12 Apr 12 | Digital Freedom, Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost
Mohammad Solimaninya, an Internet and social network expert who has been detained for the past three months, is reportedly being pressured to work with the Iranian government on the creation of a National Internet. Solimaninya ran u24, a popular social networking website for Iranian professionals, and created websites for many Iranian NGOs. He was arrested on 10 January after being summoned before a revolutionary tribunal in Karaj, a town 20 km north of Tehran. According to his family, is now on a second hunger strike in protest against his detention conditions. No charges have been brought against him.
12 Apr 12 | Africa, Index Index, minipost
Eritrean journalist Yirgalem Fisseha Mebrahtu, in custody since her arrest in February 2009, was admitted to hospital in Asmara earlier this year, where she reportedly remains in a serious condition. She has been admitted to the hospital twice, once last November and again in January this year. She is under permanent guard and is allowed no visitors. She was arrested during a raid on Radio Bana on 22 February 2009, during which the station’s entire staff was detained.
11 Apr 12 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost
Kuwaiti writer Mohamed al-Melify was jailed for seven years on Monday on charges of spreading false statements via Twitter. He was arrested last February, and the Kuwait Criminal Court found him guilty of spreading false news about sectarian divisions in the country and publishing insults about Shiism, in addition to charges of libel and defaming a member of the Kuwaiti National Assembly, Ahmed Lari.
11 Apr 12 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost
Eminent Turkish free expression champion Ragip Zarakolu was freed from prison in Turkey pending trial along with 14 others yesterday. Zarakolu, director of the Belge Publishing House, which has published works on taboo subjects such as the Armenian genocide and minority rights in Turkey, was arrested last October as part of a crackdown on those accused of supporting the Kurdish Communities Union (KCK). He was indicted on 19 March under Turkish anti-terrorism laws for “aiding and abetting an illegal organisation,” a charge that could carry a 15-year sentence.
