We have just received this letter from Kazakhstan, which contains an important appeal on behalf of workers who have been in struggle under very difficult conditions for the last seven months. The Western media, which is very quick to denounce authoritarian regimes in Libya and Syria, has maintaned a shameful silence concerning the situation in this oil rich country. We appeal to the world working class to express solidarity with the workers of Kazakhstan who are fighting for their rights.

Since May 18, 2011 comrade Mouhammad Ghalout, a student activist in the “Democratic Base Method” faction of the National Moroccan Student Union, has been held in the prisons of the dictatorship as his hearing has been postponed for the second time. He was arrested on false accusations and underwent unjust political trials.

The Emergency Ordinance (EO) were released on Saturday after they were detained since July 2 for undefined charges during the Bersih 2.0 crackdown.

We are publishing a statement calling for the release of all those arrested in Malaysia because of their cal for a free and fair elections. The IMT is adding its signature to this statement. The 6 activists arrested under emergency legislation are all leading figures of the Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM, Socialist Party of Malaysia) including a member of parliament. Please read the statement and add your voice to the protest.

We recently highlighted the plight of the Dangote workers in Nigeria who were sacked last year for refusing to leave their union. [See Nigeria: Defend victimised Dangote Pasta workers!] In spite of extremely difficult conditions these workers have held out since last year in August, with no pay. They are paying a terrible price for their stand. Here a leader of these workers explains the situation they are in. The campaign has already had some positive effects, but they need the solidarity campaign to be stepped up further.

We call on all our readers to support the Public Campaign in defence of over 200 workers of Dangote Pasta at Ikorodu, Lagos (Nigeria) sacked for refusing to resign their membership of the in-house workers’ union since August 2010. We underline the fact that the main trade union organisers were severely beaten in the process and the families of these workers are suffering terribly as a consequence of these actions on the part of management.