Kazakh Net Activist Makes a Stand

I've just watched a young Kazakh activist for Internet freedom make a spirited intervention during a session on blogging at today's Eurasian Media Forum in Almaty. Yevgenia Plakhina (pictured on the right of this photo) stood up in front of the conference organiser (who is also the president's daughter and a media magnate here in Kazakhstan) to say that six other activists had just been arrested for protesting against a proposed new law which they allege will place harsh restrictions on internet journalists and bloggers and allow the government to potentially block access to local and foreign websites on political grounds. They're appealing for international support for their campaign, For A Free Internet, although their leaflet doesn't offer a website address.