Maria de los Ángeles González Hernández, columnist at the newspaper "El Político" has reportedly received a number of anonymous death threats by email, allegedly from local labour leaders in Xalapa, Veracruz, southern Mexico. On 22 October, the...
Shearing Lebanon’s freedom
Sarah El-Richani: Lebanese censors target art
Canada: Sikh editor attacked by gunmen
Jagdish Grewal, founder and editor and editor of Brampton (Canada)-based newspaper "Punjabi Post" was attacked by three masked men armed with a baton and a gun outside the newspaper's offices, on 23 October. Mr. Grewal, who also hosts a daily...
Two sides of the argument
Coincidence or serendipity? Index on Censorship has found itself oddly placed by legal developments in a long running spat between Israeli and UK human rights activists and the Israeli Medical Association (IMA). Physicians for Human Rights in...
UK: Rebuilding freedoms
The road to greater surveillance and restrictions of liberties has been paved with good intentions from both the right and left, says Matthew Ryder. As the public mood changes, it is worth keeping this in mind
Arrests in Tibet following online distribution of material
Reports have emerged about the arrest of three young Tibetans after they used instant messages to distribute recordings and photographs of the Dalai Lama. The arrests of Gyaltsen, Nymia Wangchuk, and Yeshe Namkha are the latest in the clampdown...
Ben Ali re-elected in atmosphere of media repression
Tunisian President Zine al Abidine Ben Ali has won a fifth term in office, receiving 86% of the vote. The election outcome was expected. Tunisia’s most prominent opposition figures did not take part in the election, while one of Ali’s challengers...
Guidelines for super injunctions to be introduced
Junior Justice Minister Bridget Prentice revealed on 21 October that Justice Secretary Jack Straw has called on senior judges and lawyers representing major newspapers to discuss the fit and proper use of super injunctions. It follows the issuing...
Ingushetia: Murder of opposition activist
Influential businessman and activist Maksharip Aushev was shot dead in Kabardino-Balkaria on 25 October. Aushev had become a vocal critic of the Ingushetia administration, especially its ex-president Murat Zyazikov, after the kidnapping of his son...
Index welcomes repeal of sedition
Criminal libel and sedition still cast a chill on free speech around the world – and have no place in a democracy
Tunisia: Elections herald media crackdown
To ensure another re-election for President Ben Ali, Tunisia’s government has stepped up its campaign of repression against the media, reports Rohan Jayasekera
Armenia: editor faces prison for organising mass protest
Nikol Pashinyan, editor-in-chief of prominent opposition newspaper Haykakan Zhamanak, faces a prison sentence of up to 10 years for “organising mass disorder”. Pashinyan was responsible for organising the March 2008 mass protests that followed the disputed presidential elections. Pashinyan went into hiding following the events, but gave himself in to police on 1 July. Pashinyan, however, argued that his actions in organising the protest were within the law. Moreover, his lawyer urged the court to change the judge hearing the case, as current judge Mnatsakan Martirosyan had been highly criticised for his handling of a similar case earlier in the year. The trial began on the 20 October. (IPI)
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