Global Free Speech Update

Ethiopia:  Deputy Secretary of State Jacob Lew expressed concern to Prime Minister Meles during a trip to Ethiopia about a proposed anti-terrorism law that reportedly would define criticism of the government as a "terrorist act."  Good Lord, what kind of government does that?

France:  What to do about illegal downloads?  A proposal that would have punished illegal file-sharers by blocking their access to the internet was rejected recently by the Constitutional Council.  From reports on the decision, it appears that the problem with the law was not the interference with internet access itself, but the authority conferred upon administrative agents, as opposed to a judge, to suspend service.  

Italy:  Careful what you write about.  If a new media law is passed, journalists in Italy could serve 3 years in prison and face hefty fines for writing about an on-going police investigation, publishing a related document or disclosing the contents of a leaked wire-tap.  Could be worse, though.  Publish this stuff in the Czec Republic and you could get 5 years under a law passed last February.  

Kazakhstan:  Activists are criticizing a move to categorize blogs, chat rooms and social networking sites as forms of "mass media" under a new law that would place them under arbitrary government control.  The country already lacks a free and open internet, and bloggers have been prosecuted for anti-government criticism.  President Nursultan Nazarbayev faces pressure from the OSCE to nullify the measure and align the country's laws on freedom of the press with regional standards.  Kazakhstan becomes the organization's chair in six months.

Turkey:  Laws against insulting religion, the military, and the Turkish state continue to be used as a basis for politically motivated prosecutions despite reforms to the penal code undertaken last year. By one estimate more than 70 such cases are pending.  Though imprisonment and convictions are rare, the threat of prosecution itself has a profound chilling effect on speech.  Most recently, author Nedim Gursel was charged with insulting religion in his book, The Daughters of Allah.  Charges were dismissed last week after lawyers uncovered evidence that the complainant probably never read the book.      

-Kathleen Bergin