Archive for
April 16th, 2007
Stories
Arabeyes: Egyptian Blogger Abdul Monem Mahmood Arrested
Egyptian blogger Abdul Monem Mahmood (Arabic) is the latest in a string of bloggers arrested by Egyptian authorities. He is being detained under custody for 15 days as charges are drawn up against him.
The Muslim Brotherhood blogger, journalist and television presenter was detained early Sunday morning, amid conflicting stories which first confirmed and then denied his arrest.
His colleague and friend Hossam El Hamalawy reports his arrest here.
Bad news… Muslim Brotherhood blogojournalist and friend Abdel Moneim Mahmoud was detained by Mubarak’s Gestapo early Sunday 1am, at the Cairo International Airport…
Egyptian Security forces arrested blogger and Ikhwanweb correspondent Abdel Moneum Mahmoud at Cairo International Airport today while on his way to begin seven Arab countries tour to prepare a report about the status of human rights in the Arab world for the British satellite channel Al Hiwar. Monem had already boarded the plane when he was later pulled out by security forces.
After the arrest and sentencing of blogger Abdel Karim Sulieman to four years in prison for his internet blog, the Egyptian government seems to be pressing ahead with its campaign to silence all voices of civil dissent and encroaching on freedom of expression by arresting or intimidating bloggers and political activists.
Alaa' Abdel Fattah, who had himself spent time behind bars for his political activism, gives us a timeline for Monem's arrest.
You might have heard about the arrest of Egyptian blogger Abdol Monem Mahmoud, since this particular story was being reported while it was happening some conflicting/confusing information got disseminated, this is my attempt to piece together the sequence of events…
1. state security arrests several muslim brotherhood members
2. Monem receives a phone call from his mother informing him that special forces raided their alexandria home and he is wanted
3. Monem decides to turn himself in in order to spare his parents any hardships
4. in preparation for his arrest monem sends emails and SMSs informing people he is about to turn himself in and posts a couple of posts on his blog that can be used as a seed for a campaign
5. not able to reach Monem bloggers assume he already turned himself in and got arrested
6. Monem contacts his lawyers who tell him to wait until they find out more details
7. lawyers find out there is no legal arrest warrant and advice monem not to turn himself in
8. news that Monem is still free and on the run reaches the blogosphere
9. Monem hears his father's health is deteriorating and he needs to be hospitalized, monem is now confused and starts contemplating hiding for a longish period
10. Monem shoots two videos, one about his father's health that gets posted on youtube (is this the first time a wanted political prisoner on the run posts videos on youtube? I'm sure state security appreciated this touch), the other is an interview with Al Hewar TV (his current employer)
11. Monem judging that since there are no legal arrest warrants he is technically allowed to travel and decides to try and leave the country on a pre-shceduled business trip
12. Monem passes passport control and boards the plane but gets arrested before plane takes off
13. hours later Monem shows up in front of shobra prosecutor is charged with silly charges that can put him in jail for a very long time, Monem will spend 15 days in custody then appear before the prosecutor again, prosecutor will most probably send him back to jail when th 15 days are over. this can go on for 6 months (enough time to cook up a good anti-terrorism law?). his arrest is now legal (or as legal as it gets in the land of the pharaohs)
According to blogger Mustafa Hossein, this is not the first time Monem spends time behind bars for his activism.
This was not the first time Monem was detained. He was tortured by state security forces.
He was outspoken in his blog regarding human rights abuses and free speech.
Supporters quickly put together a campaign to Free Monem , which is in Arabic.
Bangladesh: Celebrating Bangla New Year 1414
Shuvo Bangla Noboborsho (Happy Bengali New Year) to everyone. April 14th was the first day of the Bangla year 1414 also known as Pohela Baishakh. In Bangladesh, this day is a national holiday and in West Bengal it is a public holiday. Now Bangladeshi bloggers will take us through the history, culture and celebrations of this event.
Some history about “Pohela Baishakh” via The 3rd world view:
This marks the beginning of Baishakh, the first month of Bengali calendar. Celebrations of Pohela Baishakh started from King Akbar's reign (sixteenth century). The main event of the day was to open a halkhata or new book of accounts. This was wholly a financial affair. In villages, towns and cities, traders and businessmen closed their old account books and opened new ones.
The celebration of Pohela Baishakh by broad masses in the Bangladesh context may be dated from the observance of the day by “Chhayanat”, a cultural organization in 1965. In an attempt to suppress Bengali culture, the Pakistan Government had banned (Rabindranath) Tagore songs. Protesting this move, Chhayanat opened their Pohela Baishakh celebrations at Ramna Park with Tagore's song welcoming the month. The day continued to be celebrated in East Pakistan as a symbol of Bengali culture.
After the independence of Bangladesh this has grown to be a countrywide mass celebration. In the big metropolitans like Dhaka and Chittagong this day is marked by mass crowd flocking to hundreds of open air concerts and cultural programs, mask rallies etc. Close your eyes and try to see gives an account of his Pohela Baishakh experience in the capital Dhaka:
I started walking towards the historic “Ramna Botomul”, center of all attraction and the value of the cultural program. The crowd was so thick all around that it was not easy even to walk. The whole area became a sea of people. There was no vehicle allowed within one kilometer of the “Ramna Botomul”.
But what drives all these people to go out and celebrate? Ulysses of Back to Bangladesh observes:
(This is) the only holiday which is pure fun. No historical or religious connotations. Just enjoy the day. So people were out for fun. Kids getting faces painted, playing with balloons and balls. Women wearing white and red saris. Friends walking hand in hand. Mothers, fathers, children - some grandparents.
Nazzina posts images of people gathering at Fine Arts Institute, Dhaka University to welcome Bangla Year 1414.
People enjoyed traditional culinary delicacies ‘Panta, Ilish, Shutki and Pitha' at home and in the streets. Ershad also has some reflections of the new year in Dhaka city.
Pohela Baishakh also marks the beginning of the Baishakh season which brings seasonal kalboishakhi storm. Auddieland reminisces about a typical Bangla new year:
It's one of those days when you can cook khichuri and wait for the rain and the storm because we Bengalis love having khichuri when it rains or when the thunder is tearing the dark sky in a million pieces with it's thunderous sound!
Shadakalo remembers the innocent lives lost in an terrorist attack at Ramna during the pohela boishakh celebrations 6 years ago.
The fundamentalist islamic terrorists thought attacking one of the cultural celebrations of life and renewal would serve their purpose, and for a while, protected by their friends and masters in the government, it worked. But its a new government and a new will to fight this evil, and we are glad to hear that the case is being resurrected.
Time and again the religious fundamentalists and political oppressors have feared the free spirit of the masses and the people power. They always try to instill fear inside people by their terrorist activities and restrictions everywhere. But people always rebel against such intimidation by showing their support in masses. And Pohela Baishakh is one such occassion to just do that.
Arabeyes: Bahraini Blogger in Court Tomorrow
This is Mahmood Al Yousif, the God Father of Bahraini bloggers, who is being sued by a Bahraini Minister for comments he published online.
Mediations between the two parties failed, and the case is now being heard by the Higher Criminal Court tomorrow.
Even the meek Bahraini Journalists Association is backing Al Yousif, and has called for society to rally for his case.
The association issued the following statement:
Bahraini Journalists Association invites all journalists in Bahrain to amass in solidarity with the Bahraini blogger Mahmood Al-Yousif at the High Criminal Court on Tuesday April 17, 2007 due to the case brought against him by the Minister of Municipalities Mansour bin Rajab.
This calls all the journalists to be present at the courtroom and declare their solidarity with Al-Yousif on this issue of freedom of opinion and expression in Bahrain. The BJA condemns the insistence of the minister in pursuing a lawsuit against Al-Yousif, especially as Al-Yousif’s criticism of the minister in his Internet published article was criticism of the minister’s capacity as public official rather than personal. The BJA also calls on civic institutions political and social to show their solidarity by attending at the trial and release supportive statements of Al-Yousif.
Al Yousif, who enjoys huge popularity in Bahrain and beyond, made this announcement on his blog today:
We’re all gathering tomorrow morning at the Court building at 9:30. Cases are looked at starting at 10:00am.
It’s a freedom of expression case, any way you look at it. Please show your opposition to attempts to stifle this freedom by being there.
He also shares with us his thoughts on the trial, which he emphasises is a case against freedom of expression.
What I want to emphasize, if I may, this is not really a case against Mahmood Al-Yousif as much as it is a case against the tenets of the freedom of expression.
We, the people, should not be cowed into a status of never questioning or criticising a government official no matter how high that position is. They have to realise themselves, or be made to realise that the positions they occupy being called “civil servants” is no accident of nomenclature, but fact.
Unfortunately, both the Penal Code and the Press & Publications Law specifically not only discourages this civic responsibility of criticism, but glaringly criminalise it!
Al Yousif remains adamant that he committed no crime in criticising the official.
No, this is not a case against Mahmood Al-Yousif and never was. What I have written is rather mild when you consider it. This is a case purposefully levied to silence criticism.
Today it is me. Tomorrow it is everyone who dares to even glance “wrongly” at a public official, even if that official happens to be a janitor.
Needless to say, bloggers from around the Arab world share Al Yousif's thoughts.
From Saudi Arabia, blogger Mashi Sah expresses his solidarity with
Al Yousif.
قضية محمود ليس قضيته وحده وليست قضية المدونين البحرينين بل هي قضية كل المدونين العرب ، كل من حمل على عاتقه هم قلمه وسعى لكتابة الحقيقة ونشر المعلومة الصحيحة ووقف بكل جراءة ليقول الحق أمام كل ظالم ومستبد ومتجاوز ومقصر .
لنقف جميعنا مع كل مدون حر
ولنقل لا لقمع المدوني
From Dubai, in the neighbouring United Arab Emirates, Secret Dubai also rallies support for the blogger as well as for more freedom of expression in the region.
“Bahraini journalists plan to gather at Bahrain's High Criminal Court on Tuesday 17th April to protest the libel case brought against Mahmood Al-Yousif by government minister Mansour bin Rajab. Mahmood criticised bin Rajab and his department's response to heavy December rains that caused flooding. The minister claims his “feelings are hurt”.
This is a stark reminder that the privileges of freedom of speech that many of us enjoy back home in the West are not available in this region. In properly democratic systems of government, criticism of the government and government figures is expected and necessary for the democratic process. According to the UAE Publications Law, such criticism is illegal. In Bahrain, and in the wider Gulf, one can face heavy fines and lengthy jail sentences,” he writes.
Zimbabwe: Stock market gains, a peaceful prayer meeting, and economic opportunism
As the poor get poorer, the rich are only going to get richer in Zimbabwe. In this post, Mugabe Makaipa describes how Zimbabwe's stock market has grown 12,000% over last year as it has become chief among the few safe places that people can hedge against inflation. With inflation skyrocketing, unemployment reaching 80%, the local bourse has simultaneously become a boon to the capitalist intentions of the few that are willing to make the risky investment in Zimbabwean stock too. Sadly, the economically elite are the only beneficiaries of the reeling economy that is in Zimbabwe. In Zimbabwe, they are very few and far between.
Therefore, all of the rich people, government officials, and banks are putting their money into stocks so that it doesn't lose value. Demand is high, so the price is too.The everyday people of Zimbabwe don't see any benefit to this, though. Their masters may not see it for much longer either. Stock prices on the index are obviously inflated and unsustainable. It's only a matter of time before it comes crashing down, taking down many in its spiral.
Still on the subject of the select few in Zimbabwe, Zimpundit is conflicted about whether Zimbabweans in the diaspora should support calls for the deportation of the children of government officials who are living affluent lives on college campuses and in cities in the west. It goes without saying that most if not all of these children are direct or indirect beneficiaries of the torrid situation faced by struggling tax paying Zimbabweans. The fact that the Zimbabwean government has been openly public with their anti-west rhetoric doesn't help the situation much. Zimpundit wants to know:
Should this be thing that we as Zimbabweans be working at? Or do we have better things invest our energies into?
Just weeks after one of the bloodiest weekends in the history of Zimbabwe, the Save Zimbabwe coalition shifted their attention to Zimbabwe's second city, Bulawayo, this last weekend. Save Zimbabwe, the umbrella body of civic organizations in Zimbabwe, is the same group that was behind the fateful Highfield prayer meeting which was brutally quashed by the Zimbabwe Republic Police. This is Zimbabwe has been following developments surrounding the prayer meeting. Ever the skeptic, The Bearded Man comments thus on relative tranquility surrounding the Bulawayo prayer meeting,
Wonders will never cease!It makes such a difference to hear that a prayer meeting was allowed to proceed and that the situation did not deteriorate into violence, beating, arrests and a repeat of the orgy of oppression we saw last month.
This does not mean that the ruling party have done with the beatings etc, but that for some reason they saw reason and long may that continue
Finally, Dennis Nyandoro at Kubatana Blogs chronicles how some opportunists are exploiting the hyper inflationary environment to gauge people who are suspected to have money
Yesterday I went to the shops together with my wife, and when we were checking in different shops and comparing prices I met my young brother with his wife also doing the same thing. Most people think we are twins but we are not, the only difference is that I wear spectacles and my young brother doesn’t.Anyway the four of us holding our plastic bags walked around the shop buildings rubbing shoulders with vendors displaying their wares of tomatoes, onions, potatoes etc.
My young brother had bought a packet of Chimombe fresh milk for Z$5,000 from a vendor who had packs under his little table - one that is easy to carry when being chased by the police. As I approached the vendor he greeted me with a loud voice: “Aah murungu auya” meaning someone with money. All because of the spectacles.
Then I asked how much a packet of Chimombe was, and guess what? “Only Z$6,000!” he said smiling. But before I handed over the money my young brother quickly asked the vendor why he was charging me more than what he had sold it to him for. The vendor looked at my young brother with bloodshot eyes trying to stop him from telling me the right price.
Touring Libyan Blogs: Bloggers on Spring Break!
I am not sure, but I have the general feeling that the Libyan blogosphere has been a little quiet lately, except for the usual couple of blogs who regularly update. Maybe it is because of academic exams ? Or perhaps it's spring and people are tired ?
Anyway the topics were varied as they are always, but simply not many have been blogging.
Interestingly, if you want to penetrate or invade a country it might be easier and more pleasant to do so economically than through warfare. This is the meaning in my opinion of foreign investment in the so called third word countries. A example of this type of peaceful invasion is highlighted by Abughilan and the story of how Banco di Roma became active in Libya.
“In its first year, the bank opened another agency in Benghazi and several others in Khoms, Zletin, Misurata, Zawara and Derna. The bank had some admirers in the local community –Libyans, Jewish and Maltese- who promoted its activity and preached its virtues and were paid handsomely for their services. The bank offered loans with a very acceptable interest rate, only up to 9 %, and encouraged its customers to obtain loans against land mortgage, and when they failed to pay back, the bank acquired the land. The bank had also a scheme of buying lands through agents for prospective Italian colonials coming to Libya at a later stage.”
Nowadays this effect is achieved by globalization, which has engulfed most of the world as we know it.
A_Akak has gone on a virtual picnic to the Lake District.
“i was unable to come up to newcastle last weekend so i decided to send a representative for me, and that rep was my Digital Camera,”
However what is more interesting than his post are the lively commenters, who described previous picnics and how Libyans embrace the experience.
‘[..] love it, i would wander away somewhere and make friends with the sheep.
later i would come back to the cabin to find that most of the libyan kids had nearly drowned in the mud, broken a bone, had some sort of injury or other or was lost and everyone was franticly looking for them.[…]”.
Libyano on the other hand takes us this time on Part II of his journey from Tripoli to Egypt, namely Alexandria.
“At night we decided to take a round in the streets of Alexandria with my car but we got lost, we asked for the directions to the Corniche but we found ourselves being more and more lost until we realized that some of the people we asked were giving us wrong directions and I think it was intentionally, we got into narrow streets where I was thinking this is it now they are gonna make us stop and steal the car and everything else, I drove non stop in the narrow streets and tried to use my sense of directions but we got ourselves more lost until we found ourselves going in a street full of people and their wooden carriages selling all these kind of things you see in any Egyptian movie fil 7ara (in the neighbourhood).”
The Lost -Libyano ( another Libyano) is wondering and feels indignation at why is it that when the Western press reports a crime against some Muslim victim it never mentions the religion of a criminal, but if the criminal was Muslim we would be sure to hear about it.
“The 33-year-old woman was pushing her son in his pram through the Yoker area of the city when a group of young men threw stones at them and kicked the woman” ( note their is no mention of the men's ethnicity or religion).
I've actually wondered about this myself several times and I still have not found a convincing answer.
The 15th of April commemorates the date of the US bombing of Libyan cities exactly 21 years ago (1986). I ‘ve scoured over 60 Libyan blogs to look for any mention of that event but the only one who brought the subject up was Besheshentra. She mentioned it in conjunction with another tragedy which took place also on the 15 of April : the Titanic!
“two tragedies happened at night in this day ..
they are related to each other only by their date
but still …
they both hold , death , fear , dark and sad memories ..
15 April : the titanic sinking 1912
15 April : American air strike on Libya 1986
So , let us just
remember …”
On this occasion I think Highlander's old post would be suitable when describing a child's view of her city under attack.
“Have you ever been in a disaster area, just before something terrible is about to take place? If you have then you would know what I’m talking about, this sense of total silence, impending doom, emptiness inside and all your body hair standing up. This eerie silence is what woke me up, and I was hearing in my head a distant thudding.”
But also for turning the page …
“In order to survive, we put behind those sad memories and try to become pragmatic about this , maybe we even follow the proverb which says wisely “when you can’t beat them ..join them”. “
10 Years of Blogs: Do they carry weight in Ecuador's mainstream media?
Editor's Note: The following post originally appeared on the blog of Ecuadorean communications professor Christian Espinosa and was translated into English by volunteer translator Linda Evarts. If you're interested in contributing to Global Voices' mission by translating posts from non-English weblogs, please contact the appropriate Regional or Language Editor.
While reading comments about the 10-year anniversary of blogs (among them, those published in Spain’s El País [ES] and Argentina’s Infobae [ES]), I thought about the piece published by El Comercio in Ecuador.
It was a commentary by the technology editor, Andrea Rodríguez, who has followed web 2.0 with the same zeal that she brings to her study of science. In doing so, she’s put Cobertura Digital on the map with her writings about the development of journalism and blogs in Ecuador and the region.
El Comercio’s article mentions the statistics from www.ecuablogs.com, the community of Ecuadorean bloggers (that has been neglected of late — will it be revived? — one hopes…)
The title of the piece: “Blogs Celebrate Their 10 Year Anniversary and Keep Growing”
But how much influence on traditional media in Ecuador have blogs had in the past or do they have now? Do they carry weight? Here at the Cobertura Digital we’ve assembled a sampling of what bloggers are thinking…
Erebé.net thinks blogs exert almost no influence, based on a comparison of Ecuador with other countries. Still, based on the reach of blogs and the media coverage they’ve received in Ecuador of late, I think they’ve achieved much more than Erebé.net gives them credit for … Am I being overly optimistic?
Today I’m celebrating the work of several Ecuadorean journalist colleagues who work for renowned national publications and for whom blogs allow a closer relationship with their audience (when previously they had to pray that someone would write a letter to the editor).
Ricardo Tello, is the Managing Editor of El Tiempo, a newspaper of great influence in the third largest city of the country and the author of the blog “Hablemos de periodismo”. (He is surely the first Managing Editor with a blog in Ecuador.)
Christian Caiza is one of the best sports journalists on Radio Sonorama, one of the country’s most popular stations and maintains the blog Cyberfútfol (he posted from Germany during the World Cup).
César Ricaurte writes an important column in El Universo, the largest national newspaper, and writes the independent blog Leaves Torn From the Notebook (Las hojas arrancadas del cuaderno).
Eric Samson is President of the Association of Foreign Journalists in Ecuador—he’s the one who organizes meetings with (Ecuadorean President) Rafael Correa—and writes a blog on public journalism.
Guido Moreno, winner of the International Foundation for New Journalism Award, writes a blog called Independent Word (Palabra Independiente).
Manolo Sarmiento writes Teletoxia, an important media criticism column in the daily newspaper HOY, and keeps the blog Edocmanolo.
Jorge Aguirre, who conducts interviews for Gamavisión’s morning news program, has a blog called Jorge Aguirre.
Jorge Piedra manages one of the most popular radio stations in Cuenca and writes his opinions in his blog Cuencanos en el planeta.
Radio Guamote writes radioguamote.blogspot.com a blog in which he practices hyper-local journalism, bringing the media spotlight to an indigenous community that receives minimal coverage in the traditional media.
CIESPAL, one of the most prestigious schools of journalism in Latin America, runs Chasqui, a magazine-styled blog about Latin America.
And related to online media…
Diario Hoy: Here we find the recent unveiling of a section promoting blogs in the digital version of the newspaper.
Radio CRE: Despite its repeated blog bashing, the Guayaquil station has its own blog platform for its users and listeners.
Sonorama: Orlando Pérez, the recognized columnist of the newspaper HOY and producer of the radio show Sonorama, has a blog called Hot Potato (La papa caliente).
Informed Citizenry: Paúl Mena, the director of Informed Citizenry on the Web (Ciudadanía Informada.com) and former politics editor of the newspaper HOY, writes a blog about politics, soccer and journalism.
Confirmado.net is trying to build blog capacity—though still in the form of editorial columns—by providing space to TV journalist Gonzalo Ruiz, among others.
And in blogs related to journalistic PR …
Cobertura Digital has dipped into blogs and journalism as a source of work and business.
Christian Espinosa, a correspondent for Tiempos del Mundo, writes for the magazines Diners and Criterios and produces a radio show on Nuevo Tiempo and maintains Cobertura Digital to help journalists and public relations workers develop, design and produce blogs.
Blog Agency of Police News: www.policiales.coberturadigital.com
Time for Blogs in Tiempos del Mundo: www.tdm.coberturadigital.com
Video blog of the TV show La Hora Nacional: www.horanacional.com
Website monitoring social spending in Ecuador: www.inversionsocial.ec
The beta version of Cobertura Digital TV has a video blog of citizen journalism about Ecuador.
Have we missed anyone? Leave a comment.
Additions:
-Thanks to a commentary we remembered that Rafael Méndez leads a newspaper that keeps us up to date on what's happening in Naranjal:
http://lanoticianaranjal.blogspot.com
-Guillermo Granja, a popular Ecuadorean photographer and now owner of Agencia, wrote to us with his blog: http://guillermo.fotografosecuador.com
Related:
Links for Mon, 2007-04
Wu Wei resumes writing about her father's life: “No wonder his nationality was not so clear. And no wonder he could apparently speak Polish, Romanian, Hungarian and Ukrainian when he arrived in Brussels.”
According to Eteraz[Fa], 15 students were arrested by security forces in a university in Mazandarn province in the northern part of country.According to the blogger a few days ago,Bijan Sabagh, a member of Islamic Association of university,was arrested and many students started to protest against this act.Some even started hunger strike.
Michael Forster Rothbart posts photos from an Orthodox Christian Easter service held at the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra.
April 16 in history - at De Rebus Antiquis Et Novis: a failed attempt to kill the Russian emperor in 1866; the first Russian trade union is created in 1905; the museum of the red Latvian riflemen opened in Riga in 1970.
Following the Dissenters' March in Moscow this past Saturday, Robert Amsterdam talks on the phone with Eduard Limonov, Garry Kasparov and Karinna Moskalenko, and other friends in Russia. More - here and here.
Levan manages to find a video of free hug distribution in Georgia.
Onnik Krikorian reports from the Armenian parliamentary election campaign trail with on a Heritage party event.
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