Prominent Bahraini human rights defender Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja has been serving a life sentence since April 2011 for his involvement in anti-government protests last year. Al-Khawaja, who is also a Danish citizen, recently wrote a letter from prison to the Minister of Foreign Affairs to push for his release
PUTIN’S KISS + Q&A with filmmaker Lise Birk Pedersen
Sunday 25 March 20.00, ICA (UK premiere)
Monday 26 March 18.40, Curzon Soho
Meet Masha, a 19-year-old who grew up in Russia under Putin, on her journey through the Nashi youth movement. This coming-of-age tale focuses on Masha’s personal political struggle, painting a grim picture of the Russian political climate. When Masha comes into direct contact with members of the opposition she begins to question Nashi, leading to a shocking event that pushes Masha to make her choice in the end.
Courtesy of Dogwoof.
(Official Selection Sundance Film Festival 2012 and International Documentary Festival Amsterdam 2011)
Lise Birk Pedersen—Denmark—2011—85m—doc
In Russian with English subtitles
International delegation to Bahrain calls for an end to free expression violations and for human rights defenders to be freed
Egyptian-American journalist Mona Eltahawy tweeted to say she had been arrested and beaten in Cairo this morning. Eltahawy, who writes for Canada’s Toronto Star, Israel’s The Jerusalem Report and Denmark’s Politiken, is said to have been detained by Police in Tahrir Square. Following her arrest, the journalist tweeted “Beaten arrested in interior ministry” around 4am (EET).
Her arrest sparked outrage on Twitter, and the campaign to #FreeMona began trending worldwide.
It is also believed that activist Maged Butter, who was with Eltahawy, was also arrested, and a similar #freemaged campaign began on Twitter. Unconfirmed reports on the micro-blogging site suggest Maged has since been freed.
Also, documentary film-maker, Jehane Noujaim, best known for her documentary “Control Room” about the pan-Arab news station, Al-Jazeera, was detained, and her camera confiscated.
The US State department responded to the rumours of the arrests on Twitter: “Reports of @monaeltahawy and @pangeaworld detention very concerning. @USEmbassyCairo engaging authorities. #FreeMona“.
Images calling for the release of Mona and Maged also appeared on Twitter, as well as an image showing Maged’s injuries, following his release.
Mona tweeted “I AM FREE” shortly after 12.20 EET, and said she could barely type following “12 hours with Interior Ministry bastards and military intelligence combined.” Mona also alleged she had been sexually assaulted by 5 or 6 members of the Egyptian security forces, who “groped and prodded my breasts, grabbed my genital area.”