Burma: Aung San Suu Kyi’s broadcast is censored in poll runup

Burma’s opposition leader has been banned from criticising previous governments in TV and radio election campaigns. Aung San Suu Kyi has said that government censors are not allowing her party to criticise previous military-run governments when it promotes its policies on state-run radio and television ahead of next month’s elections. Suu Kyi’s statement will be broadcast on 14 and 22 March, and will be the first time the opposition leader has been given the opportunity to use the state media to promote her party.

Liberia: Reporting on genital mutilation draws threats

A female journalist has been threatened with genital mutilation after exposing the practice in Liberia. Mae Azango, a reporter for the daily newspaper FrontPage Africa and news website New Narratives was forced into hiding after receiving threatening phone-calls, saying “they will catch me and cut me so that will make me shut up”. Azango published an article on Thursday about Liberian tribes practicing female genital mutilation on as many as two out of every three girls in the country. Several people confronted the journalist about the article, and it was widely discussed on radio programmes.

Kuwait: Art exhibition shut down for “controversial” content

An art exhibition in Kuwait has been shut down three hours after opening. A group of men entered the exhibition of a collection of paintings from Kuwaiti artist Shurooq Amin, and removed the paintings,  claiming they had received a complaint over their content. Amin told Al-Qabas newspaper that those who closed down the show misinterpreted the meaning of the paintings to be disrespectful of the society’s tradition.

SUPPORT INDEX'S WORK