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Fans Unite to Cheer for the Cuban Boxer Gamboa Using #animogamboa · Global Voices
Elaine Díaz

Images like these were shared by Facebook users (Photographs published by Los Pichy Boys)
Professional Cuban boxer, Yuriorkis Gamboa, currently living in the United States, lost to the World Boxing Organization's lightweight champion Terence Crawford by knockout last Saturday at the CenturyLink Center in Omaha city. In light of his very emotional public statements, asking for forgiveness, his fans overflowed social media sites with support using the hashtag #animogamboa.
“Terence Crawford took him down four times and knocked him out for the win in the ninth round, in front of 10,943 fans, who turned Omaha into the boxing capital for one night,” was stated in El Nuevo Herald.
Before the fight, Gamboa shared on his official Facebook page,
Mi último post en FACEBOOK hasta mañana después de la pelea. Le voy a pedir a mi Equipo que los mantenga al tanto pero por ahora lo mejor es que duerma porque ya estoy listo. Lo único que queda es pelear (…) Gracias a todos por su apoyo.
This is my last FACEBOOK post until tomorrow after the fight. I will ask my team to keep you updated, but for now, it's best that I go to sleep, I am ready. The only thing left to do is fight (…) Thank you all for your support.
After hearing the result of the fight and criticism about his training, Gamboa responded with the following statement:
Perdóneme si los hice quedar mal. Yo traté de hacerlo lo mejor posible. Lo siento con mucha sinceridad (…) En cuanto al tema de mi entrenador solo digo esto. Mi padre ha estado a mi lado toda mi vida. Fue él quien sembró mi amor por el Boxeo, fue él quien me puso mis primeros guantes así como los últimos. Fue mi padre quien me enseñó a fajarme y a mover mis pies sobre el cuadrilátero, fue mi padre quien estuvo a mi lado desde los 6 años gritándome lo que tenía o no que hacer. Que yo a veces le deje de hacer caso es otra cosa. Pero en esas ocasiones, la responsabilidad es mía no de él. Anoche perdí una batalla, y por lo mismo me siento terriblemente mal porque sé que muchos confiaban en mi victoria.
Forgive me if I came up short. I did the best I could. I sincerely  apologize (…) As for my trainer, I can only say the following. My father has been by my side my entire life. He was the one that instilled my love for boxing, he is the one who put my first pair of gloves on me, as well as the last. It was my father who taught me how to wrap myself and how to shuffle my feet, he was the one who was besides me since I was 6 years old, yelling at me, telling me what to do and what not to do. At times, I may not do as he says. But during those times, I am  the one responsible, not he. Last night I lost a battle, and for that same reason, I feel terrible, as I know many people believed I could be the winner.
On the other hand, the Cuban boxer's fans shared photos on Facebook and Twitter using #animogamboa.
Gamboa is know as “El ciclón de Guantánamo” or “Guantanamo's Cyclone”
As an amateur boxer, Gamboa won the Olympic gold medal, in the flyweight division, in Athens 2004.


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Five Things You Need to Know About Turkmen Weddings · Global Voices
Anna Fergana

Image of a Turkmen bride. Screenshot taken from a YouTube video uploaded by Basim Annanow
Ýigit çal söýgi sazyňy,
Gelin artdyr sen näziňi
Oýnaň şadyýan tansyny çünki bugün toý toý
Aýdalyň biz toý aýdymy, bugün bizde toý toý
Young man play the music of love,
Bride flirt a little more,
Dance your happy moves because it is wedding day,
We will sing our wedding song,
Today we are celebrating.
Weddings are incredibly important to Turkmen. Marrying off sons and daughters symbolizes the continuation of community life and the supremacy of the family in society. Traditionally Turkmen have big families and a wedding is a chance to see even the furthest-flung relatives, as well as display your status to the neighbours.
A number of must-do rituals and traditions apply to a Turkmen wedding day. Here is a short summary of things to observe:
1. You have to have a famous singer! You are going to dance in the streets, da!
If you have near-exclusive access to the country's national gas wealth, you can hire J-Lo, but even if you don't your crooner has to get the people up and on their feet.
Below is an example of some top notch wedding singing from local star Kakysh:
Şemal näz edip öwüsýär şugün
Güller näz edip öwüsýär şügün
Ýarym näz edip ýylgyrsaň senem
Toý güni aýly günüm, sögülim şugün.
The wind blows gently flirting,
The flower blooms gently flirting,
My beloved you will gently smile,
My beloved today is our wedding day
On one of Turkmenistan's most popular chat forums, Ertir.com, users discussed the lyrics of the song.
NitrogeN praises [tkm] Kakysh, and poses a question about a muse that appears regularly in his songs:
gowy aydyaray Kakysh. Aydymlarynyng köpüsinde Läle sözi geçyär. Shondan yanan oydyan
Kakysh sings well. In many of his songs he uses the name Läle. Maybe she broke his heart.
Meka MerGenius is also curious [tkm] about the man behind the voice:
Kakyş Amandurdyyew näz edyär mi?
Does Kakysh Amandurdyyew flirt?
Other netizens share [tkm] their philosophy on marriage:
oylenyancha her hili sozler aydylyar son kan aydylanok
Right before the marriage they say all kinds of words, but don't talk too much after
NitrogeN continues, joking [tkm]:
durmusha cykyp semreyar song shemal akidip bilenok
When they get married, they become fat, and the wind can't take them away anymore
2. A wedding dress should show the bride off because later she will wear a headscarf and close her mouth in front of husband's parents.
Wedding dresses in Turkmenistan are highly diverse, coming in different colors and patterns, and at different prices. A traditional Turkmen wedding robe and dress — once decorated with silver — might weigh more than 35 kilograms.
The heavy robe makes way for a traditional white dress when things get dancy. Screenshot from a YouTube video uploaded by Andrey Kniaz.
3. Get ready for photos — group photos!
Turkmen families rarely fit into a single shot. Screenshot from a YouTube video uploaded by Turkmen Owazy.
4. Also, make sure you take a photo in front of President Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov's portrait.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) has inquired whether this tradition is an official order or an unofficial practice. The service quotes witnesses who confirm that the photo is an integral part of any official wedding ceremony. This does not seem to create any problem for netizens, however.
Alex comments [ru]:
всё нормально, я бы тоже сфоткался!
It's alright. I would take a photo there too!
5. The most exciting part is always the build up to the ceremony itself. The groom comes to take the bride from her house.
She is duty-bound to show her sadness because she is leaving her parents forever. This is the most touching part of the wedding as the bride's relatives come to say goodbye to her. A sad and happy moment all in one.
Every bride must say goodbye to her beloved. Photo uploaded by Zarina Max

source: news-globalvoices

license: Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

author: Anna Fergana


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Are Serbia’s Dark Days of Media Censorship and Intimidation Making a Comeback? · Global Voices
Danica Radisic

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic meets with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin, June 2014. Photo by Simone Kuhlmey, Demotix © (June 11, 2014).
Serbia's Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić has put on a stellar performance for the international media as the firm, strategic but fair leader that the country has lacked in the past three decades of political twists and turmoil.
Since his appointment to the position after the March 2014 elections, he has made headlines for his promises of much needed reforms in the small but hopeful emerging southeast European market, his meetings with top EU officials, and his handling of relief efforts during and after tragic flooding in the region.
What hasn't made as many headlines, however, is Vučić's past as an inward-looking adversary of the media. He says he has learned from those “political mistakes,” but for the country’s media and journalists, new Vučić is starting to sound a lot like old Vučić.
Serbian authorities have taken down websites that are critical of Vučić's government, such as independent news and commentary site Peščanik. Other media outlets have received warnings about their coverage. Social media users and bloggers have been questioned by police.
A wider audience might have caught on that all is not well with freedom of expression in Serbia when Representative for Media Freedom for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Dunja Mijatović recently expressed her office's concern about the country's trend of online censorship. Vučić demanded a public apology, and the story was picked up by many mainstream media outlets worldwide.
Mijatović and Vučić had a meeting to discuss the subject later, but no concrete resolution was conveyed to the public, other than a similar statement from both ends that the talks were “productive”. In the eyes of the general public – a small but clear public relations victory for Vučić.
A troubling history
Those who live and work in Serbia, in particular in the media industry, know only too well how the current Prime Minister has handled such situations in the past. Aside from his political history – Vučić was a member of the Serbian Radical Party and long-time close associate of accused war criminal Vojislav Šešelj before founding and presiding over his current political party, the Serbian Progressive Party – he has had a long and troubling history with media and journalists in the country.
In 1998, during the government of Mirko Marjanović under the strong-hold regime of Slobodan Milošević, a much younger and less politically correct Aleksandar Vučić was appointed minister of information. At the time, the country was in turmoil. From late March until early June 1999, Serbia was bombed by NATO forces in response to ethnic cleansing of Kosovar Albanians during the war in Kosovo. A state of emergency presided over Serbia, making it all to easy to silence media critics under the guise of protecting the nation and its people.
Vučić's term as minister ended abruptly with the September 2000 election, the results of which led to the now historic October 5th Revolution in Serbia, ultimately overthrowing Milošević's regime.
Although he only held the position for two years, Vučić made the most of the time. He implemented larger fines up to several hundreds of thousands of dollars for media outlets and journalists who criticized the government and politicians in office.
Vučić was also the author of a new Law on Information that gave the government arbitrary power to decide what media statements qualified as endangerment of government and national security, as well as almost absolute power in deciding to shut down any medium that did not meet the law's vague requirements. It also included an outright ban on foreign television networks in the country.
The law, which many called Draconian, was passed by Parliament with only brief discussion.
When asked about it at the time, then Minister Vučić claimed there was no such thing as independent media in Serbia. A 1998 article from Serbian weekly NIN, available in their online archive, offers a quote from his statement:
S druge strane, Zakon stiti, kaze Vucic, teritorijalnu celovitost i integritet zemlje. “To sto se Madlen Olbrajt toliko sekira zbog naseg Zakona ili sto se on ne svidja Holbrukovoj zeni znaci da nam je Zakon veoma dobar.” […]
Posle donosenja novog Zakona o informisanju, veli Vucic, tzv. nezavisni mediji od sebe namerno prave zrtvu, jer “nezavisni mediji zapravo ne postoje, to je samo jedna politicka floskula koja bi trebalo da pokaze da su ti mediji nesto bolji i objektivniji od medija koji podrzavaju politiku vlade ove zemlje ili nacionalne interese ovog naroda”.
On the other hand, the law protects, says Vučić, the territorial entity and integrity of the country. “Just because Madeleine Albright worries so much because of our law or because [Richard] Holbrook's wife doesn't like it doesn't mean our law isn't very good.” […]
After the new Law on Information was passed, Vučić claims, the so-called independent media have been purposely making victims of themselves because “independent media doesn't actually exist, it's just a political speech ornament that is supposed to indicate that those outlets are better and more objective than the outlets that support the politics of the government of this country or the national interests of this people”.
Journalists and Internet users in the crosshairs
Although the law was short-lived, it was highly damaging. Under Minister of Information Vučić, journalists and media outlets endured steep financial penalties, smear campaigns and even jail time for their reporting.
An article from online news magazine Preko Ramena tried to remind readers of this ahead of the second round of presidential elections in 2012, in which the Progressive Party's candidate Tomislav Nikolić was eventually elected over Democratic Party incumbent Boris Tadić. In the article, titled “The Nation With the Shortest Memory in the World”, author Marija Dukić reminisced:
Prema podacima Gordane Suše, koja je bila na čelu NUNS-a u vreme kad je Vučić bio ministar, vrednost kazni na koje su po hitnom postupku bili osuđeni Dnevni telegraf, Evropljanin, Danas, Glas javnosti, Blic, Studio B i mnogi drugi mediji, prelazi milion tadašnjih nemačkih maraka. U to vreme novinar Slavko Čuruvija je ubijen, pet novinara je osuđeno na zatvorske kazne, a oko 250 ih je bilo pozivano na informativne razgovore. Nekoliko dana pre Ćuruvijinog ubistva u dnevnom listu Politika ekspres on je optužen za „priželjkivanje bombi i izdaju”. Ništa sofisticiranije reči nisu koristili ni radikali, pa i Vučić, u skupštinskim nastupima na temu opozicionih novinara. Ova gebelsovska tehnika već neko vreme koristi se za stvaranje atmosfere u kojoj je lako ukloniti protivnike bez prevelikih empatija javnosti.
According to information from Gordana Suša, who was head of the Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia, while Vučić was minister the value of fines issued through emergency procedures for Dnevni Telegraf [Daily Telegraph], Evroplajnin [The European], Danas [Today], Glas Javnosti [Voice of the Public], Blic [Blitz], Studio B and many other outlets surpassed one million Deutsche Marks at the time. During that period, journalist Slavko Ćuruvija was assassinated, five journalists sentenced to prison terms, and approximately 250 of them brought in for police questioning. A few days before Ćuruvija's murder, he was accused of “wishing for bombs and treason” by [government-run] daily Politika Express. No more sophisticated were the words used by the Radicals, including Vučić, in their parliamentary discussions on the subject of opposition journalists. This Goebbels-esque technique has been used for some time to create an atmosphere in which opponents are easily removed, without too much empathy from the public.
Vučić seems to be reviving his late-90s approach to the Serbian media in 2014. A key difference, however, is the addition of the Internet.
During his term as minister, Internet providers were just beginning to enter the market in Serbia and the region, so it could easily be disregarded as no threat to the government's tight grip on any independent public critique. But today, the Internet, blogs and social networks in particular are a massive, infected thorn in the side of his image as a reformed, open, pro-European and politically correct leader.
As many communications professionals have pointed out, one of Milošević's biggest mistakes and perhaps a pillar in his downfall was his view of the Internet as another source of cheap entertainment to keep the dissatisfied people of Serbia amused and content.
His collaborator and now Prime Minister Vučić seems to still refuse to understand the role that the World Wide Web has in modern democratic societies. He has made several relatively botched attempts to silence Internet users and online media in the country, from shutting down satirical YouTube videos during his pre-election campaign, to taking down websites critical of his government. The YouTube videos and articles on these websites, however, only seem to multiply and gain popularity when they are abruptly taken down by the Progressive Party's digital communications team.
A battle for free expression
Since he abandoned the very nationalistic Serbian Radical Party, Vučić has presented himself as a pro-EU, understanding and contemporary reformist that many have said Serbia requires to complete its already long road to (re)joining the European family.
The devastating floods in the region, however, have put a stain on that carefully crafted reputation. During and in the aftermath of the flooding, many have openly called out Vučić and his government on their ineptitude in getting aid to the areas of the country that needed it.
The response of Vučić's government, unexpected in a democratic nation in the year 2014, was to issue warnings to media outlets that were critical of the government's rescue efforts, shut down websites, and bring in social media users and bloggers for police questioning. These have now become regular occurrences in Serbia and many are wondering what will come next.
As rains continue to fall only a month after the floods that left over a third of the country's cities and towns in ruins, a battle from freedom of expression between media and the government of Serbia hangs in the air.

author: Danica Radisic


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Russia’s Cyber Nanny Calls for a Clean RuNet · Global Voices
Kevin Rothrock

Images under CC license, remixed by Kevin Rothrock.
Do Russian children need a “clean” Internet? Parliamentarian Yelena Mizulina thinks they do. In what she describes as an effort to better protect Russia’s youngest generations, Mizulina is calling on the country’s Internet service providers to adopt a new policy that would block users’ full access to the Web—by default.
Under her plan, consumers would be allowed to disable the filtration system, known as “the Clean Internet,” but opting out would require making a special request to their ISP. The proposed system appears similar to mandatory “family-friendly” filters instituted in the UK last year, which have blocked an estimated 20% of legal websites.
The day that Mizulina’s comments went public, she told a group of technology professionals gathered at the Duma that the iPhone and the mobile Internet are making it easier to “defile children.”
A prominent lawmaker since the mid-1990s, Mizulina is one of Moscow’s most outspoken social conservatives. She has helped pass legislation that targets “homosexual propaganda,” bans Americans from adopting Russian children, and promotes Russian Orthodoxy as the foundation of the country’s cultural identity. Mizulina is also the chief author of a 2012 law that introduced Russia’s Internet blacklist, which now blocks a wide range of websites, including several news portals.
The byzantine logic behind Mizulina’s dream of a cleaner cyberspace is difficult to distill. Fortunately, she explained her positions in an interview today with the newspaper Izvestia. To gain new insight into the rationale of the RuNet’s most enthusiastic nanny, RuNet Echo has endeavored to summarize excerpts from Mizulina’s interview with Izvestia.
The RuNet Blacklist is a success because Russia is now the world’s third leading producer of child pornography.
Mizulina says:
По данным международной сети «горячих линий» INHOPE, объединяющей 49 стран, за последние два года Россия по объему распространения детской порнографии переместилась с первого места в мире на третье, уступив лидерство США и Нидерландам. Значит, важные позитивные процессы уже идут.
According to data about the distribution of child pornography from the international hotline network INHOPE, which covers 49 countries, Russia has moved from first place in the world to third place, falling below the United States and the Netherlands. This means that important, positive developments are already underway.
De facto web filtering won’t curb information freedom. Banning murder doesn’t land everyone in prison.
Известия: Вы понимаете, что сейчас предложение ввести предустановленную фильтрацию вызовет бурю возмущения?
Мизулина: Введение уголовной ответственности за убийство не означает, что все вдруг окажутся за решеткой… Мы оставляем выбор человеку.
Izvestia: You realize that your proposal to to introduce pre-set filtration will cause a public uproar?
Mizulina: Criminalizing murder doesn’t mean that everyone will suddenly find themselves behind bars… We’ll leave the [final] decision with the individual.
The RuNet Blacklist doesn’t facilitate political oppression. The only people who protest it are professional traffickers in child pornography, drugs, and…promoters of suicide?
Всё это были лишь политические спекуляции. Тем, кто привык публиковать разного рода сомнительную информацию и зарабатывать на этом деньги, ситуация не понравилась. Нужно называть вещи своими именами. Существует лобби тех, кто использует интернет для распространения наркотиков, растления детей, подталкивания их к суицидам. […]
[Protests against the Blacklist] have been nothing but political profiteering. People who were accustomed to posting these questionable materials and making a living that way are now unhappy. We need to call a spade a spade. There exists a lobby of people who use the Internet for the distribution of narcotics, the defilement of children, and pushing kids toward suicide. […]
Apart from the drug-porn-suicide lobby, Russia needs more Internet filtration because 87 percent of child pornography is distributed for free.
Кроме того, в России не наказуемо и хранение детской порнографии без цели сбыта. При этом, по данным той же Inhope, 87% всех материалов с детской порнографией — некоммерческого характера, ими обмениваются бесплатно.
Additionally, it’s not punishable in Russia to possess child pornography without intent to sell. Moreover, data from INHOPE shows that 87 percent of all child pornography materials are distributed noncommercially for free.
Users can opt out of filtrations if they verify their personal identity and are willing to accept responsibility for risks of unfiltered Web access — which endangers the health and safety of all children.
Чтобы отказаться от фильтрации, пользователю нужно будет подписать дополнительное соглашение с оператором связи, подтвердить свой возраст и т.д. Если родители заключают это соглашение об отмене фильтрации, они должны понимать, что риски получения ребенком потенциально вредной для него информации отныне лежат на них, равно как и ответственность за здоровье и безопасность их ребенка.
In order to cancel filtration, a user will need to sign an additional agreement with the service provider, confirming his or her age and so on. If parents sign an agreement, they need to understand the risks of potential harm facing a child, as well as their responsibility for any harm to their children’s health and security.
Russia can have a “Clean Internet” without government intervention. There’s nothing stopping the country’s Internet industry from instituting Web filtration independently.
Я убеждена, что введение фильтрации по умолчанию возможно без принятия дополнительных законов. Мы говорим о важности саморегулирования отрасли, о личной ответственности представителей интернет-индустрии: операторам связи, хостинг-провайдерам и владельцам ресурсов под силу обеспечить этот «чистый интернет» и без вмешательства государства. Правда, на практике это не всегда у них получается.
I’m confident that introducing default filtration is possible without any additional laws. We are talking about the importance of the industry’s self-regulation, about the personal responsibility of the Internet industry’s representatives: the carriers, the hosting providers, and the resource owners. They are able to provide this “Clean Internet” without the state’s inference. Granted, in practice it doesn’t always work out this way.

author: Kevin Rothrock


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Serbian Artists Create “Neighborly Hanger” for Handouts · Global Voices
Danica Radisic

The image of the poorest segments of the population rummaging through trash cans has, unfortunately, become a common one in many Balkan countries in the past few years. From some of the 38,000 pensioners who currently receive the minimum monthly pension of barely 120 euro in Serbia, not enough to survive an entire month on, to the numerous Roma living in Serbian cities, many have turned to searching the last resort for food and clothing items – the neighborhood trash collectors.
A group of artists, dubbed “Blatobran” (“Mudflap”) entered and won a competition at Mikser Festival 2014 in Belgrade recently, their project being a “neighborly hanger” (“Komšijski čiviluk”), devised for hanging edible food and clothing items that those more fortunate in Serbia throw out. As the group explains on their Facebook page:
[The] idea behind the project ‘Komsijski civiluk’ (thank you Mikser for making it happen and TTK for the final product ‘The Neighborly Hanger’). Many poor people every day dig through garbage bins looking for food, clothes and recycling materials. Of all the segments of the population, the Roma are the most vulnerable. This project was designed to raise awareness of food waste and recycling and to help the poorest citizens to use it; about 50% of wasted food in industrialized countries ends up in the trash even though it is edible. The idea is to place ‘Neighborhood hanger’ next to garbage container so that citizens can leave the food and clothing that would be available to users in a dignified manner and to contribute to the quality of life of local communities.


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How Technology Is Helping People Learn—and Even Save—the World’s Languages · Global Voices
Rising Voices

Kenkyusha’s New Japanese-English Dictionary by Niko Kitsakis (CC-SA-3.0)
This guest post was written by Allyson Eamer, a scholar in sociolinguistics at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology. A version of this post was originally published on the Ethnos Project blog.
One of the world's dying languages goes extinct every 10 to 14 days. In the fight to save them from disappearing, speakers, scholars and IT specialists are collaborating to explore how digital technology can be used to revitalize a language.
Languages become vulnerable to extinction over time as their speakers gradually shift to using a language with greater political and economic power. More often than not, the shift occurs because of colonial and expansionist agendas that see indigenous peoples, cultures, and land ceded to empire builders.
Remarkably, some academics are unperturbed by what could be called “linguistic Darwinism”, or survival of the fittest language. They might argue: Isn't it easier if we all speak the same language?
I am not going to elaborate on how each language encodes a unique worldview: how the vocabulary of a language reveals the values of the people who speak it, how empirical knowledge is contained within linguistic features, and how art, self-expression, history, culture, economics and identity are inextricably linked with language. Instead I am going to proceed under the assumption that, like me, you believe that the loss of a language is tragic and that the world’s indigenous peoples have had far too much taken away from them.
Miniature DNF Dictionary by Tomasz Sienicki (CC-SA-3.0)
Technology can connect language teachers and content with learners across space and time. Technology can document endangered languages with voice recordings. It can produce and distribute curriculum and resources easily and quickly. It can facilitate independent learning through gaming, cloud-based downloads and apps. It can connect teachers and learners for one-way or tandem language learning.
Forward thinkers are harnessing the unprecedented power of technology to bring languages back from the brink of extinction, and in rare cases, to resurrect an extinct language.
Here is a brief overview of some of the ways that digital technology is being used in these efforts:
For more updates on technologies in use for indigenous language education, take a look at Allyson Eamer's curated content site.

author: Rising Voices


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Australian Activist Jock Palfreeman Is Taking On Bulgaria’s Prison System From the Inside · Global Voices
Danica Radisic

Image calling for solidarity with Jock Palfreeman that has circulated on Twitter.
Twitter users in several countries are campaigning for “a day of solidarity” with Australian prison activist Jock Palfreeman, who is calling attention to human rights violations in the Bulgarian prison system from his own jail cell — he is currently serving what he and others claim is an unjust 20-year sentence for murder in Bulgaria.
The beginning of Palfreeman's troubling story unfolded in late 2007, when he saw a group of 16 “football hooligans” attack two Roma boys (also known as Gypsies) in the capital Sofia and intervened, according to Brighton-based organization Anarchist Black Cross, which raises funds and organizes protests on behalf of political prisoners:
He tried to keep them away by waving a knife at them, but they attacked him anyway, not only with fists and punches but also by throwing blocks of concrete at him. Jock defended himself with the knife. As a result of the fight, one of the attackers, Andrei Monov, died and another was seriously injured.
The dead man turned out to be from a well known Bulgarian family with political connections and, after 2 long years of procedurally dubious trial with a clear political flavour, Jock was found guilty of murder and attempted murder, and sentenced to 20 years imprisonment and given a 375 000 Australian dollar fine [about 350,000 US dollars].
Palfreeman was 21 at the time. His case has received media attention around the world, especially in his native Australia.
Since his conviction, he has been assisting fellow prisoners with legal aid and in fighting against corruption within the Bulgarian prison system. With other prisoners, he has founded the Bulgarian Prisoners’ Association (BPRA).
It took the BPRA two years and the assistance of lawyers, notaries, family and friends to open a bank account to help fund the association's planned work, which includes legal aid and filing for wrongful punishment compensation for often illiterate and impoverished prisoners in the Bulgarian prison system.
A recent post on the associations’ blog describes some of what they claim goes on in the Bulgarian prison system:
[…] Appealing punishments doesn't delay the coming into force of the punishment. So before the appeal is heard the prisoner goes to isolation. He does the full punishment of 14 days as is returned to general population where he then gets called to court. The judge overturns the punishment order but the immediate effect of the punishment was already enacted. So the prisoner can sue, but Bulgarian law is strange in that you must pay a % of the money you’re asking for as a deposit before submitting compensation requests. So you need money to ask for money, not to mention the lawyer fees.[…]
Up until now almost no one does or can sue the prison for wrongful punishment or for some other form of illegal order and so the prison administration continues to issue illegal orders with impunity. Even some prisoners are put in isolation fast as the prison knows that upon a court hearing the punishment will be overturned and no longer enforceable.[…]
The blog post also goes on to describe other human rights violations, such as Bulgarian authorities allegedly not providing translators for foreign prisoners who do not speak any Bulgarian and have been jailed for illegal border crossings into Bulgaria.
Australian journalist and author Belinda Hawkins researched and wrote a book about Palfreeman's case, titled “Every Parent's Nightmare”. In May 2014, the author announced that students in New South Wales would be using the Palfreeman case and her book in a Year 11 Legal Studies course.
In a March 2014 television interview, Hawkins gave more detail and description of not only the case, but the young prisoner turned activist himself, his life, temperament and family:
Several petitions have been launched for his release, while the day of solidarity to raise awareness of Palfreeman's case and the corruption within the Bulgarian prison system is scheduled for July 25, 2014. Details of his trial and conviction are also available on the Free Jock website.


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What Would Happen If the Ban on U.S. Travel to Cuba Were Lifted?  · Global Voices
Elaine Díaz

U.S. tourism could increase revenue for private businesses in Cuba (Photo by Aylín Pérez, used with permission)
Private entrepreneurs living on the island could earn more than $47 million each year if the ban on U.S. travel to Cuba were lifted, says an economic analysis by U.S. experts Paul Lebon and William Luker.
Some of the leading private activities developed in the country currently consist of renting rooms in private homes and so-called “paladares”, restaurants serving different types of food for prices ranging between $12 and $30. Foreigners tend to favor these cheaper options during their stay on the island.
According to Lebon and Luker, if there are 1,583 rental properties and the majority of them have two rooms for rent with an average rate of $35 per night, this would equal 3,166 rooms each night. “It is too optimistic to think that all of them would be occupied, but a flood of American tourists could easily reach 70 or even 80 percent”. The authors explain that:
For discussion purposes let us use the 61.4% occupancy rate (…). This would yield 1931 room nights of occupancy daily which would generate $67,594 per night in private income countrywide. This occupancy rate would yield 3,862 potential diners purchasing lunch at a cafeteria and dinner at a Paladar.  This could potentially generate $46.350 in private income for dinners and $11,588 in private income for lunches, a gross total of $125,532 per day! Annualized, that is $47,933,873 in private income to Cuban citizens who would welcome Americans with open arms.
The Fund for Reconciliation and Development's Cuba Program notes that each year an increasing number of Americans travel to Cuba after obtaining a license from the United States Department of Treasury. Add to this the tens of thousands of U.S. citizens who also travel through another country to get to Cuba, thus violating the U.S. ban. According to this program:
The US law which denies Americans the freedom to travel to Cuba is an anachronism of the Cold War and is completely counterproductive to proclaimed US policy goals. The continued existence of the travel ban is evidence that the political and financial power of special interests can supersede the national and humanitarian interest of both the American and Cuban people.
“The chorus of voices clamoring for changes in U.S. policy toward Cuba has been growing louder and more varied in recent months,” says Cuban Americans for Engagement (CAFE). CAFE is a community organization that brings together Cuban-Americans and U.S. citizens seeking to facilitate a new relationship between the two countries based on the principals of exchange, commitment, normalizing relationships, and diplomacy. Its members point out that:
Whether it’s Hillary Rodham Clinton saying she favors normal relations with Cuba or former Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte signing a letter calling for greater engagement with the island nation, the momentum for a new approach to Cuba is undeniable. It is within this context that our group, Cuban Americans for Engagement, is visiting Washington this week (…) We’ve come to Washington to convey an important message to policymakers: A new generation of Cuban Americans has come of age, and we’re ready to talk about engaging with Cuba.
The halo effect and U.S. taxpayer money
These “Almendrones” also constitute a fundamental travel vehicle for tourists. Photo by Aylín Pérez. Used with permission.
Lebon and Luker suggest that the normalization of U.S. citizens traveling to Cuba could produce a halo effect, or “how the sale can ‘grow’ in a transaction”:
So where does the halo effect come in with Casa Particulars and Paladares. Every one of these entrepreneurs hires people. Cleaning lady/crew, cooks, wait staff, bartenders, dishwashers who garner private wages. The owners can refer tourists to private individuals who could provide tour guide services to generate private income. There are many private automobile operators in Cuba who could transport tourists locally or intra-city, avoiding the state taxis. Private individuals sell souvenirs and religious artifacts. Private produce stands are opening across the country to supply Paladares. The income possibilities for private citizens in Cuba through the halo effect generated by CPs and Paladares are endless.
Most American travelers may be young people who cannot afford hotel rooms for $100 a night, Lebon and Luker add. The offering of private homes that also pose a more direct interaction with Cuban families is undoubtedly an attraction for this type of tourist.
Since the mid-1990s, the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) have spent about $240 million to promote a change in the political system in Cuba, says Tracey Eaton on his blog Along the Malecon. “Support for democracy in Cuba costs more than $17.5 million annually,” he adds.
Lebon and Luker go on to say that:
Hence if you accept the notion that less than 10% of US Taxpayers funding makes its way to Cuba, in some 15+ years $24 Million has landed in Cuba to support a small cadre of self-proclaimed activists, many of whom are paid merely to maintain their loyalty to the South Florida political cabal and to voice opposition to easing sanctions against their fellow countrymen. With an opening of tourist travel to Cuba double that amount could make its way to Cuba in only one year, directly helping people who could use and would appreciate the help. This revenue would be a direct infusion of hard dollars, not redistributed funds or taxpayer dollars. It is staggering to think how only 1583 Casa Particulars could make such a tremendous impact.

author: Elaine Díaz


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Singapore’s ‘Pink Dot’ LGBT Rights Rally Was Bigger Than Ever, Despite #WearWhite Opponents · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Photo from Facebook page of Pink Dot SG
Singapore’s Pink Dot, an annual gathering at Hong Lim Park in celebration of love, equality, and LGBT rights, attracted more than 26,000 people on June 28, 2014 — the largest ever Pink Dot event since the first in 2009.
But this year was the first time that religious groups openly and actively opposed the Pink Dot by urging the people to wear white on the same day.
Islamic educator Noor Deros initiated the #WearWhite campaign to rally Muslims against homosexuality. Then, influential pastor Lawrence Khong of the Faith Community Baptist Church publicly supported the campaign and organized a “family worship” also on June 28, which was attended by about 6,400 people.
The LGBT community has grown considerably in recent years in Singapore, although its marginalization is still reflected in the country's laws like the notorious Section 377A of the Penal Code, which criminalizes gay sex.
Aerial shot of the Pink Dot gathering at Hong Lim Park. Photo by Valerie Chu. From the Facebook page of Pink Dot SG.
Despite the opposition, this year’s Pink Dot was a success in terms of the number of participants and sponsors who supported the event. Aside from uniting the LGBT community, it also gathered a broad section of Singapore society including government officials who expressed support for LGBT rights.
Miyagi, one of the speakers in the rally, talked on his blog about the rising number of Singapore families who have already embraced the LGBT as part of the community:
I am glad that we are raising our son amongst friends who share the same family values. That two people can love each other regardless of gender, gender identity or labelling.
If this is the “gay lifestyle”, then my family and I will wholeheartedly promote it.
Qing Erisa Tan, one of the participants in the event, blogged how the Pink Dot lived up to its promise of fostering openness and love:
…at Pink Dot 2014, I saw no activists, no one pushing for the decline of religious influences, no one ‘actively promoting’ their ‘lifestyle’: what I saw was people – walking breathing feeling people – celebrating their right to love.
Stripped of all differences, they are fundamentally humans capable of love, who are looking for love. I cannot convince myself to go against that.
Activist writer Kirsten further appreciated the relevance of the Pink Dot because of the sudden emergence of ‘hatred’ coming from conservative religious forces:
Pink Dot is by no means a perfect event or movement. There is plenty that needs to be said about diversity and differences in experiences – straight or queer – in Singapore and around the world. But I still believe that Pink Dot is worth supporting, and it’s a belief that has been further reinforced by the outpouring of hatred and fear-mongering that has come from religious conservatives.
Launch of the Wear White campaign. Photo from official Facebook page of Wear White.
The Wear White movement against Pink Dot was launched ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. It encouraged those attending prayer services to wear white to oppose the “normalization of LGBT in Singapore” and “help Muslims return to their natural disposition.”
Meanwhile, Catholic Archbishop William Goh issued a pastoral letter criticizing the LGBT lifestyle as “detrimental to society.” “This kind of lifestyle should not be promoted by Catholics as it is detrimental to society, is not helpful to integral human development and contrary to Christian values,” he wrote.
Writing for The Online Citizen, Ghui took on criticism of Pink Dot:
For detractors who will argue that the Pink Dot are inflicting their way of life on others, please note that they are not asking for anything more than equality. They just want the freedom to live their own lives. They are not converting anyone to homosexuality nor are they advocating that being homosexual is superior to traditional family life.
Wearing white during a family worship service. Photo form Facebook page of Pastor Lawrence Khong
Some Singaporean netizens refrained from taking sides with either #WearWhite or #PinkDot. For instance, Abdillah Zamzuri preferred #WearPinkWithWhitePolkaDots. Marcellie advocated #RedDot, the “color of the blood that flows within each of us”:
I think there’s enough lines dividing us as a nation and it’s time to stand united as one. Whatever your choice, I hope we will stop fighting and dividing but instead celebrate our common denominator – our shared humanity.
The Pink Dot revealed the growing strength of the LGBT community in Singapore, but it also underscored the continuing influence of conservative values in society. The tug of war continues.

author: Mong Palatino


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Bahraini Satirist Blogger Takrooz Arrested · Global Voices
Noor Mattar

The Bahrain Ministry of Interior announced the arrest of yet another netizen, who reportedly faces accusations of “inciting hatred against the regime.”
The satirist mirco-blogger, nicknamed Takrooz, was arrested at the Bahrain International Airport, while on his way back from Thailand, said the ministry in a statement on June 18, 2014, without disclosing his name.
A day later, many Bahrainis were fuming on Twitter, saying the arrest was futile and served no purpose other than to further demonstrate the government's true colours in stifling opposition voices online. Scores of netizens have been arrested by the regime since anti-government protests started in Bahrain on February 14, 2011. Among them are Mahmood Al-Yousif, Mohamed Almaskati and Global Voices author Mohamed Hassan.
Bahrain is regarded as an enemy of the Internet according to the Reporters without Borders’ 2014 report and is ranked second in the number of detained journalists per capita in 2013 according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
With nearly 18,000 Twitter followers and 100,000 tweets, Takrooz has been an active voice in charting the government crackdown on activists. Bahrain Watch, a research and transparency group, reported that Takrooz’ Twitter account was repeatedly targeted for surveillance by the Bahraini government. His tweets, in Arabic, cover abuse by law enforcement personnel, anti-corruption content and everyday concerns of the average Bahraini.
The next day Twitter user @M_Alshaikh published an image of an Arabic daily's coverage of Takrooz's arrest:
#البحرين: جريدة أخبار الخليج تنشر خبر إعتقال المغرد تكروز في الصفحة الأولى #Bahrain @Takrooz pic.twitter.com/3lW2Nm51gH
— Mahmood Alshaikh (@M_Alshaikh) June 18, 2014
Government newspaper published an article about of the arrest of Takrooz in the first page #Bahrain @Takrooz
Lawyer Hanan Alaradi @hananalaradi tweeted questioning his arrest status:
هل سيتم إخلاء سبيل صاحب حساب @takrooz بضمان محل إقامته كما حدث مع صاحب حساب منرفزهم ؟؟
— LawyerHanan (@hananalaradi) June 18, 2014
Will the owner of the account @Takrooz be released on bail like other pro-government tweeters @mnarfezhom
Bahrain had earlier arrested pro-government Twitter user, Mnarfezhom, who was released on bail, pending trial. Mnarfezhom is accused of four separate counts of insulting and slandering people, attacking their honour and reputation and offending Bahraini families using indecent expressions through social media accounts on Twitter and Instagram under the names Al Raqeeb, Ahfad Al Waleed, Ahfad Omar and Mnarfezhom.
Many angry Twitter users have be inspired to tweet after Takrooz's arrest saying that such arrests are futile. @Lair_Vulnerable noted:
#البحرين عندما تعتقلون .. ثائر مغرد مصور ألخ .. أنكم تجعلون منهُ رمز يا حمقىّ و سيكون ” أقوىّ ” أنا تكروز التالي .. @Takrooz #Bahrain
— عريــن المُـستضعفين (@Lair_Vulnerable) June 18, 2014
#Bahrain when you arrest .. a rebel, a tweeter, a photographer etc .. you're making a symbol out of him you fools and he will be stronger. I'm the next Takrooz
Official sources say Takrooz has already confessed to running the account and that he will be put on trial for inciting hatred against the regime.

author: Noor Mattar


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GV Face: Hong Kong’s Citizen-Led Referendum on Voting Rights · Global Voices
Ellery Roberts Biddle

Activists and scholars in Hong Kong worked together for two years to organize a citizen-led, technology-driven referendum on voting rights that took place at the end of June. Nearly 800,000 people — about a fifth of Hong Kong's voting population — turned out to cast their votes in favor of universal suffrage for all citizens of the special administrative region of China.
On this edition of GV Face, GV China editor and Hong Kong media freedom advocate Oiwan Lam discusses the strategy and process behind the referendum and tells us what's next for advocates at the forefront of Hong Kong's voting rights movement.
Follow our in-depth coverage: Hong Kong's Umbrella Revolution

author: Ellery Roberts Biddle


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How to Bypass the Egyptian Government’s Internet Surveillance Program · Global Voices
طارق عمرو

This post was originally published in Arabic on Tarek Amr's blog Kelmeteen.
We have all heard about the Egyptian Ministry of Interior's tender to purchase programs and applications in order to monitor social networking websites and blogs and to survey public opinion. As a matter of fact, even if we disregard the above bid, a significant technological progress has been achieved in analyzing written texts – translation software and search engines are best proofs of the above. Accordingly, technology to monitor the Internet and analyse on-line content has become available to the public, as well as security agencies, marketing companies and the press alike.
CCTV system by lydia_shiningbrightly on flickr. Used under (CC BY 2.0)
However, the human mind didn't cease to exceed technology. Hereinafter let me enumerate some simple methods that Internet users can follow to aggravate the work of monitoring programs.
Being human beings, we can grasp the meaning of ironical expressions and understand these better than the best technological devices currently available. As for phrases like “This mobile phone is so great it has a battery that doesn't even last for five minutes,” any reader would understand that the above written statement is irony and that the word “great” stands for its opposite here.
Writing in metaphors and similes and so forth encumbers the task to be accomplished by surveillance programs. For example, you can use words like “hashtag” in contexts which only people aware of the situation you are referring to would understand, in this case referring to ElSisi.
The other option is writing Arabic in English transliteration. This method is known as “Francoarabic” writing. Actually, the technology is able to understand “Francoarabic”, Microsoft Maren and Yamli are proofs of this, albeit the accuracy of these technological achievements is not exquisite, and gets even worse when encountering different dialects, spelling mistakes and abbreviations.
To make spelling mistakes intentionally is a means to distract the surveillance programs and text analyzers. It will render their work more difficult, but won't ruin it. Joining words to each other is another option to mislead these programs.
Division of your message into several tweets makes it impossible to grasp one section without the other.
With regards to the usage of photographs and videos, examining photographs and extracting texts from these is certainly more difficult than analyzing tweets and Facebook updates. In other words, it takes more effort for the computer to interpret some jokes on Egypt's Sarcasm Society than posts published on Facebook.
Any other innovative means show how human capacities rise above the machine. As an example, you can ask your readers to read a sentence from right to left.
There are different variations of these tricks, one can read more and more about such ideas as confusion and diffusion, and about how can they be matched to build more powerful and complex encryption systems, or reading the tools that are used to deceive intrusion detection systems of the Internet. As for the thought of dividing letters into numerous tweets, it derives from the idea of partition of Internet packages to encrypt intrusion detection systems.
After all, technology is developing and it is able to keep up with these tricks. However, you have to know that any attempt to solve these dilemmas from the technological part is confronted with high expenses and with less accuracy and speed. The roof has to be dropped in messages that can be monitored and analyzed – just as the garden fences do not stop anyone from climbing in, they make the task more difficult and protect from many burglars by reducing their chances to break in.

author: طارق عمرو


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In Tunisia, the Question is To Vote or Not to Vote · Global Voices
Afef Abrougui

As elections near in Tunisia, netizens are debating whether it is worth casting their votes in the upcoming legislative and presidential polls.
2014 elections logo, via the Facebook page of the independent election commission
Tunisia’ parliamentary elections will be held on October 26 while the first round of presidential poll is scheduled for November 23.
However, not everyone is as excited about heading to the polls later this year. Those unwilling to vote often cite their dissatisfaction with the performance of the political class during the past three years, arguing that the 2011 elections ‘did not bring any change’.
In October 2011, Tunisians elected a National Constituent Assembly (NCA) tasked with drafting a new constitution after the ousting of dictator Zeine el Abidin Ben Ali. The Islamist party Ennahdha gained 40 per cent of the votes.
Like many, Nymeria wondered:
What am I to do in #TnElec ? I don't like any of the parties and blank votes don't count :/ #Tunisia
— Nymeria (@DreamingMissy) June 25, 2014
On June 24, Twitter user Papillon, who has around 13,000 followers, posted [fr] the following question:
Personne de ceux qui encouragent au vote ne peut répondre à la question pourtant simple: a quoi ça a servi de voter le 23/10 ?
None those of who are encouraging [others] to vote can answer this, yet very simple question: how was voting on 23 October [2011] useful?
Blogger Saber Arabasta, who has around 12,000 followers, answered [fr]:
@Papiillon: à connaitre l'équilibre des forces politiques dans le pays, à changer de gouvernement, à changer de président, à écrire une const
Knowing the balance of the political forces in the country, changing the government, changing the president, drafting a constitution
He added in another tweet [fr]:
@Papiillon à débattre des lois, à débattre du budget, à décider d'un processus élctoral, de justice transitionnelle, changer de diplomatie
Debating laws, debating a budget, deciding on an electoral process and transitional justice and changing diplomacy.
User Chikh Magon asked  [fr]:
@Papiillon à quoi sert de boycotter les élections, je te retourne la question ?
I return the question to you: what would boycotting the elections be useful for?
On Facebook, Journalist and blogger Haythem El Mekki wrote [fr]:
Bon les pro boycott et abstentionnistes : J'aurais bien aimé vous suivre et vous soutenir, mais il faudra me dire ce que vous avez prévu concrètement et de façon pragmatique… Quel résultat espérez-vous en prônant le boycott ? Enfin mis à part le fait de nous priver des voix de ceux qui souhaitent un changement plus que quiconque… Je suis aussi insatisfait et remonté contre la classe politique que vous, voire plus, mais je ne vois que du nihilisme dans votre approche que je trouve destructrice et infantile… Pourriez-vous me convaincre du contraire ?
So, those who are in favor of boycotting and abstaining, I would have loved to follow and support you but you need to tell me what have you concretely and permanently planned…What is the result you wish to see by urging boycott? Apart from depriving us from the votes of those who wish to see a change more than anyone else…I am as unsatisfied by the political class as you, even more. But I only see nihilism in your approach which I find destructive and childish…Could you convince me of the opposite?
Bechir Bizertino commented [ar]:
قبل كل شي فسرلنا انت كيفاش بمشاركتك في الانتخابات لاختيار اي طرف من القذارة المفروضة علينا بش تغيير حاجة في البلاد … اما انا فمقاطع لانه صوتي لاي طرف حامج من الموجودين موش بش يصلح حتى شي وما عنده حتى قيمة بما انه الطبقة السياسية باكملها ما تسمع كان للسفراء الاجانب موش للشعب اللي وكلها لنيابته …. وبمقاطعتي فعلى الاقل رابح انه ما عطيتهمش اي شرعية ولم اوكلهم ولا يمكنهم ادعاء ذلك ….
First of all, you explain to us, how taking part in the elections to choose any of the dirty parties imposed on us will change anything in the country. For me, I am boycotting because my vote to any of the existent dirty parties is of no use and value since the entire political class only listens to foreign ambassadors and not the people who elect [them]…by boycotting, at least I'm not giving them any legitimacy and deputizing them so they cannot pretend [that I did]
Zenova Gamha Fehmi posted this comment [fr]:
A mon avis il faut aller voter, pour un parti ou un autre, dans cinq ans si on n'est toujours pas satisfaits on votera pour un autre et ainsi de suite, c le jeu.
Il faut aller voter, c un devoir envers ceux qui sont morts pour nous l'octroyer ce droit.
Ne vous attendez pas à un miracle suite aux élections, les tunisiens ont tendance à vouloir tout tout de suite ce qui relève de l'impossible!
In my opinion, it is an obligation to vote for any party. In five years’ time, if we are still unsatisfied, we can vote to a different party and so on, this is the game. Voting is an obligation towards those who died to grant us this right. Do not expect a miracle after the elections, Tunisians tend to want to have everything immediately, which is impossible
In the meantime, the country's independent electoral commission (ISIE) launched a campaign urging Tunisians to register before July 22, if they wish to cast their votes. Those who do not register will not be able to do so.
The campaign targets some 4 million eligible voters who did not register for the October 2011 constituent assembly election.
With a high abstention rate estimated at 50pc in 2011, the electoral commission and civil-society groups are concerned that this year's turnout rate will be lower in the face of a growing popular disappointment with political parties.

author: Afef Abrougui


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Fed Up With the Country’s Economic Woes, Ghanaians Launch Their Own Occupy Movement  · Global Voices
L. Abena Annan

Ghanaian citizens taking part in #OccupyFlagStaffHouse. Photo by Victoria Okeye. Used with permission.
A group of Ghanaians rallied near the president's office as part of a campaign dubbed #OccupyFlagStaffHouse to protest corruption and the country's poor economic situation and press the government to do something about it.
The peaceful march, organized in less than five days, happened on July 1, 2014, a public holiday that marked the 54th year since Ghana became a republic following British colonial rule. The movement was launched on Facebook as OccupyGhana on June 28, and by July 1 it had over 3,000 followers in support of the protest. It now has more than 6,000.
This comes in the wake of a series of backlashes against the government for the fast depreciation of the cedi since it tightened the country's foreign currency rules and eased them last month, and the shortage of fuel that led to long queues at petrol stations for about a week.
The tipping point was when the government allegedly delivered 3 million US dollars appearance fee in cash to the Ghana Black Stars ahead of their World Cup match against Portugal, a match that was lost. The players had threatened to strike if they did not receive their money before the match. The general sentiment after this incident was that government did not care for the people, escalating to outrage on radio, TV and social media platforms.
In the days leading up to the protest, the group OccupyGhana posted messages that explained their dissatisfaction with government and the state of things in the country. On June 29, the group wrote on Facebook:
This evening I saw police pickups even loading and stockpiling fuel.
I saw the faces of taxi drivers who are doing work and pay and need to pay off loans struggling for fuel.
I saw anxious workers who leave for work at 5am and return at 8pm but get paid pittance for their Labour anxiously waiting in queues with gallons.
Then I saw the elderly couple with kids abroad who need fuel for daddy to go for the checkup, wondering where it all went wrong,
The bread sellers, beans sellers, kofi broke man sellers who couldn't get taxis to carry their wares, those who need every present they make to survive,
Then I saw people like you and I, the Facebookers, the tooknown young middle classers, who greet our poor neighbors every morning with a wave and a condescending how are you? Now anxious about how you can buy fuel, or pay for that mortgage, or service that car loan…
US-based Ghanaian rapper @BlitzAmbassador who has a following of over 19,000 fans, tweeted:
Only if I could teleport to Ghana now…..#OccupyFlagStaffHouse. the people are tired of failed leadership.
— Blitz the Ambassador (@BlitzAmbassador) July 1, 2014
CNN African Radio Journalist Award Winner @AnnyOsabutey shared a photo of protesters:
A nicely prepared clips from the #OccupyFlagStaffHouse pic.twitter.com/7Uf9RwHxC2
— Prampram fisherman (@AnnyOsabutey) July 2, 2014
Following the protest, Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama took to Twitter to reassure the people that their complaints weren't falling on deaf ears:
I have not forgotten that one of the greatest virtues of leadership is the ability to listen.
— John Dramani Mahama (@JDMahama) July 2, 2014
I want to assure you that we will create change. We will build the sort of country that we will be proud to hand down to our children.
— John Dramani Mahama (@JDMahama) July 2, 2014
This is our country, our home, and all Ghanaians deserve to have the ability to live, work and raise our families here with dignity n pride
— John Dramani Mahama (@JDMahama) July 2, 2014
A nice sentiment, but real change — not tweets — will mean he is actually listening.

author: L. Abena Annan


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Andrey Mima on Banning the Internet in Russia · Global Voices
Kevin Rothrock

Banning the World Wide Web in Russia? See no evil, hear no evil, say no evil. Images remixed by Kevin Rothrock.
The Duma has passed a final draft of legislation that will require all websites to store any personal data about Russian users on servers inside Russia. If approved by the Senate and signed by Vladimir Putin (which is expected), the law would take effect in 2016, giving Internet companies about 17 months to establish an infrastructure on Russian soil. To learn more about the potential fallout of this new initiative, RuNet Echo has translated a column that appeared yesterday on TJournal.ru, written by Andrey Mima, who is a former staff member at Yandex and Vkontakte, and the cofounder of Qbaka, an “error-monitoring” company.
Andrey Mima. Facebook.
It wasn’t so long ago that the law “blacklisting” websites sparked a loud public outcry in the Internet community and mass media. Today, you can barely find anything in the news about the law on servers and personal data. It seems that society has made peace with the inevitable regulation of the Internet, and the subject has ceased to be a hot-button issue in the midst of other events.
So much the worse for us, because amendments to the law on personal data could lead to far more serious consequences than blocking online extremism without a court order.
Formally, starting in September 2016, nearly the entire Internet will fall under the threat of being blocked. Under a banner of rescuing our transmissions from enemy intelligence agencies, the World Wide Web will find itself outside the law. Only the biggest Internet companies can afford to install new servers in Russia, though this law is directed squarely at such companies, says Vadim Dengin, the chair of the Duma’s information policy committee.
Dear Russians
Besides Google and Facebook, there are a million smaller services that people around the world—including Russians—use every day. Hotel reservations, technical forums, dating sites, smart calendars, e-tickets for a water park in city X—the list goes on. All these websites store data about you: names, passwords, comments, photographs, and so on.
Under this draft law, personal data is considered “any information relating directly or indirectly to an identified or identifiable person.” Simply put, it’s any kind of information about you. This kind of information is stored on any website or mobile application that employs the concept of a “user.”
Users’ information is usually stored in a single database—storing accounts on different servers, spread out geographically, is a complicated and expensive engineering task. It’s not economical for Internet companies to move Russians’ data archives to separate servers in another country. This would require large spending on the work of programmers, system administrators, translators, and lawyers (and most likely it would require establishing an official legal presence inside Russia).
The biggest Internet companies, which already have representatives in Russia, tend to sort out these matters for themselves. They are interested, after all, in maximizing the speed of their services for users in Russia, and some of their servers are already based here.
A black hole
Only a tenth of the amendments to this legislation addresses the requirements about storing personal data in Russia. The other 90 percent describes the protocol for blocking websites that don’t obey the law. In other words, this has nothing to do with data protection, but everything to do with expanding the “blacklist” to any sites that store data outside Russia.
In practice, this affects all websites—Internet companies won’t buy servers in some unfamiliar country and change their entire database architectures at the whim of the Russian Parliament. Imagine if such a law appeared somewhere in Bangladesh, where the population is even greater than in Russia.
Formally, the decision to block a website requires a court order, but any user of a website has standing to file a claim that his or her personal data is being violated, meaning that difficulties with blacklisting any site aren’t expected.
The common practice for blocking websites gives rise to fears about the worst scenarios: decisions to blacklist might be chaotic and rushed. A ruling on one complaint by some judge in city X without the slightest clue about the Internet might be enough to block the website of a noncompliant major airline.
On the dangers of raw food
Right now, the amendments to the legislation are so “raw” that they’re unenforceable, whatever the authorities’ wish to implement them. On the Internet, it’s impossible to identify automatically who lives in Russia. Russians might register on sites while traveling abroad. No website asks users to prove where they are registered to live, and even Facebook and Google aren’t going to change their interfaces just for Russia. It’s impossible to tell apart a Russian citizen on vacation in the United States from an American citizen visiting Russia.
You might consider this good news: unrealistic laws are usually enforced selectively, through manual control.
Nobody in Russia wants to block the Internet, and these amendments will change almost nothing in our lives.
The amendments to the law are an instrument for pressuring a very specific set of large Western companies. Nobody will bother the small websites and mobile applications. Protecting data from Western intelligence agencies simultaneously means feeding these data to Russian intelligence.
We already know how our intelligence handles data, which we learned with the leak of personal data belonging to Yandex.Dengi users who donated money to RosPil. The FSB formally requested users’ data from Yandex, and then the data fell into the hands of people in no way associated with the FSB.
Of course, by 2016, Twitter and other large companies will have established servers in Russia, and the issue will be closed. But it’s entirely not okay that it required outlawing the rest of the Internet to achieve this. “Believe me, a majority of Russians want their personal data to remain in Russia,” said the author of this initiative, when he presented the bill to the Duma. And a majority of Russians believed him.


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Ready Your Smartphones: The Chat App Sticker Wars Have Begun · Global Voices
88 Bar

Photo by Flickr user Mike Lau. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Below is an edited version of the post “The Sticker Wars: WeChat’s creatives go up against Line” by Jason Li, originally published on the blog 88 Bar.
Words don't always cut it on mobile messaging apps. That's when a well-chosen emoticon can come in handy, and these days there are certainly plenty to choose from.
Emoticons aren't only good for conversation — they're good for business. Japanese chat app Line has discovered a booming revenue model selling different sets of stickers, which are essentially more detailed emoticons. Other chat apps like South Korean KakaoTalk and Canadian Kik have quickly caught on and implemented their own versions of stickers.
Not to be left behind, China's immensely popular WeChat has also jumped on the sticker trend. But are their stickers as good as Line's? Let's take a look.
Line, distinctly Japanese
Line’s core selection of stickers is full of cute characters, stark expressions, and plenty of comical situations just vague enough to apply to whatever situation might come up in a conversation. I myself have bought nine sticker sets to date on top of using a dozen or so free ones.
They are also distinctly Japanese — the art style is very clean, people and creatures have large heads, and the expressions are based on Japanese manga conventions.
Screenshot of Line's online sticker store.
One of the most popular stickers involves the love story between a bear and a bunny, mirroring stereotypical East Asian male-female relationship dynamics. Note the stoic male character versus the shopaholic and emotionally effusive female character.
Screenshot of Line's online sticker store.
Not only has Line created a great set of their own stickers, but they've managed to rope in some of Japan’s most popular cartoon characters – Hello Kitty, Doraemon, Dragon Ball – as well as some from the United States – Spongebob SquarePants, Donald Duck, Snoopy. Line also runs many time-limited promotions, such as their “Pray for the Philippines” stickers following last year's devastating typhoon (the proceeds were donated to help the victims).
Line is now testing the waters with their first animated sticker pack launched on June 12 featuring their core characters.
WeChat, wacky and weird in its own way
At first, it seemed that WeChat’s sole innovation was that its stickers were animated. All the animations below have been reproduced by hand as GIFs, but the actual stickers contain much smoother animation.
When it was launched, the company had already licensed the now Turner-owned Tuzki line of emoticons that were all the rage on the Chinese Internet about 5-10 years ago:
Tuzki
But aside from Tuzki, their initial sticker packs felt somewhat weaker. Some resembled Line’s Japanese creations but without the punch:
Nervous Boy by Caerux
While others had a flat, commercial personality:
DADA by 2SPOT
More importantly, these sticker sets did not capture the nuanced emotions and complex backstories that are the hallmark of a Line sticker and that make it a great conversational lubricant.
But recently, WeChat’s stickers have started to develop a style of their own. The packs are great not because they try to mimic the polished “Hello Kitty” Line style, but because they’re wacky, weird and funny in their own way. There’s a very Chinese flavor to them — the grainy lines, absurd sense of humor and adult style are reminiscent of the kind of illustration and design coming out of China today.
Frog and Horse by XiaoYaoJi
The stickers themselves aren't always created in mainland China. Many are from Hong Kong (Old Girl, Fatina, AH FEI@GAL) or Taiwan (Sinkcomic); some are even Japanese acquisitions, though they aren’t as clean and cute as the Line products.
AH FEI@GAL by Graphic Airlines
Through conversations within our group, we noticed that WeChat offers different sets of stickers in their store depending on where you live. So the stickers here may disproportionately represent Hong Kong, where I'm based. Right now, this geographic targeting seems minor as the majority of the stickers seem to be offered to both people living in Hong Kong and the U.S. (our two test cases).
It’s still too early to tell whether WeChat’s sticker system will continue to evolve. But as it stands, WeChat is already catching up to Line and jumping ahead of its other competitors.

author: 88 Bar


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Egypt Raises Fuel Prices by up to 78 Per Cent · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

A copy of the order to more than double the cost of fuel in Egypt. Photo source: @AhmedKheir on Twitter
Egyptian netizens are fuming over a price hike in fuel prices, which they say will lead to an increase in transportation, food and services costs.
According to Ahmed Kheir, a Twitter user from Cairo, who has 2,200 followers:
بنزين 92 زاد 40 % بنزين 80 بتاع نقل الغلابة زاد 78% سولار الميكروباص والنقل زاد 63% بنزين 95 بتاع الشريحة اﻷغنى زاد 7% #عدالة_اجتماعية
— Ahmed Kheir (@AhmedKheir) July 4, 2014
92 Octane gasoline, up by 40 per cent
80 Octane gasoline, up by 78pc
Diesel, used by microbuses and transportation, up by 63pc
95 Octane gasoline, used by the richest segment in society, up by 7pc #social_justice
Those figures are echoed in this Reuters report, which states that the prices have been increased as the Egyptian government “tries to cut energy subsidies to ease the burden on its swelling budget deficit.”
In another tweet, Kheir notes:
زيادة تقارب النص في سعر البنزين، في غياب البرلمان، واتخاذ القرار في السر يوم أجازة.. دي كلها تصرفات حرامية pic.twitter.com/56xGVTnQTW — Ahmed Kheir (@AhmedKheir) July 4, 2014
They have increased the price of fuel by more than half, in the absence of a Parliament. They took the decision in secret on a day off. All these actions are that of thieves.
Peter Ramez, who has 500 followers on Twitter, blames Egypt's new president Abdelfattah El Sisi, for the increase, saying:
زيادة ٤٠% مرة واحدة في سعر #البنزين مرة واحدة يا كفرة؟ منك لله يا #سيسي وتستاهل كل الدعاوي اللي ها تتعدي عليك
— Peter Ramez (@peter_ramez) July 4, 2014
A more than 40pc increase in gasoline prices you infidels?
May God's justice be met on you. You deserve all the curses you will get
And Ahmed Fathi El Badry adds:
هو انت فاكر ان حبك الناس ليك هتشفعلك بعد القرار ده؟؟ بجد ده انتحار سياسي واجتماعي #ارتفاع_اسعار_البنزين
— احمد فتحى البدرى (@ahmedelbadry555) July 4, 2014
Do you think that people's love for you will mean anything after this decision? This is truly a political and social suicide
Others have taken to humour to express their frustration. Shay Sokar Bara, a pseudonym with around 83,000 followers, says:
انا مقومتش بثورة ضد مرسي علشان الدعم يترفع ولا الكهربة تفضل تتقطع ولا علشان اتبرع وانا اصلا معاييش ولا علشان اتحبس لو قولت لا #ركز_ياسطى
— شاي سكر برا (@ShaySokarBara) July 3, 2014
I did not rebel against [former president Mohamed] Morsi for the subsidies to be lifted or for the electricity to be cut or to donate [my money to the government]. I don't have anything and I don't want to go to jail if I say no
In another tweet, he notes:
المصريين دلوقتي نزلوا عند البنزينة و كل واحد بيفول قبل الاسعار ما تغلى بكرةشعب ناصح بطبعه و كأن اللي هيحطه مش هيخلص
— شاي سكر برا (@ShaySokarBara) July 4, 2014
Egyptians are lined up at petrol stations and everyone is saying they will fill up their tanks before gasoline prices go up. We are a smart nation. It is as if the fuel in their tanks will never finish
And Hesham Mansour jokes:
زيادة سعر البنزين زيادة تكتيكية، بعد زيادة أسعار الغاز والكهرباء الحكومة عايزة تضمن إن المواطن مش هيلاقي فلوس يولع في نفسه
— Hesham Mansour (@Heshoz) July 4, 2014
The increase in gasoline prices is a tactical increase. After increasing the prices of fuel and electricity, the government wants to guarantee that citizens will not find any money to set themselves on fire
This tweet brings back to our memories the spark which ignited the Arab revolutions, in December 2010, when Tunisian fruit vendor Mohammed Bouazizi set himself on fire.
Meanwhile, this video from Mansoura shows long queues of cars at a petrol station, which had run out of gasoline:
What does the future hold for Egyptians?

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Workers Who Make Your iPhone Possible Are Fighting Labor Abuse in the Philippines With Selfies and Hashtags  · Global Voices
Karlo Mongaya

Protesting NXP workers break through the locked gates and march to the NXP plant. Photo Credit: KR Guda
Suffering from low wages, contractualization, and indecent working conditions, many Filipino workers who create the microchips used for smartphones, tablets, and other tech gadgets rarely get to use the tools that they themselves have produced in the assembly lines.
Yet Filipino workers that have made our cellphone calls, text messages, social networking, and online activities possible are now using these gadgets to fight union busting and other labor abuses.
The #bringbacknxp24 campaign by workers from an NXP Semiconductors plant in Cabuyao, Laguna, is one fight that has effectively combined an active online drive with on-the-ground protest. Laguna is a province located south of Manila, the country's capital.
NXP Semiconductors is one of the world’s top 20 electronics manufacturers and supplies microchips and other parts for high-tech companies like Apple and Asus. In the Philippines, it employs over 1,600 regular workers and 1,700 contract employees.
Workers were demanding an 8 percent wage increase but management was only willing to grant a 3.5 percent raise during the negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement. The workers organized collective actions on April 9, 17, 19, and May 1 – which are all government-declared holidays – but the management described these activities as ‘illegal strikes’ and cited them as a reason to dismiss 24 union leaders on May 5, 2014.
Internet meme urging support for NXP workers. From Facebook page of the campaign.
The NXP workers have put up an online petition at Change.org and have gathered more than 500 signatures for their cause. The petition highlighted the demand of the workers for higher wages:
The fight of the NXP workers is a fight of all workers, of everyone. All of us need a wage increase that’s significant, not just morsels of alms. All of us deserve employment that’s regular, not just contractual. Many have already been dismissed from their jobs just because they asserted what’s due to them.
Chronicles of Carlos, a labor activist, explained that the online component of the #bringbacknxp24 campaign has shown the potential of social media in bringing labor issues to the greater public:
In around three weeks’ time, the Facebook page has drawn over 1,000 likes and boasts of active daily engagement among its base and outer circles – something unusual for a relatively unpopular campaign and for a labor issue in the Philippines at that. The inspiring thing about the campaign is that NXP workers themselves are the ones sharing updates inside the company. Just recently, a worker uploaded a photo of the latest company memo that tries to sow confusion among the workforce. In another instance, a worker uploaded a photo of the company’s anti-union message contained in a paper strip.
Image from Facebook page of ‘Bring Back NXP 24′
The social media campaign is also calling on netizens to post selfies with placards in solidarity with the NXP workers on Facebook and Twitter using the hashtag #bringbacknxp24. The workers themselves have posted photos of themselves urging public support for their fight.
Photo from ‘Bring Back NXP 24′ Facebook page.
The campaign to reinstate the NXP workers has gathered the support of various organizations in Europe, Australia, China, Hongkong, Taiwan, and the US. Photos of solidarity messages from these countries were posted on the official Facebook page of the campaign:
Belgian workers expressing support for the campaign.
A staff of the Asia Monitor Resource Center holding a support placard for #bringbackNXP24.
The case of the NXP workers has already reached the central office of the country's Department of Labor and Employment. Negotiations are ongoing and workers are still appealing for more public support.

author: Karlo Mongaya


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The Music Brazil Doesn’t Want You To Be Listening To · Global Voices
Debora Baldelli

Girls dance at a baile funk party in Rocinha, the largest favela in Rio de Janeiro. Photo by Flickr user Balazs Gardi NC-CC-ND 2.0
Leading up to the World Cup in Brazil, with sounds of gunfire in the background forbidden funk rappers continued to talk about what the government wants to hide: extreme violence, social segregation and racism in the favelas.
If you are in Brazil, you probably won’t get to hear the most explicit and iconic versions of these songs on the radio. This music genre is considered proibidão or extremely forbidden in the country and originated in Rio de Janeiro's iconic hillside slums or favelas.
Authorities say forbidden funk lyrics ‘glorify or praise drug violence and criminal gangs’ in the favelas and say the songs help recruit people to gangs. Forbidden funk musicians disagree with authorities; they say their lyrics talk about their lives as it is the slums, in protest.
“If you are born inside a favela community, and you are there to tell what happens inside that community, you have to proudly assume you are telling what is going on inside that community,” said rapper MC Frank in the documentary “Funk is culture – Music Politics in Rio de Janeiro.” Frank was arrested along with 5 other rappers in 2010.
Police have used two articles within the ‘crimes against public peace’ law in the penal code to charge and jail rappers in the past. Article 286 ‘apology to crime or criminals’ and article 287 ‘public incitement to crime’, both carry fines and 3-6 month jail terms.
Besides the difficult relationship forbidden funk rappers have had with the law, bailes, which are large funk dance parties in the favelas, also have a long history or criminalization and decriminalization in Rio de Janeiro.
Finding forbidden funk in Brazil
The most explicit forbidden funk songs are hard to reach from outside the favela. But that doesn't mean they are not out available. Besides being on YouTube, some songs are tamed into “well-behaved versions” for mainstream audiences.
An edited version of a classic forbidden funk song Rap das Armas (Weapons’ Rap) was a part of the award-winning film Tropa de Elipe’s soundtrack. The sound of guns was deleted for the film’s version:
Here’s the ‘forbidden’ version:
The big 2010 crackdown
In November 2010 Rio’s military police raided the Alemão Complex, the single largest congregation space in the favelas and arrested MC Frank, MC Smith and three other funk singers, in one of the city’s biggest invasions in recent times.
MC Smith in screen shot from film Grosso Calibre
This episode resulted in two documentaries and a big budget fiction film. The documentary Grosso Calibre is the short version of the film Proibidão, rapper MC Smith is the main character in both. The recent released fiction movie Alemão also had rapper MC Smith's participation this time as an actor and consultant. Alemão seeks to portray the November 2010 police invasion at Alemão complex.
About his arrest MC Smith says: “I was arrested for expressing my ideas”. He was kept in prison for 15 days and declared innocent. On the blog Funk Neurotico he talked about the episode:
I have some thoughts on the situation I went through. You should not deal with evil by being evil. I could have become a criminal, but that didn't happen. While everybody else was calling me an outlaw, I was being a revolutionary. Nelson Mandela needed to stay in prison for 27 years to be recognized. If I lose my life doing what I do, that's fine. I don't plan on being a millionaire or being famous until I am 90 years old. I am here to make history, to become a lesson taught by teachers in schools. That is my plan. I want to leave a legacy.
Forbidden funk’s link to criminal factions
On the other hand, academic and activist Paul Sneed says forbidden funk has been used by the Comando Vermelho criminal faction to strengthen its hegemony in the favela. According to him, members of this criminal faction sponsor bailes  and uses them as a platform to stage their power. This specific crime faction, he says, also promote the production of clandestine rap songs such as “Bandido de Cristo”(Bandits of Christ) by recording live presentations and making bootleg CDs afterwards as a way to propagate their ideas.
Several criminal factions control numerous bailes because they happen in the favelas. But that doesn't mean bailes only play forbidden funk. There are all kinds of themes in funk lyrics and that includes forbidden funk songs, but not exclusively, even if the baile is financed by drug dealers.
Funk’s Brazilian beginnings
American funk started to become popular in Rio in the 1970s. It gradually developed into a distinctively Brazilian style, with lyrics in Portuguese called funk carioca. Bailes or dance parties that played funk carioca were held across the city in the 80s. In 1992, a mass fight on Rio's Arpoador beach was blamed on funk fans and baile clubs were closed by authorities. The music soon moved into the favelas, away from police control, and here it evolved yet into funk proibidão or forbidden funk.
According to music researcher Palombini on the website proibidao.org, in the 80s, a soul singer called Gerson King Combo recorded a single called Melô do Mão Branca interpreting a police officer on the phone saying:
Ratatá! Papá! Zim! Catchipum! são sons que você tem que acostumar, essa é a música que toca a orquestra do Mão Branca, botando os bandidos pra dançar
Ratatá! Pará Catchipum![as gun sounds], these are the sounds you will have to get used, this is the white hand's orchestra music making all gangster dance.
But it was only in 1995 that prohibited funk as genre started to show up, when MC Júnior and Leonardo together with Cidinho and Doca made the sound of machine guns, pistols rifles and grenades popular within their songs. All these rappers were called to court by that time.
The attempts of funk criminalization started with funk carioca in 1999 and continued with the forbidden version.
Rio laws criminalizing bailes
Specifically, there is a long history of laws prohibiting and protecting bailes in Rio de Janeiro. In 1999, a State Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry was created with the intent of investigating baile funk which according to them increased violence, drugs and deviation of behavior in youth. From this investigation the first law making the people who run the places where bailes were organized accountable was created in 2000. Four years later, a law by congressman Alessandro Calazans canceled the law prohibiting baile-related activities, declaring baile funk a popular cultural activity.
Again in 2008, a new law revoked the previous law and created stricter rules about bailes which now extend to raves, as well. Among the eight new restrictions was the requirement to hire a company authorized by the Federal Police to take responsibility for internal security of bailes and raves. In 2009, this law was also revoked and a new one, law 5543 from congressman Marcelo Freixo and Paulo Melo was passed, which defines funk as a popular musical and cultural movement and declaring that all issues related to the subject should be dealt with by the state of the art. The law also prohibits discrimination and social, racial and cultural prejudice against funk.
So for now most bailes in Rio de Janeiro are safe from the law, but forbidden funk rappers continue to walk a thin line with the country’s crimes against public peace law, while making the music they believe in.
Emilio Domingos and Sheila Holz contributed to this report.

author: Debora Baldelli


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“How I Almost Became a Spy”: This Tajik Editor-in-Chief Considers the Absurdity of Alexander Sodiqov’s Arrest · Global Voices
Chris Rickleton

Umed Babakhanov, Editor-in-Chief of Tajikistan's Asia Plus news agency. Image used with Babakhanov's permission.
This post is part of our campaign #FreeAlexSodiqov: GV Author Detained in Tajikistan. It is a translation of a post originally written in Russian by Umed Babakhanov, Editor-in-Chief of the independent news outlet Asia Plus.
The scandalous arrest of Tajik academic Alexander Sodiqov on charges of espionage has already captured the attention of media around the world. A number of prominent human rights organizations, dozens of universities and more than 30,000 academics from around the world — from Russia and Kyrgyzstan to the UK, USA and France — have spoken in his support.
Nevertheless, Tajik security services claim that they have evidence of Sodiqov's espionage activities.
It just so happened that I unwittingly became involved in this “spy story”. And twice!
As conveyed via a press release of the GKNB [successor to the KGB] in GBAO [the autonomous region of Tajikistan where Alex was arrested], Alexander was arrested June 16 in Khorog
…for carrying out a task for the secret service of a foreign country…Preliminary inspection showed that Sodiqov was invited by email on June 9 to meet with a representative of a foreign state … The meeting was held on June 10 this year, firstly face-to-face with notes taken, and then in the evening at the residence of the main representative of a foreign secret service working under diplomatic cover. He was assigned a specific task by the said person and a sum of money to complete it. During the meeting in Dushanbe, A. Sodiqov was requested to go to the city of Khorog as part of a conspiracy to meet a Tajik national, Alim Sherzamonov, and gather information of an intelligence nature from the latter by means of a pre-prepared questionnaire.
On this basis, A. Sodiqov been formally charged under article 305 of the Penal Code, “Treason”, which carries a maximum prison sentence of up to 20 years including confiscation of property.
But what does this story have to do with me? I will explain from the beginning. On June 10, I received (also by e-mail, just like Alex Sodiqov!) two invitations from the British Embassy in Tajikistan. The first invited me to a dinner on June 11 at the ambassador's residence in honor of the arrival in Dushanbe of a British political scientist from the University of Exeter, Dr. John Heathershaw. The second invitation was for Friday, June 13, to a reception celebrating the birthday of Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain.
I had intended to go to the dinner at the British ambassador's residence, but as it turned out I was also invited to a reception at the Russian Embassy to celebrate Russia Day on the same date — June 11. In order to pay my respects to both parties , I decided to go on June 11 to congratulate the Russians, and on June 13 to congratulate Her Majesty's subjects. And so I did.
As has been established, Alexander Sodiqov was working on an academic project with Dr. Heathershaw at the time he was detained in Khorog. And probably, it was around the time of this very dinner held in the professor's honor that Alexander received this notorious questionnaire and money for travel. (In the GKNB press release the date of the meeting at the ambassador's residence is listed as June 10, but perhaps this is a mistake, since on June 10 the British ambassador was still in Khorog, and only returned to Dushanbe on June 11. I do not know whether other British diplomats have the right to receive visitors at his residence in his absence).
A few days later, my deputy told me that while I had been away from the office she had agreed for us to meet with some foreign scholars, who were carrying out research in Tajikistan. Half an hour after she told me this she came to my office with Alex Sodiqov, whom I had known as a student, and a person unknown to me, who introduced himself as Doctor Heathershaw of the University of Exeter.
Dr. Heathershaw told us that he had been engaged in conflict management and other problems relating to Tajikistan for more than 10 years, and had written several books and dozens of scholarly articles. (Later, on the [Exeter] university website I discovered further details — he really does work at this university as a senior lecturer, and genuinely has written many scientific papers on our region). The professor said that he was conducting research on conflicts in [the Central Asian] region during the summer, and that Alexander had agreed to help him. Our conversation lasted about an hour, after which the guests thanked us and left.
After a couple of days I became aware of the detention of “Sodiqov the spy”.
Ever since this saga began, I have been asking myself questions to which I do not have answers: if I had gone to dinner at the ambassador's residence on that day, would I too, have been considered a spy or a spy's accomplice? Are other Tajik academics that also attended this “secret meeting” that evening also considered spies? If the member of the Social Democratic Party of Tajikistan, Alim Sherzamonov, who was meeting with Sodiqov [at the time of his arrest], is a carrier of “information of an intelligence nature”, am I also a carrier of such information? If so, did I inadvertently, during our meeting with the British academic, give away state secrets?
Should I and my fellow journalists meet with foreign journalists or foreign acdemics in the future, or would it be better to avoid them and spare ourselves being accused under the 305th article? Should we engage with some of the most controversial themes in our society — corruption, drug trafficking, geopolitical issues, Islam, energy and food security — or it will doing so be regarded as gathering intelligence?

author: Chris Rickleton


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Kiev Kowtows to Washington … on Twitter · Global Voices
Kevin Rothrock

Ukraine's new foreign minister, Pavlo Klimkin, is in hot water on the Russian Internet today, where bloggers are drawing attention to his first subscriptions on Twitter. RuNet users have noticed that some of the first accounts Klimkin chose to follow are US politicians John McCain and Mitt Romney, the neoconservative American think tanks the Foreign Policy Institute and the Lugar Center, and the US State Department itself. Serving a new government in Kiev that Moscow regularly accuses of kowtowing to Washington, Klimkin has provided critics of Ukraine with fresh ammunition in the information war between Russia and the West.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin's first subscriptions on Twitter. Data by Tweettunnel.info.


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Online Networks Help Relief Flood-Plagued Côte d’Ivoire  · Global Voices
Claire Ulrich

Abidjan and other regions of Côte d'Ivoire have been plagued by heavy downpour and floods for the past weeks [fr]. Local residents got organized on social networks to bring relief to stranded citizens. On twitter and facebook, #CIVSOCIAL is the hashtag for emergency humanitarian reliefs. It was created in 2011 in the aftermath of the post-electoral crisis. The hashtag was revived again as floods marred Abidjan and the rest of the country. The facebook page CIVSOCIAL has collected images, videos and testimonies as well as calls for donations for each afflicted borough.  Here is a video of one of the flooded borough :

author: Claire Ulrich


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Ramadan Flavoured Arrests in Egypt · Global Voices
Noor Mattar

@Shahdan_shosh shares this photograph of 11 young men arrested for having Suhoor – a latenight meal to prepare them to fast the next day during the Muslim month of Ramadan (Source: Twitter)
A year has passed since the ousting of Egypt's president Mohamed Morsi and the new regime has already received a lot of criticism for the declining human rights condition which arbitrary arrest is a big part of.
In particular, the new gatherings law of Egypt has raised anger among Egyptians, many of whom have tried to challenge that law only to find themselves arrested, including some prominent activists such as Alaa Abd El Fattah, sentenced to 15 years in prison last month, for organizing a protest without a permit.
With the early days of the month of Ramadan, the holy month of fasting for Muslims, police forces raided a house where a group of 11 young men were having a sahoor (an end of night meal Muslims take before fasting for the day) party, apparently for violating the laws of gathering as some speculate. Netizens started the hashtag #معتقلي_السحور [ar], which translates to Sahoor detainees.
Ahmad Abd Allah posted on his Facebook wall the following [ar]:
١١ واحد بيتسحروا في بيت واحد منهم في دمنهور … الداخلية قبضت عليهم بتهمة التظاهر من غير تصريح … الحرية لمعتقلي السحور
Eleven people were having sahoor in one of their homes. The Ministry of Interior arrested them for illegal gathering… free the sahoor detainees
Twitter user Mohamed Hazem, from Damnhour, tweeted in support of his friends:
مش عارف ابكي علي مجزرة الحرس الجمهوري ولا ابكي علي اصحابي 11 المعتقلين حسبي الله ونعم الوكيل #معتقلي_السحور
— Mohamed Hazem (@HazeemZZ) July 5, 2014
I don't know if I should cry on the massacre committed by the republican guards or on my 11 detained friends
He sarcastically tweeted later on:
ياتري ياوكيل النيابة هتعمل الاحراز جبنة رومي وزتون ولا هتخليها مولوتوف #كل_هدفهم_انهم_يصوموا #معتقلي_السحور :(
— Mohamed Hazem (@HazeemZZ) July 5, 2014
Will the Public Prosecutor consider the evidence as cheese and olives or will it make it [up] as Molotov
And Shahdan-shosh tweeted a photograph of the 11 detainees and noted:
التهمة سحور جماعي حيازة فول وفلافل وزبادي #معتقلي_السحور pic.twitter.com/2cbVqvTsrl
— Shahdan (@Shahdan_shosh) July 5, 2014
Their crime: a group suhoor. They were arrested with foul (beans), falafel and yoghurt in their possession.
Activist Wael Abbas tweeted to his 265k followers:
انا غالبا هالغي حفل الفطار السنوي اللي باعمله كل سنة في بيتي احتراما لقانون التظاهر الجديد :) #قبضوا_عليهم_وهم_بيتسحروا #دمنهور
— Wael Abbas (@waelabbas) July 4, 2014
I'll probably cancel my yearly Iftar [meal to break the fast] party in respect to the new protests law :)
He added:
اصلا نص اللي كانوا عندي في الفطار السنة اللي فاتت يا محبوسين يا هربانين يا مطاردين :)
— Wael Abbas (@waelabbas) July 4, 2014
Anyway, half of those who I invited for Iftar last year are either in jail, in exile or are on the run :)
Last year, Morsi's regime was about to impose a similar law which prohibits gatherings which did not see light after an outcry from international organisations. The Egyptian blog WikiThawra [ar], which is run by the Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights alleges that at least 80 people have died in custody over the past year and more than 40,000 people were detained or indicted between July 2013 (ousting of Morsi's government) and mid-May 2014.