…

@bejanmatur: 'Aile ici siddet nasil korkuncsa bizim cocuklarimiz da bu seslerle buyuyor' diyor biri roboskideki top seslerini kastederek.

Someone said, “These sounds have the same effect on children as an abusive family.” He meant the sound of heavy artillery.

@bejanmatur: Olumden duyduklari aciyi azaltacak tek sey sorumlularin cezalandirilmasi cunku!

The only thing that would ease their pain would be the conviction of those responsible!

To live and to die at Roboski.

As one of Bejan's poems says:

Beklemeyi bilen kan,
Taş olmayı da bilir.
Dünyada olmak acıdır. Öğrendim.

Blood that knows how to wait
Knows how to be a stone.
Being on earth is pain itself. I've learned.

Bejan Matur was born in 1968 in an Alevi Kurdish family in the city of Marash in southeast Turkey. As well as being a poet she is a newspaper columnist and runs a cultural foundation in Diyarbakır.

All photos courtesy of Bejan Matur.

South Korea: Police Question Influential Podcasters for Campaign Violations

Lee Yoo Eun — Mon, 21 May 2012 11:18:57 +0000

One of South Korea's most influential podcasters was summoned for questioning last week over alleged illegal campaign activities, igniting heated debates and discussions online. Kim Eo-joon, head of an activist Internet newspaper and one of four hosts of the nation's most popular podcast ‘I am a petty-minded creep', which lampoons the country's president and governing ruling party, was charged with violating election laws by holding eight rallies in a public place.

Another host of the podcast show, investigative reporter Joo Jin-woo, was also summoned for questioning [ko] on May 18, 2012. While there are some net users expressing that the investigation is justified, a majority of Twitter users have defended Kim and accused police of unfairly summoning him while condoning other major political heavyweights responsible for similar remarks and campaign activities.

Image of the four hosts of the show, From left - Kim Eo-jun, Chung Bong-ju, Kim Yong-min and Ju Jin-woo, Naggomsu team from Naggomsu Daum Cafe holds the copyrights, Used under permission.

Kim Sang-ho (@sinbi2010) tweeted [ko]:

김어준 “선거법 위반 혐의로 소환하는 것은 권력과 자본의 집단 광기에 불과하다. [수 없이 많은 이명박의 비리와 선관위 비리 부정 선거 등은 미혼적 수사하면서 선거 독려 했다는 이유로 수사하는 것은 미친짓이며 누구에게도 이롭지 않는 처사다.

Summoning Kim Eo-joon over violation of election laws is just a craziness of political and financial powers. The police was so tacit when investigating the president's corruption scandals and the election commission's election fraud cases. It is just ridiculous that the police question Kim just because he ‘encouraged voting'. This kind of police action is beneficial to no one.

Twitter user @shanti reminded people of the similar treatment [ko] of Chung Bong-ju, one of the four co-hosts of the show, who was sentenced to a jail term over defamation charges for raising allegations that the president was involved in stock fraud.

The verdict was accused by many as politically motivated, but Park Geun-hye, the governing party’s strongest presidential candidate who made similar remarks on the fraud cases, has gone unscathed:

박근혜 BBK 발언 결국 무혐의 처분되었다. 봉주는 감옥에가고 그네는 무죄다.김어준 삼두노출은 선거법위반 조사 받고 그네 쌍두노출은 우연의 산물이라 무죄다.대한민국 만인 앞에 법이 평등한 법치국가 맞는가?

Park Geun-hye's BBK [company name] remarks [remarks on the current president's stock price manipulation allegations] were eventually acquitted. Bong-ju was jailed while Geun-hye was cleared of charges. Kim Eo-joon's ‘Three Heads Exposure' was being investigated over election law violation while Geun-hye's ‘Two Heads Exposure' is not-guilty. Are we living in a country where everybody is equal under the law? [The Three Head Exposure refers to an incident in which three hosts of the show made what is believed to have been an accidental appearance while one host ran as a candidate. It was interpreted as breaking the election law by showing support to certain candidate. Park Geun-hye made a similar public appearance while a candidate from her party campaigned for the April election]

Twitter user @badasok, referencing Kim's answers to the questions [ko] on whether he thinks himself as guilty, argued [ko]:

김어준 총수 ‘선거에는 최대한 많은 사람이 참여해야 한다고 본다'며 ‘제가 한 일은 그런 정신에 부합한다' =>민주주의한다면서 선거하라고 했다고 잡아가는 정권은 세상천지에 없죠.정치검찰과 낙하산 선관위원들.. 이게 민주주의입니까?

Kim said “I believe as many as people should participate in the election' and added ‘what I did (during the campaign) corresponds to the spirit of election.” There is no such democratic government in the world as ours who detain people for (encouraging) voting. When I look at these politicized prosecutors and parachute election commission people [the ‘parachute' refers to people who were assigned to the post by someone ‘higher'], it makes me doubt whether we are living in a democratic country.

Another Twitter user (@__hope_) criticized [ko] the police for probing the hosts of the show who have unearthed numerous political scandals of the ruling party and the president, and even made an investigative report on the election fraud. It is also ironic that it was none other than the election commission who requested the investigation.

[…]10.26 로그기록,박근혜 선루프 차 조사 등. 경찰이 해야 할 일들을 한 나꼼수에게 부끄럽지 않은가. 김어준 앞에서 고개 들 수 있는가. 우리는 경찰 앞에 선 김어준이 자랑스럽다.

[…] (Revelation on) the Oct 26 Election site log file and the coverage on Park Guen-hye's [campaign activities] through a [car] sun-roof… You police - are you not ashamed by ‘Naggomsu' [Korean acronym for ‘I am a petty-minded creep'] who have done all the work that you should have done? Will you be able to stare straight into their faces? We are proud of Kim Eo-joon who boldly stood in front of the police.

However, there were some divided responses online. Some net users from Daum Agora [ko], the nation's biggest public forum, criticized the hosts of the show for “creating public commotions”. Net user ID:Doctor K wrote [ko]:

아무리 나꼼수가 처음엔 스스로 마이너적인 해적방송을 지향했다고 해도 지금 나꼼수는 그들이 비판하던 권력 그 자체가 되었고 스스로 그 권력을 즐기고 있다고 해도 과언이 아니다. 이번 선거에서 김용민 파문에서도 볼 수 있듯 나꼼수가 적극적으로 ‘김용민 구하기'에 나서면서 국민의 뜻은 안중에도 없지 않았던가. 그들을 따르는 지지자들의 환호에만 귀기울일 뿐.

Naggomsu started as a media effort representing minority opinions and guerilla broadcast and it still aims to be seen that way. However, it has now become the power figure which it used to criticize. They [hosts of the show] are even enjoying the perks of power. As we can see from the Kim Yong-min scandal during the recent election [referring to some abusive comments made by one of the hosts], they were only focused in salvaging their own member rather than paying attention to what people really care about. They only listen to their supporters' praise of them.

Net user ID:진보는없다 adviced [ko] the show to lose its aggressiveness:

잘 새겨들어서 우리의 생각만 옳고 우리만 정의로우니 우리는 이 길을 가야한다는 생각 버리길 바란다. 같은 길을 간다고 해도 지혜롭게 덕스럽게 가는 길을 택해보기 바란다.

Wish they bear this in mind - please drop the idea that they are the only one who are right and just, so they would continue to walk this way. You can still take the same path while acting wisely and virtuously.

As the multiple probes made national headlines throughout this week, some criticism fell on conservative mainstream media. Lee Myung-hyun (@thezoker) tweeted [ko]:

조중동에게 김어준이 정말로 선거법을 위반했느냐 아니냐는 별로 중요하지 않죠. 그냥 경찰에 출두했다는 사실과 출두하는 그 그림만이 중요할 겁니다. […] 죄의 유무를 떠나 국민들에게 마치 죄가 있는 것 같은 인상을 주면 되는 거죠.

To Chosun, Joongang and Donga [the nation's three major right-wing newspapers], the fact whether Kim Eo-joon really violated the election laws doesn't matter that much. What matters to them is the fact that Kim was being summoned by police and the scene showing Kim being summoned […] Regardless of the guiltiness, if all these scenes give the public the impression that Kim has done something wrong, it is fine with those newspapers.

Germany: “Rundshow”: A New, Social TV Format

Rachel Horst — Mon, 21 May 2012 10:28:49 +0000

The Bavarian broadcasting company Bayerischer Rundfunk recently launched [en] a social TV experiment called “Rundshow” (Roundshow). Viewers are actively incorporated into the show through virtual means such as Google Hangout, videos, an app called “Die Macht” (The Power), and Twitter. The concept of further blurring the lines between TV and the Internet can already been seen with Al Jazeera Stream [en]. But the „Rundshow“ [de] is the first format of its kind to be attempted in Germany.