Victory for free speech as libel bill passes

April 24th, 2013

Changes will be made to England’s defamation law after a three-and-a-half-year campaign, writes Padraig Reidy
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Libel reform is no joke

June 29th, 2012

Comics Dara Ó Briain and Dave Gorman and scientist Professor Brian Cox joined Index and the Libel Reform Campaign at Downing Street to demand a public interest defence in the defamation bill

From the archives, 50 years, 50 writers: Djamshid Karimov

December 2nd, 2011

One of the writers championed by Index on Censorship and English PEN to mark 50 years of the Writers in Prison Committee, Uzbek journalist Djamshid Karimov was released from a psychiatric hospital on 30 November.

Djamshid Karimov, nephew of Uzbek president Islam Karimov, is an outspoken critic of the government, known for reporting on socio-political issues. He worked as a freelance journalist for the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, and contributed to independent newspapers and online publications under the pseudonym Andrei Nazarov. After reporting on the Andijan massacre in May 2005, during a period when his uncle systematically sought to silence all independent voices of protest, Karimov and his family were subjected to intense police surveillance.

In August 2006, after applying for an exit visa to attend a journalism seminar in Kyrgyzstan, Karimov’s passport was seized by the authorities. The head of the regional administration in Jizak visited the family home on 31 August, and offered Karimov positions at two state newspapers, apparently in a bid to entice him away from independent journalism. He refused and shortly afterwards, on 12 September, he disappeared. Two weeks later, Karimov’s friends discovered that he was being held against his will in a psychiatric hospital in Samarkand, initially under a six-month detention order. The authorities would not specify the reason for his detention, calling it a “private matter”. His fiancée was permitted to visit him and found him distressed by his detention; he had reportedly been forced to accept unnecessary treatment and anti-psychotic medication.

Karimov’s detention order was “reviewed” in March 2007 and extended for six months, but authorities disclosed no further details. Since then, as far as his family knows, the court has not officially passed a decision to further extend Karimov’s treatment. Nonetheless, despite regular promises that he would soon be discharged, he remains incarcerated. Karimov has now been undergoing forced treatment for more than four years.

This article originally appeared in Beyond Bars: 50 Years of the PEN Writers in Prison Committee. To subscribe to Index, click here. 

Italy: Writer wins free-speech prize for mafia exposé

October 11th, 2011

An Italian writer who exposed the violent world of the Naples Mafia was awarded a major free-speech prize yesterday. Roberto Saviano was awarded the Pen/Pinter International Writer of Courage prize, to share with British playwright David Hare. Saviano’s book, “Gomorrah”, which was published in 2006, exposed Naples’ criminal underworld, and the publication of the book led to death threats to the writer, who was forced to go into hiding. Saviano did not attend the ceremony, but sent a message expressing his gratitude “to those who made it possible that my words became dangerous for certain powers that need silence and shade.”

Index on Censorship and English PEN publish report on the Alternative Libel Project

October 6th, 2011

Defamation cases should be mediated, and if they are not, they should be the subject of an early neutral evaluation by a High Court Judge, say Index on Censorship and English PEN in their report on defamation procedure.

Funded by the Nuffield Foundation, the Alternative Libel Project’s first report published on 6 October also recommends that:
• judges must use stricter case management;
• litigants should be able to make a stand alone application to determine the meaning of the allegations in question; and
• a costs regime must be introduced to redress the inequality of arms between the parties.

John Kampfner, Chief Executive of Index on Censorship said:

Defamation procedure needs to change so the balance between freedom of expression and reputation is not affected by the relative resources of litigants but by the strength of their claims. The recommendations we have made will not only result in many more cases being resolved very early on, they will ensure that those cases that do go to trial in the High Court are dealt with more efficiently.

The report is a preliminary one and Index on Censorship and English PEN are inviting views on their proposals before the 18 November. To comment, please e-mail Helen Anthony at helen[@]englishpen.org.

The Alternative Libel Project Preliminary Report October 2011

Human Rights Day: Words without borders

December 10th, 2010

As ideas move freely around the world attacks on writers continue, reports Lisa Appignanesi
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Straw announces plans to reduce libel costs

January 20th, 2010

English PEN and Index on Censorship today welcome Jack Straw’s proposal to make dramatuc cuts to lawyers’ win fees in defamation cases, but warn that fees are only one part of a libel system in need of serious reform.
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Libel: BBC concedes to Trafigura

December 17th, 2009

Index on Censorship and English PEN today have expressed dismay that the BBC has conceded the libel action brought by toxic waste shippers Trafigura in the High Court. We believe this is a case of such high public interest that it was incumbent upon a public sector broadcaster like the BBC to have held their ground in order to test in a Court of law the truth of the BBC’s report or determine whether a vindication of Trafigura was deserved.
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