Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has written to Tehran’s prosecutor calling for ‘fair investigations’ in the cases of journalist Roxana Saberi and blogger Hossein Derakhshan.
Derakhshan, also known as ‘Hoder’, is shortlisted for the Economist New Media Award at the 2009 Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Awards.
Read more here
Sri Lankan newspaper the Sunday Leader has been nominated for the Guardian Journalism award at the 2009 Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Awards. The awards will be presented on 21 April in London.
In advance of the awards ceremony, Sunday Leader editor Lal Wickrematunge was interviewed on 19 April by the BBC World Service’s The World Today. He spoke movingly about the assassination of his brother Lasantha and the future of Sri Lanka. You can listen to the interview here
Tickets are now on sale for the 2009 Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Awards. Ticket price includes a champagne reception, three-course meal and multimedia presentation. The event takes place at 6.30pm on 21 April at London’s fantastic new arts venue, Kings Place.
Tickets are now on sale for the 2009 Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Awards. Ticket price includes a champagne reception, three-course meal and multimedia presentation. The event takes place at 6.30pm on 21 April at London’s fantastic new arts venue, Kings Place.
Last Monday, Index on Censorship honoured Burma’s monks for their struggle against the ruling junta. The military regime is now cracking down on dissent as it pushes through a new constitution, writes David Jardine
Burma’s brutal ruling military junta will stage a national referendum on 10 May to rubber stamp a Potemkin constitution that will give the armed forces a guaranteed 25 per cent of seats in the national assembly.
The crucial home affairs ministry will remain in the hands of the junta, thus securing for it permanent control of the media.
The junta, led by General Than Shwe, is boastfully confident that it will secure the Yes vote that the all-out propaganda campaign of the state-controlled media is demanding. Anyone campaigning for a No vote faces arrest and almost certainly a long term of imprisonment in one or other part of the junta’s gulag, including the much hated Insein prison in Rangoon.
Mohamed Al-Daradji’s film Ahlaam (Dreams) won the Index on Censorship Film Award last Monday. He was interviewed by the BBC World Service‘s World Today about the award and the film. Click below to listen.
Francisco Goldman accepts the Index on Censorship TR Fyvel Book Award for his work, The Art of Political Murder: Who killed Bishop Gerardi?. The culmination of years of investigative journalism, The Art of the Political Murder is an astonishing account of the search for the killers of Guatemalan bishop Juan Gerardi. The book has made a huge impact in Guatamela, even majorly influencing the result of the recent presidential election.
