· November, 2012

Stories about Legal Threats from November, 2012

Life Sentence for Qatari Poet for Insulting Amir

  30 November 2012

The poem is said to praise the Arab Spring, drawing comparisons to other countries living in repression and under dictatorship. According to Qatari journalist Abdulla Al Athbah, Al-Deeb's poem was seen as insulting to the Qatari Amir, and called for overthrowing his rule.

Blogging on behalf of Hamid

  18 November 2012

  Antonella has not blogged since long time. Her last blog post was on April 25, 2012 in which she wrote: “Dear Hamid, Every day I discover how vast a heart can be, like a new landscape at the horizon where sadness, hope, forgiveness, fear, joy and pain run far...

China: Beijing Twitterer Detained for Writing Micro-fiction

  18 November 2012

A Beijing Twitterer @Stariver has been detained since November 7th, 2012, at the eve of the 18th National Chinese Communist Party Congress. According to his friends who visited his family on November 17, the excuse provided by the police officers was that @stairver was “involved in spreading false and terrible...

Azerbaijan: “A Country that Portrays Social-Networkers as Mentally Ill”

  7 November 2012

While all eyes were on the presidential election in the United States, a major international conference started on Tuesday in Baku, the capital of the former Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan. The 7th United Nations Internet Governance Forum (IGF) claims to bring “all stakeholders” as equal partners to discuss major issues relating not only to the future of the Internet but also to matters of policing, management, and of course, freedom of expression online.

China: Cyber Cafe Owner Sentenced to 8 Years for Organizing a Chat Group

  5 November 2012

According to New York Times’ report on November 1, 2012, a 27-year-old Internet Cafe Owner, Cao Haibo, was sentenced to 8-year imprisonment under the charge of “state subversion” on 31 of October 2012 in Kunming, Yunnan Province. The latest development as reported by 64 Tianwang is that Cao lawyer Ma...

Spain: Journalists Fined After Revealing Corruption in Catalonia

  1 November 2012

Marta Sibina and Albano Dante, editors of the citizen media magazine Cafè amb Llet, have been fined 10,000 euro for libel. They uploaded to YouTube a video strongly criticizing the lack of transparency in public healthcare financing in Catalonia, implicating Josep Maria Via, president of Barcelona MAR Health Park Consortium and healthcare advisor to Catalan President Artur Mas.

Six Month Jail for Insulting Bahrain King on Twitter

  1 November 2012

One of four Twitter users, detained in Bahrain and reportedly charged with insulting the country's king, was sentenced to six months in prison today. Bahraini lawyer Mohammed Abdulameer tweets [ar]: @wastilawyeR: One of those accused of insulting the King of Bahrain was sentenced by the Criminal Court to six months...