JS Tissainayagam, editor of Sri Lankan news website OutreachSL, was indicted on 25 August on terrorist charges, after being arrested in March. The charges relate to articles that he published in 2006 for the magazine North Eastern Monthly. The...


Libel without tears
Today's apology to Salman Rushdie in the high court could take the chill off future defamation cases. Index on Censorship reports Salman Rushdie set a new standard for libel actions today, following former police officer Ron Evans's apology to the...

Beyond Musharraf
Pakistan’s media are hoping an independent judiciary will protect freedom of expression, says Haq Nawaz Khan A black era of almost nine years of military dictatorship came to an end when Pervez Musharraf finally stepped down as president of...

Sihem Bensedrine detained in Tunisia
Index on Censorship award winner prevented from leaving country by security forces Journalist and free expression activist Sihem Bensedrine was forcibly prevented from leaving Tunisia by security forces at Tunis Airport on 19 August. The 2006 Index...

‘This kind of terror prevention constrains us all’
The Terrorism Act has again proved to be much too broadly defined for comfort, writes Jo Glanville Aabid Khan, Sultan Muhammed and Hammad Munshi were all found guilty under the Terrorism Act this week. Between them they had what’s been described as...
Gambian journalist escapes prison sentence
A Gambian journalist avoided four years in prison after raising 8,000 euro to pay a fine yesterday. A court convicted Gambian journalist, Fatou Jaw Manneh, for ‘sedition’, relating to her 2005 article criticising President Jammeh. Manneh was found...
Two sentenced for possession of jihadi materials
Aabid Khan and Sultan Muhammad, both 23 and from Bradford, have been sentenced to 12 and 10 years respectively after being found guilty of possessing or making documents promoting terrorism. The two were convicted along with 18-year-old Hammaad...
China: Beijing protest zone sham
The Chinese authorities are yet to issue any permits for the designated 'protest zones' which were installed as a gesture of openness and freedom in conjunction with the Olympic Games. The state media organ, Xinhua, reported that 77 applications...
Journalist detained for broadcasting election speech
A radio reporter in Puntland, Somalia, who broadcast a speech by an opposition candidate, has been detained without charge. Mohamed Mohamud, the regional director for Radio Daljir, was arrested on 17 August following his broadcasting of a speech by...

China: Index on Censorship writer detained
Blogger Zhou 'Zola' Shugang, known in China as the 'nailhouse blogger', was placed under house arrest last week by Chinese authorities seeking to prevent him travelling to Beijing. Zola has frequently drawn attention to issues hushed up by the...
UN slams UK free speech record
The UK government’s record on free expression has been harshly criticised in a United Nations report. Defamation laws allowing for ‘libel tourism’, and sweeping incitement to terrorism legislation, were singled out as dangers to free speech. Read...
China: Olympics media restricted
Journalist John Ray of ITV and Guardian photographer Dan Chung have both reported being ‘manhandled’ by the Chinese police while covering a pro-Tibet protest in Beijing. Ray was also detained by police who claimed to have mistaken him for an...