Burqa ban will not protect women

April 11th, 2011

This article was originally published in July 2010


Proposed bans on face coverings are a reflection not on Islam, but on European insecurity, says Myriam Francois-Cerrah
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Turkish director faces jail for insulting PM

March 23rd, 2010

Haldun Açıksözlü, actor and director of the theatre play Laz Marks, faces two years in jail over allegations that he insulted the prime minister in his play. The show has run for a year and has been shown in over 80 provinces. The charges came only a week after British artist, Michael Dickenson, was fined for superimposing  Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s head onto the body of a dog.

Turkish editor jailed for defamation and insult

March 17th, 2010

Editor-in-chief of the Firat newspaper Hacı Boğatekin has been sentenced to five years in jail. Bogatekin was charged with “insult” and “defamation” and “attempting to influence a fair trial”. Three other journalists were charged with similar offences. In one of the offending articles Bogatekin argued that the real threat did not come from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party but from religious leader Fethullah Gülen’s congregation.  He also published prosecutor Sadullah Ovacıklı’s criticism of his abbreviation of Gülen’s name to “Feto” and made allegations about the prosecutors relationship with Güle. Boğatekin was awarded the Press Freedom Award in 2008 and was awarded by the Contemporary Journalists’ Association (ÇGD) in 2009.

Azerbaijani journalists forbidden from filming subjects

February 15th, 2010

Laws were revised late last Friday forbidding journalists from filming, recording or photographing subjects without their express permission. Parliamentarian Panah Huseynov claims this is a move to restrict the freedom of press and announced he would appeal to the courts regarding the law. Several prominent newspaper editors, including the former editor of the Russian-language weekly Real Azerbaijan, Eynulla Fatullayev, are now serving prison sentences on charges that critics claim are politically motivated.

France fast-tracks internet censorship bill

February 15th, 2010

France’s has fast-tracked a law allowing the government to block websites. Amendments seeking judicial oversight and clauses specifying pages not sites should be blocked were rejected. The law has been classified as urgent, bypassing the normal four readings in parliament, and will go to the senate for a final vote next week.

Iceland plans journalism haven

February 12th, 2010

Laws protecting journalists and their sources are to be proposed next Tuesday. Julian Assange, editor of whistle-blowing website Wikileaks, has been advising parliamentarians and believes the parliament is receptive to the need for change. If the proposal succeeds it will require Iceland’s government to consider introducing new legislation.

Berlusconi silences TV critics

February 12th, 2010

Prime minister Silvio Belusconi’s party has pushed through rules which will drastically circumscribe political content during the run-up to Italy’s regional elections. State broadcasters must now either accommodate over 30 political parties on their talk shows or be transferred away from their prime-time slots. Belusconi has previously attacked state television, claiming the programme Annozero was a ‘criminal use of public television’ when it interviewed the call-girl Belusconi had allegedly slept with. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) criticised Italy’s new rules as the latest ‘nail in the coffin of media freedom‘.

Kurdish newspaper editor jailed for 21 years

February 11th, 2010

Ozan Kilinc, editor of Kurdish newspaper Azadiya Welat, has been sentenced to 21 years in jail for publishing ‘Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) propaganda’. Comments or acts judged supportive of the PKK are a serious crime in Turkey. The PKK, branded a terrorist organisation, launched an armed campaign for Kurdish self-rule in 1984.