Archive for November, 2010
Tuesday, November 30th, 2010
Today in the High Court US medical device company NMT Medical was ordered to pay £200,000 into court in their libel action against cardiologist Dr Peter Wilmshurst. Master Foster ruled that if NMT Medical do not pay this money by 18 January 2010 their libel claim will be struck out and the court will decide how much of Dr Wilmshurst’s costs NMT Medical should pay.
Dr Wilmshurst has been fighting since 2007 to defend his comments about a clinical trial of a heart device manufactured by NMT Medical. Losing the case could mean he loses his house. NMT Medical recently threatened to sue Dr Wilmshurst for libel again for comments he made about his case in a BBC Radio 4 Today Programme piece on the chilling effects of England’s libel laws on scientific and medical discussions
Monday, November 29th, 2010
The Emirates Local News website (http://localnewsuae.com), which translates and posts all news about the UAE from around the world,
has been blocked within the UAE. The ban came 10 days before the site’s first anniversary and the government have offered no reason for the decision. Visitors to the site will find only an announcement that the site has been “banned as per the regulations of the Internet access department in the UAE”. This follows the closing of the alHewar alEmirati forum at the start of the year.
Sunday, November 28th, 2010
Index on Censorship has obtained copies of correspondence between whistleblowing website Wikileaks and the US embassy in the United Kingdom, which took place between Friday and Sunday. They reveal Wikileaks editor in chief’s last-minute attempt to seek the cooperation of the United States government in redacting information from the latest controversial release of documents.
Mark Stephens of Finers Stephens Innocent, who represents Julian Assange in the UK, is a trustee of Index of Censorship.
26 November
Julian Assange, Editor in Chief, WikiLeaks
to
US Ambassador to London, Louis Susman
Subject to the general objective of ensuring maximum disclosure of information in the public interest, WikiLeaks would be grateful for the United States Government to privately nominate any specific instances (record numbers or names) where it considers the publication of information would put individual persons at significant risk of harm that has not already been addressed. PDF
27 November
Harold Hongju Koh, Legal Adviser, United States Department of State
to
Julian Assange, Editor in Chief, WikiLeaks
We will not engage in a negotiation regarding the further release or dissemination of illegally obtained U.S. Government classified materials. PDF
28 November
Julian Assange, Editor in Chief, WikiLeaks
to
US Ambassador to London, Louis Susman
I understand that the United States government would prefer not to have the information that will be published in the public domain and is not in favour of openness. That said, either there is a risk or there is not. You have chosen to respond in a manner which leads me to conclude that the supposed risks are entirely fanciful and you are instead concerned to suppress evidence of human rights abuse and other criminal behaviour. PDF
Friday, November 26th, 2010
Governments, organisations and media across the world have been put on alert as whistleblowing site Wikileaks looks set to release millions of diplomantic communications. Emily Butselaar reports
(more…)
Friday, November 26th, 2010
Thursday, November 25th, 2010
Music and Censorship: Who calls the tune?
A panel discussion on music and censorship
Friday 3 December – 6:30pm
School of Oriental and African Studies
Thornhaugh St, Russell Square, WC1H 0XG
Location: Room G2
Nearest tube Russell Square
MAP
(Room G2 is immediately to the left of reception as soon as you enter the main building. Ask at reception if any doubt.)
Music is the most censored of all the arts – from the restrictions facing musicians in Iran to the pressures of the global market. To coincide with Index on Censorship’s special issue on music and censorship, ‘Smashed Hits 2.0’, please join us for a panel discussion with leading performers, broadcasters, producers and commentators.
David Jones, director of Serious and London Jazz Festival
Daniel Brown, journalist and broadcaster
Malu Halasa, writer and editor
Lucy Duràn, broadcaster and academic
Khyam Allami, musician
Chair: Jo Glanville, editor, Index on Censorship
The event will include a special screening of the short film Baddil Musiqah (7min, Arabic with English subtitles). Produced by Aramram, an independent film production company based in Jordan, it gives an insight into what is on the minds of young independent Arab musicians in the region today.
Thursday, November 25th, 2010
The Libel Reform Campaign (Index on Censorship, English PEN and Sense About Science) would like you to join us to celebrate our first anniversary at a drinks reception with:
Lord McNally, Minister of State for Justice
Richard Allan, Director of European Policy for Facebook
Richard Mollet, Chief Executive of the Publishers Association
In November 2009, after a year-long inquiry, the Free Speech Is Not For Sale report was published by English PEN and Index on Censorship. In June 2009, Sense About Science launched a campaign publicising libel threats against scientists such as Simon Singh and Peter Wilmshurst. In December 2009 the three charities came together to form the Libel Reform Campaign. The impetus this lobby has created is startling.
Over 50,000 people have joined the campaign and together we have campaigned for major reforms to England’s libel laws to protect free speech, including a public interest defence, restrictions on corporate bullying, recognition of internet publishing, and improvements to existing defences.
Libel reform was not on the political agenda before our campaign; now the coalition government has announced it will bring forward a draft bill early in 2011. We look forward to seeing you on 2nd December to mark this progress and share our thoughts on the challenges ahead.
7pm, Thursday 2nd December
Free Word Centre, 60 Farringdon Road, EC1R 3GA
RSVP: mike
libelreform
org
Add your voice to the Libel Reform Campaign at www.libelreform.org
Thursday, November 25th, 2010
Writer Nevin Berktaş, author of the book “Difficult places that challenge the faith: Prison Cells” (published by
Yediveren Yayınları in 2010), is being tried on charges of “spreading propaganda for an illegal organisation”. The case about Berktaş’s book has been pending for ten years.
The book is related to the 22 years the writer spent in prison after the
1980 military coup and describes the process of resistance in prison cells. The health conditions of the writer are reportedly very bad, as a result of the hunger strikes she carried out in 1984 and 1996.
