Global Protest Against The Violation of Freedom of Expression

This Thursday, June 25th, there will be a worldwide protest for the freedom of expression. The idea for this manifestation originated in Venezuela. A group of students wanted to protest Hugo Chavez’s attempts to shut down Globovision, a private Venezuelan news station. Word of the protest spread and students in over 30 different cities have begun to organize protests in their own countries, not only offering support for the Venezuelan case, but also promoting freedom of expression in general.  The logo and theme of the protest is “Un mondo sin mordaza” or “A world without gags.” The event, will take place from 12:00-2:00pm in locations around the world. Their joint declaration being:

“Freedom of speech is established as a fundamental human right and in a system of democratic government it ought to be promoted and defended by the government as well as by and the citizenry. We wish to speak out against the closing of any communication medium in whatever country. Let us join our voices that they may be heard throughout the world. Unmuzzled we speak!”

Email and facebook messages have circulating explaining Globovision’s predicament:

“Once again Venezuelans find themselves facing the potential closure of a channel Globovisión. Globovisión is the only 24 hour news channel in Venezuela, and it could be closed any minute by the government. There is no legally valid explanation. The administrative procedures taken against this channel, have been strictly political based , as it differs in opinion with the government of President Hugo Chavez. Should this station be closed, the last window for the public denouncement of human rights violations in Venezuela will close with it”

The event, will take place  tomorrow, June 25th from 12:00-2:00pm in 23 countries around the world. If you live in Washington DC, the protest will be held in front of the OAS Administrative building. For more information on this and the other cities in which  protests are taking place, visit Sin Mordaza .

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 24th, 2009 at 10:33 AM. It is filed under Europe, Global and tagged with free speech, freedom of expression, Globovision, Venezuela. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.