· March, 2009

Stories about TOPICS from March, 2009

Belarus: Bloggers Helped Reinstating Teacher Fired by the British Company Branch on Political Ground

  31 March 2009

Bloggers in Belarusan Internet (ByNet) has launched an extensive campaign to reinstate a teacher of English Marjana Hruździłovič which had been fired from the Belarusan SOL Language Centre that acts at permission and under license of the non-governmental organization ‘SOL. Sharing One Language' funded by the UK government. The reason for the teacher's dismissal had been her objection to the remark of one of the students who said occasionally in a class that the celebration of Belarusan Freedom Day on March 25th is attended by ‘idiots and degenerates'.

“Matroudine”, website of Tunisian students on Hunger Strike censored

  30 March 2009

Tunisia authorities have blocked access to the Matroudine website dedicated to provide information and support for the five students and activists from the Tunisian General Student Union (UGET) who went on hunger strike to protest their arbitrary exclusion from Tunisian universities and deprivation of their right to education because of their activism within the UGET.

Egypt : Detained Bloggers complain Torture and Ill treatment

  27 March 2009

[ Update- Dia Eddin Gad has been released today ] While the recent months have been witnessing a considerable number of arrests to Egyptian bloggers, most of them are facing ill treatment in their detentions. Egyptian blogger Dia Eddin Gad is suffering health problems in his cell in Katta Prison, where he has been locked since he was kidnapped on 6th February.

Planning International Day of Solidarity with Persecuted Bloggers

  22 March 2009

What:Omid Reza Mir Sayafi, an Iranian blogger, died tragically in prison on March 18, demonstrating the sad fact that a blogger’s life can be lost as easily as a blog can be filtered by authorities. Bloggers have been praised on many occasions for their contribution and value to the information...

Omid Reza Mir Sayafi, Iranian blogger Dies in Prison

  19 March 2009

Omid Reza Mir Sayafi, a 29-year old Iranian blogger and journalist died in Evin Prison in Tehran on March 18. In December, he was sentenced to two and half years in prison for allegedly insulting religious leaders, and engaging in propaganda against the Islamic Republic of Iran. Mir Sayafi was...

Mauritania: Online Journalist Arrested, News Website Blocked and Journalists Sit-in Attacked

  17 March 2009

Update: 18 March 2009- Abbass Ould Brahim was released after being held for three days, and the Taqadoumy website was allowed to reopen 24 hours after the Nouakchott prosecutor’s office ordered its closure - Abbass Ould Braham, a Mauritanian online journalist was arrested this past Monday, 16 March 2009, for an article he published on Taqadoumy website. News of his arrest was reported by Taqadoumy.com and echoed by number of Mauritanian websites. Abbass's article "Deep into Mauritania: A Cross-Section of the new Mauritanian Regime" (in arabic) deals with the August 6 coup d'état, the Junta and the Mauritanian political system.

UAE: YouTube Ban Possible, Goodbye Flickr

  17 March 2009

Bloggers in the UAE are worried that YouTube may be banned in the Emirates, after access to photography hosting site Flickr has been totally blocked. According to Press reports, YouTube is ranked among the top 10 most popular sites in the UAE and news about its possible censorship has sparked debate in the blogosphere.

Egypt: Two Bloggers Were Tortured During Detention

  14 March 2009

Two bloggers were separately tortured in Egyptian State Security headquarters. One of them is now released, while the other has been receiving treatment in prison. After his release, the Egyptian blogger Mohamed Adel told an independent local newspaper that he was subjected to torture by the State security agents during the first 17 days of his detention.

Malaysia: Rex Judicata

  12 March 2009

Six Malaysian Netizens will be charged on 13th March 2009, according to news reports. The charges are in relation to their alleged insulting of Sultan Azlan Shah on the Internet. The six will be charged in differing states within Malaysia, two of which will take place at the Sessions Court...

Anonymous Blogging with WordPress & Tor Updated!

  10 March 2009

I’m pleased to announce that the third update to the Anonymous Blogging guide with Wordpress & Tor is now available online! This update introduces the Tor Browser Bundle, an open source version of a portable browser developed by Tor Project, that lets you use Tor with zero install. Tor Browser is a great pre-configured Tor bundle with self contained Mozilla Firefox browser for USB drives or any other portable media (SD Card, Hard Drives, Compact Flash Card).

Bangladesh: YouTube and File Sharing Sites Blocked

  8 March 2009

Internet users in Bangladesh are not able to access YouTube since Friday (March 6, 2009) evening. Soon people discovered that other Social Media and file hosting/sharing sites like Esnips, mediafire etc. were also not accessible. Apparently these are blocked by the firewalls at IIG (International Internet Gateway) as these can...

Thailand: Web director arrested for “allowing offensive comments”

  8 March 2009

Prachatai web director Chiranuch Premchaiporn was arrested by police yesterday for “disseminating lese majeste content on the website.” To put it in another way, she was arrested for allowing comments on the website which the police deemed as offensive to the monarchy. Chiranuch is now out on bail.

Malaysia: Reporters Without Borders speaks up for Raja Petra

  7 March 2009

Reporters Without Borders (RSF), an organisation that defends press freedom worldwide, has rallied to the aid of Raja Petra Kamaruddin (RPK), Malaysia's renowned blogger. Secretary-general of RSF, Jean-François Julliard, wrote in February to Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin Ibni Almarhum Sultan Mahmud Al Mukhtafi Billah Shah, the king of Malaysia, asking him to intercede...

Hassan Barhon: yet another Moroccan blogger sued for defamation

  6 March 2009

Moroccan blogger and anti-corruption journalist, Hassan Barhon, who has been arrested since February 25th for exposing a corruption case involving the prosecutor-general for the king of Morocco at Tetouan’s court of appeals, Mohamed Masmouki, is due to appear before a court in Tetouan today.

Two Egyptian bloggers arrested and held in unknown locations in less than a month

  5 March 2009

An Egypt Facebook activist was abducted by Police soliders, who attacked his home at 3:30am, shortly before the break of dawn. Rami El- Swaisi, 21, was taken to an unknown place since 2 days, when Officers and armed police soldiers broke into the home in Giza and took some of his personal property including his cell phone, laptop, and wallet.