As the battleground of the Syrian conflict rages offline, the internet is playing an important role in allowing its citizens to communicate with the rest of the world. Jillian C. York reports
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The Karachi offices of Pakistani television station Aaj news and English-language daily Business Recorder were attacked on 25 June. Four men reportedly attacked the offices, opening fire inside of the building and injuring two employees. A spokesman for the militant Islamic group Tehrik-e-Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, saying that it was out of the group’s anger that they did not receive as much coverage from the station as the government and the army.
Index award winning musician Ferhat Tunç has been sentenced to two years in prison by a court in the Turkish province of Malatya. The Kurdish singer was charged with “spreading propaganda” for a terrorist group under the country’s anti-terrorism laws for referring to three deceased Turkish leftists during a May 2011 concert. Despite intimidation throughout much of his three decades long career, Tunç has continued to sing in the minority languages of Zaza (Dimli) and Kurmanci (Kurdish), and won an award from Index in 2010 for his commitment to campaigning for free speech in Turkey.
24 activists and writers, including well-known dissident and blogger Eskinder Nega, were convicted for terrorism by an Ethiopian court yesterday (27 June). The presiding judge reportedly accused Nega of attempting to spark popular protests with his blogging and speeches. Nega criticised the country’s tendency to use its vague anti-terrorism laws to silence dissent.