Tag: Freedom of Expression / Information / Speech
Cambodia: CNRP plans three-day rally
Opposition lawmakers this week called for a rally planned for the capital’s Freedom Park next week to be extended over three days as Cambodia National Rescue Party chief Sam Rainsy prepared to return from a much-vaunted overseas tour.
Tens of thousands of CNRP supporters are expected to take to Phnom...
Cambodia: Housing Activists Clash With Police
PHNOM PENH – Some 100 demonstrators for housing rights clashed with police on Thursday, as they attempted to march on Phnom Penh’s City Hall to call for a solution for evictees of the neighborhood of Borei Keila.
No serious injuries were reported, after the group ran into some 100 riot...
Malaysia: Freedom of expression and religion, not Islam, under siege – Josef Roy Benedict
The recent ruling by the Court of Appeal on the Allah case seems to send a message that Islam is under siege in Malaysia and requires greater protection.
This is despite the fact that the judges clearly failed to provide any evidence for these assertions in their judgments.
In reality, however,...
Malaysia: The pettifogging Jakim
All religions are branches of one big tree – George Harrison
The Oct 4 court verdict that ‘Allah’ can no longer appear in the Herald weekly publication has revealed more than meets the eye. Not only was the ruling a gross abuse of the judiciary, the decision also exposed the...
Bali IGF: Surveillance, Human Rights, Governance Of Internet Resources, “Multistakeholderism”
The revelations of mass surveillance by the US and other intelligence services are expected to considerably influence the 8th Internet Governance Forum in Bali, Indonesia this week.
There is a fear, said Robert Guerra from the Canadian Citizen Lab, that the surveillance topic will drive other issues and outcomes of...
Vietnamese Dissident Calls Conviction Unjust
A Vietnamese activist says his conviction for using the social media site Facebook to criticize the government was unjust.
In an interview with VOA's Vietnamese Service after being released, Dinh Nhat Uy said he should not have been charged under penal code.
"My posts on Facebook regarding the protection of Vietnam's...
Pitfalls of social media: Vietnamese man convicted for posts on Facebook
Dinh Nhat Uy, 30, was found guilty under Article 258 of the penal code, Huy Ha Son said.
"It is not house arrest but he has to report his movements to the local police," Son said.
The case attracted attention in Vietnam's blogosphere for being the first to focus on the...
Myanmar dismisses UN envoys ‘one-sided’ human rights report
Myanmar has criticized a report to the United Nations on the human rights situation in the country as being one-sided and pessimistic, with its representative to the body dismissing the report by UN special rapporteur Tomas Ojae-Quintana as “hardly acceptable”.
“It’s like blaming a donut for its hole,” said Myanmar’s...
Malaysia: Drop Charges for Film Screening
(Bangkok) – The Malaysian authorities should immediately drop charges against a rights activist accused of showing a film about Sri Lanka’s civil war without Censorship Board approval, Human Rights Watch said today.
Lena Hendry, of the human rights group Pusat KOMAS, was charged under the Film Censorship Act for organizing...
Indonesian security break up peaceful rallies in West Papua
A heavy security presence disrupted peaceful rallies across West Papua which had been called to commemorate the anniversary of the 3rd Papuan peoples congress.
Joe Collins of AWPA said “yet again peaceful demonstrators have been arrested for simply taking part in rallies which is their democratic right, a right enshrined in article...
