10 Apr 2017 | Events, Turkey
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
The Centre for Turkey Studies (CEFTUS) and Index on Censorship are pleased to invite you to a public forum with Special Adviser to the Foreign Affairs Select Committee Guney Yildiz, award-winning Turkish-British technologist Alp Toker and Index on Censorship’s Head of Advocacy Melody Patry on 20th April 2017.
A referendum on the proposed changes to Turkey’s constitution will take place on 16th April 2017. The changes proposed would significantly alter the structure of Turkey’s government and so the vote has big implications for Turkey’s future.
Our guest speakers will analyse the result of the referendum on Turkey’s domestic and foreign policies and freedom of expression in particular.
This event will also mark Index’s Freedom of Expression Awards that celebrate the courage and creativity of some of the world’s greatest journalists, campaigners, inventors and artists.
This event is hosted by Neil Coyle, Labour MP for Bermondsey and Old Southwark.
Please note that as security checks are required to enter House of Commons, we kindly ask you to arrive at 6.30PM, allowing the event to start and end on time.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
When: 7-9PM on Thursday, 20th April 2017
Where: Committee Room 9, House of Commons
Tickets: Free. Registration required.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
10 Apr 2017 | Awards, News and features
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Maldives Independent, the Maldives’ premiere English publication and one of the few remaining independent media outlets, was formed in exile in Sri Lanka in 2004. As the country’s pro-democracy movement began to grow, the staff of the Maldives Independent moved operations back home in 2005.
The publication covers many taboo subjects which are neglected by other press outlets, editor Zaheena Rasheed said, including gender, human rights, political violence, religious extremism and much more. For this, Maldives Independent has faced repeated harassment. 
In September 2016, following the release of an Al Jazeera documentary exposing government corruption that contained interviews with Rasheed, the newspaper’s offices were attacked with a machete and later raided by the police. Rasheed believes whoever left a machete stuck to the door of her office is connected with the disappearance of one of her colleagues in 2014, an abduction she said has not been properly investigated by police.
Following an anonymous text Rasheed received saying she would be the next one to disappear, she left the country.
The Maldives ranks 112 out of 180 countries on the Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index. “Journalists in the Maldives have taken unprecedented risks in reporting on human rights, business corruption and abuse of authority. I believe a free press is crucial, essential in protecting human rights,” Rasheed said.
Despite the attacks, arrests and raids, Maldives Independent continues to produce outstanding journalism, holding the Maldives’ corrupt government to account.
See the full shortlist for Index on Censorship’s Freedom of Expression Awards 2017 here.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row_content” equal_height=”yes” el_class=”text_white” css=”.vc_custom_1490258749071{background-color: #cb3000 !important;}”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_custom_heading text=”Support the Index Fellowship.” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:28|text_align:center” use_theme_fonts=”yes” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.indexoncensorship.org%2Fsupport-the-freedom-of-expression-awards%2F|||”][vc_column_text]
By donating to the Freedom of Expression Awards you help us support
individuals and groups at the forefront of tackling censorship.
Find out more
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″ css=”.vc_custom_1490258649778{background-image: url(https://www.indexoncensorship.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/donate-heads-slider.jpg?id=75349) !important;background-position: center !important;background-repeat: no-repeat !important;background-size: cover !important;}”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_basic_grid post_type=”post” max_items=”4″ element_width=”6″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1491819882623-7adf37ff-110c-10″ taxonomies=”8734″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
9 Apr 2017 | Index in the Press
Eric Gill was one of the great British artists of the 20th century – and a sexual abuser of his own daughters. A new exhibition at Ditchling asks: how far should an artist’s life affect our judgment of their work? Read the full article
9 Apr 2017 | Index in the Press
Trigger warnings, “safe spaces” and “no platforming” have all made headlines recently as signs of the deterioration of free speech on campuses in the US. What rarely makes news, though, is another troubling aspect of censorship: so-called bias response teams. Read the full article
