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Radio Gafsa, a radio station located in the southern Tunisian city of Gafsa, was attacked by a group of 20 men on 2 August. They reportedly ransacked the premises and terrified employees.
A Tunisian policeman who blew the whistle on a still-active core of officers from the country’s pre-revolution days — some of them alleged torturers, others linked to Tunisia’s long notorious internet surveillance squads — has been hauled in front of a military court for speaking out. (more…)
Police in Harare this week arrested 46 activists and trade union members who were watching videos of demonstrations in Egypt and Tunisia. They have been charged with treason for trying to organise an uprising against the government. Lawyers for some of the detained allege that they have been beaten while in custody.
Terms like Falun Gong, the Tiananmen Square Massacre and the names of high profile Chinese dissidents have long been censored in China, but now it’s the turn of country names.
A search on Weibo — a twitter-like service owned by Sina — for the words “Egypt” or “Tunisia” in Chinese returns the message: “According to relevant laws, regulations and policies, the search results cannot be shown.” The names of the countries in English are not blocked.
News wires are reporting that Sohu’s microblog has also blocked searches for Egypt.
The state news services, though, are covering the protests in both countries and regular searches on online Chinese search engines are not blocking the words.
This new and curious development follows recent anti-government protests in both countries. Riots in major Egyptian cities including Cairo and Alexandria have left more than 100 people dead. The unrest in Tunisia toppled the president. Protests are continuing over the choice of ministers for the interim government.
Global Voices Online is reporting that some Chinese bloggers have set up regular updates of Egyptian news on Weibo which comes up in searches for “Egypt” in English.
The censorship all seems a bit over the top. As one China-based western blogger observed: “Anything is possible, I suppose, but the very idea of Chinese activists being so inspired by the riots in Egypt that they’d try to implement the same tactics in China is so absurd it’s laughable.”