New restrictions are being imposed on the Burmese media, despite earlier calls from the country's censor chief to ease restrictions. Ahead of April's by-elections, Tint Swe, director of the Burmese Press Scrutiny and Registration Division, warned...
CATEGORY: Asia and Pacific
Writers take a stand against Rushdie ban
As the noise surrounding Salman Rushdie’s withdrawal from the Jaipur Literary Festival rumbles on, India’s writers take a stand against the ban on The Satanic Verses. Salil Tripathi reports
Zhu Yufu charged with subversion for poem
Zhu Yufu, a poet and activist, was last week charged with crimes relating to subversion for writing and publishing a poem online. The poem, It’s Time, has been translated by A.E. Clark: It's time, people of China! It's time. The Square belongs to...
Yu Jie: An exile at heart
The defection of Chinese writer and dissident Yu Jie last week revealed shocking allegations of torture and beatings more usually associated with rogue American troops in Iraq. Yu, a close friend of imprisoned Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo, is most...
Malaysia: Political cartoonist takes government to court
Political cartoonist Zunar (Zulkifli Anwar Ulhaque) appeared at the Kuala Lumpur High Court this week for the first hearing of a civil suit in which he challenges the Malaysian government and police for his arrest and detention on 24 September...
India must choose to defend free speech
As religious figureheads call to ban Salman Rushdie from a prestigious literature festival in India, Salil Tripathi reports on the country’s “sepulchral silence”
UPDATE: Salman Rushdie pulls out of Indian festival amid assassination fears
China: Dissident charged with subversion
A veteran Chinese dissident is facing subversion charges for writing a poem urging people to defend their freedoms. Zhu Yufu was arrested last April for "inciting subversion of state power" but no trial date has yet been set. Authorities decided to...
Burma: Journalists, freelancers, and blogger freed under amnesty
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...
India: Court threatens Facebook, Google with censorship “like China”
The Delhi High Court has threatened Facebook and Google with web blackouts, unless they agree to censor objectionable content. Following last month's meetings between Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and Facebook and the Indian government to discuss...
Malaysia: Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim acquitted of sodomy charges
Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has been acquitted of charges of sodomy after a two-year court battle. A judge ruled today that DNA evidence used by prosecution was unreliable. Anwar was first prosecuted after a former male aide accused...
