25 Nov 2010 | Events
Music and Censorship: Who calls the tune?
A panel discussion on music and censorship
Friday 3 December – 6:30pm
School of Oriental and African Studies
Thornhaugh St, Russell Square, WC1H 0XG
Location: Room G2
Nearest tube Russell Square
MAP
(Room G2 is immediately to the left of reception as soon as you enter the main building. Ask at reception if any doubt.)
Music is the most censored of all the arts – from the restrictions facing musicians in Iran to the pressures of the global market. To coincide with Index on Censorship’s special issue on music and censorship, ‘Smashed Hits 2.0’, please join us for a panel discussion with leading performers, broadcasters, producers and commentators.
David Jones, director of Serious and London Jazz Festival
Daniel Brown, journalist and broadcaster
Malu Halasa, writer and editor
Lucy Duràn, broadcaster and academic
Khyam Allami, musician
Chair: Jo Glanville, editor, Index on Censorship
The event will include a special screening of the short film Baddil Musiqah (7min, Arabic with English subtitles). Produced by Aramram, an independent film production company based in Jordan, it gives an insight into what is on the minds of young independent Arab musicians in the region today.
25 Nov 2010 | Events
The Libel Reform Campaign (Index on Censorship, English PEN and Sense About Science) would like you to join us to celebrate our first anniversary at a drinks reception with:
Lord McNally, Minister of State for Justice
Richard Allan, Director of European Policy for Facebook
Richard Mollet, Chief Executive of the Publishers Association
In November 2009, after a year-long inquiry, the Free Speech Is Not For Sale report was published by English PEN and Index on Censorship. In June 2009, Sense About Science launched a campaign publicising libel threats against scientists such as Simon Singh and Peter Wilmshurst. In December 2009 the three charities came together to form the Libel Reform Campaign. The impetus this lobby has created is startling.
Over 50,000 people have joined the campaign and together we have campaigned for major reforms to England’s libel laws to protect free speech, including a public interest defence, restrictions on corporate bullying, recognition of internet publishing, and improvements to existing defences.
Libel reform was not on the political agenda before our campaign; now the coalition government has announced it will bring forward a draft bill early in 2011. We look forward to seeing you on 2nd December to mark this progress and share our thoughts on the challenges ahead.
7pm, Thursday 2nd December
Free Word Centre, 60 Farringdon Road, EC1R 3GA
RSVP: [email protected]
Add your voice to the Libel Reform Campaign at www.libelreform.org
25 Nov 2010 | Asia and Pacific, China
On 24 November the South China Morning Post reported that the milk scandal activist, Zhao Lianhai, may be released just weeks after he began his two-and-a-half-year prison sentence. It appears a back-room deal has resulted in Zhao’s application for medical parole being accepted by judicial authorities. According to the Post:
Public pressure from Hong Kong played a crucial role in yesterday’s dramatic twist in the case of jailed melamine milk activist Zhao Lianhai, who will probably be released on medical parole, his supporters say.
It is unprecedented for Beijing to release a mainland convict so soon following lobbying from Hong Kong. In an unusual move, Xinhua’s Hong Kong branch said yesterday morning that a medical parole application from Zhao was being processed.
Zhao was found guilty of “inciting social disorder” after he set up a website for families affected by China’s toxic milk scandal after his own son became sick. The activist has been on hunger strike ever since he was sentenced on 10 November. His wife, Li Xuemei is also on hunger strike. Earlier this week news broke that Zhao had fired his lawyers. In a letter supposedly sent from inside the prison, this, combined with the news he has dropped plans to appeal and sought medical parole raised hopes that he had made a clandestine deal with the authorities.
Hong Kong politicians have credited themselves with Zhao’s possible release — they say the u-turn is the result of public pressure on Beijing: Peng Jian , Zhao’s former lawyer said “Hong Kong is not only helping one person, but the conscience of China”.
As with other sensitive topics in China, the censorship organs, this time the Internet Management Office, has demanded that all mentions of “Zhao Lianhai” be erased from websites, including online forums, blogs and microblogs. Indeed, whilst Twitter is awash with mentions of the case, and a Twitter account for Zhao, its counterpart in the Chinese microblogging sphere, Sina microblog, has no mentions at all.
25 Nov 2010 | Index Index, minipost, News and features
Writer Nevin Berktaş, author of the book “Difficult places that challenge the faith: Prison Cells” (published by Yediveren Yayınları in 2010), is being tried on charges of “spreading propaganda for an illegal organisation”. The case about Berktaş’s book has been pending for ten years.
The book is related to the 22 years the writer spent in prison after the 1980 military coup and describes the process of resistance in prison cells. The health conditions of the writer are reportedly very bad, as a result of the hunger strikes she carried out in 1984 and 1996.
