Archive for August, 2010
Friday, August 20th, 2010
Index on Censorship presents…
Go East! Sun 29 Aug
Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club, E2 6NB
7pm ’til late
Belarus Free Theatre * Comedy: Miriam Elia, The Fix * DJs from Panik.com
A day and night of cabaret, comedy and DJs, with a performance from the sensational underground Belarus Free Theatre!
Join Index on Censorship, the UK’s leading freedom of expression organisation, and the Belarus Free Theatre at the Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club, for a packed night of cabaret, comedy from Sony award short listed Miriam Elia and The Fix – and all-night mischief. Come and see a mischievous mix of Belarusian funk DJs, live music, cabaret and comedians – all for the exceptionally brave people who dare to speak up, and challenge Belarus’s dictator Lukashenko.
24 hours left to get £5 tickets:
http://go-east.eventbrite.com/
The multi-award winning Belarus Free Theatre, banned in their native Belarus, is renowned for staging underground and uncensored performances that draw attention to the continuing problems faced by Belarusians in “Europe’s last dictatorship”. Their recent performances, including at the Soho Theatre, London and the Under the Radar Festival, New York, have won widespread acclaim. On July 13 the troop performed a rendition of ‘Numbers’ in an event hosted by Index on Censorship and presented by Tom Stoppard at the Free Word Centre in London.
Confirmed DJs: Panik, Mr. Chips, DJ Perry Stroika and the Tblisi Sound Machine & DJ Gaz Nost.
Friday, August 20th, 2010
Following the news that a journalist was
jailed for six years for broadcasting an interview with a Islamist rebel chief, the authorities in the semi-autonomous state of Puntland have
officially banned all journalists from interviewing rebels in the area.
Friday, August 20th, 2010
The Turkish government’s battle with the PKK threatens to stifle art itself, says Kaya Genç
(more…)
Thursday, August 19th, 2010
Yesterday (
18 August) El Nacional, a leading Venezuelan newspaper ran a front page with “censored” written across it. The move was a response to a Caracas court ruling that has effectively
banned newspapers from publishing images of violence or bloody scenes. El Nacional was
found guilty of publishing pictures which may have been harmful to children after it ran a photo showed dead bodies at a morgue. The
anti-Chavez publication was told that it may be fined up to two per cent of its revenue for its actions. The newspaper’s editor has accused the government of trying to cover up violent crime in run-up to next month’s election.
Wednesday, August 18th, 2010
Literary critic Frank Kermode died this week at the age of 90. Writing for Index on Censorship in 2001, he discussed memory and biography
(more…)
Wednesday, August 18th, 2010
The website of the Russian Centre for the Protection of Forestry
(Roslesozashchita) has been blocked since 13 August after it contradicted the official government line that brush
fires had not reached areas contaminated by the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster. The agency said fires were reported in the Bryansk region bordering Belarus and Ukraine, where radioactive residue covers large areas. Speaking on Russian television shortly before the website became inaccessible, emergencies minister Sergei Shoigu dismissed this as “unclear information from an unclear website”.
Officials seem reluctant to comment on the radioactive threat, despite warnings from
Greenpeace Russia.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) suggest the website may have been blocked because the information posted was embarrassing for the government rather than incorrect.
Tuesday, August 17th, 2010
Australia’s ruling Labor party has called for
smartphone applications and games to face the national censor. A loophole in the Classification Act (1995) means that games distributed or playable on mobile phones, including the Apple iPhone, are not submitted to the national
Classification Board, which classifies films and computer games before they are released to the public.
Tuesday, August 17th, 2010
Brazil has
banned broadcasters from showing programmes that poke fun at the country’s presidential candidates. Ridiculing the candidates could result in a fine or even licence suspension. Brazilian producers and comedians intend to fight the ban, with one comparing it to a Monty Python sketch. It is not the first time that politics and comedy have collided in Latin America. In July, a Nicaraguan comic revealed he was
offered money not to ridicule presidential candidate Daniel Ortega in his performances.
