Author Archive
Sunday, December 18th, 2011
Václav Havel, dissident, playwright, first president of the Czech
Republic, and author of Charter 77 died today.
Samuel Beckett wrote a play for Havel when he was in jail. On being freed, Havel returned the favour.
It was the making of a great dramatic double-act. In 2009, Index on Censorship editor Jo Glanville reflected on the relationship between the two
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Thursday, December 16th, 2010
Latest revelations on the News of the World’s phone-hacking scandal puts the police under the spotlight, says Brian Cathcart. The Met should be taken off the case and the investigation reopened
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Monday, November 1st, 2010
Today (Nov 1) marks two years since the arrest of Canadian-Iranian blogger Hossein Derakhshan in his parents’ home in Tehran. 
Index on Censorship joins in condemnation of Iran’s treatment of Derakhshan, sentenced to 19 and a half years for his writing
Index on Censorship has joined with ARTICLE 19, Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE), Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and PEN Canada to express dismay at the sentence of 19 and a half years handed down to blogger Hossein Derakhshan. Although the prosecutor’s call for the death penalty was not approved, the sentence against Hossein Derakhshan represents a serious violation of Iranian obligations under international law. It is clear that Derakhshan, charged with cooperating with hostile countries, spreading propaganda and insulting religious figures, was sentenced for merely enjoying the right to freedom of expression.
Reports from former cellmates indicate that Derakhshan has been tortured while in prison and subjected to harsh interrogations. Index on Censorship, ARTICLE 19, CJFE, CPJ and PEN Canada believe that Derakhshan remains at risk for as long as he is in prison, and that the extreme length of the sentence adds to the danger that he faces. Derakhshan has been held in Evin prison for almost two years, but his case only went to trial last summer.
The 19 and a half year prison sentence was announced on the conservative website Mashreghnews.ir this morning. The sentence also includes several fines – €30,750, US $2,900, and £200.
The free speech groups call on the Iranian government to release Derakhshan immediately and meet its commitment to protect basic human rights and fundamental freedoms, including freedom of expression. The groups also ask the international community to continue to hold Iran to its obligations and to support Iranian bloggers, journalists and writers to do their work without fear of imprisonment or reprisal.
Prison is no place for Hossein Derakhshan or for the dozens of other writers, journalists, academics and bloggers who continue to languish in Iran’s jails.
Sign a petition to free the blogfather
Friday, January 2nd, 2009
A return to law and order, national pride and upright morals is colliding with Russia’s exuberant and scandal-seeking art world, writes Matthew Bown for Index on Censorship magazine’s Amnesty award-winning ‘How Free is the Russian Media’ issue.
Read here
Wednesday, December 31st, 2008
In this exclusive article for Index on Censorship magazine, Aryeh Neier (right) recalls the controversial Skokie First Amendment case –– still a landmark in the history of free expression after more than 30 years
Read here
Monday, December 29th, 2008
The twentieth anniversary of Ayatollah Khomeini’s death sentence on Salman Rushdie (right) takes place in February 2009. In this article for Index on Censorship magazine, Kenan Malik looks at the changes in liberal attitudes to free expression and offence from the Satanic Verses controversy to the present day.
Read here
Tuesday, December 23rd, 2008
China’s greatest artist, Ai Weiwei, caused controversy in the summer when he announced he would stay away from the Olympic Games, despite being the creative mind behind Beijing’s Bird’s Nest Stadium.
In an exclusive interview for Index on Censorship‘s ‘Made in China issue’, he told Simon Kirby about challenging state censorship and the status quo.
Read here
Tuesday, October 7th, 2008
Three men are facing trial for the murder of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, but the investigation is far from over. Index on Censorship reports
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