11 Feb 2010 | Index Index, minipost
Police have seized a Polish cultural centre in the town of Ivyanets outside Minsk. An activist who was travelling to the centre has also been detained. President Lukashenko claimed in 2005 the organisation responsible for the centre was trying to destabilise his regime and set up a government-approved alternative. Both the EU and the US have condemned the actions. There are around 400,000 Poles in Belarus. Belarus has also recently detained 20 activists demonstrating in support of political prisoners.
9 Feb 2010 | Digital Freedom, Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost, Uncategorized
The Iranian authorities have launched a new webmail service intended to be a substitute for public employees currently using Gmail, Yahoo mail or Hotmail accounts. The new Iran.ir webmail service is easier to control than the foreign services currently used by 95% of Iranian public sector employees. Internet and text-messaging services in Iran has recently been the victim of the government’s crackdown on free speech in the country. Both services will experience disruptions this week as heavy protests are anticipated on the anniversary of the Islamic revolution on 11 February. The authorities claim the disruptions are due to damages to the fibre-optic cables and ‘changing software’.
