Date: 27 February 
Time: 6:30pm
Venue: Free Word Centre, London

Index on Censorship and the Institute for Human Rights and Business invite you to attend the launch of Rebecca MacKinnon’s new book, Consent of the Networked: The Worldwide Struggle for Internet Freedom.

Rebecca MacKinnonis the co-founder of Global Voices Online. In her new book she argues that a global struggle for control of the Internet is now underway. At stake are no less than civil liberties, privacy and even the character of democracy in the 21st century. Join us for a discussion with the author, along with writer and journalist Salil Tripathi.  Chaired by Jo Glanville, Editor of Index on Censorship, followed by a drinks reception.

Register to attend: neill.wilkins@ihrb.org

The post PAST EVENT: Book launch: Rebecca MacKinnon’s Consent of the Networked appeared first on Index on Censorship.

Index is sponsoring journalist Dorian Lynskey’s talk about protest songs, based on his new book 33 Revolutions Per Minute: A History of Protest Songs. More details on the 27 February event here.

Jo Glanville, editor of Index on Censorship magazine, will be interviewing award-winning Palestinian writer and lawyer Raja Shehadeh on Sunday 6 March.

More details here

Jewish Book Week is offering a special ticket discount to support Index’s association with the Dorian Lynskey and Raja Shehadeh events. Buy a ticket for one Index event, and get one for the second event at half price!

To take advantage of this offer, book online at jewishbookweek.com or call 0844 847 2274 and quote “Index on Censorship”

The post PAST EVENT: Index on Censorship at Jewish Book Week – 27 February & 6 March appeared first on Index on Censorship.

Many of those detained have little access to justice and there are serious reports of ill-treatment. Of those detained many are close friends and associates of the Belarus Free Theatre. Please join us to send a clear signal to the Belarusian authorities that the world is watching.

The Belarus Committee is a group of NGOs including Index on Censorship, English PEN, PEN International, Amnesty, Article 19, human rights firm H20 Lawand individuals including Sir Tom Stoppard, with patrons Mikhail Gorbachev and Vaclav Havel, established in solidarity with all the victims of President Lukashenko’s regime, especially the prisoners currently detained by the secret police. The first trial of the prisoners begins on 17 February.

Belarus is Europe’s last dictatorship. The Presidential elections last December were described by the OSCE as “seriously flawed”, with the count in half of the polling districts “bad or very bad”. During an post-election rally in Independence Square in Minsk the authorities arrested members of the country’s political opposition and civil society activists. Over 600 people were arrested that evening including Natalia Koliada from the Belarus Free Theatre and Index on Censorship award nominee Natalia Radzina. Currently, 33 prisoners are still kept in custody, and journalist Irina Khalip — the wife of presidential candidate Andrei Sannikov — and presidential candidate Uladzimir Nyaklyaeu are both under punitive house arrest. They face up to 15 years in prison for orchestrating “mass disorder”.

For more information, contact Michael Harris

Mike@indexoncensorship.org

+44 (0) 7974 838 468

Heather McGill

HMcHill@amnesty.org

+44 (0) 77  960 5261

www.zoneofsilence.org

The post PAST EVENT: 19 February: Protest in solidarity with Belarus prisoners of conscience appeared first on Index on Censorship.

5 December 2010

“When people are being kidnapped and killed, then you have to take action to change things in your country” (Natalia Koliada, co-founder of Belarus Free Theatre).

Index on Censorship presents the internationally acclaimed Belarus Free Theatre (Being Harold Pinter/ Generation Jeans, Soho) at the Young Vic performing the UK premiere of Discover Love with guest appearances by famous names including Jude Law, Ian McKellen and Samuel West.

This double bill event, which includes their hard-hitting piece Numbers, takes place just two weeks before the Belarusian presidential election on 19 December. Under the oppressive rule of Alexander Lukashenko, Belarus is one of the world’s least free countries; ranked worse than Iran for press freedom and worse than Zimbabwe for human rights.

Belarus Free Theatre stages underground and uncensored performances to draw attention to the problems faced in Europe’s last dictatorship. Although banned in their home country where they perform in secrecy, this multi awardwinning company has established a global reputation of artistic excellence. Their many supporters and patrons include Tom Stoppard, Mick Jagger and Václav Havel.

The last few months have been particularly difficult for BFT with the suspicious death of their close friend and partner, respected journalist Oleg Bebenin — a case that has received widespread international attention. Members of the company have also received death threats and been imprisoned.

This one-off event at the Young Vic is part of Index on Censorship’s campaign to highlight the appalling state of free expression in Belarus and a show of solidarity for BFT from the UK arts community. Prominent arts figures across the country have united by signing a petition calling upon the President of Belarus to respect fundamental human rights and abolish these repressive laws. Signatories include Jeremy Irons, Hanif Kureishi, Juliet
Stevenson, Michael Sheen, Katie Mitchell, Neil Tennant, David Lan, Michael Attenborough, Dominic Cooke, Alistair Spalding, Stephen Daldry, Neil Bartlett, Paul Greengrass, Eve Best, Sean Holmes, Michael Morris, Dominic Dromgoole, Ramin Gray, Mark Rubinstein, Daniel Evans, Carrie Cracknell and Natalie Abrahami.

At the Young Vic, BFT will present Discover Love, the powerful and moving love story of Irina Krasovskaya and her husband Anatoli Krasovsky, a supporter of the Belarusian democratic forces who was abducted and disappeared in Belarus in 1999. Numbers is a startling piece using physicality, sound and projections to illustrate statistics detailing the bleak reality of Lukashenko’s oppressive regime.

For tickets and information click here or call +44 (0) 20 7922 2922

The post PAST EVENT: Index on Censorship and the Young Vic present “Belarus: Zone of Silence” appeared first on Index on Censorship.

A panel discussion with Lisa Appignanesi, President of English PEN; Douglas Murray, author of Hate on the State: How British libraries encourage Islamic extremism; Mike Clarke, Head of Camden Libraries; Tony Lacey, Publishing Director at Penguin Books.

Chair: Mike Harris, Public Affairs Manager of Index on Censorship

15 September, 5.30 pm

Free Word Centre
60 Farringdon Road
London EC1R 3GA

The post PAST EVENT: Banned Books – is censorship by public libraries ever acceptable? appeared first on Index on Censorship.

The post PAST EVENT: You Can’t Libel the Dead? appeared first on Index on Censorship.

Michael Scammell discusses his acclaimed biography of Arthur Koestler –– writer, journalist and author of Darkness at Noon, one of the finest political novels of the 20th century.

Koestler was witness to some of the major events of his day: a young communist who turned against Stalin after the first show trials, an early chronicler of Zionism, a prisoner during the Spanish Civil War, a refugee from Nazi Europe. Koestler was ahead of his time: an intellectual and visionary, whose novels, non-fiction and adventurous life story are a fascinating chronicle of the last century.

Michael Scammell is the award-winning author of Solzhenitsyn, A Biography. He has translated numerous books from Russian, including Nabokov’s The Defense. He is the founder and first editor of Index on Censorship and is a vice president of International PEN. He teaches at Columbia University.

To reserve a place call: 0207 324 2570 or email bookings@freewordonline.com

The post PAST EVENT: Koestler – The Indispensable Intellectual appeared first on Index on Censorship.

Widely published on legal and constitutional issues involving free speech and press, Bollinger books include: Eternally Vigilant: Free Speech in the Modern Era; Images of a Free Press; The Tolerant Society: Freedom of Speech and Extremist Speech in America; and Contract Law in Modern Society: Cases and Materials. He continues to teach an undergraduate course, “Freedom of Speech and Press” at Columbia each year.

Monday, 1 February 2010, 18.30-20.00
Sheikh Zayed Theatre
New Academic Building
London School of Economics

The post PAST EVENT: Uninhibited, Robust, and Wide-Open: A Free Press for new Century appeared first on Index on Censorship.

An appeal against a 2008 ruling handed down by Mr Justice Eady in favour of the British Chiropractic Association. It pursued Singh for libel after he wrote an article published in The Guardian that criticised the view that chiropractors can cure disease by manipulating the spine.

Hearing date: 23 February 2010*
Judges and court: Court of Appeal; Lord Chief Justice Lord Judge, Master of the Rolls Lord Neuberger, Lord Justice Sedley.

The post PAST EVENT: Simon Singh v British Chiropractic Association appeared first on Index on Censorship.

The film begins in the UK, where Worcester discovers how supermarket labels are an unreliable guide to how and where pork has been produced. She takes us on a journey to the USA, Brazil and Poland and visits the offices of corporate leaders, European bureaucrats and banks. She finds policies that support a farming system of poor quality, damaging to the environment and which pushes traditional farmers out of business.

Tuesday, 2 February 2010 at 18.30
£5 full price; £4 concessions
Oliver Thompson Theatre
City University London
Northampton Square,
London EC1V 0HB

The post PAST EVENT: Pig Business screening: CIJ investigative film week appeared first on Index on Censorship.