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The sound of silence: Mali’s musicians

 alt informationAs Mali's new president returns to the country amid fresh fighting between government forces and Tuareg rebels, Index on Censorship magazine looks at the climate for free speech in a country split by conflict --- and wonders about the future of its brave musicians

Censorship: The problem child of Burma’s dictatorship

 alt informationFrom the Magazine: Writer and artist Htoo Lyin Myo gives his personal account of working under government censorship in Burma

The Multipolar Challenge to Free Expression

 Coming up in the next issue of Index on Censorship magazine, out today, is a special report on the shifting world power balance and the implications for freedom of expression.

Fallout: the economic crisis and free expression

 alt informationIndex on Censorship Magazine Volume 42 Number 1 2013 Fallout: the economic crisis and free expression CHRISTOS SYLLAS Greece: free speech takes a beating JUAN LUIS SANCHEZ Spain: voices of the plazas KIRSTY HUGHES Global view RAFAEL SPULDAR On the Ground: Sao Paolo KENAN MALIK & NADA SHABOUT Should religious or cultural sensibilities ever limit […]

Many arrested at Baku protest

 Prominent journalist and activists Emin Milli and Khadija Ismayilova were among those detained in Baku today as people demonstrated in support of civic action in Ismayilli earlier this week. Protesters posted photographs and videos of clashes between police and demonstrators and there were reports that tear gas had been used on crowds and that pepper […]

Europe turns its back on Azerbaijan’s political prisoners

 The future for political prisoners in Azerbaijan looks bleak after politicians at the Council of Europe (CoE) failed adopt an important resolution today calling for more than 80 cases to be resolved. Azerbaijani authorities repeatedly deny the presence of any political prisoners in the country, which commands huge business interests around the world, including among […]

Censors on Campus

 Index on Censorship Magazine Volume 42 Number 3 2012 THOMAS DOCHERTY The attack on knowledge MAUREEN FREELY Challenging taboos in Turkey BART KNOLS The case for open access HEATHER L WEAVER Creationism by stealth SINFAH TUNSARAWUTH Thailand’s royal chill DOUG ROCKS-MACQUEEN Open knowledge ARTHUR MILLER and HAROLD PINTER From the archive PLUS After Leveson with […]

SPORT ON TRIAL

Azerbaijan: Photojournalist released

 On the evening of 13 June, Azerbaijani photojournalist Mehman Huseynov was released after being detained the previous day. He was arrested after being accused of insulting policemen and charged with “hooliganism”, a regular tactic used by Azerbaijani authorities to silence critical voices in the country. Huseynov’s arrest, together with the sentencing of Anar Bayramli on […]

Azerbaijani activist freed

 Azerbaijani Facebook activist Jabbar Savalan was released on 26 December after almost 11 months in prison. The teenager was released by presidential pardon along with 91 other political prisoners. Savalan was arrested in early February after posting messages on Facebook calling for people to take part in anti-government protests. As with former prisoner Eynulla Fatullayev, he was sentenced […]

Goodbye Havel

 As the Czech Republic and the wider world bids Václav Havel goodbye, Pavel Theiner, whose father George worked tirelessly to shine a light on the work of Czech dissidents throughout his editorship at Index on Censorship, looks back on a remarkable man

Vaclav Havel: “We became dissidents without actually knowing how”

 In 1979, Vaclav Havel wrote to fellow Czech dissident Ludvik Vaculik, responding to his comments about the role of ordinary people in combatting authoritarianism. Havel was arrested shortly after it was published in Index on Censorship