26 Sep 2016 | Campaigns, Campaigns -- Featured, Statements, Syria, United Kingdom
2016 Freedom of Expression Journalism Award winner Zaina Erhaim (Photo: Elina Kansikas for Index on Censorship)
Index on Censorship is appalled by the decision of UK border officials to confiscate the passport of Syrian journalist, Zaina Erhaim. The Syria coordinator for the Institute of War and Peace Reporting, Erhaim has been recognised by a number of organisations internationally for her work training citizen journalists to report on the conflict within Aleppo.
Index invited Erhaim, in her capacity as winner of this year’s Freedom of Expression Awards, to an event at Write on Kew Festival to speak about her experiences alongside veteran journalist Kate Adie.
When Erhaim arrived in the UK on Thursday 22 September for the event she was detained by the UK Border Agency (UKBA) and questioned for an hour before UKBA confiscated her passport. Erhaim was told that the passport had been reported by the Syrian authorities as stolen and therefore UKBA was compelled to retain it and return it to the Syrian government.
Erhaim had her old passport, which remains valid but is effectively unusable because the pages are filled, and was able to enter the UK for the debate. Further travel may be impossible, however, as Erhaim no longer has a passport with which to apply for a new visa to enter Europe.
When Erhaim challenged this decision, she was told to seek consular advice from the Syrian government in Damascus.
“We are extremely disappointed by the treatment of Zaina by border officials. It seems quite astonishing that the UK would accede to a request from a government whom it has only this weekend accused of being complicit in war crimes – especially when it is clear that the Syrian government is using tools, such as passport rescindments, to harass those who oppose or expose its behaviour,” Jodie Ginsberg, CEO of Index on Censorship, said.
Index will be raising the matter with the Home Office and Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
If you would like to write a letter in support of Zaina Erhaim, address your correspondence to:
Rt Hon Amber Rudd MP
Secretary of State for the Home Department
Direct Communications Unit
2 Marsham Street
London
SW1P 4DF
[email protected]
Rt Hon Boris Johnson MP
Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
King Charles Street
London
SW1A 2AH
[email protected]
More about Zaina Erhaim
Women on the front line: Zaina Erhaim and Kate Adie on the challenges of war reporting
Zaina Erhaim: “I want to give this award to the Syrians who are being terrorised”
#IndexAwards2016: Zaina Erhaim trains Syrian women to report on the war
26 Sep 2016 | Volume 45.03 Autumn 2016 Extras
Erbil, Iraq. Photo: Alan Farhadi/Flickr
Foreign correspondents often rely on “fixers” to help them report from war-torn countries. But, as Caroline Lees reveals in the new issue of Index on Censorship magazine, they can be targeted as spies if their names become known locally.
In this clip one Iraqi fixer, who has worked with foreign media ranging from Vice to National Geographic, tells Index about the gamble he takes on each byline with IS territory just an hour away.
Order your full-colour print copy of our anonymity magazine special here, or take out a digital subscription from anywhere in the world via Exact Editions (just £18* for the year). Each magazine sale helps Index on Censorship fight for free expression worldwide.
*Will be charged at local exchange rate outside the UK.
Copies will be available at the BFI, the Serpentine Gallery, MagCulture, (London), News from Nowhere (Liverpool), Home (Manchester), Calton Books (Glasgow) and on Amazon. Each magazine sale helps Index on Censorship continue its fight for free expression worldwide.
The full contents page of the magazine can be read here.
23 Sep 2016 | Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan News, Cyprus, Europe and Central Asia, France, Mapping Media Freedom, mobile, News and features, Russia
Each week, Index on Censorship’s Mapping Media Freedom project verifies threats, violations and limitations faced by the media throughout the European Union and neighbouring countries. Here are five recent reports that give us cause for concern.
The right-wing National Front (FN) party of France held its summer conference in Fréjus earlier this month. On 16 September the party refused to allow access to the independent media website Mediapart and the Quotidien television programme. The party has denied access to Mediapart in the past due to its critical reporting on the party.
Journalists’ societies of Radio France, le Monde, le Figaro, Libération, le Parisien, les Echos, Courrier International, AEF, France 2, France 3, TF1, Itélé/Canal+ denounced the ban and said they hoped it would not happen again. The FN has refused to grant access to journalists in the past despite this being against the law.
Regardless of the party’s attempt to keep Mediapart from the summer conference, the website claims they hired a freelance writer to cover the event.
Vladimir Romensky was removed by police from a Russian polling station on 18 September. Romensky is a reporter for the independent television channel Dozhd and was sent to the polling station to investigate potential voter fraud. He was responding to rumors that ballot stuffing had occurred at the site.
When Romensky attempted to enter he was approached by a man who refused to introduce himself and did not allow Romensky or his camera crew to access the polling station. A nearby police officer then intervened and demanded to see Romensky’s documents. Despite having all the necessary documents for his camera crew and himself, the police officer called armed guards and pushed the crew out of the station.
Dmitry Korotkov, a reporter for the Russian news site Fontanka, was arrested in St Petersburg on 18 September while investigating voter fraud.
Korotkov was looking into information about carousel voting, which occurs when an organised group of voters travels to different voting districts to repeatedly vote, even though they are not registered in that district. Fontanka discovered that voters were given four ballots at a certain polling station after revealing a special stamp on their passports to polling officials.
Korotkov was able to obtain the passport stamp and received four ballots at the designated polling station even though he was not registered in the specific district. In response, the polling official offered for him to sign as another voter.
Korotkov revealed to the polling official who he was and the fraud that was occurring. The official promised to investigate the situation and called the police, however Korotkov was detained instead. They charged him with illegally obtaining ballot papers.
At around 2am on 19 September, crime reporter Dina Kleanthous’ car was set on fire by an unknown arsonist.
Kleanthous is a reporter for the online news site Reporter Online. She believes the act is not personal, but a response to her work. Kleanthous had recently been receiving threats regarding a story she was covering.
Dunja Mijatović, a representative for the Freedom of Media in the OSCE, said: “This blatant attempt to coerce a journalist who is reporting on news of public interest is simply unacceptable, I urge the authorities to investigate this incident thoroughly and bring to justice those responsible.”
Hilal Mammadov, the editor-in-chief of the independent newspaper Tolyshi Sado, was summoned by police on 19 September. The newspaper covers the ethnic minority of Talysh in Azerbaijan.
Mammadov is a former political prisoner, sentenced to five years in prison in 2013 on spurious charges of “illegal selling of drugs”, “high treason”, and “incitement to national, racial, social, and religious hatred and hostility”. Mammadov was pardoned in March 2016.
After being summoned on 19 September, Mammadov claims the police asked him whether he was a part of a “secret opposition“ and he was forced to give the names of his family to the officials.
23 Sep 2016 | Events
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The award-winning improvised musical Showstopper! has partnered with Index on Censorship to celebrate free expression this autumn.
Offering a brand new, no-holds-barred, spontaneously improvised musical every night, the cast transforms audience suggestions into an all-singing, all-dancing production with unpredictable and hilarious results.
Showstopper! has delighted audiences across the globe, enjoyed nine years as an Edinburgh Fringe must-see phenomenon, a BBC Radio 4 series and a critically acclaimed West End run at London’s Apollo Theatre. In 2016 it won an Olivier Award for Best Entertainment.
In support of Index on Censorship, proceeds from a limited number of special tickets for upcoming performances will go to support our work defending free expression internationally.
★★★★★ “Had me weeping with laughter… you absolutely have to go.” – Mail on Sunday
★★★★★ “Achingly funny… These guys have to be seen to be believed.” – Time Out
★★★★★ “So polished, it defies belief.” – Daily Telegraph
★★★★★ “Joyous, uproarious” – Independent on Sunday
★★★★ “Magical. Properly funny. A triumph.” – The Times[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1480698868177{border-top-width: 2px !important;border-right-width: 2px !important;border-bottom-width: 2px !important;border-left-width: 2px !important;padding-top: 5px !important;padding-right: 5px !important;padding-bottom: 5px !important;padding-left: 5px !important;border-left-color: #0a0202 !important;border-left-style: solid !important;border-right-color: #0a0202 !important;border-right-style: solid !important;border-top-color: #0a0202 !important;border-top-style: solid !important;border-bottom-color: #0a0202 !important;border-bottom-style: solid !important;border-radius: 5px !important;}”]
WHERE: Lyric Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue, London, W1D 7ES (Map)
WHEN: 12 December – 7:30pm. Running time 90mins plus interval. Age guidance 12+.
TICKETS: £50 (buy yours here). All seats are Band A and half of the proceeds of every ticket sold here will be donated directly to Index on Censorship. You can also book by phone by calling 0330 333 4812 and quoting “INDEX” to the box office.
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With special thanks to Divine Chocolate.
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