Russia: More prison for Pussy Riot-CSM
July 17, 2012
More prison for feminist punk rockers riles liberal Russians
A Russian court refused to grant bail on Monday to three alleged members of the controversial feminist rock band Pussy Riot for alleged hooliganism.
Christian Science Monitor: July 10, 2012
Photos shows members of female punk band ‘Pussy Riot,’ (l.-r.) Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alyokhina, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, behind bars during a court hearing in Moscow on July 4. Three members of the all-woman punk band ‘Pussy Riot’ were detained in February after they profaned an Orthodox altar by singing an obscene anti-Putin ‘prayer’ in Moscow’s most important cathedral. [Sergei Karpukhin/Reuters]
The controversy over the provocatively named Russian punk rock group Pussy Riot, which profaned an Orthodox altar by singing an obscene anti-Putin “prayer” in Moscow‘s most important cathedral, notched up this week when a court refused to grant bail to three of the female band’s alleged members.
The women will be held until a court date is set for their trial, which will not happen until at least July 24.
The band members were arrested and charged with “hooliganism” for their performance inside the church in February, although no one was hurt and no property was damaged. They could be imprisoned for two to seven years if convicted. The women, two of whom are mothers of young children, have been incarcerated in a Moscow pretrial detention center for almost six months. Amnesty International recognized them as prisoners of conscience in April.
The issue has divided Russian society into two camps. The first group thinks that their song represents an insult to the religious sensibilities of the majority, which ought to be a criminal offense punishable with jail time. A significantly smaller group – concentrated among Russia‘s intellectual and artistic communities – argues that while the women may be guilty of bad behavior, their actions should not be considered a serious crime in any secular society. Legal experts now agree, warning of a decrease in public confidence in the Russian judiciary and government institutions.
Some 35,000 people have signed an Internet petition calling for the women’s release, and last month more than 100 prominent Russian artists, musicians and public intellectuals signed an open letter to the Kremlin that declared “the criminal case against Pussy Riot compromises the Russian judicial system and undermines confidence in government institutions on the whole.”
Some liberals insist that the surprisingly harsh prosecution of the women is being pushed by the Kremlin at the behest of the Orthodox Church, which has grown in political power in recent years and increasingly takes public stands on social matters such as the way Russian women dress and anti-religious artistic expressions. The church denies any direct involvement in the case.
No coincidence
The bizarre stunt carried out by the punk group last February in a priests-only section of Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Savior – a punk prayer “to redeem us from Putin” – might have passed almost unnoticed at almost any other time.
But it happened as Vladimir Putin launched his successful but controversial bid for a third term as Russia’s president, amid a rising street protest movement calling for democratic reforms, and just as unprecedented exposes were appearing in the media about the luxurious lifestyle of the powerful Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill.
A poll conducted by the independent Moscow-based Levada Center in March found that 46 percent of Russians agreed that a potential seven-year jail term was “adequate” punishment for what the women did. Another 35 percent thought it was “too harsh,” while just 9 percent believed the group’s actions should not be subject to criminal prosecution at all.
“The majority of people are negative toward what Pussy Riot did, with elderly people more so than younger ones,” says Alexei Grazhdankin, deputy director of the Levada Center. “Most people do not perceive their action as simple hooliganism but as a profanation of sacred values, which calls forth feelings of anger and indignation.”
But those numbers may not be as comforting for the Kremlin, or the church, as they may seem. When Russian legal experts are consulted, they tend to express concern at what they see as an abuse of the law.
“There’s no question the Pussy Riot women behaved outrageously, not as decent people should,” says Yury Kostanov, a former prosecutor and an expert with the Independent Judicial Expertise Council in Moscow. “But there is no corpus delicti [evidence of a crime having taken place] here. Not every instance of disgraceful behavior can be prosecuted as a crime, and this one is extremely dubious. The length of time these women have been kept behind bars already is cause for extreme unease.”
Public revenge
Valery Borshchev, chairman of the Russian Ministry of Justice’s own public oversight commission, says that the three women are clearly not dangerous, nor can the two mothers be regarded as serious flight risks, and therefore under the normal workings of Russian courts they should have been released by now.
“It’s hard to avoid the impression that this is a case of open revenge, with unusual imprisonment the instrument of obtaining public emotional satisfaction rather than justice,” he says.
“In my personal opinion, the way this case is being carried on is a response to the personal offense felt by the Moscow Patriarchate. This is not wise, because it’s leading at least a section of society to question the authority of the Church. These women might be convicted in the end, but in the eyes of the public the authorities will lose.”
According to Andrei Titushkin, deputy press secretary of the Moscow Patriarchate, officials of the Orthodox Church will not be giving any comments on the case until the trial is over. Three months ago, however, Father Vsevolod Chaplin, a top church official, did speak to the Monitor at some length about the issue.
Even Archdeacon Andrei Kurayev, a professor at the church’s Moscow Ecclesiastical Academy and one of Russia’s top Orthodox academics, says he feels increasingly uneasy about the way the case is being handled.
“Every day these women spend in detention is another blow for our church,” he says.
“My religious feelings are insulted over the fact that they are kept in jail. I think our church leaders might already be sorry that they allowed this to happen. A pastor should never stir up hatred in a crowd.”
ALERT
Int’l Freedom of Expression: July 5, 2012
http://www.ifex.org/malaysia/2012/07/10/blogger_detained/
Reporters Without Borders is very disturbed to learn that the blogger Syed Abdullah Hussein Al-Attas has been held since 4 July 2012 under the Official Secrets Act as a result of a complaint by a group of 30 people over controversial posts about the Sultan of Johor. A young woman who was with him at the time of his arrest is also being held.
“Syed Abdullah’s arrest is unacceptable,” Reporters Without Borders said. “Why was the complaint filed by 30 people and not the person targeted in the posts? Why did the authorities think it was necessary to detain two people because of what appears in reality to be nothing more than an ordinary defamation suit?
“The authorities have carried out arrests and are now conducting an investigation on the basis of this group complaint, but they show no desire to investigate the documented information posted by Syed Abdullah. We insist that they explain the reasons for their actions, which are at the very least disturbing and suggest that his arrest was politically-motivated.
“Freedom of information must take precedence over any law covering state secrets, which should be invoked only in clear cases of espionage in other very clearly defined and limited circumstances. Government officials should not, under any circumstances, be able to use state secrets as a pretext for putting themselves above the law and flouting the fundamental right to information.”
Arrested at around 9:45 p.m. at the Senawang toll plaza in Seremban, southeast of Kuala Lumpur, Syed Abdullah is now being held at Air Molek police station in Johor Baru, the capital of the state of Johor. Johor criminal investigation department deputy director Muhammad Akhir Ishak confirmed today that he is being held under paragraph 8 (1) (d) of the 1972 Official Secrets Act.
Judge Isa Mohamed gave the police permission to hold him for four days in order to investigate the possibly defamatory nature of his blog posts. The woman who was arrested with him and who is also being held was named as Siti Nadhirah Mohd Zain, 26.
According to the Malaysia Chronicle website, most of the 30 people who filed the complaint against Syed Abdullah at the central police station in Johor Baru were linked to the United Malays National Organisation, the prime minister’s party.
The complaint described Syed Abdullah’s posts about Sultan Ibrahim, the crown prince and other Johor officials as provocative, insulting and seditious. It also claimed that he had posted confidential documents.
Better known by the blog name of “Uncle Seekers” and a believer in the paranormal, Syed Abdullah is the son of a leading political writer, Syed Hussein Al-Attas. He has dedicated more than 60 posts in Malay to the theme of “Sultan Johor Atau Kerabatnya?” (The Sultan of Johor or his relatives?). They have included documents supporting his claims that part of the fortune left by the late Sultan Iskandar, who died in 2010, was embezzled.
When asked by his followers on Twitter to comment yesterday, Crown Prince Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim posted: “Let the dog bark as much as he wants. I know the truth, Johoreans know the truth. Why should I react to bullshit?”
Syed Abdullah’s posts have also referred to a lawyer, Kamal Hisham Jaafar, who is alleged to have embezzled 660,000 ringgits (151,000 euros) from a Johor-based company and who claims that a member of the Johor palace has threatened to kill him. The lawyer says he had to flee the country and cannot return to defend himself because he has received at least five death threats in the past year.
Malaysia Goes After a Whistle-blower-Asia Sentinel
July 17, 2012
Companies commission investigators show up at NGO’s door
John Berthelsen
Asia Sentinel: July 9, 2012
http://www.asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4672&Itemid=178
Suaram, the Kuala Lumpur-based human rights NGO at the center of attempts to break open a corruption case over Malaysia’s 2002 purchase of French submarines, has been given seven days by officials of the Companies Commission to hand over an array of documents covering its expenditures from 2008 to 2011.
Cynthia Gabriel, director for the organization, told Asia Sentinel Suaram would comply although the NGO is taking advice from lawyers on strategy.
The authorities sought to raid Suaram last week but were turned back, once because their warrant wasn’t signed and a second time because they had arrived at the Suaram headquarters after everybody had gone home.
The visits followed several days of stories in ruling party-controlled newspapers demanding to know why Suaram was registered as a company rather than an NGO, and what it had done with earnings it posted since 2009.
The visits by the Companies Commission investigators were characterized as “harassment, pure and simple, as a way to distract the public from the ongoing Scorpene probe in France,” Gabriel said. “Further to this, we have nothing to hide. We audit our accounts yearly.”
The visits – the first in Suaram’s 23 years of existence – appear to be a fishing expedition to try to find out where the NGO gets enough money to hire French lawyers to pursue a government scandal, and more particularly whether any of the money is coming from the Pakatan Rakyat coalition headed by Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim.
The Commission’s other priorities?
In the meantime, the Companies Commission investigators have been so busy seeking to investigate Suaram that they have neglected to investigate two other companies – Perimekar Sdn Bhd, which somehow became important enough to win a €114.96 million commission on the sale of the submarines despite the fact that it did no business the year before it won the commission, and Terasasi Hong Kong Ltd, which received another €36 million from the French defense contractor despite the fact it only existed as a name on a wall in a Hong Kong accounting office.
Both companies were headed by Abdul Razak Baginda, then the head of a think tank called Malaysia Strategic Research, which was closely connected to the United Malays National Organization. Razak Baginda was one of then-Defense Minister Najib Tun Razak’s best friends.
Two years ago, Suaram hired a team of Paris-based lawyers headed by William Bourdon to investigate the French defense giant DCN and its subsidiaries on suspicion it was involved a web of corruption. The story has been told in voluminous detail in 133 documents submitted to a French prosecuting court. The documents describe a long tangle of blackmail, bribery, influence peddling, misuse of corporate assets and concealment, among other allegations. The documents, written in French, were described in a story published in Asia Sentinel on June 25 and uploaded onto the Internet here.
Increasing fire from government blogs, papers
Suaram has come under increasing fire since Bourdon and his colleague, Joseph Breham, began to publicize a series of allegations related to the documents in May. Pro-government bloggers have repeatedly accused Suaram of being in Anwar’s employ, have questioned the veracity of the documents and whether they existed and whether French authorities in fact are even going to move the case forward.
Questioned by the opposition in Parliament, Defense Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi took the floor briefly almost at midnight on June 26 to say Suaram was wrong to say there was a trial taking place in France’s Tribunal de Grande Instance over the sale of the subs, although neither Suaram nor Asia Sentinel had said a trial was taking place. There is an investigation taking place, however, and it was those investigators who confiscated hundreds, perhaps thousands of documents from DCN and its subsidiaries in raids on April 7, 2010 to present to the investigating magistrate.
Ahmad Zahid also said that the Defense Ministry had no information on allegations confidential documents of the procurement of the submarines were sold to Thint Asia (Thales International) by Terarasi (Hong Kong) allegedly for €36 million although Asia Sentinel was able to obtain the information from the documents, which are on line, and from the Hong Kong Registry of Companies.
“The ministry also does not have any information on the alleged payment from Thales International Asia to Terasasi (Hong Kong),” he said.
As Asia Sentinel reported, at least one secret diplomatic cable shows that some of the misdeeds appear to have taken place with the knowledge of top French and Malaysian government officials including then-foreign Minister Alain Juppe and with the consent of former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. The documents were presented to the French Prosecuting Magistrate at the Court de Grand Instance de Paris in May and June of 2011.
Harassment: Not a new tactic
It is not the first time the Malaysian government has sent investigators after those calling attention to massive corruption on the part of the government and its cronies. For example, when Ramli Yusuff, the director of Malaysia’s Commercial Crime Investigation Department, sought to bring Tajudin Ramli, a crony of former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, to justice for looting Malaysian Airline System (MAS) of tens of millions of dollars, it was Ramli who was pursued by the Malaysian Anti-Crime Commission rather than Tajudin despite abundantly clear evidence of the charges. Ramli and his lawyer came under fire that nearly ruined their careers and almost put them in jail.
Likewise, Lim Guan Eng, now the chief minister of the state of Penang, was arrested in 1994 after pointing out that the former chief minister of Malacca, Rahim Thamby Chik, had been absolved of charges of statutory rape after having had sex with an underaged girl and in fact had had the girl arrested after her parents complained. Lim was ultimately sentenced to 18 months imprisonment for sedition for bringing up the charges, was disallowed from standing for election to public office for five years and he was made ineligible to contest the 2004 Malaysian general election.
‘Atheists, commies, welcome to Indonesia’-Jakarta Post
July 17, 2012
Sita W. Dewi
The Jakarta Post: July 12, 2012
http://www.asianewsnet.net/home/news.php?id=33319
Weeks after an openly-proclaimed atheist was sent to prison by a court in West Sumatra, a senior chief justice says that atheists and communists do have a place in Indonesia.
Constitutional Court chief Mahfud MD told visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel that the Indonesian Constitution gave people the freedom to be atheists or communists as it guaranteed equality in freedom.
Mahfud was answering Merkel’s questions about freedom of religion and democracy in Indonesia during a visit to the Constitutional Court on Tuesday evening.
“Since its inception, the Constitutional Court has guaranteed the freedom of atheists and communists in this country, as long as they do not interfere with the freedom of people of other religions. Freedom is equality,” Mahfud said, as quoted by kompas.com.
The nation would be denying human rights and democracy if it denied atheists and communists their rights, Mahfud said. He, however, said atheists and communists should also respect people who chose to have a religion.
The chief justice’s comments came only weeks after Alexander Aan, 32, was sentenced to 2.5 years in jail by the Negeri Muaro District Court in West Sumatra in June for blasphemy and publicly declaring himself an atheist.
The panel of judges declared him guilty of defaming Islam and insulting the Prophet Muhammad through his Facebook account and a fan page titled Ateis Minang (Minang Atheist).
According to the judges, Aan’s actions violated Article 28 of Law No. 11/2008 on Information and Electronic Transactions because he had spread information that had caused hatred and enmity against individuals and groups based on tribal affiliations, religion, race and societal groups (SARA).
The judge also mentioned Aan’s open declaration that he was an atheist, which could be read by many people as unacceptable behaviour for a citizen and civil servant under the state ideology of Pancasila and the Constitution, which obliges every citizen to have a religion.
Aan, who acknowledged Islam as his religion on his identity card, said that he was an atheist of Minang descent from Padang, West Sumatra, which is a Muslim stronghold.
Mahfud’s statement has won support from prominent religious figures. Abdul Mu’ti, secretary of Muhammadiyah, the country’s second-largest Muslim organisation, said yesterday that even though Indonesia did not acknowledge atheism, it was tied to international covenants on human rights and religious freedom.
“The first tenet of state ideology Pancasila [five pillars] states ‘Belief in the one and only God’, meaning that the state gives freedom for people to choose their religion, not freedom for people not to have a religion.” Mu’ti told The Jakarta Post.
“However, Indonesia, as it is tied to international covenants on religious freedom and human rights, is obliged to protect all citizens practicing their ideology and faith, regardless what that religion or ideology is,” he said.
Separately, Muslim scholar Komaruddin Hidayat said that as long as it was practiced individually, every citizen had the right to practice any religion or ideology they believed in.
“It becomes a problem when their individual expression is against the constitution and ethics,” said Hidayat, who is also the rector of the Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University.
Mu’ti realised the sensitivity of the issue, saying that it could potentially trigger public furore once it was publicly discussed. He cited the debate over the Ahmadiyah sect as an obvious example.
“Most Muslims deem Ahmadiyah as deviant; as a result, Ahmadis are repressed by the public. It becomes legally convoluted,” he said, adding that “the state has to be wise in facing such issues.”
Ethiopia: Life sentence for free speech-Global Voices
July 17, 2012
Ethiopia: Online Reactions to Prison Sentence for Dissident Blogger
Global Voices: July 15, 2012
Five days before his arrest in September last year, a prominent Ethiopian dissident blogger, Eskinder Nega, wrote, “Freedom is partial to no race. Freedom has no religion. Freedom favors no ethnicity. Freedom discriminates not between rich and poor countries. Inevitably freedom will overwhelm Ethiopia.”
Eskinder Nega. [arefe.files.wordpress.com]
On 13 July, 2012 Ethiopia’s federal court sentenced Eskinder and 23 other opposition activists to long prison terms for “participating in a terrorist organization”.
In a 20-minute presentation, Eskinder challenged the prosecution’s case. He admitted writing and speaking about whether an Arab Spring-like movement might take root in Ethiopia and calling for peaceful protests, but denied advocating violence or unconstitutional change. He warned the court that history would judge its verdict.
Immediately after the court’s judgement, netizens used different social media platforms to share their reactions.
Tsedi Lemma posted on her Facebook:
Andualem Aragei – life in prison. Eskindir Nega – 18 years Mesfin Negash and Abiye Teklemariam 8 years each……What a day! Don’t even know what I am feeling right now. May be pain and despair…
Tessema S. Belay reacted to Tsedi’s post:
The distinction between legal and illegal activities is getting blurred from time to time. When you write or talk, you can’t know whether you are exercising your right or committing a crime of “high treason”. Isn’t it a shame for the Ethiopian criminal justice system that prosecutors can secure criminal conviction of people like Abiye and Mesfin, people who left the country in fear of persecution, for supporting or encouraging “terrorism”? I found it so funny to see a court telling me that Eskinder, Mesfin and Abiye are criminals from whom the society should be protected from and they should stay in prison(to be corrected) while I can lead my life freely. Sorry, am I showing sympathy for convicted “terrorists”? I think I remember that all human rights are included in our constitution and should be interpreted based on international standards. Is the copy of the Constitution our courts have the same as the one we know? Come on the Ethiopian Government, the whole world is watching! You are embarrassing us.
Abiye Teklemariam (@abiyetk), who is also sentenced for 8 years in absence, tweeted,
@abiyetk: Ethiopian court just sentenced me to 8 years in prison. It is the least of my worries. #Ethiopia is on a cusp of something big politically.
Endalkachew HaileMichael, Ethiopian blogger and GlobalVoices author, believes 13 June was a dramatic day in Ethiopia:
What an eventful day in Ethiopia with journalists & dissents getting heavy sentences while PM Meles Zenawi rumored to be seriously sick .Is this an episode of a series of dramatic events to be happening in our beloved Ethiopia?
Ian Moore tweeted;
@IanMoore3000: 18 years for Ethiopian blogger, as Ethiopia tries to take title of most repressive African country from Eritrea
UDJ Leader Andualem Aragie (with his wife and children), jailed for life in prison. [De Birhan blog]
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) confirms that since 2011 the Ethiopian government has convicted 11 independent journalists and bloggers under a sweeping anti-terrorism law. Among those jailed are two Swedish journalists who are serving an 11 year prison term for allegedly supporting an ethnic Somali rebel group.
Eskinder Nega is the winner of Pen America’s PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award for his endeavor for freedom of expression in an extremely inhospitable media landscape.
Ethiopian journalist jailed for 18 years-AFP
July 17, 2012
Agence France-Presse: July 13, 2012
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/07/13/ethiopian-journalist-jailed-for-18-years/
An Ethiopian court on Friday jailed a journalist for 18 years for “terrorism” and 23 others, reporters and activists, for between eight years and life, after a trial condemned by rights groups.
Journalist Eskinder Nga was jailed for 18 years, while opposition member Andualem Arage got life because of “the heaviness of the case” after he was convicted of participating with an outlawed group, Judge Hussein Yimer said.
Both men were found guilty of “participation in a terrorist organisation” and “planning…(a) terrorist act”.
Andualem was also found guilty of serving as a “leader or decision maker of a terrorist organisation”.
The life sentence was without the possibility of parole, the judge added.
Eskinder was convicted of working with the outlawed Ginbot 7 group, considered a terrorist group under Ethiopian law.
“He (Eskinder) has been working with the Ginbot 7 organization…,” which had aggravated his sentence, the judge added.
“After taking into consideration how the criminal offence was committed, the court decided on 18 years imprisonment without parole.”
Judges found the 24 defendants guilty of terrorism charges last month.
Although 16 of them were convicted in absentia, having fled into exile, both Eskinder and Andualem were in court on Friday to hear their sentence.
Dressed in suits, they waved to family members as they filed into the court room, filled with friends and family of the activists, as well as journalists and diplomats.
Andualem, a member of the opposition party the Unity for Democracy and Justice (UDJ), smiled tightly and bowed his head when handed his sentence.
Defence lawyer Abebe Guta said his clients had not received a fair trial.
“In my personal opinion, we rebutted the prosecution’s evidence beyond reasonable doubt, I think it’s been not reasonably considered,” he told reporters.
Eskinder would appeal the sentence, he said, adding that Andualem and his other clients were also considering filing appeals, which they have 45 days to do.
FACTannouncement: Freedom Against Censorship Thailand (FACT)…now Under Royal Patronage ในพระอุปถัมภ์ฯ
July 9, 2012
Freedom Against Censorship Thailand (FACT) is delighted to announce that Prudence Margaret Leith, OBE, CBE has honoured us by becoming FACT’s Royal patron.
Freedom Against Censorship Thailand (FACT)…now Under Royal Patronage, ในพระอุปถัมภ์ฯ in Thai.
Li-Da, Rayne, Prue, Daniel
Prue Leith is a remarkable woman. We came to know her as the widow of the author of Thailand’s most famous banned book.
The Devil’s Discus by Prue’s husband, Rayne Kruger, was published in the UK in 1964. Not only was the book immediately officially banned in Thailand but it is rumoured that Thai govt bought, and burned, as many remaining copies it could acquire. First editions remain exceedingly scarce and costly.
A Thai translation, กงจักรปีศาจ (Kongjat Bisat), was published in 1977, credited to the Students’ History Club at Thammasat University. It was translated by Chalit Chaisitthiwet, the brother of the officer named as King Ananda’s killer.
It is rumoured but unsubstantiated in Rayne Kruger’s obituary in The Times that the Thai printing house was burned to the ground for this affront. In any case, the Thai translation was not banned until 2007 when it came to the attention of authorities…30 years after its original publication.
Every known copy of the two printings of The Devil’s Discus in Thai are found to have the first 16 pages excised. Of course, this only deepens the mystery. What was on those missing pages which was considered too risky to distribute to the public…even more risky than the banned book itself?
It was this inaccessible work of fine investigative reporting which led to my vendetta against censorship and the founding of Freedom Against Censorship Thailand (FACT) in 2006. It was King Ananda who drew me to the censorship issue.
In 2007, Prue generously assigned the international rights to The Devil’s Discus to FACT. Since then, new editions have been published in German, Japanese, and English; a Chinese translation is in process. Not one but two new editions of กงจักรปีศาจ reached print in 2011 in Thailand. They are still quite illegal to distribute (though not to possess) and are sold quietly but openly, passed from hand to hand.
It is testament to the enduring scholarship of The Devil’s Discus for publishers and distributors to risk their freedom to get this book into the hands of readers.
Prudence Leith is a remarkable woman whose varied iterations she chronicled just this year in her autobiography, Relish: My Life in Many Courses.
Prue was born in South Africa before emigrating to England with her husband Rayne. The couple was an obvious inspiration to their children: Danny became a journalist and Li-Da a filmmaker.
Prue became a professional caterer (Leith’s Good Food, 1961); a celebrity chef in her own Michelin-starred London restaurant (Leith’s, 1969); and founder of Leith’s School of Food and Wine (1975) to train global chefs. Prue has had cookery columns in four major British daily newspapers for which she received the Corning Award Food Journalist of the Year (1979) and the Glenfiddich Trade Journalist of the Year award (1983). Six of Prue’s own cooking show series have appeared on British television.
Prue has been received eleven honourary degrees and fellowships and serves several charities. She founded the British Food Trust, is a trustee of Slow Food UK and chairs the School Food Trust which she considers her most important work so far. She still serves on the board of the Orient-Express. Prue is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA) and an Honourary Fellow of the Council of City and Guilds of London Institute (FCGI). In her spare time, Prue has authored 21 cookbooks from 1979 to 1999 and six novels in the new millennium.
She was Royally-appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1989, named Veuve Clicquot’s 1990 Business Woman of the Year and received the Royal appointment Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2010 as part of Queen Elizabeth II’s birthday honours.
Considering Thailand’s current political imbroglio over govt’s profligate use of the lèse majesté laws, Freedom Against Censorship Thailand (FACT) is pleased to buck this trend…under Royal patronage.
Deepest thanks and affection for our patron, and friend, Prudence Leith OBE, CBE.
CJ Hinke
Freedom Against Censorship Thailand (FACT)
The Devil’s Discus in English is available for download here: http://www.scribd.com/collections/2496420/The-Devil-s-Discus
and จักรปีศาจ here: http://www.scribd.com/collections/2801432/หนังสือหายาก, and here: http://www.scribd.com/collections/2690652/หนังสือหายาก.
The Devil’s Discus in English may be purchased here: http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?sts=t&vci=1330729&an=&tn=devil%27s+discus&kn=&isbn=&x=0&y=0
and in German here: König Ananda Des Teufels Diskus http://www.epubli.de/shop/buch/König-Ananda-Mark-Teufel-9783869311265/2141
Works by Prudence Leith
http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/l/prue-leith/
Non fiction
Entertaining with Style (1985) (with Polly Tyrer)
Sunday Times Slim Plan: The 21-day Diet for Slimming Safely (1992)
Leith’s Complete Christmas (1992)
Leith’s Vegetarian Cookery (1993)
Fruit: Confident Cooking (1993)
Quick and Easy: Confident Cooking (1993)
Salads: Confident Cooking (1993)
Soups and Starters: Confident Cooking (1993)
Vegetarian: Confident Cooking (1993)
Leith’s Step-by-step Cookery (1993)
Leith’s Contemporary Cooking (1994)
Relish: My Life in Many Courses (2012)
Novels
Prachatai: July 8, 2012
http://www.prachatai.com/journal/2012/07/41443
เปิดตัวเครือข่ายญาติและผู้ประสบภัยจากมาตรา 112 คนเข้าร่วมคึกคัก ส. ศิวรักษ์ เสนอขออภัยโทษคดีหมิ่นฯ ทั้งหมดในวันแม่นี้ จอน อึ๊งภากรณ์ เผยอีก 2 สัปดาห์ผลการศึกษาเกี่ยวกับคดี 112 ของกรรมการสิทธิฯ ใกล้เสร็จ เตรียมประชาพิจารณ์ 3 กลุ่ม หวังเป็นรายงานฉบับกลางทุกฝ่ายรับพิจารณา
7 ก.ค. 55 – เวลา 13.00 น. ณ อนุสรณ์สถาน 14 ตุลา ถ.ราชดำเนิน มีการแถลงข่าวเปิดตัว “เครือข่ายญาติและผู้ประสบภัยจากมาตรา 112” นำโดยญาติของผู้ต้องขังและผู้ต้องหาในคดีกฎหมายอาญามาตรา 112 ซึ่งมีจุดประสงค์เพื่อรณรงค์ให้มีการปล่อยตัวผู้ต้องขังในคดีหมิ่นพระบรมเดชานุภาพโดยเร็วที่สุด รวมถึงเรื่องสิทธิขั้นพื้นฐานต่างๆ ที่ผู้ต้องขังควรได้รับ อาทิ สิทธิในการประกันตัว สิทธิในการรักษาพยาบาล และให้ความช่วยเหลือด้านการเยียวยาสภาพจิตใจผู้ประสบภัย เป็นต้น
สุกัญญา พฤกษาเกษมสุข ภรรยาของสมยศ พฤกษาเกษมสุข ผู้ต้องหาคดีหมิ่นฯ กล่าวถึงจุดประสงค์ของการตั้งเครือข่ายว่า เป็นไปเพื่อให้ความช่วยเหลือแก่ผู้ต้องขังในคดีม. 112 เนื่องจากผู้ถูกจับกุมส่วนใหญ่จะได้รับโทษสูง ไม่ได้รับการประกันตัวและไม่สามารถต่อสู้คดีด้วยตนเองได้อย่างเต็มที่ เหล่าครอบครัวและญาติจึงเห็นความจำเป็นของการรวมกลุ่มกันเพื่อเรียกร้องความเป็นธรรมให้แก่ผู้ต้องขัง
“วัตถุประสงค์หลักๆ ที่ทางกลุ่มจะช่วยกันเองคือในเรื่องของการรณรงค์ให้มีการปล่อยตัวนักโทษ ซึ่งก็คือญาติของเราโดยเร็วที่สุด แต่ทีนี้แต่ละกรณีจะแตกต่างกันออกไป เช่น กรณีที่ยังอยู่ในการพิจารณาของศาล ยังไม่สิ้นสุด เราคงรณรงค์ให้มีการประกันตัวหรือติดต่อประสานงานกับหน่วยงานต่างๆ เพื่อเขียนคำร้องขอประกันตัว” สุกัญญากล่าว
“ส่วนอีกลักษณะหนึ่งผู้ต้องหาที่คดีสิ้นสุดแล้ว ก็จะมีการประสานงานให้ได้รับอำนวยความสะดวกในการขอพระราชทานอภัยโทษ ให้กระบวนการสิ้นสุดเร็วที่สุดเพื่อให้นักโทษได้รับการปล่อยตัว เราต้องการให้ญาติของเรากลับบ้านมาอยู่ร่วมกันเป็นครอบครัวอีกครั้ง” เธอกล่าวว่า จะมีการตั้งกองทุนเพื่อดำเนินการดังกล่าวด้วย
ในงานเปิดตัวดังกล่าว ได้มีญาติของผู้ต้องขังม. 112 มาร่วมแถลงด้วย อาทิ รสมาลิน ตั้งนพกุล ภรรยาของนายอำพล ตั้งนพกุล หรือ “อากง เอ็สเอมเอ็ส” ที่เสียชีวิตในเรือนจำหลังจากถูกจำคุกด้วยม. 112 นายชีเกียง ทวีวโรดมกุล บิดาของธันย์ฐวุฒิ ทวีวโรดมกุล หรือ “หนุ่ม เรดนนท์” ซึ่งถูกตัดสินจำคุก 20 ปี ปราณี ด่านวัฒนานุสรณ์ ภรรยาของสุรชัย ด่านวัฒนานุสรณ์ แกนนำกลุ่มแดงสยาม ซึ่งถูกตัดสินจำคุกรวมทุกคดีเป็นจำนวน 12 ปีครึ่ง
“เราเห็นว่าองค์กรต่างๆ มาช่วยเรา ถ้าเราไม่ออกมาร่วมด้วยมันจะยังไง มีองค์กรมีเพื่อนๆ ออกมาทำกันเยอะแยะเลย ขนาดเขาไม่ได้เป็นอะไรเขายังมาช่วยเรา แล้วเราเป็นหนึ่งที่ได้รับผลกระทบในนั้นก็ต้องออกมาช่วย ก็ไม่กลัวตายแล้ว อายุมากแล้ว จะเอาไปต้มยำทำแกงก็เอาไป” ชีเกียงกล่าว เมื่อผู้สื่อข่าวถามถึงความเป็นมาของการเข้าร่วมเครือข่าย
ด้านรสมาลิน ภรรยา “อากง” กล่าวว่าสาเหตุที่เข้าร่วม เพราะต้องการให้กำลังใจญาติผู้ต้องหาที่ประสบชะตากรรมคล้ายกัน
“มันเป็นเหตุการณ์และเรื่องเดียวกับที่เกิดขึ้นกับอากง ฉะนั้น เราก็รู้สึกว่าคนที่ยังไม่ได้ออก เรารู้สึกเป็นห่วงพวกเขา อยากให้วันเวลามันกระชับขึ้นมา อยากให้พวกเขาได้รับอิสรภาพโดยเร็วพร้อมกับลมหายใจ” รสมาลินกล่าว
ส่วนกิจกรรมที่ทางกลุ่มวางแผนจะดำเนินการ ปราณี ด่านวัฒนานุสรณ์ ให้สัมภาษณ์ว่า ทางกลุ่มวางแผนจะเดินทางไปยื่นหนังสือเรียกร้องต่อหน่วยงานของรัฐที่เกี่ยวข้อง เช่น ให้กรมคุ้มครองสิทธิและเสรีภาพช่วยเหลือเบื้องต้นในการประกันตัว หรือรัฐบาลที่สามารถออกพ.ร.ก. นิรโทษกรรมเพื่อให้ปล่อยตัวนักโทษการเมืองโดยไม่ผ่านสภา นอกจากนี้ จะเรียกร้องความเป็นธรรมผ่านทางการถวายฎีการ้องทุกข์เพื่อขอความเมตตาจากพระมหากษัตริย์เกี่ยวกับความเดือดร้อนที่ได้รับด้วย
นอกจากนี้ สุกัญญากล่าวว่า ทางเครือข่ายได้รับความสนใจจากองค์กรระหว่างประเทศด้วย เช่น สหประชาชาติ ซึ่งได้นัดหมายตัวแทนญาติผู้ได้รับผลกระทบจากม. 112 เพื่อเข้าไปหารือและให้ข้อมูลที่เกี่ยวข้อง รวมทั้งสถานทูตต่างๆ ที่ให้ความสนใจในกรณีม. 112
ส.ศิวรักษ์เสนอปล่อยตัวนักโทษทั้งหมดในวันแม่ที่จะถึง
สุลักษณ์ ศิวรักษ์ ปัญญาชนสยามและอดีตผู้ต้องหาคดีม. 112 ให้ข้อเสนอแนะต่อเครือข่ายว่า การให้ความเข้าใจต่อสาธารณะเป็นเรื่องที่จำเป็นมาก โดยเฉพาะผ่านทางสื่อมวลชนกระแสหลัก ซึ่งต้องให้สังคมเข้าใจถึงสภาพความเป็นอยู่ของคนในเรือนจำและปัญหาอื่นๆ ของม. 112 นอกจากนี้ เขายังเสนอด้วยว่า ในวโรกาสเฉลิมพระชนมพรรษา สมเด็จพระนางเจ้าสิริกิติ์ วันที่ 12 สิงหาที่จะถึงนี้ ควรเสนอขอพระราชทานอภัยโทษแก่นักโทษในคดีหมิ่นฯ ทั้งหมด เพื่อเป็นพระมหากรุณาธิคุณ
จอน อึ๊งภากรณ์ สมาชิกคณะอนุกรรมการศึกษากฎหมายหมิ่นพระบรมเดชานุภาพ คณะกรรมการสิทธิมนุษยชนแห่งชาติ (กสม.) กล่าวในวงเสวนาว่า ตนเห็นว่ากฎหมายหมิ่นฯ ทำให้เกิดปัญหาการละเมิดสิทธิของประชาชนอย่างร้ายแรง ทั้งนี้ จะพยายามผลักดันให้กสม. ต้องออกมาพูดเรื่องนี้และให้ข้อเสนอแนะแก้รัฐบาล เนื่องจากหากมีองค์กรของรัฐออกมาเสนอแนะรัฐบาลอาจให้ความสนใจมากขึ้นกว่าที่เป็นอยู่
จอนกล่าวด้วยว่า ในขณะนี้ทางคณะอนุกรรมการฯ อยู่ในระหว่างการเก็บข้อมูลและศึกษาปัญหาดังกล่าว โดยรายงานฉบับร่างเบื้องต้นจะเสร็จในเวลาอีกสองสัปดาห์ หลังจากนั้นจะผ่านการทำเวทีประชาพิจารณ์จากทุกฝ่ายที่เกี่ยวข้อง 3 เวที และพร้อมเผยแพร่ต่อสาธารณะไม่เกินภายในปีนี้ หากผ่านการรับรองจากคณะกรรมการสิทธิมนุษยชนแห่งชาติ
“ผมมีความหวังว่ารายงานของเรา ถ้าได้รับการพิจารณาจากทุกฝ่ายแล้ว ผมเชื่อว่าในสังคมไทย แม้แต่คนที่บอกว่าไม่อยากจะแก้ไข ลึกๆ มีคนจำนวนมากที่มองเห็นว่ามันมีปัญหาอยู่ แม้อาจจะไม่ใช่ความเห็นว่ายกเลิกเลย แต่ความเห็นว่ามันต้องปรับปรุงแก้ไขเพื่อไม่ให้เกิดการถูกใช้เป็นเครื่องมือทางการเมือง และความเห็นว่าโทษมันหนักอย่างแน่นอน” จอนระบุ
“คณะกรรมการสิทธิสุดท้ายจะรับหรือไม่รับรายงานนี้ เราจะใช้กระบวนการที่ให้ได้รับการเผยแพร่อย่างกว้างขวางทั้งในเวทีประชาพิจารณ์และและการเผยแพร่ต่อไป ผมเชื่อว่ารายงานนี้จะเป็นเอกสารที่สังคมไทยสามารถนำมาพิจารณาได้”
แนะต้องจัดนักโทษม. 112 เป็นนักโทษมโนธรรมสำนึก
ศราวุธ ประทุมราช จากสถาบันหลักนิติธรรมและสิทธิมนุษยชน กล่าวว่า สิทธิในการแสดงความคิดเห็นของประชาชนเป็นสิทธิขั้นพื้นฐาน ซึ่งรัฐสามารถแทรกแซงสิทธินี้ได้อย่างจำกัด โดยเขามองว่ากฎหมายหมิ่นพระบรมเดชานุภาพมีปัญหา เพราะปัจจุบันถูกบรรจุอยู่ในหมวดความมั่นคงของรัฐ ทั้งๆ ที่การวิพากษ์วิจารณ์สถาบันกษัตริย์ควรทำได้โดยเป็นไปอย่างสุจริต เนื่องจากถือว่าเป็นการวิจารณ์บุคคลสาธารณะ
ศราวุธเสนอว่า ควรนำกฎหมายอาญาม. 112 ออกจากหมวดความมั่นคงของรัฐ และผลักดันให้นักโทษในคดีดังกล่าว เป็นนักโทษทางการเมือง และถือว่าเป็นนักโทษมโนธรรมสำนึก (prisoners of conscience) ตามคำนิยามขององค์กรแอมเนสตี้ อินเตอร์เนชั่นแนล เพื่อให้เกิดการรณรงค์ในระดับสากลมากยิ่งขึ้น
ด้านทนายความสิทธิ เสาวลักษณ์ โพธิ์งาม ตั้งข้อสังเกตว่า กฎหมายหมิ่นถูกนำมาใช้เล่นงานคนระดับล่างมากขึ้น โดยแต่ก่อนอาจจะเป็นเครื่องมือของนักการเมืองโจมตีนักการเมืองหรือปัญญาชน แต่ตอนนี้กม. หมิ่นฯ ถูกนำมาใช้กล่าวหาคนธรรมดา เช่นคนขัดรองเท้า คนขับรถ เป็นต้น ทำให้คนที่ถูกฟ้องไม่ได้รับการดำเนินคดีอย่างยุติธรรม เนื่องจากบางคนไม่มีเงินจ้างทนายความ ทำให้จำเป็นต้องยอมรับสารภาพในชั้นสอบสวน และเมื่อมาให้การปฏิเสธในชั้นศาล ก็ทำให้การต่อสู้คดีไม่มีน้ำหนัก
ประวิตร โรจนพฤกษ์ ผู้สื่อข่าวนสพ. เดอะ เนชั่น หนึ่งในผู้ที่ถูกกล่าวโทษด้วยม. 112 กล่าวว่า ตนคงไม่เข้าร่วมเครือข่ายดังกล่าว แต่ยินดีที่จะให้ข้อเสนอแนะตามจำเป็น ทั้งนี้ ประวิตรมองว่าประเด็นเรื่องกฎหมายหมิ่นและนักโทษการเมืองยังคงถูกละเลยจากสื่อกระแสหลัก ทางเครือข่ายจึงจำเป็นจะต้องทำให้สาธารณะและประชาคมนานาชาติทราบถึงปัญหาของผู้ต้องขัง โดยเฉพาะเรื่องการใช้แรงงานนักโทษ การซ้อมทรมาน และการล่วงละเมิดทางเพศ ที่มีรายงานว่าผู้ต้องขังม. 112 ต้องเผชิญ
เขาให้สัมภาษณ์ว่า หลังจากที่ตนเองถูกร้องทุกข์กล่าวโทษด้วยม. 112 ก็ได้รับผลกระทบทั้งในทางส่วนตัวและการทำงาน โดยได้รับการขอร้องจากที่ทำงาน คือ นสพ. เดอะ เนชั่น ขอให้ลดการเขียนบทความเรื่องกฎหมายหมิ่นพระบรมเดชานุภาพ ซึ่งเขากล่าวคงจะลดลงไปซักระยะ นอกจากนี้ ยังได้รับข้อความด่าทอต่างๆ จากอินเทอร์เน็ตด้วย
“ผมก็ไม่ได้เกลียดอะไรนะ วันนั้นผมบอกตำรวจว่า ให้ดำเนินคดีไปตามเนื้อ ทางอ.สุลักษณ์เคยมาเสนอว่าจะให้วิ่งเต้นอะไรหรือเปล่าแต่เราก็ปฏิเสธ ขอบคุณแต่ก็ปฏิเสธไป เราฝากตำรวจไปว่าเราไม่ได้เกลียดชังอะไรไอแพดเขาเลย และเราก็ไม่ได้โกรธ คิดว่านี่คือการสู้กันทางอุดมการณ์ที่ความแตกต่าง…ผมไม่ได้มองว่าเป็นเรื่องส่วนตัว” ประวิตรกล่าว
เรื่องที่เกี่ยวข้อง:
ญาติผู้ประสบภัยม. 112 เดินหน้ารณรงค์ปล่อยตัวนักโทษ-ผู้ต้องหาคดีหมิ่น
UN Human Rights Council backs Internet freedom-AFP
July 9, 2012
Agence France-Presse: July 6, 2012
http://www.bangkokpost.com/tech/computer/301213/human-rights-council-backs-internet-freedom
The UN Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva passed its first resolution on Internet freedom on Thursday with a call for all states to support individuals’ rights online as much as offline.
The UN Human Rights Council in Geneva passed its first resolution on Internet freedom on Thursday with a call for all states to support individuals’ rights online as much as offline.
Despite opposition on the issue from countries including China, Russia and India, countries promoting the resolution hailed the support of dozens of nations ahead of its adoption.
“This outcome is momentous for the Human Rights Council,” US ambassador Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe told reporters.
“It’s the first UN resolution that confirms that human rights in the Internet realm must be protected with the same commitment as in the real world.”
The text had the support of 85 co-sponsors, 30 of whom are members of the HRC, Donahoe added.
Of the states that supported the initiative, Tunisia’s ambassador Moncef Baati said it was particularly important for his country because of the role accredited to social networking websites in ousting president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in 2011.
“The most important result of the Tunisian revolution is this right to freedom of expression…(this) is very important at the moment (in Tunisia) and it is for this reason that there is a strong commitment in Tunisia to consolidate Internet rights.
“Our link with all media networks during the revolution doubles the importance of this commitment to freedom of expression on the Internet which remains a major tool for economic development.”
Other countries that backed the resolution on the Promotion, Protection and Enjoyment of Human Rights on the Internet included Brazil, Nigeria, Sweden and Turkey.
Netizen Report: Intervention Edition-Global Voices
July 9, 2012
Global Voices: June 14, 2012
http://advocacy.globalvoicesonline.org/2012/06/14/netizenreport-intervention/
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Throughout this week’s edition we highlight examples of government intervention to limit free speech online, ostensibly “for the greater good”. In Kuwait, a Shi’ite man has been sentenced to prison for ten years for allegedly insulting the Prophet Mohammad and Sunni Muslims via Twitter. Pleading innocent, Hamad Al-Naqi said the posts were written by someone who had hacked his Twitter account.
Kuwait Human Rights Watch reported that the conviction was based on Article 15 of Kuwait’s National Security Law, which punishes citizens for “intentionally broadcasting news, statements, or false or malicious rumors… that harm the national interests of the state”. The court also found Al-Naqi guilty of violating Article 111 of the Kuwaiti Penal Code, which bans mocking religion.
Human rights and free speech groups believe Al-Naqi’s conviction represents a shift toward a more restricted civil society in Kuwait, highlighting political tensions between the country’s opposition Islamists and moderates. In May nearly all members of Parliament endorsed a bill to issue the death penalty for insulting the Prophet Mohammad for Muslims, with non-Muslims facing a lower ten-year prison sentence. Kuwaiti Emir Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah rejected the bill on June 6, but the veto could be overruled by a two-thirds majority vote by Kuwait’s Parliament and Cabinet Ministers. For more information on the situation in Kuwait and other challenges netizens in the country are facing, read Mona Kareem’s article on Global Voices Advocacy.
National policy
In another example of the trend highlighted above, the Malaysian Minister of Information, Communications and Culture Dr. Rais Yatim has declared his support for regulating content online. Rais expressed agreement with former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir, who has called for regulations to block “filth” and punish those who corrupt the minds of others online.
China has proposed changes to expand the scope of Internet law to include forums, blogs, and microblogs. Additionally, Reuters reports that the changes will also require microblog operators to obtain an administrative license to run a service.
According to IT News Africa, South Sudan has been invited to connect to Kenya’s broadband.
Speaking at the Personal Democracy Forum on 11 June, United States (US) Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and House Representative Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) proposed the idea of a Digital Bill of Rights to be enshrined in the US Constitution. A draft version of the bill is available for comment on Rep. Issa’s personal site KeepTheWebOpen.com.
Censorship
Protests over a South African ‘secrecy bill’ have led the ruling African National Congress to offer amendments to the legislation to include protection for government whistleblowers and journalists if the information uncovers criminal activity. However, the nation’s State Security Agency opposes the amendments to the proposed legislation, which could mandate up to 25 years in prison for those found in the possession of classified government documents, without any defense of acting in the public interest.
Thuggery
The Guardian reported four journalists were killed during the month of May in Pakistan, where reporters lack protection from violence and intimidation by armed groups or government officials. The Balochistan Union of Journalists recently held protests to call on their government to provide protection to media persons and arrest the killers of a local Balochi reporter who was murdered a few days ago.
The Azerbaijani Supreme Court released activist Bakhtiar Hajiyev on parole, who has been imprisoned since March 2011 after his arrest for promoting peaceful demonstrations via social media. The court sentenced Hajiyev in May 2011 for evading required military service and sentenced him to prison for two years.
Reporters Without Borders is condemning a wave of arrests of bloggers in Oman. Al Jazeera has collected more information on the story through the social media curation website, Storify.
Internet governance
In a speech to the International Conference on Cyber Conflict, Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves declared that the Internet has forced countries with different political realities into “almost inevitable conflict” and a “cold peace”. At stake, he argued, is the “liberal-democratic model of an open society, and of market economies that are transparent and rule-bound”.
As we reported in last week’s edition, a new document leak website, WCIT Leaks, was recently launched to increase transparency in the lead-up to the 12th World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT), organized by the International Telecommunications Union. Some of the leaked documents reveal proposals that do not seek to change the role of the multi-stakeholder Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), but which could have a dramatic on other areas of Internet governance including Internet routing. One proposal by European network operators would include a global Internet tax targeting the largest web content providers that could limit their ability to reach users in developing nations.
For more information and analysis see the Center for Democracy and Technology’s ITU resource page, the Internet Society’s information page and news page, and a three part “Threat Analysis of WCIT” by Milton Mueller at Syracuse University (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3).
The African Internet Governance Forum will be held in Cairo in October.
Tunisia signed an agreement with the ITU to launch the Arab region’s first open source software support center.
The non-profit Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) will announce the applicants of more than 300 new domain names on Wednesday, such as .group and .college, culminating the non-profit’s six year process to create new Internet real estate. An appeals process for companies to control a domain name could follow the announcement.
Internet activism
Tunisian journalist Ramzi Bettibi suspended his hunger strike to promote transparency in the trial of ousted leader Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali after the Constituent Assembly pledged to take up his cause. Bettibi began his strike on May 28, in response to officials confiscating his cameras during filming of Ben-Ali’s trial. An initiative from the Tunisian presidency returned Bettibi’s cameras a few days after he and several other activists began refusing food.
While switching planes in the United States en route to Canada last week, CryptoCat developer Nadim Kobeissi tweeted he was detained by US authorities and questioned about the encryption used in his open source private chat room application.
Members of the hacktivist group Anonymous have targeted Indian web censorship, staging protests in 16 cities around the country. While organizers anticipated more than 2,000 people would participate in a protest in Mumbai against the government’s ban on the websites Vimeo and Pirate Bay, no more than 100 supporters and media showed up. Reasons suggested by Tech2 include protester apathy, lack of leadership and government restriction of the demonstration space. Anonymous also claimed responsibility for taking down the website of an Indian telecom operator as part of its online censorship protest called “Operation India”.
Sovereigns of cyberspace
Facebook has launched an app center for the distribution of third-party applications for the social network. Like the Apple iTunes store, Facebook will take a 30 percent cut of sales. Facebook increased its lead as the world’s most popular social network, recently exceeding Orkut as the most popular social network in Brazil.
Major television networks in the US will apply content maturity ratings systems to full-length shows broadcast online.
Privacy
Facebook closed a week-long vote on its proposed privacy policy changes on June 8. Ars Technica reports only 342,632 votes were cast, significantly short of the 270 million votes needed for the procedure to be binding.
Advertisers protested Microsoft’s implementation of a Do Not Track feature by default on the next version of its browser, IE10, claiming it would threaten their business model to have the program automatically refuse cookies. A compromise proposal draft is being written by a multi-stakeholder partnership, which would make Do Not Track opt-in.
Copyright
Elected officials in Australia are raising concerns over Australia’s participation in negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a proposed free trade agreement between the US and eight other nations which could offer priorities to foreign investors. US Senators have also raised concerns about the relative secrecy of the negotiations around the deal.
The United States Supreme Court will soon examine a case that will determine whether a person can re-sell their mobile device or computer without having to obtain permission from dozens of “copyright holders”.
Cybersecurity
Poor security for professional social network LinkedIn led to the theft of six million customer passwords by hackers.
The Stuxnet virus and the Flame malware were created by the same developers, announced Russian tech security firm Kapersky Labs on Monday. Unnamed officials from the United States and Israel recently confirmed their nations created the Stuxnet virus to sabotage Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Most of this report was researched, written, and edited by Tom Risen, Hibah Hussain, Weiping Li, James Losey, and Sarah Myers.
Publications and studies
• Samuel A. Greene, Center for the Study of New Media & Society: Twitter and the Russian Street: Memes, Networks & Mobilization
• Peter Swire, Ohio State University: From Real-Time Intercepts to Stored Records: Why Encryption Drives the Government to Seek Access to the Cloud
• Ann Nelson, Center for International Media Assistance: The Medium Versus the Message: US Government Funding for Media in an Age of Disruption
• Cory Doctorow, Technology Review: “The Curious Case of Internet Privacy”
For upcoming events related to the future of citizen rights in the digital age, see the Global Voices Events Calendar.
FACT - Freedom Against Censorship Thailand 