Update:
For new visitors who want to know more about what’s going on in Central Asia right now, check out our Kyrgyzstan and democracy archives. For my take on the odds (pretty darn long, but not impossible) of a democratic revolution in Kyrgyzstan after the vote on February 27, check out this post. Pictures of recent protests in Kyrgyzstan can be found here.
This post was written by...
Nathan Hamm – author of 2039 posts on Registan.net.
Nathan founded Registan.net in 2003. He was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Uzbekistan 2000-2001 and received his MA in Central Asian Studies from the University of Washington in 2007. Since 2007, he has worked full-time as an analyst, consulting with clients on Central Asian affairs, specializing in how socio-cultural factors shape risks and opportunities. Follow him on Twitter or drop him a line.
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Cool.
Very.
I’ve been labeled as something of an optimist about the chances for democracy in Central Asia. I’m not, but it’s things like this that remind me that there’s hope.
Interesting that you aren’t seeing anywhere that in Cambodia, the leading opponent of the group in power, Sam Rainsy, and two companions, having accused the existing powers of plotting their overthrow, are now subject to prosecution as the assembly has voted to suspend the existing immunity from prosecution of members of the assembly who speak on the floor of the assembly.
“The Cambodian National Assembly on Thursday stripped the parliamentary immunity of opposition leader Sam Rainsy and two other members of his party, Chea Poch and Cheam Channy. Sam Rainsy had left the country while Cheam Channy was arrested and taken to a military court after being accused of building an army as part of a coup plot, which analysts in Phnom Penh have dismissed as extremely unlikely.”
Our State Department has protested. Where is MSM these days, and where is the interest in freedoms?
Excellent and superb! Now, if only house-arrested Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi can rally the people to overthrow the military junta in Burma – err, Myanmar.