New year in Asia-Pacific: Crackdown, state of emergency, and harsh prison convictions. Positive developments in the region such as prison releases and the outlawing of the “virginity test” were overshadowed by mass arrests in Hong Kong, an absurdly long prison term handed out to a Thai elderly woman for “insulting” the king, the silencing of journalists in Vietnam ahead of the Communist Party Congress, and the shocking acquittal of American journalist Daniel Pearl’s murderer in Pakistan. Is this trend a portent of things to come for the rest of the year? Read more
Coup and civil disobedience in Myanmar, farmers’ protests, and #MeToo victory in India. Myanmar’s coup has reversed the country’s democratic transition but citizens are pushing back through a civil disobedience movement. As farmers’ protests gain global attention, Indian authorities are clamping down on journalists and supporters of the movement. A court acquittal in India is a big victory for the #MeToo movement. A Bangladeshi writer dies in prison while a cartoonist fights for his life. Read more
Coup terror in Myanmar, impunity in Afghanistan, and uproar in Bangladesh. Violence escalates in Myanmar, but the people are fighting back. Women journalists are attacked and killed in Afghanistan. Public outrage in Bangladesh over the killing of a writer and torture of a cartoonist in prison. New laws and regulations undermine media freedom and digital rights in Malaysia and India. Read more
Leave a Reply