Journalist Carole Cadwalladr appeals for support battling SLAPP lawsuit (The Shift)

British co-founder of the Leave.EU campaign Arron Banks is refusing to drop the final two SLAPP lawsuits against journalist Carole Cadwalladr who now started a crowdfunding campaign to cover the massive legal costs. … She also thanked Reporters Without Borders, Index on Censorship and PEN International for their support, as well as other news organisations […]
Arron Banks drops two parts of libel claim against Carole Cadwalladr (The Guardian)

Arron Banks, the insurance businessman who co-founded the pro-Brexit Leave.EU campaign, has dropped two elements of his libel claim against the investigative journalist Carole Cadwalladr. … A coalition of free press organisations, including Reporters Without Borders and Index on Censorship, has called on Banks to withdraw the legal action. Read the full story here.
Eastern Partnership must now improve media freedoms (EU Observer)

“It is better than nothing,” replied Volha Siakhovich, legal expert for the Belarusian Association of Journalists, when asked about the Eastern Partnerships’ (EaP) record of advancing media freedom in the country… Read the full article by Jessica Ní Mhainín, Policy Research and Advocacy Officer at Index.
Free speech & the law: Public Order

Under the Human Rights Act 1998, police officers must respect people’s right to freedom of expression guaranteed by Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). However, Article 10 of the convention states that restrictions on people’s free expression rights may be justified on the grounds of preventing disorder or crime, protecting public safety and protecting the rights of others
Around the Bloc – 16 January (Transitions Online)

Index on Censorship, Reporters Without Borders UK, and Transparency International UK are asking Azerbaijani authorities to reconsider a travel ban on prominent journalist Khadija Ismayilova so she can give evidence in the trial of a Romanian journalist, a press release said. Index on Censorship chief executive Jodie Ginsberg said the travel ban on Ismayilova was “a […]
Azerbaijan Urged To Lift Journalist’s ‘Unjust’ Travel Ban (RFE/RL)

Three nongovernmental organizations are urging Azerbaijan to lift a travel ban against investigative reporter Khadija Ismayilova and allow her to travel to Britain to give evidence in the trial of a journalist who is being sued for defamation by an Azerbaijani lawmaker… In a joint statement on January 15, Index on Censorship, Reporters Without Borders U.K., and […]
Standing up to the new machos (Eurozine)

Index on Censorship looks at machismo as a political category. Resisting the suffocation of dissent in the era of the internet means standing up ‘for the principles of freedom and democracy all the time, not just when they affect you’, comments editor-in-chief Rachael Jolley. Read the full story here.