Two former presidential candidates, Vladimir Neklaev and Vytal Rymashevsky were sentenced today alongside a number of political activists, Serguey Voznyak, Andrei Dmitriev, Alexander Feduta and Nasta Polojanko. They were all detained after protests...
An Azerbaijani court sentenced opposition activist Bakhtiyar Hajiyev to two years' imprisonment yesterday, 18 May. Hajiyev used Facebook to generate support for the 11 March "Great People's Day" anti-government protests, but was sentenced on a...
Six people convicted of taking part in a political rally protesting the reelection of President Alexander Lukashenko were sentenced today. Vladimir Loban, Evgueniy Sekret and Serguey Kazakov were sentenced to three years in a labour camp and Andrey...
On Wednesday (27 April) authorities in Belarus closed two independent newspapers, Nasha Niva and Narodnaya Volya. The Information Ministry said it acted after repeatedly warning both newspapers over their political coverage in the last year. In a...
Al-Jazeera suspended its Arabic services in Syria yesterday (27 April) in response to attacks on its staff and government restrictions. The authorities have pressured Syrian nationals into resigning from the organisation and have prevented...
Burundi's state-run media regulator, the National Communications Council, suspended a popular talk show on Monday (25 April) after a caller accused the President of wrongdoing. The show, Kabizi, was ordered off the air for an initial four-day...
The Thai government forced the closure of 13 radio stations on Tuesday (26 April) and issued them with court warrants for broadcasting a speech by an opposition leader in which the monarchy was criticised. In Thailand, Les majeste, or offence...
The Chinese government has refused author Liao Yiwu an exit visa to attend the PEN World Voices Festival in New York. Authors at the event, led by Salman Rushdie, issued a protest on Friday (22 April) and called on the Chinese authority to overturn...
Yesterday (27 April) a Bahraini military court has sentenced four protestors to death and a further three to life in prison. The seven people were convicted of killing two policemen during protests in the country last month. While the foreign press...
A columnist for the independent Al-Wasat newspaper was arrested on Monday (25 April) after 30 uniformed and plainclothes police officials raided his house. Local journalists have claimed that Haidar Mohammed al-Nuaimi was dragged out of his house...