Stories about TOPICS from March, 2009
Belarus: Bloggers Helped Reinstating Teacher Fired by the British Company Branch on Political Ground
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
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
[ 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.
Sudan: Activist arrested for his online support to ICC Arrest Warrant for Omar al-Bashir
On the night of March 5th, 2009, Sudanese security forces had carried out a raid on the house of internet activist and lawyer Abdel Hakim Abdel Rahman Nasr only few hours after he expressed his support to the ICC Arrest Warrant for President Omar al-Bashir on the online International Forum for Nubia of which he was a moderator.
Planning International Day of Solidarity with Persecuted Bloggers
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...
Omid Reza Mir Sayafi, Iranian blogger Dies in Prison
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...
Mauritania: Online Journalist Arrested, News Website Blocked and Journalists Sit-in Attacked
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
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
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
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....
Anonymous Blogging with WordPress & Tor Updated!
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).
Egypt: Detained blogger Ahmed Abou Doma is at risk of torture
The detained blogger was mentally and physically abused in Al-Khalifa police station, while being transferred to prison. He was beaten up by sticks and his body was standing in a harmful posture for long hours.
Bangladesh: YouTube and File Sharing Sites Blocked
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...
Thailand: Web director arrested for “allowing offensive comments”
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
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...
Hassan Barhon: yet another Moroccan blogger sued for defamation
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
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.
