Jürgen Rieger, the vice-president of Germany’s far right NDP party, has submitted plans to open a museum intended to celebrate the Third Reich’s “Strength through Joy” programme. But critics have accused Rieger of using the museum as a way to spread pro-Nazi propaganda. Ralf Schmidt, a spokesman for the city, said: “We will use every legal means at our disposal to stop this from becoming a reality.”
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Committe to Protect Journalists will be collecting signatures until 31 July on a Facebook petition in support of Maziar Bahari, Newsweek’s Tehran correspondent, who is being held without charge in Iran.
Bahari, who is also an internationally acclaimed filmmaker, was detained on 21 June as part of Iran’s post-election crackdown on the media. More than 100 prominent journalists from around the world signed a letter calling for Bahari’s release on 15 July.
You can sign the Facebook petition here. Please remember to ask your Facebook friends to sign as well.
Chinese blogger Duan Lei, who had been held since 25 February on charges of defamation and disturbing the social order, has been released by prosecutors due to a lack of evidence. Duan Lei’s allegations that a local Communist party secretary had more cars than his position permits appeared on a total of six websites and were read by only 79 people.
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Israeli authorities seem intent on curbing Palestinian cultural activity.
Clemency Burton-Hill reports from Jerusalem
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