14 Aug 2009 | Index Index, minipost
The Thai government has created a police taskforce within the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology (MICT) to monitor websites and identify those posting content that violates Thailand’s draconian lèse majesté law. Police General Somdej Khaokham, the head of the new Information Technology taskforce said the new taskforce included webmasters. The authorities have for several years been constantly updating equipment in order to track down those who post content regarded as offensive towards the monarchy. Read more here
14 Aug 2009 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost
Iran’s defeated presidential candidate Mehdi Karoubi said on his website that some of those detained after the country’s disputed June presidential vote were tortured to death in prison. The claim by Mehdi Karroubi comes days after he said a number of prisoners, both male and female, had been raped. Read more here
13 Aug 2009 | Index Index, minipost
The European Union has announced it is extending its sanctions on Burma to cover members of the judiciary responsible for the verdict in the trial of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Read more here
13 Aug 2009 | Index Index, minipost
In Russia, opposition daily Novaya Gazeta has announced that due to increasing dangers they will pull all their staff from Chechnya after a a string of killings there on human rights activists and journalists. In October 2006, the same paper’s investigative reporter Anna Politkovskaya, known for her scathing criticism of pro-Moscow Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov and the Kremlin, was shot dead. Read more here
