Women activists in Stockholm, Sweden bared their breasts to denounce Iran and its practice under Sharia Law of forcing women to wear the hijab — the veil covering the faces of Muslim women. Looks like the protest tactics first employed by Femen are gaining new adherents worldwide. Now, this is a movement we could get behind. H/T Blazing Cat Fur
The murder of Tunisia’s opposition leader has triggered widespread protests and prompted the prime minister to form a new government. The prime minister announced an interim cabinet of technocrats would replace his Islamist-led coalition. The gunning down of Chokri Belaid led to the shakeup.
A brutal rape and murder have turned the spotlight on a corrupt judicial system in India that tolerates widespread violence against women. The government is weighing several possible solutions, ranging from hiring undercover female police detectives to enforced castration for convicted rapists. H/T Next Media Animation
Women in India vandalized a Mumbai bar that decided it was chic to sell customers a drink called “The Rapist.” The women tore up menus, trashed chairs and tables, and roughed up a bartender. The issues of rape and sexual harassment have turned explosive in the wake of the death of a woman gang-raped on a bus in India.
Iraq’s Sunni minority, who controlled the country before the US invasion, are once again flexing their muscles seeking a greater share of political power. Gunfire has wounded at least two people at a demonstration in Iraq’s Sunni-dominated western province of Anbar. Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlaq traveled to the region in an attempt to defuse sectarian tensions.
For a second consecutive day, India was gripped by protests over widespread violence and abuse against women in the country, sparked by a vicious gang-rape incident on a bus. The rallies continued despite a government-imposed ban on gatherings of five or more people. Police blasted the protesters with water hoses to try to cool down tempers.
Femen protesters Saturday staged an all-nude protest in the snow outside the Egyptian embassy in Sweden to oppose the new constitution paving the way for Sharia law in Egypt. Aliaa Magda Elmahdy, an Egyptian blogger, joined Femen protesters from Ukraine at the event. Elmahdy immediately received a torrent of death threats. (NSFW)
Sergei Udaltsov, leader of the Left Front in Russia, has been arrested and charged with plotting violent riots in collusion with foreign agents. The 35-year-old Udaltsov played a central role in organizing street demonstrations last December protesting against rigged parliamentary elections. He also was briefly detained this spring when he spoke out against the Pussy Riot trial as an example of kangaroo justice.
The current charges leveled against him are much more serious, carrying a potential jail sentence of up to 10 years in prison. He and two other activists were charged based on allegations raised in a documentary film that aired Oct. 5 on a Russian TV station. Udaltsov has denied the charges, viewed as part of a broader government crackdown against the Left Front protesters.
When activists dropped parachuting teddy bears with pro-democracy slogans on Belarus, what’s dubbed Europe’s last dictatorship went to great lengths to silence the protest. The regime initially denied the airdrop had occurred, then jailed a journalist from Belarus who published photos of the teddies on a website. The incident even provoked a full-scale diplomatic rift between Belarus and Sweden, the home of the “Teddy Bear” activists.
Amos Roberts from SBS Dateline reports from Sweden and Belarus. Detained at the border upon trying to leave Belarus, Roberts had to secretly smuggle this footage out of the country.
