Posts Tagged ‘blogger’
January 16th, 2012
A number of journalists and bloggers have been
released from prison under amnesty in
Burma. Hla Hla Win, Ngwe Soe Lin, Win Maw, Sithu Zeya from exile radio and TV station Democratic Voice of Burma, freelance journalists Thant Zin Aung and Zaw Thet Htwe and the blogger Nay Phone Latt have all been released. Throughout their imprisonment, DVB ran the “
Free Burma VJ” campaign, calling for the release of the journalists. Around 600 other prisoners were
also freed in the amnesty on Friday. The move is the latest in a series of increasingly radical reforms over recent months.
January 6th, 2012
Dissident
Cuban blogger Yoani Sánchez has
appealed to Brazil’s president to help her leave the Caribbean island. A strong critic of the country’s Communist regime, Sánchez has been accused by authorities of conducting a “cyberwar” against the government. Sánchez’s
video appeal to Dilma Rousseff follows her invitation to Brazil to attend the screening of a documentary about press freedom in Cuba and Honduras in which she features. The blogger said she did not expect to be able to leave Cuba without ”high-level intervention”. Migration rules that require Cubans to receive government permission to travel have prevented Sánchez from leaving the country since 2004.
December 19th, 2011
Detained
Syrian blogger Razan Ghazzawi was
released on bail yesterday. Razan was arrested at the at the Syrian border with Jordan on December 5, and was released by authorities after spending 15 days in prison. The blogger’s sister, Nadine, tweeted the details of her freedom: “It’s raining Razans… hallelujah :)))))))) <3 It’s official, sis is out! hopefully the same goes to all arrested sisters and brothers.”
Ghazzawi
was charged with “establishing an organisation that aims to change the social and economical entity of the state” and “weakening the national sentiment, and trying to ignite sectarian strife.”
December 13th, 2011
US born
Syrian blogger Razan Ghazzawi
has been charged by authorities following her arrest eight days ago.
Razan was arrested by Syrian officials at the country’s border with Jordan border whilst attempting to attend a conference for advocates of free press in the Arab world in Amman, Jordan. The blogger has been charged with “establishing an organisation that aims to change the social and economical entity of the state,” “weakening the national sentiment,” and trying to ignite sectarian strife” all of which can be punished with up to 15 years in prison.
December 13th, 2011
The case of prominent
Egyptian blogger and activist Alaa Abdel-Fattah is to be be tried
in a civilian court, it has been reported. Egyptian authorities are said to have transferred the case state security prosecutors to investigative judges, which opens up the possibility of a trial in a civilian criminal court with the right to appeal. Abdel-Fattah was
detained 30 October after he refused to answer questions over his alleged role in the 9 October clashes in Cairo.
December 8th, 2011
A blogger has been jailed for
two and a half years after posting excerpts of a biography online deemed offensive to the
Thai monarchy. Joe Gordon, a Colorado resident who was born in Thailand, translated excerpts of a locally banned biography of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, and posted them on his US blog. Gordon pleaded guilty to disseminating information that insulted the monarchy.
In November, government minister’s warned that Thailand’s notoriously tough lese-majeste law could even affect “liking” a page on Facebook.
November 29th, 2011
A
Vietnamese court have
halved the jail sentence of a blogger after international pressure from government’s and NGO’s. Pham Minh Hoang was sentenced to three years imprisonment for attempted subversion in August this year after he wrote 33 articles under a pseudonym, which were ruled by the court to ”blacken the image of the country” and aimed to topple the government. Hoang will be released on January 13 after serving a 17-month sentence, but will then serve three years of house arrest.
