11 Mar 2011 | Azerbaijan News, Index Index, minipost
Two youth opposition activists, Sakhavan Soltanli and Rashadat Akhundov, were detained in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku on Tuesday. On 4 March, youth activist and former parliamentary candidate, Bakhtiyar Hajiyev, was detained and given a pre-trial detention of one month after he advertised a nationwide anti-government protest on Facebook. On the same day three NGOs, known for encouraging freedom of expression, were evicted from their offices by police without being given any reason.
8 Mar 2011 | Index Index, minipost
Two prominent pro-democracy cyber activists were last week detained for calling for Middle East style demonstrations in Vietnam. Nguyen Dan Que who is 69, and Nguyen Van Ly who suffers from brain tumour, were detained after criticising the government and asking for peaceful protests. They have been released but are being closely monitored by the authorities who will decide later this month on how to deal with them. Presently, there are 16 cyber activists in detention in Vietnam.
7 Mar 2011 | Index Index, minipost
Saudi Arabia’s interior ministry has announced a ban on all protests and marches in the kingdom, warning that security forces will come down hard on any demonstrators. Thousands of additional troops have been sent to the restive eastern province of the country. The statement came as opponents of the government called for a “day of rage” on Friday 11 March.
3 Mar 2011 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost
While a government crackdown on opposition leaders and activists inside Iran continues, those living in exile have not been spared either. Several Iranian journalists and writers living abroad have received messages threatening “ultimate punishment” if they did not stop activities deemed to be “against the Islamic Republic”.
