Jun 30, 2026 | 25 Stories 25 Years, Spotlight
Ramazan Yesergepov is a prominent investigative journalist who founded the independent Alma-Ata Info newspaper in 2005. It did not take long for Ramazan’s reporting to catch the attention of the government. Within a year, Alma-Ata Info was charged with violating the...
Jun 23, 2026 | 25 Stories 25 Years, Spotlight
West Papua, also known as Western New Guinea, is the western half of the island of New Guinea. The Netherlands ruled the area until the 1962, after which the land was controversially transferred to Indonesia. Activists have called for decades for West Papua to secede...
Jun 16, 2026 | 25 Stories 25 Years, Spotlight
Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet is a particularly important case to us as it was one of Freedom Now’s first cases. Dr. Biscet is a doctor and noted advocate for human rights and democratic freedom in Cuba. He is the founder of the Lawton Foundation for Human Rights and is a...
Jun 9, 2026 | 25 Stories 25 Years, Spotlight
Lapiro de Mbanga, a.k.a “Ndinga Man” or “Guitar Man” was a popular singer-songwriter and political activist known for providing a voice to the working class people of Cameroon. He often used satirical lyrics to criticize corrupt politicians and address social and...
Jun 2, 2026 | 25 Stories 25 Years, Spotlight
Dr. Nguyen Dan Que is one of Vietnam’s most renowned democracy activists. His first brush with arbitrary detention occurred in 1978 for criticizing Vietnam’s political system. After he was released, he founded the High Tide Humanist movement to ensure human rights for...
May 26, 2026 | 25 Stories 25 Years, Spotlight
Ayub Masih was 26 years old and working as a bricklayer in Pakistan in 1996 when he allegedly told a Muslim neighbor that Christianity was “correct” and to read The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie. Although Ayub denied making these statements, he was arrested and...
