19 Apr 2012 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost
A popular Iranian singer has been sentenced to a year in prison after releasing pro-opposition songs online. During the protests that occurred in the wake of the disputed 2009 presidential elections, Arya Aramnejad angered officials by uploading songs about the Ashura protests, when government security forces opened fire on demonstrators during a Shia holy day. Later, Aramnejad released another song condemning the government crackdowns. Aramnejad was arrested in February 2010, according to a friend, the singer has been convicted of acting against national security and spreading propaganda against the regime.
4 Apr 2012 | Index Index, minipost
A Turkish politician has been sentenced to 15 years in prison after delivering speeches in the run up to elections in June 2011. Serafettin Halis, former Deputy of the Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) was convicted of being part of an illegal organisation, and creating propaganda for an illegal organisation following seven speeches he delivered during the run up the the elections. Halis told local press that he is being prosecuted for speaking to his constituents, as the speeches were made in his capacity as an elected official.
2 Apr 2012 | Russia
The Federation Council of Russia has passed anti-extremism legislation which rights activists consider threatening to Kremlin’s public critics. It prohibits people who were charged with extremism to work with children in such fields as education, medical care, social security, sports and recreation.
According to lawmakers, the new legislation aims to protect children from radicalisation. But human rights activists and a number of trade union leaders have expressed their concerns over such law: together with drug and defamation legislation, anti-extremism laws in Russia are often used against Kremlin critics.
The term “extremism” is defined vaguely in Russian law, making it easy for judges to condemn innocent people. For example, if a person publicly criticises police for dispersal of peaceful protesters, he might then be charged with extremism for “incitement to social hatred” according to Russian law.
Another example of anti-extremism law misuse is seen through the prosecution of libraries staff and internet providers for allegedly promoting extremist literature. In practice, some libraries and providers do not have access to information from law enforcement authorities detailing which books are extremist. Examples of this were analysed in detail by SOVA Center for information and analysis, who described anti-extremist legislative measures in Russia as repressive.
Education union leader Andrey Demidov called the new legislation an “employment ban”, explaining that due to the vague definition of extremism and corrupted law enforcement and judicial systems, any teacher who openly criticises the government is likely to be charged on extremism and loose their job forever.
Elections in Russia are mostly held in schools, and most local election commission members are usually teachers. After allegedly fraudulent parliamentary elections, opposition activists appealed to teachers asking them not to participate in fraud. Many supported that request, which, together with high activity from election monitors, led to Vladimir Putin not winning presidential elections in March in Russia’s “two capitals,” Moscow and Saint-Petersburg.
7 Mar 2012 | Asia and Pacific, Index Index, minipost
Around 100 journalists were attacked by a large crowd in India yesterday, whilst covering local elections in northern state Uttar Pradesh. The journalists were forced to lock themselves in a school, which was being used as an election centre, after clashes broke out between supporters of the parties involved in the election. The crowd of approximately 4,000 turned on the journalists on the evening of the election, after the results had been announced. They were assaulted, and their equipment and vehicles were damaged by the crowd. The journalists were able to leave the school early on Wednesday morning.
