06 Oct 11 | Egypt, Middle East and North Africa
Several Egyptian writers and journalists published blank columns in the country’s newspapers, in protest against the “military interference” of the press.
A number of independent writers, including Belal Fadl, Naglaa Bedir and Tarek El-Shenawy, wrote only a uniform note in their regular columns: “I did not write today in protest against censorship, confiscation of newspapers and the presence of military censors on papers.”
Other opinion columnists from the daily El-Youm El-Sabee newspaper — Abdel Rahman Youssef, Akram El-Kasas, Saied El-Shahat and Alaa El-Shafei — followed the lead of the lead, also leaving their columns blank.
The “blank columns” campaign follows a range of recent attacks on the press from authorities. Recently, there have been two raids on the Al Jazeera offices within a month, editions of two newspapers have been seized and destroyed, features have been blocked, and official warnings have been sent to Egyptian satellite TV channels regarding the content of political programmes.
Some writers, including Amr Hamzawy from newspaper Shorouk, wanted to join the campaign, but were prevented from doing so by their editors.
“I wanted to leave my column blank today but I couldn’t, so, instead, I am writing an opinion piece under the name of ‘Whitening the Column’ about the campaign,” Hamzawy told Ahram Online.
It is believed that the government is planning a further clampdown on the media ahead of parliamentary polls next month.
14 Sep 11 | Index Index, minipost, News and features
Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko has today pardoned 11 more political prisonerssentenced for taking part in anti-government protests on 19 December 2010. The full list of names is not yet known, but Index believes that activists Pavel Vinogradov and Fyodor Mirzayanov are among those released.
Around five others remain in prison. A government press release stated that Lukashenko had been “guided by the principles of humanity”.
In August, The Royal Bank of Scotland announced that it will no longer engage in “any type of capital-raising” on behalf of the government of Belarus after an Index on Censorship and Free Belarus Now campaign.
07 Sep 11 | Index Index, minipost
Security forces in Angola attacked journalists at an anti-government protest on Saturday. Voice of America‘s Alexandre Neto claimed that he was pushed to the floor by police and unidentified men in plain clothes, who then seized his backpack carrying his mobile phone, camera, passport and driver’s license, none of which have been returned. Security agents also attacked Portuguese journalist António Cascais who was in Angola conducting journalism training, on his way to the protest. Several other journalists, including those from state broadcasters from Portugal and Angola, were attacked during the demonstration.
23 Aug 11 | Index Index, minipost
Eight anti-China demonstrators in Hanoi who ignored government orders to end a series of protests remain in custody for investigation into causing public disorder. They were among the 47 detained at the rally on Sunday — the tenth of its kind in the Vietnamese capital — in which protesters objected to China’s supposed invasion of South China Sea waters, where the two nations have a longstanding sovereignty dispute.
