InfoAnda - In Arab Spring chill, UAE puts bloggers on trial

Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case
Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They

Taiwan denies boycotting Australian film festival
Thursday, August 6, 2009

AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e

Merkel's support dips, regional ally resigns International
Thursday, September 3, 2009

By Sarah Marsh and Noah Barkin

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German

Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who

Asian markets mixed after Wall Street rally
Wednesday, March 18, 2009

By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an

3 dead after Amtrak train hits vehicle in Illinois | 14 July 2009
Pakistan peace deal under fire amid attacks | 5 May 2009
Unhappy people watch more TV: study | Entertainment | | 18 November 2008

Somalis hijack grain ship, take Spaniards hostage | International | | 6 November 2009

Advertisement In Arab Spring chill, UAE puts bloggers on trial Source: (TML) Reporter: TML Staff Location: United Arab Emirates Published: June 19, 2011 12:05 pm EDT Topics: Crime, Law And Justice, Trials, Politics, Freedom Of The Press, Social Issue The Gulf sheikhdoms have stayed aloof of Arab Spring turmoil because they are prosperous, generally well-run countries, whose conservative societies are loyal to their traditional leaders. But at the trial of five bloggers from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), charged with endangering the country’s security and undermining public order demonstrates, a tight lid on political activity also plays an important role in keeping the peace. The trial of the five opened last week to virtually no notice in the local press and is scheduled to resume in July. “The leadership has very strong views on how to deal with any kind of Arab Spring activity in the country and nip it in the bud,” said Christopher Davidson, who teaches Middle East politics at Durham University and follows human rights issues in the Gulf. “They arrested a cross section of the opposition … and they gave a very strong message that no one is above the law. It’s had a chilling effect and has really frightened people.” The UAE – a confederation of seven states including Dubai and Abu Dhabi – is best known for its glittering skylines and immense economic and cultural ambitions. It’s home to the world’s tallest skyscraper, branches of some of the world’s great universities and museums, and a seven-star hotel. But none of the emirates is ruled democratically, and Freedom House ranks the UAE among the world’s “not free” countries. Political parties are banned, public meetings can only be held with government permission and journalists routinely self-censor their stories, the Washington-based organization said in its 2011 report. The five were arrested in April and have been held in “preventive custody” since then. They are being subject to a trial behind closed doors. As the proceedings got underway last Tuesday in Abu Dhabi Federal Supreme Court, a band of demonstrators gathered outside – not to support the dissidents but to declare their fealty to the government. “We are the happiest people on earth,” the poet Mohammad Hamas Al-Mazroui, was quoted as saying by The Gulf News, expressing amazement that any Emirati would be calling for change. The five include Ahmad Mansoor, a member of the advisory committee of New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW), and Nasser Ahmad Khalfan Bin Gaith, who lectures on economics at the Abu Dhabi branch of the Sorbonne and has criticized the government for failing to undertake political reform. The others are bloggers Fahd Salem Dalk, Hassan Ali Al-Khamis and Ahmad Abdul Khaleq Ahmad. The one thing the five share is that they were among scores of people to sign a petition in March calling for constitutional and parliamentary changes. “UAE rulers are prosecuting these activists solely for advocating democratic reform,” Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director for HRW, said a day after the trial opened. In fact, the petition they signed is a respectful document, whose signers calls themselves “sons of the UAE” and refers to the ruler with honorifics. It contains two proposals – to expand the franchise for voting in the Federal National Council (FNC) to all citizens and empower it with the right to legislate. In the last election for the FNC five years ago, fewer than 7,000 Emiratis out of a native population of some 800,000 were entitled to vote. The number will grow in this year’s election, but only to 80,000. Both voters and candidates are handpicked by the seven emirates' rulers and the FNC’s powers are restricted to advising the UAE’s hereditary rulers. “These are not radicals …but they do represent a large number of people in the country who think along the same lines. People who are dissatisfied with things have no voice other than the Internet,” Davidson told The Media Line. “You can criticize more or less anything as long as it doesn’t include the rulers of Dubai and Abu Dhabi.” The expanded FNC franchise is among a package of pro-democracy gestures as anti-government protests erupted across the Middle East, reaching as far as Bahrain, an island kingdom some 480 kilometers (300 miles) away from the UAE. That rebellion was put down by troops from Saudi Arabia and the UAE, but the crackdown on dissidents has done damage to Bahrain’s role as a financial and tourism center. But for the most part, the Emirates have responded to the Arab Spring with tighter controls. Indeed, Monsoor’s Twitter feeds in the moments leading up to his arrest are redolent of regimes like Syria and Libya. “The security guard of my building came now to my house 3:50 am saying there are 3 policemen waiting for you downstairs,” he writes in an April 8 posting. The officers say they are impounding his car but want him to be present while they take it away. He refused. A little later, he wrote, “They do not seem to have an arrest warrant and they want to take me in. It should be done the right way. I'm not going out to them.” “Waiting and seeing what they are going to do next,” he tweets and, finally, “I'm home writing some e-mails.” In the weeks after the arrests, officials dissolved the boards of the Jurist Association and the Teachers Association, replacing them with state appointees, according to HRW. They were among four organizations that had signed an appeal for greater democracy. Although the UAE boasts1.2 million Facebook users, social networking forums are filtered by the government, according to Reporters Without Borders, the Paris-based media-freedom organization. The filtering systems not only bar pornography but political dissent, “non-orthodox” views on Islam and critiques of economic policy, which has emerged since as a sensitive issue after Dubai’s real estate boom collapsed in 2008. Expatriates comprise close to 90 percent of the UAE’s population, but Davidson says that rather than being a force for change, most prefer the status quo that ensures stability and prosperity. Republish Email Facebook Digg Twitter Buzz Up! Share Copyright © 2011 TML - All rights reserved.Content including text, photos, videos, audio, graphics and logos may not be used for commercial purposes, reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium without permission and license from CNS. [ Close ] When publishing articles from AHN we require that you follow several simple rules and that you abide by our Terms and Conditions. You may: Use and display the provided article text on a website or blog. Under the following conditions: You may not republish the article(s) wholesale, automatically or systematically; articles must be republished individually. You may not sell license or redistribute the content without specific permission. Email us if you’d like to. You must display and attribute the article in the manner specified by AHN (but not in any way that suggests that we endorse you or your use of the work). You may not remove ads, logos or tracking information from the article. You may display the article on a website, but you may not use the article for any other commercial purposes. You may not alter, rewrite, transform, or build upon the article. You may only use provided the javascript code to request the article from our systems. Copy and paste the following into your blog entry or the HTML on your page. It will automatically deliver the article as the page loads. <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.allheadlinenews.com//syndicator?storyid=7020884860"></script> << Return to script page License THE WORK (AS DEFINED BELOW) IS PROVIDED UNDER THE TERMS OF THIS LICENSE ("LICENSE"). THE WORK IS PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT AND/OR OTHER APPLICABLE LAW. ANY USE OF THE WORK OTHER THAN AS AUTHORIZED UNDER THIS LICENSE OR COPYRIGHT LAW IS PROHIBITED. BY EXERCISING ANY RIGHTS TO THE WORK PROVIDED HERE, YOU ACCEPT AND AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THE TERMS OF THIS LICENSE. TO THE EXTENT THIS LICENSE MAY BE CONSIDERED TO BE A CONTRACT, THE LICENSOR GRANTS YOU THE RIGHTS CONTAINED HERE IN CONSIDERATION OF YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF SUCH TERMS AND CONDITIONS. 1. Definitions "Collective Work" means a work, such as a periodical issue, anthology or encyclopedia, in which the Work in its entirety in unmodified form, along with one or more other contributions, constituting separate and independent works in themselves, are assembled into a collective whole. A work that constitutes a Collective Work will not be considered a Derivative Work (as defined below) for the purposes of this License. "Derivative Work" means a work based upon the Work or upon the Work and other pre-existing works, such as a translation, musical arrangement, dramatization, fictionalization, motion picture version, sound recording, art reproduction, abridgment, condensation, or any other form in which the Work may be recast, transformed, or adapted, except that a work that constitutes a Collective Work will not be considered a Derivative Work for the purpose of this License. For the avoidance of doubt, where the Work is a musical composition or sound recording, the synchronization of the Work in timed-relation with a moving image ("synching") will be considered a Derivative Work for the purpose of this License. "Licensor" means the individual, individuals, entity or entities that offers the Work under the terms of this License. "Original Author" means the individual, individuals, entity or entities who created the Work. "Work" means the copyrightable work of authorship offered under the terms of this License. "You" means an individual or entity exercising rights under this License who has not previously violated the terms of this License with respect to the Work, or who has received express permission from the Licensor to exercise rights under this License despite a previous violation. 2. Fair Use Rights. Nothing in this license is intended to reduce, limit, or restrict any rights arising from fair use, first sale or other limitations on the exclusive rights of the copyright owner under copyright law or other applicable laws. 3. License Grant. Subject to the terms and conditions of this License, Licensor hereby grants You a worldwide, non-exclusive, revocable (for the duration of the applicable copyright) license to exercise the rights in the Work as stated below: to reproduce the Work, to incorporate the Work into one or more Collective Works; The above rights may be exercised on freely and openly accessible web media formats . The above rights include the right to make such modifications as are technically necessary to exercise the rights in other media and formats, but otherwise you have no rights to make any alterations or Derivative Works. All rights not expressly granted by Licensor are hereby reserved, including but not limited to the rights set forth in Sections 4(d) and 4(e). 4. Restrictions.The license granted in Section 3 above is expressly made subject to and limited by the following restrictions: You may publicly display the Work only under the terms of this License, and You must include a copy of, or the Uniform Resource Identifier for, this License with every copy of the Work You publicly display. You may not offer or impose any terms on the Work that restrict the terms of this License or the ability of a recipient of the Work to exercise the rights granted to that recipient under the terms of the License. You may not sublicense the Work. You must keep intact all notices that refer to this License and to the disclaimer of warranties. When You publicly display the Work, You may not impose any technological measures on the Work that restrict the ability of a recipient of the Work from You to exercise the rights granted to that recipient under the terms of the License. This Section 4(a) applies to the Work as incorporated in a Collective Work, but this does not require the Collective Work apart from the Work itself to be made subject to the terms of this License. If You create a Collective Work, upon notice from any Licensor You must, to the extent practicable, remove from the Collective Work any credit as required by Section 4(c), as demanded. You may not exercise any of the rights granted to You in Section 3 above in any manner that is primarily intended for or directed toward commercial advantage or private monetary compensation. The exchange of the Work for other copyrighted works by means of digital file-sharing or otherwise shall not be considered to be intended for or directed toward commercial advantage or private monetary compensation, provided there is no payment of any monetary compensation in connection with the exchange of copyrighted works. If You publicly display the Work (as defined in Section 1 above) or Collective Works (as defined in Section 1 above), You must, unless a request has been made pursuant to Section 4(a), keep intact all copyright notices for the Work and provide, reasonable to the medium or means You are utilizing: (i) the name of the Original Author (or pseudonym, if applicable) if supplied, and/or (ii) if the Original Author and/or Licensor designate another party or parties (e.g. a sponsor institute, publishing entity, journal) for attribution ("Attribution Parties") in Licensor's copyright notice, terms of service or by other reasonable means, the name of such party or parties; the title of the Work if supplied; to the extent reasonably practicable, the Uniform Resource Identifier, if any, that Licensor specifies to be associated with the Work, unless such URI does not refer to the copyright notice or licensing information for the Work. The credit required by this Section 4(c) may be implemented in any reasonable manner; provided, however, that in the case of a Collective Work, at a minimum such credit will appear, if a credit for all contributing authors of the Collective Work appears, then as part of these credits and in a manner at least as prominent as the credits for the other contributing authors. For the avoidance of doubt, You may only use the credit required by this clause for the purpose of attribution in the manner set out above and, by exercising Your rights under this License, You may not implicitly or explicitly assert or imply any connection with, sponsorship or endorsement by the Original Author, Licensor and/or Attribution Parties, as appropriate, of You or Your use of the Work, without the separate, express prior written permission of the Original Author, Licensor and/or Attribution Parties. 5. Representations, Warranties and Disclaimer UNLESS OTHERWISE MUTUALLY AGREED TO BY THE PARTIES IN WRITING, LICENSOR OFFERS THE WORK AS-IS AND ONLY TO THE EXTENT OF ANY RIGHTS HELD IN THE LICENSED WORK BY THE LICENSOR. THE LICENSOR MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND CONCERNING THE WORK, EXPRESS, IMPLIED, STATUTORY OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, WARRANTIES OF TITLE, MARKETABILITY, MERCHANTIBILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NONINFRINGEMENT, OR THE ABSENCE OF LATENT OR OTHER DEFECTS, ACCURACY, OR THE PRESENCE OF ABSENCE OF ERRORS, WHETHER OR NOT DISCOVERABLE. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES, SO SUCH EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. 6. Limitation on Liability. EXCEPT TO THE EXTENT REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT WILL LICENSOR BE LIABLE TO YOU ON ANY LEGAL THEORY FOR ANY SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THIS LICENSE OR THE USE OF THE WORK, EVEN IF LICENSOR HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. 7. Termination This License and the rights granted hereunder will terminate automatically upon any breach by You of the terms of this License. Individuals or entities who have received Collective Works (as defined in Section 1 above) from You under this License, however, will not have their licenses terminated provided such individuals or entities remain in full compliance with those licenses. Sections 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, and 8 will survive any termination of this License. Subject to the above terms and conditions, the license granted here is perpetual (for the duration of the applicable copyright in the Work). Notwithstanding the above, Licensor reserves the right to release the Work under different license terms or to stop distributing the Work at any time; provided, however that any such election will not serve to withdraw this License (or any other license that has been, or is required to be, granted under the terms of this License), and this License will continue in full force and effect unless terminated as stated above. 8. Miscellaneous Each time You distribute or publicly digitally perform the Work (as defined in Section 1 above) or a Collective Work (as defined in Section 1 above), the Licensor offers to the recipient a license to the Work on the same terms and conditions as the license granted to You under this License. If any provision of this License is invalid or unenforceable under applicable law, it shall not affect the validity or enforceability of the remainder of the terms of this License, and without further action by the parties to this agreement, such provision shall be reformed to the minimum extent necessary to make such provision valid and enforceable. No term or provision of this License shall be deemed waived and no breach consented to unless such waiver or consent shall be in writing and signed by the party to be charged with such waiver or consent. This License constitutes the entire agreement between the parties with respect to the Work licensed here. There are no understandings, agreements or representations with respect to the Work not specified here. Licensor shall not be bound by any additional provisions that may appear in any communication from You. This License may not be modified without the mutual written agreement of the Licensor and You. There are no third-party beneficiaries to this Licesnse. You waive any right to jury trial in connection with any action or litigation in any way arising out of or related to this License. You agree to pay all reasonable attorney fees and other costs incurred by Your breach of this license. This agreement will be governed and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Florida without regard to its conflicts of law provisions. You agree to submit to the personal jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in Palm Beach County in the State of Florida, and any cause of action which arise from use of this web site or from interpretation of these terms and conditions must be filed in the state and federal courts located in Palm Beach County, State of Florida. If any provision of this agreement shall be unlawful, void, or for any reason unenforceable, then that provision shall be deemed severable from this agreement and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions. Any remaining provisions shall be given effect to the fullest extent possible. Need more news? visit FeedSyndicate for all of your content needs This is a BETA service and subject to change or cancellation. Most Popular Stories Scarlett Johansson hurt by soon-to-be ex-husband Ryan Reynold's rumored romance with Sandra Bullock Drug cartel murders hurting Acapulco's tourist industry Cuba registering first lung cancer vaccine in South America Britney Spears Single "Hold It Against Me" #1 On iTunes Everywhere CBS analyst David Feherty joins The Golf Channel Mass turtle dove death linked to overeating, indigestion Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes to skip Oscars because of Anne Hathaway Owen Wilson and girlfriend Jade Duell expecting a baby LSU football coach Les Miles mulls Michigan move, returns to Tigers Rugby Board head assures success in next year's World Cup Recent Posts Most Popular Comments Recent Comments Popular Threads Advertisement Advertisement [ CLOSE ] --> [ CLOSE ] [ CLOSE ] [ CLOSE ] Submit News | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Contact Us | News and Content Feeds | Journalism Jobs Follow AHN on Twitter AHN Social News connects you with friends and the news © 2011 AHN All Rights Reserved | Hosted on the NewsBahn™

Other News on Monday, 20 June 2011
Syrian forces prevent refugees fleeing to Turkey |
Family of 3, friend killed in small plane crash
U.S., Afghanistan confirm peace talks with Taliban
Israel asks U.S. to let spy out of jail for funeral |
South Korean marines shoot at passenger plane
Iraq hunting $17 billion missing after U.S. invasion |
Ailing BoSox: Crawford goes on DL with hamstring strain; Buchholz shut down
Mexico into Gold Cup semis vs. Honduras; U.S. plays Jamaica in quarters
Marlins manager Edwin Rodriguez resigns as team sputters
Tiki Barber reveals bout with depression after retirement; excited about comeback
Yemenis look to tribes as force for change
In Arab Spring chill, UAE puts bloggers on trial
Hamas leader urges Fatah to abandon West
Green Lantern falls short at box office |
Amy Winehouse cancels shows after Belgrade blunder |
NATO admits Libya air strike led to civilian deaths |
Japan PM may set conditions for resignation on Monday: report |
Kevin VanDam wins record Angler of Year Award
Assad to address Syria as his troops block refugees |
Chappel, Garrigus lead Americans at Rory's U.S. Open
Stats interesting! Flames add research whiz to coaching staff
Miguel Cairo homer prevents Reds from being swept by Jays
Pennington moves to booth for 2011 season
Thousands protest in Morocco for more reform |
Analysis: Thai army takes sides as divisive election nears |
Albert Pujols hurts wrist in Cards win over Royals
Colombia car bomb wounds 17, calamity averted |
Music promoter kidnapped, robbed over Shaq’s sex tapes
Rory's Rampage: McIlroy shoots 16-under, mauls field, crushes Congressional at 111th U.S. Open
Tribe fires hitting coach Nunnally
Refugees on rise and poor countries bear brunt: UNHCR |
Virginia rallies late to hold off California at the CWS
Not only .coms as Internet body throws open domain |
Sega Sammy shares fall after cyber attack |
Panasonic forecasts 11 percent drop in full-year profit |
Softbank CEO sees Alipay agreement with Alibaba soon |
Miss California, a history buff, named Miss USA |
Marilyn Monroe subway dress sells for $4.6 million |
Amy Winehouse cancels shows after Belgrade blunder |
Bold and Beautiful top drama at Daytime Emmy awards |
Noah Wyle chooses sci-fi series for TV comeback |
Springsteen saxophonist Clarence Clemons dies |
Tunisia's Ben Ali says he was tricked into leaving |
Egypt's ex-president Mubarak has cancer: lawyer |
U.S. urges swift implementation of Sudan Abyei deal |
Pakistan militants force girl to wear suicide vest |
Egypt army web page tests presidential hopefuls |
Special Report: India's food chain in deep change |
Senegalese rappers shaking up youth ahead of polls |
Michael Bay says Megan Fox fired from 'Transformers' for 'Hitler' comments
NFL owners appear set on implementing rookie wage scale
Trader Back: Jack McKeon returning to manage Marlins
Somali power struggle could intensify as premier quits
Militias and the displaced
Lebanon’s opposition feeling threatened
'Jackass' star Ryan Dunn dies in car crash
Same-sex marriage vote expected in New York Senate
Al-Assad admits opposition has legitimate grievances
Gas deal with U.S. energy firm sparks protest in Bangladesh
Sega says 1.3 million users affected by cyber attack |
Google signs up British Library to books project |
China's Huawei storms into tablet PC sector |
Demand for video driving mobile data traffic: report |
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights

USD EUR - 1 year graph		BlogMeter 1.01