Posts Tagged ‘freedom of speech’
September 20th, 2011
In the first sentence of its kind, a farmer from
mainland has been
jailed for three weeks after setting fire to a Chinese flag in
Hong Kong. Zhu Rongchang, 74, from Jiangxi province, pleaded not guilty to flag desecration, arguing that he was exercising his right to free speech. He burned the flag in Golden Bauhinia Square in central Hong Kong on 22 July, in a
protest against the Beijing government.
September 15th, 2011
A dissident writer who spent five years in a
Chinese jail was released on Tuesday. Talking to
Associated Press, Yang Maodong said he had been wrongly imprisoned and subjected to ill-treatment “beyond people’s imagination.” Yang said the charges of alleged illegal business activities for which he was jailed were trumped up and that his jailers only questioned him about his pro-democracy activities, not business matters. Yang was arrested in September 2006 and sentenced in November 2007. His
prosecution is believed to relate to a publication entitled Shenyang Political Earthquake, which exposed government corruption in Shenyang, Liaoning province.
September 15th, 2011
Relatives of an
Azerbaijani journalist were
severely beaten while they attempted to prevent his house from being demolished by heavy machinery. Idrak Abbasov’s house was targeted for demolition amid accusations that it had been built illegally. The attack on 9 September was carried out by security personnel from the state-owned Binagadi Oil Company, whose activities were being investigated by the reporter. Abbasov’s family were beaten with clubs during the attack, and three of his relatives were admitted to hospital.
Video footage here.
September 12th, 2011
A
South African court has today found
Julius Malema, leader of the youth brigade of the country’s ruling African National Congress (ANC),
guilty of hate speech. He was ordered to pay costs for singing an apartheid-era song that advocated the killing of white farmers. The civil case was brought against Malema by the Afrikaner civil rights group, Afriforum, who claimed white farmers felt vulnerable due to the song’s lyrics, which translate to “
shoot the white farmer“.
September 12th, 2011
The
FA has brought in a code of conduct to prevent staff, board and council members talking freely to the press. The new “censorship code” insists that the press office are alerted to any media enquiries, and no FA business is to be divulged to the press. The code, which was introduced by company secretary Alistair McLean, also restricts what can be relayed by councillors to bodies they represent. The move comes after FA chairman David Bernstein
called for a transparent football government against FIFA corruption at the Congress in Zurich last June.
September 12th, 2011
Facebook has agreed to work with the
German government on a code of conduct aimed at privacy protection. The code, agreed at a meeting on Wednesday between German Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich and Facebook’s director of policy in Europe, Richard Allen, will cover issues such as media literacy and data transmission in accordance with German law. The agreement follows discussions around Facebook’s adherence to German data protection laws. Last month, Thilo Weichert, a data protection commissioner in Northern Germany, claimed
Facebook’s “Like” button violated German data protection laws.
September 9th, 2011
Stores may be
required to request ID for those buying spray paint under new motions.
LA Councilman Dennis Zine has made calls for a motion which would require stores to keep record of the name and address of anyone buying spray paint and “graffiti paraphernalia” including spray paint nozzles, paint pens, glass cutting, and etching tools. Stores will be required to keep a record of these purchases for two years. Zine believes this will encourage the public to participate in the fight against graffiti.
July 18th, 2011
Two cars belonging to
Vijesti, one of
Montenegro‘s most popular independent daily newspapers, were torched last Thursday. The cars were parked opposite the headquarters of the Montenegrin Intelligence Agency when the attack took place. One
eyewitness reported seeing a young man pour petrol on the cars and throw a spark towards them but police have yet to make an arrest. Vijesti is one of the two biggest Montenegrin newspapers and reports regularly on corruption and government malpractice.
