27 Aug 2010 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost
Three newspapers have been closed and a jail sentence has been imposed on one journalist in the past few days. The Commission for Press Authorisation and Surveillance, the censorship arm of the ministry of culture and Islamic orientation, has suspended the business daily Asia and withdrawn the licences of the weeklies Sepidar and Parastoo. Asia was suspended for publishing sensitive images and critisising the government’s economic policies. Badrolsadat Mofidi, the secretary-general of the Association of Iranian Journalists from Tehran, has been sentenced to six years in prison was sentenced for “assembly and collusion to commit a crime” and “propagating against the regime.” She is banned from any press related activities for five years.
27 Aug 2010 | Index Index, minipost
China’s Central Propaganda Department has placed a blanket ban on covering the explosion at Xinjiang, Western China, including the state-owned Xinhua News Agency who had allegedly already reported that the explosion was caused by a bomb. The explosion killed seven people in the Uighur Autonomous Region, on August 19. According to the International Journalists’ Federation, Chinese authorities are sensitive about reporting in this area as it was home to riots and ethnic tension in 2009.
27 Aug 2010 | Azerbaijan News, Index Index, minipost, News and features
Security guards who attacked two journalists may go unpunished after authorities refused to investigate the case. Elmin Badalov and Anar Gerayly were beaten by a wealthy businessman’s private security guards on 28 July.
The two newspaper reporters had been taking photos of luxury homes in the Baku region of Shuvlan, and were then held by the guards for three hours. Police acknowledge that Badalov and Gerayly sustained considerable bruising, but they claim that a medical examination shows this could have been caused by “a serious fall”. Authorities assured journalists last year that the ban on taking photos without consent would not be used against the media.
27 Aug 2010 | Events, United Kingdom
Right now, public libraries are censoring their readers’ choice of books – but is this ever acceptable? With demand from the public for extremist literature in some UK libraries, it is argued that the job of librarians is to defend social cohesion and avoid texts that may offend religious or ethnic minorities. As ever-limited public money pays for books, it is right for librarians to seek to provoke public debate, or should they get on with providing what the public wants?
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
