2 Aug 2011 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost
BBC journalist Shaimaa Khalil has been released after her arrest yesterday in Egypt. The BBC has said it is not yet clear whether she faces further action by the authorities. Reports say that Khalil, a producer at the broadcaster’s Cairo bureau, was believed to have been arrested along with over 80 people, including other journalists, after soldiers and riot police cleared a three-week sit-in in Tahrir Square. She was detained for 20 hours at a military base before being moved and later released.
2 Aug 2011 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost, News and features
The BBC’s Shaimaa Khalil has been arrested in Egypt while reporting from Cairo. In her most recent tweet, Khalil said she and those with her were “OK” and on the way to see district prosecutors. She had travelled to Tahrir Square after Egyptian security forces had moved in to clear the area of protesters. In her last tweet before her arrest, Khalil noted the atmosphere was “extremely tense” and that the area was surrounded by “military”, “riot police” and “armoured vehicles”.
2 Aug 2011 | Index Index, minipost, News and features
Somyot Prueksakasemsuk, a Thai political activist and former editor-in-chief of the Voice of Taksin and Red Power partisan news magazines, was last week charged with two offences of lese majeste for two separate articles deemed critical of the royal family published in his now-defunct Voice of Taksin magazine. Lese majeste charges in Thailand carry up to 15-year jail terms and have been utilised for political purposes during the country’s protracted political conflict. If found guilty of both charges, Somyot, who has first arrested on 30April and held without bail in a Bangkok detention centre for 84 days (the maximum period allowed under Thai law), will face a possible 30 years in prison.
2 Aug 2011 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, News and features
Liverpool John Moores university has dropped its libel case against Conservative MP Robert Halfon, who had criticised the university’s alleged commercial links with the regime of Colonel Gadaffi.
The university had objected to materials posted on Mr Halfon’s blog and on YouTube. Mr Halfon had initially removed the comments and videos from the web when contacted by the university. However, the John Moores’ continued with its demands, requesting that Halfon apologise and pay a “donation” to the university.
Halfon is a vocal critic of UK connections to the Libyan dictator. Elected as Conservative MP for Harlow in the 2010 election, he is descended from a Libyan Jewish grandfather who was forced to flee the country after Gadaffi took power in 1969.
Robert Halfon commented: “I’m pleased that LJMU has withdrawn their libel threat against me. I am a firm believer in freedom of speech and people must have the right to express views even if they are unpalatable to some. I remain of the view that universities in general must be very careful as to which regimes they take their money from. I hope that universities who have had dealings with Libya and similar autocracies in the Middle East will think again before signing contracts or taking money.”
David Allen Green of Preiskel & Co, who was instructed by Mr Halfon, said the university’s action was “illiberal, confused, and misconceived” .
Michael Harris of the Libel Reform Campaign: “It is not acceptable that because of the inadequacies of English libel law, an MP can face libel action for raising legitimate concerns that a UK university may be dealing with a foreign dictatorship.”
(NOTE: Index on Censorship will be commencing a paid internship scheme in association with Liverpool John Moores University Journalism Department in Autumn 2011)
