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Kazakhstan jails online editor for ‘spreading false information’
Kazakhstan has stepped up its campaign against independent journalists by imposing an 18-month jail sentence on the editor of Nakanune.kz, a recently closed news website. An Almaty court found Guzyal Baydalinova guilty of deliberately distributing false information on trouble at the country’s largest bank, Kazkommertsbank. The Committee to Protect Journalists has slammed the verdict and demanded Baydalinova’s release. THE GUARDIAN

Chinese blogger detained for ‘provoking trouble’
Chinese authorities should immediately release blogger and commentator Wei Manyi, the Committee to Protect Journalists said yesterday. Police have detained the blogger for almost a week on suspicion of “provoking trouble.” CPJ

Kenya: Protester killings must lead to end of police violence
For the fourth Monday running, the Opposition Coalition for Reforms and Democracy and its supporters have held demonstrations calling for the reform of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission before elections are held next year. ARTICLE 19 has documented that police used violence to disperse the demonstrators during yesterday’s protests in eight of the ten counties in which they took place. ARTICLE 19

Australian police accessed phone records of asylum whistleblower
Australian federal police (AFP) investigated an immigration detention whistleblower and accessed his phone records in part because of his criticism of the country’s asylum seeker policies. Details of the investigation have emerged after Young, who was employed by health provider International Health and Medical Services (IHMS), used the Privacy Act to request access to files held on him by the AFP. THE GUARDIAN

How India’s archaic laws have a chilling effect on dissent
India has a long list of overbroad and vague laws restricting free speech that have proved susceptible to abuse, as documented in a new report by Human Rights Watch. These laws include sedition, criminal defamation, hate speech, hurting religious sentiments, contempt of court, the Official Secrets Act, and the Information Technology Act. The country’s authorities routinely use these laws to punish and silence critics, resulting in a chilling effect on dissent. SCROLL.IN

BBC censored during Obama’s visit to Vietnam
Authorities in Vietnam ordered a British Broadcasting Corporation team to stop reporting on U.S. President Barack Obama’s three-day visit to the country, the BBC reported yesterday. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the censorship and called on Vietnam to stop harassing journalists. CPJ

Myanmar court convicts man over penis tattoo poem
A court in Myanmar has sentenced young poet Maung Saung Kha to six months in jail for defaming former president Thein Sein in a poem posted on Facebook, making him one of the first political activists sentenced since Nobel peace prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi took power in April. THE GUARDIAN