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March 04 2012
Russia: Ballot Stuffing or Machine Testing?
Glenn Kates (@gkates) shares a link to an election webcam video from a polling station in the North Ossetian village of Chikola, which “appears to show ballot stuffing.” “They could just be testing the machine though,” @gkates adds. Of the 91 comments on the video's YouTube page, the most popular right now is the one posted four hours ago by user rus1488rus [ru] and “liked” by 45 viewers: “To test [the machine], it's enough to feed it just one ballot )))”
March 01 2012
Azerbaijan: Massive protests in Quba
Emin Milli's blog posts photos and video of massive protests in Quba, a regional center in Northeast Azerbaijan. The blog says the house of the governor of the region has been burned down and that military units are reportedly being dispatched to the city.
February 29 2012
Venezuela: Singer Onechot Becomes Victim of Violence He Decried
Photo of Onechot, taken by David Maris
Juan David Chacón is a reggae singer, his stage name being Onechot [es], which pronounced in Spanish sounds very much like a Latin “Juancho” and in English as “One shot”. As a reggae artist he has dedicated much of his work in spreading messages of peace. On the night of Monday, February 27, on returning to pick up some of his recorded material, Onechot was attacked by a group of criminals who shot him, wounding him in the head. Tuesday was meant to see the artist begin his national tour of his new album, however, due to the incident he has been in intensive care following surgery to remove the bullet from his brain.
Onechot recorded a video called Rotten Town, denouncing the violence in Venezuela. The lyrics of his music describes the situation:
“Let me introduce you to Caracas, embassy of hell, land of murderers and shottas. Hundred people die every week, we nuh live in war, country is full of freaks”
In 2011 alone 19 thousand people were killed in Venezuela, a country that has 28 million inhabitants and is not currently facing a war on drugs such as in Mexico or an armed conflict currently affecting Colombia. In 2008, Venezuela had one of the highest homicide rates in the world and the situation has not improved. This is the crisis that Onechot reported on in his video that at the time was criticised by the Venezuelan Government:
When Rotten Town was released in 2010, the former Venezuelan Minister for Communication and Information, Tania Diaz, launched a threat of legal action [es] against Onechot for, according to official sources, the music video's showing of “sensationalist images of violence”.
The criminal act against the singer led to a protest on social networks, producing Twitter Trending Topics such as #Onechot and #FuerzaOnechot ('We support Onechot'). Most of the messages showed the surprise and indignation felt towards the fact that a peace activist had now become a victim of what he had previously denounced in his music.
Jogreg Henriquez demonstrated this with his post “Onechot saw it coming” [es]:
Onechot entró a formar parte de las estadísticas de las víctimas de los actos criminales que tienen a Caracas como una de las más peligrosas del mundo. Decenas de asesinatos cada fin de semana así lo atestiguan. Decenas de familias de luto frente a una morgue colapsada por tanto dolor y tanto olor a muerte.
In the blog Panfleto Negro, the oldest blog in Venezuela, the author Luis1210 has warned that for months now the Government has tried to blame society for the violence currently seen in the country. He describes this in his post titled “Oneshot, it's your fault” [es]:
El gobierno desde hace tiempo nos quiere vender una gran falacia con respecto a la inseguridad. Quiere convertirnos en corresponsables de la seguridad ciudadana para de esa forma echarnos los muertos a nosotros. Si aceptamos esa responsabilidad de manera automática aceptamos también la culpa. Y he ahí el porqué del título, no he dejado de leer en twitter estupideces como que OneChot se lo buscó o lo atrajo cósmicamente por haber elegido ese nombre artístico o que andaba “ostentando riqueza” o cualquier estupidez. Cuando lo cierto es que OneChot es un tipo que se atreve a hacer reggae de protesta, algo que hoy en día parece olvidado.
Inti Acevedo is of the same opinion (@Inti) [es], criticising the self-censorship of other artists who denounce the social problems in Venezuela:
Cuando @Oneshot sacó el video que denuncia la violencia en Venezuela se ganó mi respeto. Un rebelde de verdad en un país de rockeros cobardes
Meanwhile, the poet @WillyMcKey wrote a post for the blog Prodavinci [es] about how the country should leave its violence in the past and move on:
Quienes deben asegurarnos la vida ven llover sangre ajena, pisan nuestros charcos y se esconden detrás de sí mismos, como si el país fuese un hombre hospitalizado, como si la ciudad solamente necesitara condiciones antisépticas. Como si el miedo fuera una estrategia.
Mientras inventan una guerra en el espejo, afuera disparan consecuencias de la ineficacia.
Mientras buscan a quien echarle la culpa, afuera toma forma la muerte cada noche.
¿Cuándo vamos a poder cerrar los ojos para que la lluvia nos permita una sonrisa nueva? Sólo cuando mudemos Rotten Town muy lejos, a ese lugar donde reposa lo podrido: el pasado.
While they invent a war in the mirror, outside are the shots that come from the consequences of inefficiency.
While they are looking for who to blame, outside someone is killed.
When are we going to close our eyes so that the rain will wash the sadness away and permit us to smile again? Only when we move Rotten Town to a faraway place, to the place where all rotten things lie: the past.
Jaqueline Goldberg [es] is a writer and friend of Onechot's parents. In her Facebook account she posted:
I don't know how I will be able to sleep tonight, knowing that Juan David Chacón Benítez, the son and brother of dear friends, is in therapy with a bullet in his memory. How can I leave tomorrow and pronounce the words “country” and “night” without anger. Right now I am scared, I have the desire to flee, I feel clumsy and dumb. Citizen disgust.
In 2010 the filmaker Sergio Monsalve praised the quality of the video of the singer, in spite of the official criticism, for which he came back to his original post on the subject [es] and added:
This is my reason for why “Rotten Town” is one of the best Venezuelan video clips of the third millennium and one of the greatest in Venezuela's history. I return to it here because of the recent incidents affecting Onechot. I published it in August 2010. Unfortunately today it takes on a new life. In Venezuela, time continues to pass yet the problems get worse, above all the unleashing of the underworld. Our real social cancer is the lack of safety. Is this a disease without a remedy? It is time to urgently seek a cure.
Meanwhile, as the country awaits the outcome of Onechot in intensive care, the protests continue to increase on social networking sites and physical artists such as Ricardo Crovato portray Caracas as being Rotten Town, until the situation improves.
Photo of Caracas as Rotten Town, image by Ricardo Crovato
February 25 2012
Australia: Political Paralysis Before Leadership Vote
Australia’s governing party will decide between current Prime Minister Julia Gillard and the one she deposed in 2010 Kevin Rudd. Following months of speculation, Australian Labor Party parliamentarians will vote after a very self-destructive confrontation this week.
As well as bloggers such as Lavartus Prodeo and their legions of commenters, tweeters have taken to the task with gusto. #respill has been the tag of choice for many whilst the somewhat bizarre #kevenge seems to capture the mood of many others in twitterville. Kevin Rudd's daughter Jessica knows the value of a well-timed tweet. This one got plenty of publicity:
@Jess_Rudd
Effing proud of you, Dad. xxxx
22 Feb 12
The “effing” seemed to fit after the video of her father Happy Little Vegemite that was released earlier in the week. The video contains numerous expletives:
There were suggestions from both sides that the other had posted the video - either to embarrass Rudd or to humanise him. Cassie White could see both in the ex-PM's swearing:
@cassie_white
I get that this video is supposed to embarrass @KRuddMP but it just makes me like him http://bit.ly/w02qvX An Aussie who swears, SHOCK!!
19 Feb 12
A new pro-Rudd user appeared @Vote4Rudd which asks, “Follow us if you want Kevin Rudd back!” Despite Kevin’s supposed popularity it had only 141 followers after two days.
Parliamentarians who have not yet indicated how they will vote are being hounded on twitter. Journalists such as @ABCNews24’s reporter Latika Bourke seem relentless. After stalking Anthony Albanese MP for days she live-tweeted his whole radio interview:
@latikambourke
Anthony Albanese says he's old fashioned and told first the people he is NOT voting for. GIllard/Swan then he phoned Rudd. #respill
25 Feb 12
Her tweeting is a case study in itself in the use of social media for professional journalism.
The media have fallen back on the old cliché about soap operas, bur neither the prime minsiter nor netizen Tom Taylor were amused:
@TomTaylorMade
Gillard: ‘This is not an episode of Celebrity Big Brother.' We know. The public can vote in Celebrity Big Brother.
24 Feb 12
Some #kevenge tweets from today (25 Feb 12) seem appropriate:
@bennpackham
Rudd is well behind at this stage but this whole people power thing is pure evil genius #kevenge
@AshGhebranious
Julia , ever since you got this Kevin Rudd monkey off your back, you have been sounding really impressive. #auspol #respill #kevenge
@SuzyJacobs
Guillard will never escape the stink of her succession #auspoll #respill #kevenge
Captain Danger is clearly disillusioned with the mass media's groupthink:
@CaPtAiN_dAnGeR_
i follow too many Aussie journos. it's like a freakin echo chamber in here #respill #kevenge #albolove
The vote is 10.30 AM Monday 27 February, Canberra time
My next post will cover the fallout from Monday's vote.
(Personal Disclosure: As a member of the Australian Labor Party for 40 years, I have made my position on the leadership challenge clear online: #ISupportGillard)
February 24 2012
Cameroon : Say No To Tribalism
Princess Akeelah talks on her blog [fr] about an online campaign launched to fight against Tribalism in Cameroon. In a country where it is estimated that 280 different ethnic groups live together, she explains that this diversity is a wealth and should be “the foundation of a National Union”.
February 23 2012
Colombia: Citizen Journalist Threatened Over Viral Video
Citizen Journalist Bladimir Sánchez has already received threats for making a video showing the forced evictions of farmers and fishermen protesting the construction of a hydroelectric dam in the department of Huila, Colombia on February 14 and 15. In less than three days, more than 600,000 people have watched it.
On Publimetro[es], Camilo Andrés García Cortés states that the video may be making history as the most watched Colombian citizen video, due to its half a million views during only two days. The Video the Colombian Government Doesn't Want Us to See[es] shows the violent eviction faced by two river bank communities standing up peacefully against the building of the dam, and pulls together the testimonies of those who faced the violence and were injured. The communities are against the dam construction because it will leave them without livelihoods if the river is diverted for the project. When describing the clash that injured protesters, both the community members and journalists present describe that there was no violence towards the authorities in spite of the attacks, and that the police restricted the access of journalists, peace observers and human right organizations to the area of the protest.
La acción violenta se cumplió coordinadamente entre el Gobierno Nacional y Emgesa contra campesinos y pescadores inermes cuya única respuesta fue cogerse solidariamente de las manos para abrazar el río Magdalena o lanzarse al mismo, mientras recibían cargas de gases lacrimógenos y granadas de aturdimiento, ocasionando varios heridos, entre ellos, el obrero de construcción Luis Carlos Trujillo Obregón quien perdió su ojo derecho.
On the interview with Publimetro [es] Bladimir discussed the threats he's received:
Recibí una llamada No aparece el número de la persona en el identificador (…) Me han enviado mensajes a mi correo. Me dicen que soy de las Farc, del ELN, que estoy atacando a la fuerza pública. Yo no soy nada de eso. Simplemente soy un realizador audiovisual que quiere mostrar la realidad de lo que pasa en el departamento del Huila.
In his Facebook page Zeitgeist Huila [es], Bladimir posted on February 23rd [es] that he had been receiving threatening calls, one including death threats.
Chile: Twitter Users Share Images of the Protests in Aysén
[The original version of this post was first published in La Opiñón [es], an online citizen newspaper by the Mi Voz (My Voice) network]
A social movement that demands better quality of life and lower costs has gained strength in the Aysén Region in the Chilean Patagonia, as previously reported by Elizabeth Rivera for Global Voices.
Images of fierce clashes that occurred during the early hours of February 22, the blocking of the road between Puerto Aysén and Puerto Chacabuco, the police repression and an unabated protest were captured by the citizens of Aysén and uploaded to social networking sites.
Twitter is the platform that shows the striking images of these protests, which have paralyzed the region.
Taking of the Chacabuco bridge, Jorge Espinoza C. (@espinozacuellar):
Clashes on the Chacabuco bridge in Aysén, February 22. Photo by Twitpic user Jorge Espinoza C. (@espinozacuellar)
"Remains of a violent night in Aysén." February 22. Photo by Twitpic user Jorge Espinoza C. (@espinozacuellar)
Nighttime barricades, Movement for Aysén (@despiertaAYSEN):
Nighttime barricades in Puerto Aysén, early hours of February 22. Photo by Twitpic user Movement for Aysén (@despiertaAYSEN)
Coyhaique expressing itself in the street, Kallfulikan (@Kallfulikan):
Image of the protest in Coyhaique, February 22. Photo by Twitpic user @Kallfulikan
Road between Puerto Aysén and Puerto Chacabuco, Patricio Segura (@patsegura):
Road between Puerto Aysén and Puerto Chacabuco, February 21. Photo by Twitpic user Patricio Segura (@patsegura)
Blocked roads, Alonso Nuñez (@alonso_nunez):
Blocked roads, February 21. Photo by Twitpic user Alonso Nuñez (@alonso_nunez)
Road to Coyhaique, Jorge Espinoza C. (@espinozacuellar):
Blocked route between Aysén and Coyhaique, Sunday February 19. Photo by Twitpic user Jorge Espinoza C. (@espinozacuellar)
February 22 2012
Saudi Arabia: Facebook Page Calls for Protest
A Facebook page [ar] has been created calling on Saudis to protest tomorrow (Thursday) and on Friday against financial and administrative corruption, the jailing of activists and the lack of justice, among other grievances. The page details are being circulated via Twitter by bloggers. Previous calls for protests in Saudi Arabia have failed to materialise into large scale demonstrations.
Argentina: Train Crash Leaves At Least 49 Dead, Hundreds Injured
A commuter train crashed in Buenos Aires, Argentina, leaving at least 49 dead and hundreds injured according to the latest reports. Netizens are using the hashtags #Sarmiento and #TBA to tweet about the crash.
Syria: Shock and Disbelief Over Murder of Journalists
This post is part of our special coverage Syria Protests 2011.
Netizens covering the daily carnage in Syria on social media had to take a step back today to soak in news of more atrocities committed against humanity in the Baba Amr neighbourhood, in besieged city of Homs.
NPR media strategist Andy Carvin, who is in Tripoli, Libya, tweets:
@acarvin: I need to unplug for a bit before I say something I'll regret. I just can't take this right now. #homs #syria
He adds:
@acarvin: Killing reporters and citizen journalists won't stop us from bearing witness. You can't stop us. #syria #homs
And continues:
@acarvin: These reporters and citizen journos muster more bravery in a day than I ever will in a lifetime. I am forever in their debt. #syria #homs
While Iyad El Baghdadi admits:
@Iyad_elbaghdadi: I have to take a break and cry for a bit. See you later.
The reactions followed reports on the deaths of American journalist Marie Colvin, who works for Britain's the Sunday Times and French photographer Remi Ochlik. According to Reuters, “shells hit the house in which they were staying and a rocket hit them when they were escaping.”
Meanwhile, netizens on the ground report that a third reporter is also said to be injured, when the media centre the journalists and activists were in was attacked.
Tweets4peace accuses the Syrian regime of conducting the attack. The Twitter user notes:
@tweet4peace: We know it is regime is because these type of missile attacks have been continuous for 19 days now. Today was target on media centre #homs
The news created an out pour of sympathy on Twitter, already reeling over the world's silence at the massacres being committed against Syrians protesting against Bashar Al Assad and his regime and claiming the lives of thousands of citizens.
From Egypt, Maha Abdoelenein tweets:
@mahagaber: Utter Shock & Disbelief. Marie Colvin killed in Homs, Syria today. I worked w her extensively on all things Egypt
Diaa Hadid notes:
@diaahadid: Rest in peace Marie Colvin, Remi Ochlik, few will die as honorably, telling the world of what others sought to conceal
And Rania Zabaneh reminds us:
@RZabaneh: #Syria is becoming a deathtrap for journalists. This is OUTRAGEOUS: EIGHT journalists killed since 2012; FOUR in #Homs.
Meanwhile, CNN reporter Arwa Damon concludes:
@arwaCNN: RIP 2 our colleagues killed in #homs, the price we pay 2 shed light on atrocities, the price #syria pays everyday 4 freedom
This post is part of our special coverage Syria Protests 2011.
Georgia: Assassination attempt on Abkhazia leader
ЖЖ Сухуми სოხუმი cyxymu [RU] updates its readers on another assassination attempt made today on the defacto President of Georgia's breakaway Abkhazia region, Alexander Ankvab. The blog reports one bodyguard was killed, with another two wounded, in the fifth attempt on Ankvab's life since 2005.
February 21 2012
Peru: New Racism Incident Ignites Debate on Social Networks
[All links lead to Spanish language pages except when otherwise noted]
A movie theater in Lima [en] was once again the scene of a case that public opinion rapidly categorized as another example of the ongoing problem of racism in Peru: a 13-year-old boy uttered racist insults at a couple who had asked him and his friends, who were kicking up a fuss, to be quiet.
A popular daily newspaper in Lima reported the facts. According to the victim and other witnesses, once he was reprimanded by the aforementioned couple, the young boy insulted the man, calling him a “serrano de mierda” [ed. note: “serrano de mierda” is an insult used against Peruvians with dark skin or indigenous features] then did the same to his wife. Outraged, the woman slapped the boy, who responded with a punch; when her husband saw this, he also became angry and hit the boy.
With racism a wound that refuses to heal in Peru, public outcry has not been as focused on the physical beating that the boy endured as much as it has been on the fact that the boy dared to throw around racist remarks as well as insult and openly defy a pair of adults.
Rolando explained, in his blog El áureo clarín del verbo, why the greater percentage of public opinion has not sided with the boy who was hit with punches, but instead with those who were hit with foul words:
Si a un peruano se le “cholea” tengamos por seguro que muchos otros peruanos -salvando sus diferencias de credo, ideología política o preferencia futbolística- se unirán para respaldarlo y dar la defensiva (u ofensiva para tal caso)… Se toca una herida que hasta el día de hoy parece no cicatrizar, comprobándose con ello que en las manifestaciones de racismo o de discriminación por el mismo tenemos nuestro más expuesto talón de Aquiles.
Effectively, the majority of the commentary among social networks has deemed the reaction of the insulted adults to be justified, just as Twitter users Gilda Leya (@diaz_gilda) and Lorena Flores Agüero (@lorenaflag) said.
Aguirre was quickly singled out on social networks not only for not questioning her son's behavior nor the racist insults he flung around, but also for defending him with arguments such as that her son was “misbehaving like any other boy of his age,” and because rather than apologizing for the bad behavior of her son, she instead affirmed that she would not respond to the assault because “I am not going to stoop to his level.”
To this, @The_Gunman commented on Twitter:
“Mi hijo hace palomilladas [”travesuras”] y se porta mal como cualquier chico de su edad” A quien deberían dar una tunda x mala madre es a Celine Aguirre
From this point others questioned Aguirre as a mother, just as Twitter users Paul Senepo (@paulsenepo) and Madferit Limeño (@MrKubrick29) have done.
The boy's family has fed the anger and resentment on social networks without realizing it by refusing to offer an apology for his conduct as well as by reaffirming their willingness to pursue legal action against those that hit him.
On this particular topic Twitter users such as Diego Saavedra (@Dieg0_s26) opined:
TA LOCO ESE! ¿QUIÉN AGREDIÓ A QUIÉN? EL QUE SE MERECE UNA DEMANDA ES EL CHIBOLO [niño, jovencito]… SOLO QUE COMO ES MENOR DE…fb.me/YOeZFSy7
One of the few posts among the social networks that centered on the fact that it was a child who was hit was by Verónica Cervantes, on Facebook:
AQUI NO SE TRATA DE QUIEN ES HIJO, POR DIOS QUE LES PASA! PUDO SER HIJO DE CUALQUIER PERUANO, INCLUSO DE ALGUNOS DE UDS. QUE EL NIñO ES UN MALCRIADO, LO ES. PERO NADIE TIENE DERECHO A GOLPEAR, YO NO PUEDO CREER COMO MUCHOS PERIODISTAS APOYAN A ESTE PAR DE ABUSIVOS , CLARO AMBOS PERIODISTAS NO TIENEN NI IDEA DE LO QUE ES TENER UN HIJO, SINO SU PUNTO DE VISTA SERIA OTRO. LA UNICA DIFERENCIA DE SER HIJO DE ARTISTAS ES QUE TIENEN EL DINERO PARA PAGAR A UN BUEN ABOGADO Y SOLICITAR QUE EL JUEZ CASTIGUE ESTE ACTO DE VIOLENCIA Y LA DISCULPA DEL RACISMO, PARA MI NO CUENTA, NO SABIA QUE AHORA POR DECIR SERRANO TE MERECES UNOS BUENOS GOLPES, ESOS SON COMPLEJOS TONTOS. NADIE ABSOLUTAMENTE NADIE PUEDE GOLPEAR A UN NIñO AJENO Y ESO TIENEN QUE APRENDER ESE PAR DE BESTIAS HUMANAS.
Peruvian actor Christian Meier (@oliverdog), the boy's uncle, took the opportunity to comment about how his ex-family is dealing with the incident:
Hoy a todas esas “víctimas sobre actuadas” alrededor del mundo, dediquémosle el HashTag #HelloDejaElShow
The blog La promesa de una vida peruana touched on the thorny topic of the relationship between racism and social inequality on every level in Peru:
Para las hermanas Celine y Marisol Aguirre… la justicia no existe para los “serranos hijos de puta” a quienes sus hijos suelen insultar y golpear en los cines. Tal vez tengan razón. ¿Cuántos delincuentes de medio pelo hay en las cárceles y cuántos delincuentes de cuello y corbata están gozando de detención domiciliaria?
Laura Arroyo Gárate reflected on the news blog Spacio Libre about the polarization that this has created:
…me sorprende la incapacidad de ambos involucrados para admitir que hicieron algo mal. La madre del adolescente agredido no ha mencionado en ningún momento que el comentario de su hijo, o sus actitudes (incluidas las de su grupo de amigos) fueron erradas. Del mismo modo, me sorprende que ninguno de los dos personajes que iniciaron los golpes afirmaran que estuvo mal caer en eso y lo justifiquen diciendo que no sabían que eran adolescentes… el racismo es uno de los peores males vigentes en el país, pero también lo es la justificación de la violencia.”
And Gustavo Faverón also reflected on his blog about how this incidence of racism has generated such commotion when thousands of similar cases happen in Peru everyday:
Si los peruanos pensaran que todo acto racista es igualmente repudiable, entonces entre los trending topics del Twitter no estaría el nombre #CelineAguirre; estaría la palabra #racismo, y no estaría por dos días: estaría todo el tiempo, todos los días, y el tema sería discutido y debatido en los muros de Facebook los trescientos sesenta y cinco días del año, no un par de días sí y sesenta días no, hasta el siguiente micro-escándalo, y los programas de televisión tendrían que hablar de ello todo el tiempo (…)
At the moment this post was published, the incident was just parodied on a television comedy program in Peru, to the delight of social network users, and the Facebook page “You are more racist than Celine Aguirre's son” published a photo allegedly of the boy.
The family's lawyer has announced that the family will seek legal action against the couple who responded to the racist remarks with punches, so it can be supposed that this issue will be around for a while.
February 15 2012
Singapore: Politician's Expulsion Triggers By-Election
Following the emergence of allegations of extramarital affairs, the opposition Worker's Party of Singapore has expelled Yaw Shin Leong from the party, thus triggering a by-election in the Single Member Constituency of Hougang.
Both Yaw and the party had previously been criticised for their handling of the allegations, namely by refusing to respond or address any of the rumours. The WP cited a lack of accountability on Yaw's part as a reason for his expulsion:
Shin Leong has been accused of several indiscretions in his private life. By continuing not to account to the Party and the people, especially the residents of Hougang, he has broken the faith, trust and expectations of the Party and People.
For a country where citizens have rarely had a chance to vote (due to walkovers), so many elections in such quick succession – the 2011 General Election, the 2011 Presidential Election and now the upcoming by-election – has proven to be very exciting indeed. Reactions quickly emerged on Twitter as Singaporeans discussed the upcoming contest in Hougang, many using the hashtag #hougangbyelection.
@RealSingaporean: Imagine if the whole Singapore gets to vote for the #hougangbyelection; then we can really see how many people really support the PAP (Singapore's ruling party).
@adesabrina: I think I hear a lot of champagne popping in one party. #hougangbyelection
@talkkok: I can already think of ten diatribes PAP is going to use against WP in the 2016 elections based on this ysl affair. #hougangbyelection
@Ee_Justin: WP VS PAP, hopefully no other parties come and dilute the votes again. Will lightning strike twice? #hougangbyelection
Ng E-Jay of SGPolitics praised the WP's move on his Facebook page:
4 days ago, I made the call that Yaw must either come clean, or he must resign. Since he did neither, WP has done the right thing by sacking him. I applaud WP for making the right decision. The ugly episode can finally be put to rest, because of this decisive action by WP that shows, courage, foresight, and integrity. Kudos to WP!
However, some did not see the move as purely for the sake of accountability and transparency:
@ctham: Sacking someone for not explaining his private life is political expediency and giving credence to rumour, not accountability.
February 09 2012
Maldives: Marred by Violence
The political crisis in the Maldives took an ugly turn Wednesday when the police brutally beat and injured supporters of the ousted President Mohamed Nasheed as they protested against what they claimed to be a coup that removed the island nation's first democratically elected president from power. In the riots that followed, Nasheed's supporters torched and destroyed a number of police stations, courts, local council offices and other public buildings. Scores of police officers were hurt in the violence too.
Earlier in the day, in a meeting of Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), the party which won the first multiparty election of the Maldives in 2008 and brought Nasheed to presidency, the deposed President announced that his resignation on Tuesday was coerced.
“We will come to power again,” Nasheed said. “We will never step back. I will not accept this coup and will bring justice to the Maldivians.”
Police charge teargas on protesters. Image by anonymous photographer, used with permission.
Nasheed and his supporters then marched through the capital Male' and faced a line of police behind shields near the island's main square, just next to military and police headquarters. The protesters threw bottles and stones at the police while the police fired teargas canisters into the crowd. The confrontation between the two sides ended in a brutal crackdown by police, leading to blood-soaked protesters being rushed to hospitals. Among those hurt were members of parliament and senior leaders of Nasheed's party.
FreedomWatchMV has posted this video of the confrontation between the security forces and protesters.
Another video shows police dragging an MP and Nasheed out of a shop after dispersing the crowd. Nasheed was released after a debate between the policemen about whether he should be arrested or not. This video shows a blood-soaked man narrating how the police beat him up.
Yameen blogs about the events that took place in Male':
There is a brutal, concerted effort by the runaway police department to crush protests by supporters of President Nasheed, following his release today.
I have personally witnessed the heavy handed tactics employed to combat MDP activists, energized by the release of President Nasheed earlier today after yesterday's coup d'etat that forced him to resign.
Tear gas was used indiscriminately on Orchid magu near the Supreme court building. Two people were beaten up and lay motionless on the street for a long time before they were dragged and shoved into an ambulance.
Then I saw a police jeep speeding into a crowd of protesters. A police jeep. Absolutely reprehensible.
Police brutality on protesters. Image by anonymous. used with permission.
Muju Naeem ponders if the Maldives has turned into a military dictatorship.
So if President Waheed did not give the order, then we can safely assume that the security forces were acting on their own. What this means is that we have incidentally slipped into a military/police dictatorship where the executive is there only in name only.
Maldives has become a police state.
Maldivian Twitter users have started using 3 hashtags to tell their story. Please follow;
1. #maldivespolicestate
2. #mvprotest
3. #mvcoup
Following the events in the capital, Nasheed's supporters responded by rioting in outer islands, setting police stations on fire, throwing stones at policemen on duty and burning down courts and several other public buildings. In a number of islands they drove the police out and seized the police stations.
Maldivians and foreigners are tweeting about the new wave of violence that has gripped the holiday haven.
foram divrania tweets:
@divrania: Peace to Maldives..ur too beautiful for politics and violence.
Nattu tweets:
@reallynattu: “@hisherm: I don't support any political parties. I support Maldives.” Including Me!
There is an eerie calm in the islands and the capital on Thursday as people remain tense about what could happen next. In a press conference, the commanders of the police and military assured that order will be restored and promised to investigate the previous day's violence.
Speaking to journalists at his residence, Nasheed said he was forced to resign by some military personnel as the country's police force mutinied against his rule. Calling for fresh elections, he vowed to come back to power and reassured that he has no intention of grabbing power through street riots. He also condemned the acts of violence his supporters had committed in various islands.
Russia: DDoS Attack Puts Down Several Political Websites As Cyberwar Escalates
On February 9, 2012, following the widely-discussed leaks of pro-Kremlin mailboxes, LiveJournal, where the leaks were published, became temporarily unavailable, Lenta.ru reported [ru]. Russian representative of Anonymous group @OP_Russia, suggested [ru] that it was a DDoS attack to hide the evidence of massive wrongdoings (including corruption, thievery, political provocations, and cybercrime) [ru] by Nashi youth movement. Later that day @OP_Russia took responsibility for taking down 3 websites of United Russia party: mos-partya.ru, er-region.ru, and er-kaluga.ru.
February 08 2012
Russia: New .Ru Domain Registration Rules Allow Easy Domain Seizure
Andrey Rylkov Foundation writes about the first case of enforcement of the domain seizure rules in the “.ru” and “.рф” domain zones. The rules [ru] (Article 5, point 5.5) , updated on November 11, 2011 allow any law enforcement agency (like police, Federal Security Service, Prosecutor's office or Federal Drug Control Services (FDCS)) to request domain seizure without a court order. On February 3, 2012 FDCS successfully seized the domain of rylkov-fond.ru, a website of Rylkov Foundation that had severely criticized situation with drug trafficking.
Russia: The Anonymous Hacks and Publishes E-mails of Pro-Kremlin Youth Group
Read The Guardian's take on the so-called “Potupchik-gate,” a series of scandals surfaced as a result of hacking and publishing of private inbox of Kristina Potupchik [ru], press-secretary of Nashi, notorious pro-Kremlin youth group. All hacks were published by twitter-user @OP_Russia who uses Anonymous symbolics. Representatives of Anonymous, previously never seen involved in Russian online politics, had also issued an Russian/English statement on the issue.
February 07 2012
Bulgaria: Severe Flooding Emergency
GV Author Ruslan Trad is tweeting - here, here, here, and here - about the severe flooding in southern Bulgaria, which was caused by heavy rainfall of the past few days and has killed at least eight people in the village of Bisser. The latest tweet came about an hour ago: “Breaking: Maritsa River’s dike broke close to the village of Generalovo, municipality of Svilenhrad, huge wave.” More photos from the disaster in the village of Bisser - at the Facebook page [bg] of the Bulgarian National TV's fundraising effort to help the victims.
Maldives: On the Brink of Chaos
Three years after the first democratic multiparty election in the Maldives ushered a democratic government to power, the infant democracy of the Maldives seems to be on the brink of anarchy and chaos. The democratic experiment of the Maldives could face an untimely demise as thugs belonging to the ruling party and the opposition clash on the streets of the capital Male‘, vandalising private property, torching private TV stations and attacking one another under showers of bricks and stones.
A rebellion within the ranks of police officers has created a nasty stand-off between the military and the police and a number of military personnel have joined the police in mutiny. Tension has reached a tipping point when there are conflicting reports about whether the president will resign.
The political crisis facing the Maldives was given a head-start in January when the government asked the police to start investigations against certain opposition leaders for what the government claimed were baseless insinuations and allegations that the government was undermining the Islamic faith of the country. Critics were puzzled when the police detained said opposition leaders in high profile investigation cases while the claims of the opposition could have been addressed through a civil case of defamation.
The ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) then started a public campaign named ‘Thiheneh Nukiyeyne‘ [div] (You Can't Say That), proclaiming that the party would not permit the opposition to continue making what it believed to be baseless allegations.
In the past, defamation was a criminal act and writers and individuals were sentenced to prison, based on defamation charges, for criticism they had expressed. Decriminalizing defamation in 2009 was hailed as a remarkable improvement for freedom of expression in the Maldives. The government's inclination towards criminal investigations regarding cases of defamation has become a deep concern for advocates of free speech.
After the Abdulla Mohamed, the Chief Judge of the Criminal Court ruled that the detention of the Vice President of the Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) was illegal and ordered to release him from police custody, the police requested the assistance of the Maldives National Defence Force or the military to apprehend the judge. Mohamed has been under military custody since January 16 and his enforced disappearance has sparked street protests which has continued for three weeks.
Mohamed himself had been in the centre of several controversies earlier and the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has found that he had violated the code of conduct for judges. Mohamed appealed this decision of the JSC in the Civil Court, and the court has issued an injunction against JSC not to take any disciplinary measures against Mohamed till the appeal case is closed. This injunction by the Civil Court itself is highly controversial because it encroaches on the powers the constitution has granted to JSC to make the judiciary accountable.
The government has since then claimed that the detention of Mohamed is part of its campaign to clean up the judiciary, which is corrupt to the core, according to the government.
Mohamed's detention in a military training camp has been declared unlawful and a violation of the constitution by several parties which point out that the military does not have legal authority to detain people. The government has not put any formal charges against Mohamed. The military claims that it has provided Mohamed with access to a lawyer and it has permitted the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives to visit him. His family was informed about his whereabouts only days after he was detained.
A number of eminent lawyers in the Maldives have spoken out against the detention of Judge Abdulla Mohamed. Among them are Shaheen Hameed, the Vice President of the Constituent Assembly which drafted the current constitution, Dhiyana Saeed, the first Attorney-General of the present government and Husnu Suood, another former Attorney-General under the present government.
Prosecutor-General Ahmed Muizzu, who was a prominent practicing lawyer of the country before his appointment as PG, has also pointed out that the detention is unlawful. Ahmed Faiz, the Chief Justice, has called for the judge to be released.
The Human Rights Commission of the Maldives has also expressed concerns about the continued detention of the judge. The UN has urged the government of the Maldives to either release the judge or to press formal charges against him. Abbas Faiz, South Asia Researcher at Amnesty International, in an opinion piece published in the local Minivan News website, has said that the judge's detention is arbitrary. “Amnesty International is calling on the government to either bring formal criminal charges against him or release him,” Faiz wrote.
Tension has reached a tipping point when protesters from the ruling party and the opposition parties clashed on February 6 evening leading to considerable violence. Thereafter, some police units stormed the assembly hall of the ruling party and allegedly vandalised property there. A group of police officers have rebelled against what they say are unlawful commands and gathered after midnight at the Republic Square in Male' in protest.
In a night filled with violence, the offices of VTV, a private broadcaster which is sympathetic towards the opposition and is owned by an opposition leader, was set on fire by a group of thugs. Aminath Shifleen, a journalist at Haveeru Daily, was injured while covering the protest. In the past few weeks, a number of journalists have been attacked during the protests and offices of media outlets have been attacked on multiple occasions. Private property destruction has also been a common feature of the protests that has engulfed the Maldives.
In the early hours of the morning some people are still active on social media, expressing their opinion on the unfolding crisis. This Facebook page titled Zuvaanunge' Maidhaan (The Square of Youth) has some pictures of the protests. There are frequent updates in Twitter:
Husnu Suood, former Attorney-General, tweets:
@hsuood: dont think they can avoid a bloody confrontation. Sad day for Maldives. #mvprotest
Nattu tweets:
Maldives National Defence Force vs Maldives Police #mvprotest. MNDF steps back.
Yoosuf Waheed asks:
What's going on! Hard thing r pretty nasty in #Maldives
Ali Tholhath says:
@tholhath: Sad day for Maldives. Stop this madness.
Ali Shiyan tweets:
@falho_D: Sad to see it all come to this, who is winning now? And to think it cud hav been so simple,sad day for Maldives indeed.
Shareef asks:
@shareef: Things are getting worse, #Maldives Army V/s Maldives Police. Who will Win
Agisa asks:
@agisaa: what happened to the #maldives while i was sleeping?
Sofwathullah Mohamed tweets:
@sofwath: Nothing more to say. Blame games won't help. God save Maldives. #mvprotest
And here is an update: Ahmed Affan Shafy reports with a picture:
Maldives Military joins forces with police and the public against the unconstitutional rule of Mr Nasheed.
Image posted to Twitter by @AhmedAffanShafy
Balkans: Online Platform Launched to Track Reports From Areas Hit by Record Snowfall
Since last week, the Balkans have been hit by massive snow storms, the likes of which have not been seen in over a decade, if not longer. After an unusually long period of nearly no real signs of a typical Balkan winter, last week brought what seems to be non-stop snowfall throughout the region, including the seaside areas around the Adriatic that seldom get any snow.
Men shoveling snow from a street in Sarajevo. Record snowfall has paralyzed transportation in the Bosnian capital, where a state of emergency has now been declared. Photo by Sulejman Omerbasic, copyright © Demotix (5/02/12).
Serbia's national television network, RTS, and other media reported on Friday that a state of emergency has been declared by the government, while citizens have been reporting critical situations throughout the country and that municipal services have been doing a poor job of tackling the snowfall in many urban areas.
In an article titled “Serbia Blocked by Snow, State of Emergency in 27 Municipalities, Recommendation to Call Off School Attendance” [sr], the Head of the State of Emergency Sector of the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs, Predrag Maric, is reported to have stated on Friday:
27 municipalities in Serbia have declared a state of emergency due to heavy snowfall. Maric has told Beta news agency that the most difficult situations are in Sjenica, Ivanjica, Prijepolje, Crna Trava and Surdulica, where the height of snow has reached approximately 2 meters. According to him, power supply is “relatively good,” outages are being fixed quickly and there have been no long power outages.
Maric also announced the possibility of declaring a full state of emergency nationwide, which the Government did on Sunday evening, cancelling school throughout Serbia at least until Friday, February 10, among other things.
Several actions have been organized by the online community in Serbia and the region to fend off the snow and to attempt to regain a functional state in urban areas at least, such as a #lopataup (”#shovelup”), organized by one online community leader, Zoran Torbica, and other local Twitter users.
In the meantime, Al Jazeera Balkans, the recently established regional office of Al Jazeera news network in the region, has joined forces with the team from Ushahidi to set up a platform for tracking verified information on everything from road blocks, power outages to other critical points and information in the entire region. Ushahidi is an open-source platform for information collection, visualization and interactive mapping, which was also used in Serbia just after the earthquake in Kraljevo in November 2010 to map and track damage in the area.
Haris Alisic, who heads the New Media team for Al Jazeera Balkans, launched the platform on Sunday evening, and many members of the online community, including some of the region's GV authors, have joined the Al Jazeera-Ushahidi team in curating, tracking and verifying reports from the region.
The adapted Ushahidi platform can be located on Al Jazeera's official site, while reports can be sent in by anyone using the following channels:
- via SMS to +387644218661
- via Twitter by using the hashtags #kolaps #sneg #snijeg #lopataup #iskljucenje
- via email to oluja2012@aljazeera.net
- or by entering information directly into the form on the”pošaljite izvještaj” tab on the Al Jazeera page
If you would like to volunteer your time to help map critical areas and are familiar with using online tools, please contact the author of this article, or Haris Alisic via Twitter, or leave a comment here on Global Voices, and we will contact you for more information on what you can do to help. We also ask that you all begin reporting from your area on Twitter and using the above-mentioned hashtags on Twitter, which are automatically collected by the platform and then reviewed and verified by Al Jazeera and volunteers.
Bosnian men are trying to push a car away from the deep snow. Photo by Sulejman Omerbasic, copyright © Demotix (5/02/12).
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