Internet increasingly the target of government repression

[tommcintyre]

(I expect this knd of thing will only increase, since the internet gives the power back to the people. If Bush is re-elected, I wouldn't be surprised to see more veiled attempts to suppress US web users, since this is how we get the "real" news.)

http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=11732

Reporters Without Borders today condemned an increase in the harassment of online publications and journalists in recent months in Ukraine, including the use of searches and lawsuits. "These intimidation attempts are particularly dangerous as they come just days before the presidential election," the organisation said.

On 18 October, police searched the second home near the eastern town of Kharkiv of Natalia Stativko, editor of the online magazine Obiektiv-No (http://news.media-objectiv.com). Stativko asked the local prosecutor's office for an explanation two days later, and reported the search to the Kharkiv Law Enforcement group (KLEG), a regional human rights group, which said it was illegal.

Stativko said the search was linked to her work as a journalist and to the presidential election. Two weeks before, she spoke at a meeting of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), denouncing violations of free expression in Ukraine.

Claiming to be looking for explosives, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) raided the home of Mikhaylo Svistovich at Irpin (near Kiev) on 22 October. Aged 35, Svistovich runs the opposition website Maidan (www.maidan.org.ua) and belongs to Pora, a militant opposition group whose members are often harassed by the authorities. He was interrogated at SBU headquarters the same day but was not charged.