Awards 2018

[vc_row full_width=”stretch_row_content_no_spaces” css_animation=”fadeIn” css=”.vc_custom_1500380806420{padding-top: 250px !important;padding-bottom: 250px !important;background-image: url(https://www.indexoncensorship.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/logo-2018-1460×490.jpg?id=94317) !important;background-position: center !important;background-repeat: no-repeat !important;background-size: cover !important;}”][vc_column][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row” css=”.vc_custom_1500449679881{margin-top: -50px !important;}”][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”2018 FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AWARDS” font_container=”tag:h1|text_align:center” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_row_inner disable_element=”yes”][vc_column_inner][vc_empty_space height=”15px”][vc_custom_heading text=”ABOUT THE AWARDS” font_container=”tag:h2|text_align:center” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner equal_height=”yes” content_placement=”middle”][vc_column_inner el_class=”awards-inside-desc” width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Index on Censorship’s Freedom of Expression Awards exist to celebrate individuals or groups who have had a significant impact fighting censorship anywhere in the world.

  • Awards are offered in four categories: Arts, Campaigning, Digital Activism and Journalism
  • Anyone who has had a demonstrable impact in tackling censorship is eligible
  • Winners are honoured at a gala celebration in London
  • Winners join Index’s Awards Fellowship programme and receive dedicated training and support

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_video link=”https://youtu.be/a9Yl-nkwpig”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row”][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”2018 Fellowship” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:center” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]

Selected from over 400 public nominations and a shortlist of 16, the 2018 Freedom of Expression Awards Fellows exemplify courage in the face of censorship. Learn more about the fellowship.

[/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”97994″ img_size=”full”][vc_column_text]Arts | The Museum of Dissidence

The Museum of Dissidence is a public art project and website celebrating dissent in Cuba. Set up in 2016 by acclaimed artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and curator Yanelys Nuñez Leyva, their aim is to reclaim the word “dissident” and give it a positive meaning in Cuba. The museum organises radical public art projects and installations, concentrated in the poorer districts of Havana. Their fearlessness in opening dialogues and inhabiting public space has led to fierce repercussions: Nuñez was sacked from her job and Otero arrested and threatened with prison for being a “counter-revolutionary.” Despite this, they persist in challenging Cuba’s restrictions on expression.

Full profile | Speech[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”97988″ img_size=”full”][vc_column_text]Campaigning | Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms

The Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms is one of the few human rights organisations still operating in a country which has waged an orchestrated campaign against independent civil society groups. Egypt is becoming increasingly hostile to dissent, but ECRF continues to provide advocacy, legal support and campaign coordination, drawing attention to the many ongoing human rights abuses under the autocratic rule of President Abdel Fattah-el-Sisi. Their work has seen them subject to state harassment, their headquarters have been raided and staff members arrested. ECRF are committed to carrying on with their work regardless of the challenges.

Full profile | Speech[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”97990″ img_size=”full”][vc_column_text]Digital Activism | Habari RDC

Launched in 2016, Habari RDC is a collective of more than 100 young Congolese bloggers and web activists, who use Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to give voice to the opinions of young people from all over the Democratic Republic of Congo. Their site posts stories and cartoons about politics, but it also covers football, the arts and subjects such as domestic violence, child exploitation, the female orgasm and sexual harassment at work. Habari RDC offers a distinctive collection of funny, angry and modern Congolese voices, who are demanding to be heard.

Full profile | Speech[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”98000″ img_size=”full”][vc_column_text]Journalism | Wendy Funes

Wendy Funes is an investigative journalist from Honduras who regularly risks her life for her right to report on what is happening in the country, an extremely harsh environment for reporters. Two journalists were murdered in 2017 and her father and friends are among those who have met violent deaths in the country – killings for which no one has ever been brought to justice. Funes meets these challenges with creativity and determination. For one article she had her own death certificate issued to highlight corruption. Funes also writes about violence against women, a huge problem in Honduras where one woman is killed every 16 hours.

Full profile | Speech[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][awards_gallery_slider name=”2018 AWARDS GALA” images_url=”99875,99880,99879,99881,99882,99884,99885,99886,99887,99888,99889,99890,99891,99892,99893,99902,99906,99907,99908,99909,99910,99911,99912,99913,99914,99915,99916,99917,99918,99919,99920,99921,99922,99923,99924,99926,99925″][vc_column_text]

The Awards were held at London’s May Fair Hotel on Thursday 19 April 2018.

High-resolution images are available for download via Flickr.

[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=”THE 2018 FELLOWSHIP SHORTLIST” font_container=”tag:h2|text_align:center” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_tta_tabs][vc_tta_section title=”Arts” tab_id=”Arts”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]

ARTS

for artists and arts producers whose work challenges repression and injustice and celebrates artistic free expression

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_video link=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfntVe_SrPY”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”97991″ onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2018/03/indexawards-2018-jamal-alis-music-fights-oppression-in-azerbaijan/”][vc_column_text]Jamal Ali, Azerbaijan[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”97998″ onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2018/03/index-awards-silvanos-mudzvova/”][vc_column_text]Silvanos Mudzvova, Zimbabwe[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”99853″ onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2018/03/indexawards2017-museum-of-dissidence-cuba-activism/”][vc_column_text]The Museum of Dissidence, Cuba[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”97985″ onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2018/03/index-awards-abbad-yahya/”][vc_column_text]Abbad Yahya, Palestine[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”Campaigning” tab_id=”1524476396272-7b8a9fcb-bce7″][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]

CAMPAIGNING

for activists and campaigners who have had a marked impact in fighting censorship and promoting freedom of expression

Supported by Doughty Street Chambers

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_video link=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iV2qFGmPhUU”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”99421″ onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2018/03/indexawards2018-ecrf-advocates-for-democratic-egypt/”][vc_column_text]Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms, Egypt[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”97995″ onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2018/03/index-awards-nglhrc/”][vc_column_text]National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, Kenya[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”97997″ onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2018/03/index-awards-open-stadiums/”][vc_column_text]Open Stadiums, Iran[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”97999″ onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2018/03/index-awards-team-29/”][vc_column_text]Team 29, Russia[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”Digital activism” tab_id=”1524476516614-1a2ebb46-7ed2″][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]

DIGITAL ACTIVISM

for innovative uses of technology to circumvent censorship and enable free and independent exchange of information

Supported by Private Internet Access

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_video link=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dz0rqQOlutw”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”97987″ onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2018/04/index-awards-digital-rights-foundation/”][vc_column_text]Digital Rights Foundation, Pakistan[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”97989″ onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2018/04/index-awards-fereshteh-forough/”][vc_column_text]Fereshteh Forough, Afghanistan[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”99851″ onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2018/04/index-awards-habari-rdc-digital-activism/”][vc_column_text]Habari RDC, Congo[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”97992″ onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2018/04/index-awards-media-cat-free-speech/”][vc_column_text]Mèdia.cat, Spain[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”Journalism” tab_id=”1524476563543-4fdf3da9-962c”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]

JOURNALISM

for courageous, high-impact and determined journalism that exposes censorship and threats to free expression

Sponsored by Vice News

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_video link=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8KfzAtARGQ”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”97986″ onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2018/04/index-awards-avispa-midia/”][vc_column_text]Avispa Midia, Mexico[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”99850″ onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2018/04/index-awards-wendy-funes/”][vc_column_text]Wendy Funes, Honduras[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”97993″ onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2018/04/index-awards-muck-rock/”][vc_column_text]MuckRock, United States[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”97996″ onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2018/04/novosti-combats-croatian-natinalism/”][vc_column_text]Novosti, Croatia[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_tta_section][/vc_tta_tabs][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row” css=”.vc_custom_1484569093244{background-color: #f2f2f2 !important;}”][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”JUDGING” font_container=”tag:h1|text_align:center” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_row_inner el_class=”mw700″][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text]

Each year Index recruits an independent panel of judges – leading voices with diverse expertise across campaigning, journalism, the arts and human rights. Judges look for courage, creativity and resilience. We shortlist on the basis of those who are deemed to be making the greatest impact in tackling censorship in their chosen area, with a particular focus on topics that are little covered or tackled by others. Where a judge comes from a nominee’s country, or where there is any other potential conflict of interest, the judge will abstain from voting in that category.

The 2018 judging panel:

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][staff name=”Razia Iqbal” title=”Journalist” profile_image=”97201″]Razia Iqbal is a presenter for BBC News, where she is one of the main presenters of Newshour, the flagship news and current affairs programme on BBC World Service radio. [/staff][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][staff name=”Tim Moloney QC” title=”Barrister” profile_image=”97202″]Tim Moloney QC is the deputy head of Doughty Street Chambers. His practice encompasses crime, extradition, international criminal law, international death penalty litigation, public law and media law. [/staff][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][staff name=”Yana Peel” title=”Chief Executive” profile_image=”97203″]Yana Peel is CEO of the Serpentine Galleries, London, one of the most recognised organisations in the global contemporary art, design and architecture worlds. [/staff][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][staff name=”Eben Upton CBE” title=”Tech entrepreneur” profile_image=”97204″]Eben Upton CBE is a founder of the Raspberry Pi Foundation and serves as the CEO of Raspberry Pi (Trading), its commercial and engineering subsidiary.[/staff][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row” css=”.vc_custom_1510244917017{margin-top: 30px !important;}”][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”THE FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AWARDS FELLOWSHIP” font_container=”tag:h2|text_align:center” use_theme_fonts=”yes” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.indexoncensorship.org%2F2017%2F07%2F2018-freedom-of-expression-awards-fellowship%2F|||”][vc_column_text]

The Freedom of Expression Awards Fellowship is open to any individual or organisation involved in tackling free expression threats – either through journalism, campaigning, the arts or using digital techniques – is eligible for nomination. Any individual, group or NGO can nominate or self-nominate. There is no cost to apply. Nominees must have had a recognisable impact in the past 12 months.

We offer Fellowships in four categories:[/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner equal_height=”yes” disable_element=”yes” el_class=”awards-4grid” css=”.vc_custom_1524481168193{margin-top: 20px !important;margin-bottom: 20px !important;}”][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″ css=”.vc_custom_1500449830213{background-color: #cb3000 !important;}”][vc_custom_heading text=”Arts” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]for artists and arts producers whose work challenges repression and injustice and celebrates artistic free expression[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″ css=”.vc_custom_1500449924825{background-color: #d98c00 !important;}”][vc_custom_heading text=”Campaigning” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]for activists and campaigners who have had a marked impact in fighting censorship and promoting freedom of expression[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″ css=”.vc_custom_1500449960164{background-color: #cb3000 !important;}”][vc_custom_heading text=”Digital Activism” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]for innovative uses of technology to circumvent censorship and enable free and independent exchange of information[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″ css=”.vc_custom_1500449938665{background-color: #d98c00 !important;}”][vc_custom_heading text=”Journalism” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]for courageous, high-impact and determined journalism that exposes censorship and threats to free expression[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row equal_height=”yes” el_class=”text_white” css=”.vc_custom_1500380887889{margin-top: 20px !important;margin-bottom: 20px !important;background-color: #cb3000 !important;}”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_custom_heading text=”Support the Index Awards.” 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_1524481080226{background-image: url(https://www.indexoncensorship.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/2018-Fellows-4-web.jpg?id=99811) !important;background-position: center !important;background-repeat: no-repeat !important;background-size: contain !important;}”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row disable_element=”yes”][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”GALA” font_container=”tag:h1|text_align:center” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][awards_gallery_slider name=”2017 Freedom of Expression Awards” images_url=”89583,89582,89581,89580,89579,89577,89578,89576,89575,89574,89565,89560,89559,89553,89552,89551,89550,89549,89548,89547,89546,89545,89544,89543,89542,89541,89540,89539,89538,89537,89536,89535,89534,89533,89532,89531,89530,89529,89528,89527,89526,89525,89524,89523,89522,89520,89521,89519,89518,89517,89516,89515,89514,89513,89512,89511,89510,89509″][vc_column_text]

The Awards were held at London’s Unicorn Theatre on Wednesday 19 April 2017.

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row_content_no_spaces” disable_element=”yes” css=”.vc_custom_1500384168164{margin-top: 20px !important;margin-bottom: 20px !important;padding-top: 20px !important;padding-right: 15px !important;padding-bottom: 20px !important;padding-left: 15px !important;background-color: #f2f2f2 !important;}”][vc_column][vc_row_inner content_placement=”middle” el_class=”container container980″][vc_column_inner][awards_news_slider name=”NEWS” years=”2017″][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row_content_no_spaces” css=”.vc_custom_1500453384143{margin-top: 20px !important;padding-top: 20px !important;padding-bottom: 20px !important;}”][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=”SPONSORS” font_container=”tag:h1|text_align:center” use_theme_fonts=”yes” css=”.vc_custom_1484567001197{margin-bottom: 30px !important;}”][vc_column_text]

The Freedom of Expression Awards and Fellowship have massive impact. You can help by sponsoring or supporting a fellowship.

Index is grateful to those who are supporting the 2018 Awards:

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner equal_height=”yes” el_class=”container container980″][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″ offset=”vc_col-xs-6″][vc_single_image image=”80918″ img_size=”234×234″ alignment=”center” onclick=”custom_link” img_link_target=”_blank” link=”https://uk.sagepub.com/”][vc_single_image image=”85983″ img_size=”234×234″ alignment=”center” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″ offset=”vc_col-xs-6″][vc_single_image image=”80921″ img_size=”234×234″ alignment=”center” onclick=”custom_link” img_link_target=”_blank” link=”https://www.google.co.uk/about/”][vc_single_image image=”85977″ img_size=”150×150″ alignment=”center” onclick=”custom_link” link=”http://www.edwardian.com/”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner equal_height=”yes” el_class=”container container980″][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″ offset=”vc_col-xs-6″][vc_single_image image=”82003″ alignment=”center” onclick=”custom_link” img_link_target=”_blank” link=”http://www.vodafone.com/content/index.html#”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″ offset=”vc_col-xs-6″][vc_single_image image=”82323″ alignment=”center” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://news.vice.com/”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″ offset=”vc_col-xs-6″][vc_single_image image=”80923″ img_size=”medium” alignment=”center” onclick=”custom_link” img_link_target=”_blank” link=”http://www.doughtystreet.co.uk/”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner equal_height=”yes” el_class=”container container980″][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″ offset=”vc_col-xs-6″][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″ offset=”vc_col-xs-6″][vc_single_image image=”80924″ alignment=”center” onclick=”custom_link” img_link_target=”_blank” link=”https://psiphon.ca/”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″ offset=”vc_col-xs-6″][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_column_text]

If you are interested in sponsorship you can contact [email protected]

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#IndexAwards2017 fellows: “Governments don’t care about the human rights argument”

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From left: Cartoonist Martin Rowson accepting the Arts Award on behalf of Chinese cartoonist Rebel Pepper; Alp Toker of Digital Activism Award-winner Turkey Blocks; Isik Mater of Digital Activism Award-winner Turkey Blocks; Anastasia Zotova, wife and campaign partner of Campaigning Award-winner Ildar Dadin; Ahemd Naish, editor of Journalism Award-winning Maldives Independent; Zaheena Rasheed, former editor of Journalism Award-winning Maldives Independent. (Photo: Elina Kansikas for Index on Censorship)

From left: Cartoonist Martin Rowson accepting the Arts Award on behalf of Chinese cartoonist Rebel Pepper; Alp Toker of Digital Activism Award-winner Turkey Blocks; Isik Mater of Digital Activism Award-winner Turkey Blocks; Anastasia Zotova, wife and campaign partner of Campaigning Award-winner Ildar Dadin; Ahmed Naish, deputy editor of Journalism Award-winning Maldives Independent; Zaheena Rasheed, former editor of Journalism Award-winning Maldives Independent. (Photo: Elina Kansikas for Index on Censorship)

 

Since the Index on Censorship Awards, the 2017 fellows have been busy doing important work in their respective fields to further their cause and for stronger freedom of expression around the world.

Rebel Pepper / Arts

Baby Pepper

Rebel Pepper, the Chinese cartoonist critical of the country’s government, now lives in exile in the USA where he works for Radio Free Asia. “Everything is going well, and I have a lot of friendly colleagues who like my work,” he told Index on Censorship.

He also continues to write his column in the Japanese version of Newsweek and worries about many recent developments in his home country. “The CCP’s control of society is becoming more and more severe, people are exposed to less and less real news from the outside world, and vice versa,” he says. “It’s hard to sum up because there are so many problems right now.”

The artist is still getting cartoons published and says the Index on Censorship award gave him the energy to “keep walking on the creative road”.

There is a new addition to the Rebel Pepper family, with baby Kitano. “Every day I have to change a lot of diapers, which has had a big influence on my sleeping patterns, so I have to find some fun from him,” Rebel Pepper tells Index, brandishing a cartoon to illustrate his point.

Idler Dadin / Campaigning

Campaigning fellow Ildar Dadin has returned to activism since his release from prison in February. “Along with friends or on single pickets, we are openly showing that we aren’t in agreement with what’s happening in the country,” Dadin tells Index.

Last month he was detained in St Petersburg while trying to film a woman being assaulted by police. “The situation in this country now is really bad,” Dadin says. “There’s a new kind of police force which can attack and humiliate people, which is very serious.”

Ildar Dadin

He describes the arrests of more than 260 people during anti-Putin protests across Russia — including St Petersburg — in October as “pretty much normal for any activist in the country”.

Dadin believes that pressure from civil society both in Russia and abroad were partially responsible for his release. He hopes for “justice for all people, not just Russians”.

Moving forward, Index is helping Dadin with his transition to life outside of prison and prioritising his health and also helping him to gain additional international exposure.

Turkey Blocks / Digital Activism

“We are now going to be the NetBlocks project and expand our work,” director of research at Turkey Blocks Isik Mater tells Index. The team are taking steps to formalise some of their tools and methodologies, expand into new regions that have similar needs and now cover several countries experimentally.

The Turkey Blocks team have also developed a new tool called Cost, which calculates the financial impact of mass-censorship. “Governments don’t tend to care about the human rights argument, so they don’t listen to it,” says Alp Toker, founder of Turkey Blocks. “But if you tell them ‘this will cost x million dollars of harm to GDP’ then they perk up because that can become a political issue, which is a very powerful method of convincing governments not to censor content.”

Turkey, however, has been quite quiet recently in terms of internet shutdowns, after a barrage of such incidents in the year following the attempted coup in July 2016. In fact, the Turkish government have been using Turkey Blocks data on internet shutdowns as a kind of audit, Toker explains. “We ran our first panel with the Turkish government just a few weeks ago, which is kind of historic,” he says. “We are seeing really positive things, and although they have a long way to go it should be noted that they’ve been willing to have a dialogue with civil society and with a human rights group.”

Index on Censorship is helping Turkey Blocks through the process of forming a board and incorporating public speaking training skills for Mater so that she too can begin to make more public appearances.

Maldives Independent / Journalism

Staff at the Maldives Independent taking part in self-defence training.

Staff at the Maldives Independent taking part in self-defence training.

Journalism fellows at Maldives Independent are going through a period of change. Former editor Zaheena Rasheed left the publication soon after awards week in London to take up a position on the online team at Al Jazeera, where she has recently been doing a lot of work covering the Rohingya refugee crisis from Bangladesh.

For personal reasons, Rasheed finds it difficult to be involved with the Maldives on top of this. “A friend of ours in the Maldives, Yameen Rasheed, was murdered at the end of the Index awards week in London and that was a big blow — it was very hard for me.”

Yameen Rasheed was a prominent blogger and internet activist who died from multiple stab wounds after an attack in the stairway of his apartment building in Malé on Sunday 23 April 2017. Index on Censorship has been involved in helping the Maldives Independent better secure their personal and office safety since Yameen Rasheed’s murder, including a recent self-defence training session.

A new editor took over at the Maldives Independent in mid-September and since then the publication has seen a noticeable spike in readership, and reporters are encouraged to get out and meet people, build relationships and contacts.

“It’s fairly calm at the moment — there have been no coups, for example — so I see this period as a time to hone the team’s reporting and feature writing skills,” a staff member tells Index. “We’re doing a broad mix of news and features: politics, tourism, mental health, rave culture, the hipster coffee scene, rural development, sex abuse cover-ups.”

Staff at the Maldives Independent hope that the publication continues to be a forum for debate and free speech, that it holds power to account, exposes wrongdoing and corruption and most of all give insight into a country that many people have only one image of.

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Bahrain: Nabeel Rajab denied bail as he appeals two-year sentence

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Nabeel Rajab’s appeal against a two-year sentence for “spreading false news” is to conclude on 22 November, after a Bahraini appeals court today ignored the defence’s final arguments and denied Rajab bail. Rajab, an Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Award winner is one of Bahrain’s highest profile human rights campaigners and president of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, was sentenced in July 2017.

Rajab faces another trial on 19 November in relation to his social media posts on twitter, for which he faces up to 15 years in prison, for a total of 17 years.

Rajab’s lawyers submitted video evidence of journalists and researchers denied entry into Bahrain which would dispute the charge that he “spread false news” by, among other things, stating the Bahraini government bars reporters and human rights workers from entering the country. However, the court, led by Judge Bader Al-Abdulla, today refused to play the evidence in court. Judge Al-Abdulla set 22 November as the final court hearing, when its judgement is expected.

Nabeel Rajab was sentenced in absentia to two years in prison on charges of “spreading false news” under article 134 of Bahrain’s Penal Code. His appeal began in September.

He is currently serving his sentence in Jau Prison, where he was transferred to on 25 October, after over six months in the Ministry of Interior Hospital. Rajab has been held in humiliating conditions and isolated from other inmates.

On 8 Nov, Rajab was transferred to the Appeals Court in a vehicle which prison officers told him was used to transfer people sentenced to death, as opposed to the regular transfer bus. Rajab was photographed throughout the transfer and was kept in a suffocating heat in the vehicle, in which he struggled breathe. There are currently 16 people on death row in Bahrain, the majority of them sentenced to death in 2017. In January, three torture victims were unlawfully executed; the UN condemned the killing.

Rajab’s brother was barred from attending the court. Observers from the British, American and German embassies were present at the trial.

Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, Director of Advocacy, Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy: “Nabeel has been subject to humiliating treatment by Jau Prison’s administration and the appeals court continues to deny him a fair trial. Bahrain continues to deny journalists and NGOs access. This is a fact, which Bahrain has imprisoned Nabeel for stating. The Government of Bahrain’s zero tolerance policy to human rights defenders is appalling, and yet instead of condemnation, Britain whitewashes the abuses while the US approves new arms sales to Bahrain.”

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The campaign of judicial harassment against Nabeel Rajab must end. Index on Censorship demands that Bahrain’s government drop all charges and release him unconditionally.

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“Spreading False News”

The charges relate solely to TV interviews Rajab gave in 2014 and 2015. Without irony, prosecution papers from the criminal court proceedings, seen by BIRD, state that Rajab is being prosecuted for stating that the Bahraini government “derogates from freedom of opinion and of expression.” Bahrain’s prosecution has treated Rajab as a criminal for speech acts such as: “accusing the ruling system in the Kingdom of following a policy of repression” and of “arresting those opposed to the regime”; or alleging “the commission by responsible [government] bodies of crimes of killing and torture.” In the prosecution’s account Mr. Rajab has also made statements accusing the Bahraini government of “evasion of responsibility”; engaging in “sectarianism”; and “suppressing opposition and violating international agreements and covenants.”

Rajab was arrested on 13 June 2016 and has been detained ever since. He was held largely in solitary confinement in the first nine months of his detention, violating the UN Standard Minimum Rules for Non-Custodial Measures (Tokyo Rules) which state: “pre-trial detention shall be used as a means of last resort in criminal proceedings, with due regard for the investigation of the alleged offence and for the protection of society and the victim.”

In early April 2017, Rajab was admitted to the Bahrain Defence Force hospital for a necessary surgery. He was transferred back to police custody just a day later, before having recovered from his operation, and his health deteriorated significantly; from there he was transferred to the Ministry of Interior Clinic (Al-Qalaa), where he remains to date. Between April and August 2017, Rajab was unable to attend court, which held numerous hearings in his absence, including his sentencing. Rajab was transferred back to Jau Prison in October.

Rajab faces a concurrent trial on 19 November  in which he faces up to 15 years in prison on charges related to his tweets exposing torture in a Bahraini prison and criticising the humanitarian cost of the war in Yemen. In September 2017, a new set of charges were brought against Rajab related to social media posts made in January 2017, when he was already in detention and without internet access. Rajab also faces a fourth set of charges related to a letter he penned to the New York Times in September 2016.

The UN Committee Against Torture has called for Rajab’s release.

The UK’s Middle East Minister Alistair Burt was in Bahrain in October, where he met with senior officials and expressed support for the government’s reform programme – a programme which only Bahrain and the UK claim exists. He said “The UK will continue to support Bahrain to deliver its ambitious reform initiatives, with a particular focus on rule of law and human rights.” There is no indication that they specifically raised Nabeel Rajab’s case.

In the US, the Trump Administration this year removed Obama-era human Rights conditions on arms sales, one of which was the unconditional release of Rajab. In September, the Trump Administration approved the sale of F-16 jets worth $2.78 billion.

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Don’t lose your voice. Stay informed.” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_separator color=”black”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Index on Censorship is a nonprofit that campaigns for and defends free expression worldwide. We publish work by censored writers and artists, promote debate, and monitor threats to free speech. We believe that everyone should be free to express themselves without fear of harm or persecution – no matter what their views.

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