19 Jan 2010 | Index Index, minipost, Uncategorized
On 18 January at least 30 women were detained in Kampala while attempting to deliver a petition calling for the resignation of the electoral commission chief Badru Kiggundu, who they say is unable to organise credible and fair elections, scheduled for 2011. The women, members of a group called InterParty Cooperation, were wearing T-shirts with the slogan ‘Women for Peace’; “they forcefully loaded us on police vehicles like sacks of beans even when we had voluntarily accepted arrest,” said the chair of the opposition women’s league, Ingrid Turinawe. Police say they are likely to be charged with criminal trespass, unlawful assembly and inciting violence.
19 Jan 2010 | News
Editor Hrant Dink was killed on 19 January 2007. In this interview with Nouritza Matossian, published in Index on Censorship magazine shortly after his death, Dink described his commitment to free expression and reconciliation between Armenians and Turks
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18 Jan 2010 | Index Index, minipost, Uncategorized
Following violent clashes in Nairobi on 16 January that left five dead, Kenyan police have arrested more than 300 people, including 16 Somali MPs. Last week’s demonstration were organized to demand the release of Abdullah Al-Faisal, the Jamaican-born Muslim cleric who served five years in jail in the UK for inciting racial hatred. Al-Faisal has been detained without charge pending deportation, Kenya’s efforts to deport the controversial figure have been hampered by their inability to find an airline willing to carry him.
Internal Security Minister George Saitoti has accused the Somali Islamist group Al-Shabab of being involved in the clashes, Saitoti claimed most of those detained have been picked up on suspicion of being illegal immigrants. Kenyan human rights activist Al-Amin Kimathi, who has been campaigning for Al-Faisal’s release, was arrested on Monday 18 January.
18 Jan 2010 | Uncategorized
On 6 January, Index reported that blogging platform WordPress had temporarily removed the site of the Bristol Blogger after receiving a letter claiming the blog had defamed academic Howard Newby.
Turns out the Bristol Blogger wasn’t the only person to be affected. A British academic blogger points out that his blog too, was censored by WordPress, after the company received a letter from Newby’s people.
It’s tempting to blame WordPress for this, and the haste with which they complied with the solicitors is a little worrying. But the problem here is of course, with the libel laws. WordPress could be liable for any content carried on their platforms, in the way distributors John Menzies and WH Smith could be held liable for content they distributed in the infamous John Major vs New Statesman case.
This really can’t go on.
