21 Feb 2011 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost
Clashes between anti-government protesters and security forces over the past few days have left at least 200 dead and many more wounded. The government has reacted strongly against demonstrators, with reports of gunfire and restricted hospital supplies. In a televised address Muammar Gaddafi’s son and heir apparent, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi termed the demonstrators “seditious elements,” warning that Libya faced a civil war. “We will take up arms, we will fight to the last bullet,” he said. Restrictions on local and international media make it difficult to build an accurate picture of the demonstrations and to independently verify casualty numbers.
18 Feb 2011 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost
In a bid to stifle anti-government protests, the Iranian government has intensified its censorship, especially of online media, and arrested journalists covering demonstrations. Opposition websites and independent news websites have come under cyber-attacks limiting their functionality. Bloggers and journalists reporting on the protests continue to be arrested, and security forces have also reportedly beaten relatives of detained protestors.
15 Feb 2011 | Index Index, minipost, News and features
An appeals court has overturned an 18-year prison sentence handed out to activist Daranee Charnchoengsilapakul. The activist, better known as Da Torpedo, was charged with insulting the monarchy for speeches she made at anti-government rallies in 2008, and tried behind closed doors. She is still in prison pending an application for bail, and could still face a new trial.
15 Feb 2011 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost
Young Syrian blogger, Tal al-Mallouhi, has been sentenced to five years in prison by a state security court on espionage charges. Mallouhi, who was 18 at the time of her arrest in December 2009, was accused of spying for the US embassy in Egypt and held incommunicado for nine months before her family was allowed to see her. Before her arrest she ran a blog that focused on poetry, social commentary and Palestinian issues. A poem criticising restrictions on freedom of expression in Syria may be the reason behind her arrest, activists have suggested.
