Index on Censorship

Armenia: state of emergency declared

At least eight people were killed and dozens more were injured in the Armenian capital, Yerevan, on Saturday following clashes between authorities and protestors gathered in support of the defeated presidential candidate, Levon Ter-Petrosian. The...

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Dying for change

Dying for change

The murder of Shahab Al-Tamimi highlights the difficulties faced by Iraqis trying to build a free press and civil society, say Dave Anderson and Gary Kent Are we becoming inured to the murders of journalists and civil society leaders in Iraq? The...

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Iran: website editor arrested

Hassan Nobakhtian, the editor of conservative website Nosaki, was arrested on 25 February, despite having had no complaints brought against him. The arrest took place 11 days after Nosaki was banned by Tehran prosecutor-general Said Mortazavi....

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Courting confusion

Courting confusion

Judges, lawyers and journalists all need to be clearer  on guidelines for reporting restrictions, writes Gill Phillips Twelve years ago Lord Justice Staughton reminded us that “The Latin maxim that justice must be done though the heavens fall...

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Turkey: Dink trial resumes today

Turkey: Dink trial resumes today

The alleged killers of journalist Hrant Dink return to court today, with many groups expressing misgivings about the conduct of their trial, writes Charlotte Alfred The fourth hearing in the trial of suspects accused of killing Hrant Dink, the...

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Pakistan: why media matters

Pakistan: why media matters

Despite the government’s best efforts, television and electronic media had a profound effect on how Pakistanis voted in this week’s election, says Zubeida Mustafa Two days before the elections in Pakistan on 18 February, the New York-based Human...

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News staff sacked after insect invasion

Turkmenistan President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov fired 30 employees of the main state television channel after a cockroach crawled across the studio desk during the 9pm news programme, Vatan, the news website Kronika Turkmenistan reported on 21...

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Iraq dossier draft released

The 2002 draft of the British government’s dossier on Saddam Hussein’s weapons capabilities has been released by the Foreign Office. The government had initially tried to keep the document confidential, but the Information Commissioner ruled that...

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Havana frees four

Cuban journalists Jose Ramon and Alejandro Gonzalez, dissident Omar Pernet and trade unionist Pedro Alvarez were released on 16 February. They had been arrested and detained during the 2003 crackdown on the opposition. The four released prisoners...

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“Can anybody live like this?”

“Can anybody live like this?”

Despite the extension of her visa, novelist Taslima Nasrin remains confined to a room in an undisclosed location, writes Sanal Edamaruku The good news first: India has granted a visa extension to exiled Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasrin. For now,...

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