On June 19, 2016, Francisco Pancho Marquez Lara and Gabriel San Miguel, two Venezuelan activists, were arrested during a traffic stop by the Venezuelan National Guard on charges of having “opposition paraphernalia” in their car. Both are members of Venezuela’s opposition party, Voluntad Popular, and were traveling to the rural state of Portuguesa…
On May 27, 2016, Chinese authorities detained seven activists in Beijing, and the Sichuan Province, after a photograph was posted online showing six of them calling for the commemoration of Tiananmen Massacre, as well as the release of political prisoners Guo Feixiong (郭飞雄), and the detained Yu Shiwen (于世文). Three other activists were detained in…
The World Movement For Democracy (WMD) is pleased to be celebrating the release of an Azeri investigative journalist, Khadija Ismayilova, and prominent Bahraini activist, Zainab Al-Khawaja. Ismayilova served as head of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Azerbaijan service and published extremely detailed accounts of rampant corruption by President Aliyev and his family, making her a target…
Throughout the week of April 25, 2016, World Movement for Democracy participants engaged in CIVICUS’ International Civil Society Week (ICSW) in Bogota, Columbia. In partnership with the Latin American and Carribean Network for Democracy (REDLAD), the World Movement organized a series of activities to convene activists and citizens around issues of closing civic space…