In a new report issued by Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Burma is the worst country to be a blogger, Maung Thura as sent to prison for 59 years for posting a video after the Cyclone Nargis last year, ha? Is that a crime that deserves 59 years in prison?
4 Arab countries were among the top 10 worst countries to be a blogger, Syria, Saudi, Tunisia and Egypt, the good thing is that we’re talking about single cases, one in each country, except Tunisia is more of a warning for writers in general, no cases were reported there.
So if we are talking about one case in each country, then let’s hope it won’t happen again. Here is the list:
1. Burma
Blogger Maung Thura, popularly known as Zarganar, is serving a 59-year prison term for disseminating video footage after Cyclone Nargis in 2008.
2. Iran
Blogger Omidreza Mirsayafi, jailed for insulting the country’s religious leaders, died in Evin Prison in March under circumstances that have not been fully explained.
3. Syria
Waed al-Mhana, an advocate for endangered archaeological sites, is on trial for a posting that criticized the demolition of a market in Old Damascus.
4. Cuba
The government now jails 21 writers who were on the leading edge of online journalism in the early part of the decade. These writers, all but one of whom was jailed in 2003, phoned or faxed their material to overseas Web sites for posting.
5. Saudi Arabia
Blogger Fouad Ahmed al-Farhan was jailed without charge for several months in 2007 and 2008 for promoting reform and the release of political prisoners.
6. Vietnam
In October 2008, the Ministry of Information and Communication created a new agency tasked with monitoring the Internet.
7. Tunisia
In a March address, President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali warned writers against examining government “mistakes and violations,” saying it was “an activity that is unbecoming of our society and is not an expression of freedom or democracy.”
8. China
In 2008, the National Office for Cleaning Up Pornography and Fighting Illegal Publications announced that it had removed more than 200 million “harmful” online items during the prior year.
9. Turkmenistan
Turkmentelecom, the state Internet service provider, routinely blocks access to dissident and opposition sites, while it monitors e-mail accounts registered with Gmail, Yahoo, and Hotmail.
10. Egypt
Blogger Abdel Karim Suleiman, known online as Karim Amer, is serving a four-year prison term on charges of insulting Islam and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
