February 3rd, 2012
The United Nations Human Rights Committee have found that the defamation conviction of a
Philippines journalist violated the journalist’s
right to free expression. In the landmark ruling, the UN committee said that the prison sentence handed to journalist
Alexander Adonis of Bombo Radyo, following his reporting on an alleged affair between a Philippine congressman and a married woman, was “incompatible” with Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The UNHRC has given the Philippine government 180 days to provide “information about the measures taken to give effect to the Committee’s views”.
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
October 19th, 2010
Jonathan Ross, Brian Cox, Chris Addison, Aleks Krotoski and Simon Singh celebrate ‘the age of the geek’ in a unique charity project.
Jonathan Ross in costume in his shrine of comics, toys and gadgets; Professor Brian Cox and Gia Milinovich puzzling over how to fix their toaster; TV comic Chris Addison backstage, dreaming of space travel; tech journalist Aleks Krotoski smouldering in a sea of gadgets; writer Simon Singh reading his baby son a bedtime story of particle physics…
These are among the scenes featured in the GEEK CALENDAR, where British geeks are celebrating nerdishness in all its glory. And they are doing it for a very good cause: Index on Censorship, English PEN and Sense About Science’s Libel Reform Campaign.
The launch of the GEEK CALENDAR is this Thursday 21 October at 7pm at the Free Word Centre.
Please email: mike@libelreform.org for tickets.
December 9th, 2009
Across the world, defamation laws are used to stifle debate and persecute individuals, writes Agnès Callamard
(more…)
