Archive for April, 2011
Thursday, April 28th, 2011
Index on Censorship, English PEN and Free Word present I Have No Enemies, the moving documentary about Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo, the only Nobel peace prize laureate currently in detention.
Monday 9 May 2011, 6.30pm
Free Word Centre, 60 Farringdon Road, London, EC1R 3GA
Liu Xiaobo, one of China’s preeminent dissident writers and activists, was arrested in December 2008 on the eve of the release of Charter 08, an extraordinary declaration he had co-authored, calling for political reform, greater human rights, and an end to one-party rule. On 25 December 2009, he was convicted of incitement to subversion and sentenced to 11 years in prison.
This 30-minute documentary, directed by Claudine Parrish and produced by Nobel Media, features interviews with many of Liu’s supporters, friends and colleagues, including celebrated international artist Ai Weiwei , whose whereabouts remain unknown after his arrest on 3 April.
Following the film screening, there will be a Q&A session with the film’s director Claudine Parrish, Chinese writer Ma Jian and his translator Flora Drew, prize-winning translator and lecturer of modern Chinese history Dr Julia Lovell, and Chair of English PEN’s Writers in Prison Committee, Salil Tripathi. The discussion will be chaired by distinguished journalist and China expert Isabel Hilton.
The event is free but space is limited so please reserve your place in advance via by emailing href="info
freewordonline
com">info[at]freewordonline.com
Thursday, April 28th, 2011
On Wednesday (27 April) authorities in
Belarus closed two independent newspapers, Nasha Niva and Narodnaya Volya. The Information Ministry said it acted after
repeatedly warning both newspapers over their political coverage in the last year. In a separate incident yesterday (27 April), opposition leader Dimitry Bondarenko was found
guilty of organising a rally in December to protest the election results which extended President Alexander Lukashenko’s term in office. The court has sentenced him to two years in prison.
Thursday, April 28th, 2011
Al-Jazeera
suspended its Arabic services in
Syria yesterday (27 April) in response to attacks on its staff and government restrictions. The authorities have pressured Syrian nationals into resigning from the organisation and have prevented journalists from entering and reporting in Daraa, the city where the Syrian uprising began on March 15. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, unknown
assailants have attacked the Al-Jazeera offices with eggs and stones for the past three days. The events
mirror those in Egypt, where Al-Jazeera journalists were also subject to abuse and intimidation.
Thursday, April 28th, 2011
Burundi’s state-run media regulator, the National Communications Council, suspended a popular talk show on Monday (25 April) after a caller accused the President of wrongdoing. The show, Kabizi, was ordered off the air for an
initial four-day period. The caller insinuated that the President had committed war crimes during Burundi’s civil war, the show’s host had immediately stopped the caller and asked him to refer his allegations to the Burundi Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
Thursday, April 28th, 2011
The
Thai government forced the closure of 13 radio stations on Tuesday (26 April) and issued them with court warrants for broadcasting a speech by an opposition leader in which the monarchy was criticised. In Thailand, Les majeste, or offence against the monarchy, carries a
maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. It is as yet unclear whether the stations will face such a charge. According to
rights organisations most of the sanctioned stations are openly aligned with the opposition.
Local reports have also claimed that police plan to raid additional radio stations.
Thursday, April 28th, 2011
The
Chinese government has
refused author Liao Yiwu an exit visa to attend the PEN World Voices Festival in New York. Authors at the event, led by Salman Rushdie, issued a protest on Friday (22 April) and called on the Chinese authority to overturn their ban. Liao is best known for his poem Massacre about the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown for which he spent four years in jail. The festival has
vowed to set up an empty chair to represent Liao.
Thursday, April 28th, 2011
Yesterday (27 April) a
Bahraini military court has sentenced four protestors to death and a further three to life in prison. The seven people were
convicted of killing two policemen during protests in the country last month. While the foreign press was barred from entering the courtroom, selected journalists from the state-run media were allowed to attend. The Bahrain Center for Human Rights
condemned the verdict and called on the authorities to reverse their decision.
Thursday, April 28th, 2011
A columnist for the independent Al-Wasat newspaper was arrested on Monday (25 April) after 30 uniformed and plainclothes police officials
raided his house. Local journalists have claimed that Haidar Mohammed al-Nuaimi was dragged out of his house and beaten before being transferred to an unknown location. Human rights organisations have called on the
Bahraini authorities to disclose his whereabouts and release him immediately.
