The recent arrest of Ilkin Rustamzadeh highlights how Azerbaijan’s authorities use trumped up charges to silence messages they are not comfortable with, blogger Ali Novruzov writes from Baku.
On 17 May, Rustamzadeh, a university student and member of the “Free Youth” organisation, was arrested for a “Harlem Shake” video posted on YouTube. It did not matter that Rustamzadeh had no part in posting it or any of the other huge number of videos contributing to the viral dance meme.
Charged with hooliganism as well as disturbing public order for allegedly being involved with the video’s organisation, Rustamzadeh was immediately handed him two-month pre-trial detention. According to Rustamzadeh’s lawyer, investigators in the case have linked him to a “Harlem Shake” video filmed on Baku Boulevard.
While Rustamzadeh has not created viral videos, he has been active in a grassroots campaign calling for investigation into frequent Azerbaijani soldier deaths. In 2012, 97 people were killed, and between the start of this year and 23 April, there have been 29 deaths. The campaign has also been calling for the government to put more preventative measures in place.
The campaign’s activists have been targeted by the government with waves of arrests and a counter-campaign against members of the group. There have even been allegations made that this grassroots campaign is actually the work of external forces, like the National Democratic Institute.
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Index on Censorship Events Caught in the web: how free are we online? June 10, 2013
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BRAZIL
Brazil’s Federal Police seize journalist’s equipment
Brazil’s Federal Police seized a journalist’s equipment – including his computer – during an operation to remove indians from a farm in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul. The seizure was decried as illegal by the reporter’s employer, one of the country’s most prominent aid agencies aimed at indigenous peoples, Rafael Spuldar reports. (Index on Censorship)
ISRAEL
Bill protecting IDF from slander passes first Knesset reading
New law will allow for defamation lawsuits to be filed against people or groups who slander the IDF, without having to go through the attorney-general, as is the case today. The bill aims to protect the IDF from libel by Israel detractors. (Israel Hayom)
PHILIPPINES
DOJ deletes libel from new anti-cybercrime bill
THE Department of Justice (DOJ) has removed libel from the provisions of Republic Act (RA) 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, pruning away one of the questioned sections of the law. (Business Mirror)
RUSSIA
Putin’s war on dissent in Russia
A year after the mass protests marking Vladimir Putin’s controversial presidential win, Elena Vlasenko reports from Moscow on the heavy-handed repression confronting the Russian opposition. (Index on Censorship)
SYRIA
Birthday wishes for Bassel Khartabil
Software engineer and open-source advocate Bassel Khartabil spent his second birthday in prison yesterday. Index calls on the Syrian government to release Khartabil. (Index on Censorship)
THAILAND
Critic’s Facebook page suspended; cartoonist ‘ignores’ summonses
Thammasat University academic Somsak Jeamteerasakul’s Facebook account has been suspended for 30 days, leading to widespread criticism on social media. (The Nation)
TUNISIA
Crackdown on radical Islamists tests Tunisia’s stability
For the first time since the Arab Spring uprisings of 2011, relations between mainstream Islamists in government and radical Salafist Muslim activists have reached breaking point, sparking deadly clashes in two Tunisian cities. (Reuters)
TURKEY
Turkey presents Prophet’s sayings for the 21st Century
cholars around the Muslim world were alarmed five years ago by news reports that Turkey planned a new, possibly heretical, compilation of the Prophet Mohammad’s sayings that might scrap those it thought were no longer applicable. (Al Arabyia)
UKRAINE
Journalists defend colleagues in Ukraine’s ‘new war with press’
Two journalists were attacked while covering a street rally in Kiev, and nine more Ukrainian reporters were in danger of losing government accreditation following a protest to support their colleagues, Andrei Alaiksandrau reports. (Index on Censorship)
UNITED KINGDOM
A responsible internet
Internet companies and service providers need to do much more to keep pornography away from children. (The Telegraph)
Woolwich attack: two arrested over Twitter comments
Two men are arrested for making alleged offensive comments on Twitter about the murder of British soldier Lee Rigby in Woolwich. (Channel 4)
UNITED STATES
Associated Press Scandal: Does the Media Only Care About Free Speech When It Comes to Their Own?
It is no surprise that the media has been quick to voice its support for Fox News reporter James Rosen and the Associated Press , following revelations of invasive government investigations into their respective sources. (PolicyMic)
Obama to Gitmo Speech Heckler: ‘Part Of Free Speech Is…You Listening’
President Barack Obama had a hard time getting through parts of his foreign policy speech at the National Defense University Thursday, thanks to Medea Benjamin, co-founder of left-leaning, female anti-militarism group Code Pink. (Personal Liberty Digest)
Sexual harassment rules on college campuses trickle down to freedom of speech
The places where you might find some of the freest thinkers and those that want to protect their right to free speech are now also the target of new policies that will limit that same speech. (MyNorthwest.com)
PostScript: McConnell and free speech
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell appears with an opinion piece on our page today. He argues that the IRS and AP scandals are part of a pattern with the Obama administration’s push for the disclosure of political donors. (Washington Post)
LePage tells legislative leaders he’s moving out of State House because of ‘censorship’
Democratic legislative leaders said Thursday that Republican Gov. Paul LePage told them he would move his office from the State House in a protest over not being able to have a television display outside his office. But LePage said his staff would remain there “until partisan leaders of the Legislature choose to evict them.” (Bangor Daily News)
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A year after the mass protests marking Vladimir Putin’s controversial presidential win, Elena Vlasenko reports from Moscow on the heavy-handed repression confronting the Russian opposition.
Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the Netherlands in April 2013. (Photo: Pierre Crom / Demotix)
The rally was to be the culmination of the historic peaceful protests for fair elections in late 2011. The plan had been to end the march with a rally in the sqaure, where the throng of protesters were funneled through metal detectors. A splinter group launched smoke bombs at the police, which erupted into violent clashes with security forces. Hundreds were arrested — including opposition leaders Alexei Navalny and Sergei Udaltsov — and many faced criminal charges for participating in “mass riots.”
Days later, when 200 protesters protested the Bolotnaya Square arrests, organisers of the encampment were arrested. Criminal charges were brought against almost 30 protesters, most of whom, according to rights activists, were either mistakenly prosecuted or should have faced lesser administrative charges.
In April 2013, a public inquiry led by members of Russia’s opposition and human rights activists refuted the official narrative around the 6 May rally. The inquiry found that the response of protesters was an act of “self-defence”, provoked by “police officers and masked men”. Despite the findings, there is an air of pessimism about the political climate.
The deterioration of the free expression environment in Russia has accelerated since Putin’s inauguration. Authorities prosecuted Pussy Riot and instituted of a number of repressive laws against non governmental organisations, rally organisers, and re-criminalised defamation. There is also an ever-growing blacklist of websites. The second reading of the so-called “homosexual propaganda” law is planned. Yet, none of these recent actions have been met with a substantial response from Russia’s opposition.
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Last October, groups opposed to the Kremlin created the “Opposition coordinating council” — an online, elected pseudo-parliament meant to legitimise opposition leaders. Throughout its young existence it has received criticism — not from pro-Kremlin media or activists, but from people who voted for them or participated in the elections — for using expensive facilities for their monthly meetings. In fact, most elected opposition leaders don’t attend these meetings, which means that the council doesn’t have the quorum to make decisions. The council’s decisions are also minor administrative details about bylaws, and have less to do with fighting to change the current system.
The council, created to form a united opposition strategy, still hasn’t decided whether it should criticise Putin and demand his resignation, or to call on him to implement radical reforms.
Even though it has failed to give a strong response to the Kremlin’s attempts to silence dissidents, the opposition has faced criminal prosecutions of its leaders. Sergei Udaltsov is currently under house arrest on charges of organising “mass riots” and political activist Alexei Navalny is facing charges of fraud. The result has been to blunt the rising political power of Udaltsov and other members of the opposition’s leadership.
When this year’s 6 May anniversary rally ended, demonstrators were made to pass long lines of soldiers blocking their way to the Red Square and many other places, forcing the protest’s traffic towards Moscow’s metro stations. One could hardly call the picture of protesters winding through rows of soldiers, police and military cars, one of freedom. Without much to expect from either the government or the opposition a general feeling of entrapment hung over Bolotnaya Square’s anniversary protests.
Two journalists were attacked while covering a street rally in Kiev, and nine more Ukrainian reporters were in danger of losing government accreditation following a protest to support their colleagues, Andrei Alaiksandrau reports.
TV journalist Olga Snitsarchuk and her husband, Kommersant photographer Vladislav Sodel were beaten on 18 May in the centre of Kiev, while they were taking pictures of a political rally in the Ukrainian capital. The journalists began recording images of a group of young men who were attacking people at the gathering.
Ukrainian journalists rally in Kiev to support journalists. (Photo: ukrafoto ukrainian news / Demotix)
“Having seeing that I started taking photos, young men in tracksuits rushed at me. And Olga began to take video of how they were beating me, so the men knocked her to the ground and began to beat”, Vladislav Sodel told Ukrainskaya Pravda.
Police officers who were present at the scene ignored appeals for help from rally participants and the journalists, according to witnesses. One of the attackers was later identified as Vadim Titushko, who happens to be a member of a police sports club. Titushko was detained and interrogated, but on 22 May released on bail.
Index on Censorship Events Caught in the web: how free are we online? June 10, 2013
The internet: free open space, wild wild west, or totalitarian state? However you view the web, in today’s world it is bringing both opportunities and threats for free expression. More >>>
Ukrainian journalists demanded the incident be properly investigated. On 22 May nine reporters conducted a silent action during a government meeting by turning their backs on ministers to show posters that read “Today it is a journalist, tomorrow it is going to be your wife, sister or daughter. Take action!”
Prime Minister Mykola Azarov ordered the journalists removed from the hall and, later, withdrew their press credentials for “breach of order of coverage of Cabinet of Ministers’ work.” This incident prompted about 100 Ukrainian journalists to protest outside the prime minister’s office in support of Snitsarchuk, Sodel and their nine colleagues. The government announced that the journalists would keep their accreditation. Moreover, Verkhovna Rada, a member of Ukraine’s parliament, today created an ad-hoc committee to investigate the 18 May incident.
“We are at the beginning of a new war between the state and the press,” a Ukraininan MP and a former journalist Volodymyr Ariev said yesterday in London during a conference on media regulation, organised by Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
The Institute of Mass Information, a Ukrainian media freedom non-governmental organisation, has reported on the deterioration of the media environment in the country.
“There was a huge increase in the number of physical attacks on journalists in 2012, with 80 cases registered in comparison to just 26 in 2011. We also note an increase of instances of censorship. This year is going to be tough for journalists and free speech in Ukraine as the authorities will definitely aim at building the basis for 2015 presidential elections,” Oksana Romaniuk, a representative of Reporters Without Borders in Ukraine, told Index.
