5 Mar 2012 | Europe and Central Asia, Index Index, minipost
Local access to Facebook and two Russian-language websites has been blocked in Tajikistan, following articles critical of the country’s long serving president. Users attempting to access Facebook, tjknews.com or zvezda.ru are automatically re-directed to the home page of their provider. The shutdown was ordered by the state-run communications service after the two websites published articles critical of President Imomali Rakhmon. Several Facebook groups openly discuss politics and some users have been critical of the authorities.
31 Oct 2011 | Europe and Central Asia, Index Index, minipost, News
A 30 October report concerning the work of a Russian human rights group working in Chechnya was pulled off of the air on NTV, one of the nation’s largest federal channels. The segment covering the work of Joint Mobile Group with the case of Islam Umarpashaev, a Chechen allegedly kidnapped and tortured by state forces, was broadcast in Eastern Russia, but blocked in the rest of the country.The Joint Mobile Group has been campaigning for justice and a fair investigation of the kidnapping and torture of Umarpashaev by Chechen law enforcement officials in 2009.
3 Oct 2011 | Index Index, minipost
Forty people have been arrested in Moscow during a gay pride rally. The rally, which took place on 1 October was one of the few gay rights events which had been approved by authorities. Participants in the rally found themselves faced with protesters, some of whom threw tomatoes at them. Authorities are trying to work out how many of those arrested were involved in the rally, and how many were trying to stop it. Attempts to hold gay pride marches in Russian cities in the past have been blocked by police, church activists and football fans. The arrests follow reports that Russia’s Arkhangelsk region has adopted a draft law banning all events promoting homosexuality, including Gay Pride marches.
2 Aug 2010 | Index Index, minipost, News
A ruling to ban YouTube and three online libraries in the Russian city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur will be enforced on 3 August. The video-sharing website will be blocked because of a nationalist video “Russia for the Russians,” which has been listed as extremist content. The online libraries (Lib.rus.ec, Thelib.ru and Zhurnal.ru) have been blocked for carrying Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf.
