Anti-corruption activists on trial in China

A Chinese anti-corruption campaigner has gone on trial in Beijing, according to his lawyer, joining two others who appeared in court this week as China's government cracks down on activists.

Zhao Changqing, 45, faces a possible five-year prison sentence for supporting activists who unveiled banners in Beijing calling for government officials to disclose their assets - despite not being present, Zhang Peihong, his lawyer, said on Thursday. Zhao is associated with the New Citizens Movement, a loose-knit network of campaigners against corruption, among other issues. China jailed a founder of the movement in January, and more than 10 other members have been tried.

Zhao pleaded not guilty to a charge of "gathering a crowd to disrupt public order" for his alleged involvement in three small-scale protests in Beijing, which saw activists unfurl banners, Zhang said. "[Zhao] didn't disturb public order in any way, he didn't even appear on the scene of the protests, because he was worried about his family," he said, adding that the hearing lasted around three hours.

Fellow anti-corruption activists Ding Jiaxi and Li Wei were also put on trial this week over the protests. China's ruling Communist Party is in the midst of a highly-publicised anti-corruption campaign, which President Xi Jinping has pledged will target both high-ranking "tigers" and low-level "flies" in the face of public anger over the issue.

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Tank Man

Tank Man is the nickname of an anonymous man who stood in front of a column of Chinese Type 59 tanks the morning after the Chinese military forcibly removed protestors from in and around Beijing's Tiananmen Square on June 5, 1989. The man achieved widespread international recognition due to the videotape and photographs taken of the incident.

Wikipedia

The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, also known as the June Fourth Incident in Chinese, were a series of popular demonstrations in and near Tiananmen Square in Beijing beginning on 15 April 1989. The protests ended with military suppression on 4 June.

In the late 1970s, the Chinese leadership of Deng Xiaoping abandoned Maoist-style planned collectivist economics, and embraced market-oriented reforms. Due to the rapid pace of change, by the late 1980s, grievances over inflation, limited career prospects for students, and corruption of the party elite were growing rapidly. Communist governments were also losing legitimacy around the world, particularly in Eastern Europe. In April 1989, triggered by the death of deposed Communist Party General Secretary Hu Yaobang, a liberal reformer, mass gatherings and protests took place in and around Tiananmen Square. At its height, some half a million protesters assembled there. The largely student-run demonstrations called for continued economic reform, freedom of the press, accountability from officials, and political liberalization. Peaceful protests also occurred in other cities, such as Shanghai and Wuhan, while looting and rioting broke out in Xi'an and Changsha.

Wikipedia

Opposition crackdown in Moscow

A wave of police raids searching through the homes of opposition figures has been taking place in about 10 different locations in Moscow. Police say they are investigating acts of violence that took place on the eve of President Putin’s inauguration on May 7th.

“The police are doing this not only to crack down ahead of Tuesday’s demo, but also to “calm” opponents and discourage them from taking action by searching them and their homes. We don’t know what will happen subsequently,” said lawyer Vadim Prokhorov.

The raids are just the latest example of how the authorities are cracking down on protest. Last week a bill massively increasing fines for those found guilty of illegal demonstrations or accused of violence during them came into law, and leaders due to lead tomorrow’s march now have to report in to police stations, lessening their effectiveness.

euronews

Sarkozy crackdown on 'radical Islamists': A campaign move?

French police commandos arrested 19 people suspected of radical Islamist activity in Friday morning raids in several cities including Toulouse, scene of the killings of seven people by an Al Qaeda-inspired gunman earlier this month.

President Nicolas Sarkozy, who is waging an uphill battle for re-election, said more raids would follow. "There will be further operations, allowing us to expel a number of people who have no business in the country," he said in an interview on Europe 1 radio.

Gunman Mohamed Merah was killed by police snipers just over a week ago after shooting dead three Jewish school children, a rabbi and three soldiers in attacks around Toulouse, turning internal security into a bigger campaign issue ahead of the presidential election.

CSMonitor.com

Was Megaupload Targeted Because Of Its Upcoming Megabox Digital Jukebox Service?

The internet is up in arms over the federal crackdown of file-sharing website Megaupload, from irate blog posts to coordinated digital attacks on secure government servers. The move appeared to be a sort of governmental muscle flexing in the wake of the successful internet protest of SOPA and PIPA. But was there another reason? In the weeks before the crackdown, Megaupload was planning on launching a new music sharing website called Megabox that looked like it had the potential to completely transform music distribution, and even find a way to pay musicians in the process. (Forbes)

Last Thursday the US Justice Department came down hard on Megaupload and its mega founder, Kim Dotcom. In the days since, there has been a shake-up of sorts in the digital storage realm. Several smaller sites have drastically changed their business models. Others, like MediaFire, reached out after this post was published attempting to distance themselves from Megaupload.

However, yesterday, a new theory surfaced that indicates Megaupload’s demise had less to do with piracy than previously thought. This theory stems from a 2011 article detailing Megaupload’s upcoming Megabox music store and DIY artist distribution service that would have completely disrupted the music industry.

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Chinese activist jailed for nine years for 'subversive writing'

A Chinese court has sentenced a veteran democracy activist to nine years' imprisonment for inciting subversion, in what appears to be the most severe punishment handed down in a crackdown on dissent this year.

Chen Wei was convicted of incitement to subversion over four essays he wrote and published online, according to one of his lawyers. He was detained in February amid an extensive government crackdown in response to anonymous online calls urging Chinese to imitate protests in North Africa and the Middle East.

Attorney Liang Xiaojun said the trial at a court in the city of Suining in south-west China lasted about two and a half hours and the sentence was handed down 30 minutes after the trial concluded.

"We pleaded not guilty. He only wrote a few essays. We presented a full defence of the case, but we were interrupted often, and none of what we said was accepted by the court," Liang said. Liang said that after the sentence was handed down, Chen said: "I protest, I am innocent. The governance of democracy must win, autocracy must die."

The Guardian

Hundreds Of Secret Hospitals Treating Injured Protesters In Syria

Hundreds of secret hospitals are operating underground in Syria, treating injured protesters and opposition members, as a brutal crackdown against pro-democracy demonstrators by President Bashar al-Assad's regime enters its eighth month.

Those doctors who agree to treat protesters are themselves being targeted by the regime, and face arrest, torture and even death if they are discovered, a new documentary to be broadcast by Channel 4 reveals.

'Unreported World: Undercover Syria' also shows that the regime is facing a growing number of military defections, as groups of armed soldiers refuse to fire on civilians and join the opposition, leading to a rising tide of violent clashes in what has until now been a peaceful, although brutally repressed, opposition movement.

Huffingtonpost.co.uk

Deadly Syrian crackdown continues

Syrian forces have killed nearly 142 people, including at least 100 when the army stormed the flashpoint protest city of Hama to crush dissent on the eve of Ramadan, political activists say.

A witness in Deir ez-Zor told Al Jazeera that government forces launched fresh attacks on the town early on Monday morning. "Military forces stormed the city from the west side and 25 people are killed and more than 65 injured," the witness said. "Artillery and anti-aircraft weapons are being used. The situation in the city is very bad, and medical and food supplies are low."

Deir ez-Zor, Syria's main gas and oil-production hub in the east, has become a rallying point for protests along with Hama. Sunday's attack on Hama was one of the "deadliest days" since the protests erupted, Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said

More on Al Jazeera

Belarus cracks down on growing protests

Belarus security services detained at least 450 protesters in the wake of rallies across the country against the strong-armed measures of President Alexander Lukashenko.

Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko is making good on his promise to "strike hard" against any Belarussian citizens heeding social-network appeals to protest against growing economic hardships. By Thursday, more than 450 people who took part in flash-mob rallies in more than 30 towns around Belarus had been rounded up by the KGB security services, and accused of using Twitter, Facebook, and the Russian-language Vkontakte to facilitate illegal gatherings, according to the independent Belapan news agency. According to the agency, many face up to 15 days in prison for "hooliganism."

More on CSMonitor.com

Bahrain activists jailed for life

Bahrain has sentenced eight prominent activists to life in prison for plotting a coup during protests that rocked the Sunni-ruled Gulf island kingdom earlier this year.

The court on Wednesday also sentenced other defendants, from among the 21 suspects on trial, to between two and five years in jail. The Bahrain News Agency says the life sentences were issued against prominent Shia political leader Hassan Mushaima; activists Abdulhady al-Khawaja, Abduljalil Al Singace and five others. Mushaima returned to Bahrain in February, from self-imposed exile in the UK after authorities dropped charges against him.

Ibrahim Sharif, the Sunni leader of the secular leftist group Waad, was sentenced to five years. Waad had joined the largest Shia opposition group Wefaq in calling for reforms to the constitutional monarchy. Authorities claimed the activists had sought to overthrow Bahrain's Sunni monarchy and have links to "a terrorist organisation abroad" - a veiled reference to Iran.

Al Jazeera

Brutal Crackdown in Georgia

Mass sackings in Bahrain crackdown

More than 2,000 private sector employees, most of them Shia, have either been sacked or suspended in an expanding Bahraini crackdown on anti-government protests, an Al Jazeera investigation has found.

The General Federation of Bahrain's Trade Unions puts the figure of those who have been fired at 1,300, with Bahraini rights groups reporting that hundreds more have been suspended from their government jobs. The International Labour Organisation says that the number of people dismissed or suspended currently stands at over 2,000.

Al Jazeera spoke to a number of people who had been fired in recent weeks. They spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing government reprisals.

One man said that lawyers asked him questions related to anti-government protests the day he was fired. "He kept asking if I went to the Pearl Roundabout, if I went to the protests. If I met any of the opposition leaders. If I was a member of any political societies. If I made donations to the protesters. These questions were repeated again and again," he said. Another man who lost his job told Al Jazeera that he was struggling to support his family. He said that the mass dismissals were completely unexpected. "We have never faced this before. We have no idea how to deal with it. We are waiting for news from the company. Will they let us back? Will i be compensated?" he asked.

Full article on Al Jazeera

Also read: 'US supports crackdown in Bahrain' on Press TV (with video)

Massive Government Crackdown in Belarus

The Belarusian authorities arbitrarily detained and abused hundreds of people following a rally protesting President Aliaksandr Lukashenka's re-election on December 19, 2010, and have since carried out a campaign to stifle civil society and free expression across the country, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today.

The 31-page report, "Shattering Hopes: Post-Election Crackdown in Belarus," documents the human rights violations that have occurred since the election - including persecution of opposition candidates and activists, abuse of detainees, trials behind closed doors, and raids on human rights organizations. The report also details allegations of extremely poor conditions in detention, denial of access to defence counsel, and government pressure on lawyers representing those facing criminal charges related to the post-election protest.

"For well over a decade the Belarusian government has steadily tightened its grip on civil society," said Anna Sevortian, Russia director at Human Rights Watch. "Now, the new wave of persecution is a crisis that requires a strong UN response."

Human Rights Watch - Office for a democratic Belarus - Free Belarus!

The Guardian: Belarus protests: more than 600 charged and opposition leaders in jail