With the opening of the Pussy Riot trial in Moscow this week, Elena Vlasenko explains why the feminist punk collective is a threat to the church-state axis of Putin’s Russia
Pussy Riot versus the Religarchy
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CATEGORY: Europe and Central Asia
Pussy Riot versus the Religarchy
The destiny of Pussy Riot members Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alekhina and Ekaterina Samutsevich has merged with the future of Russian democracy. The three members of feminist protest group Pussy Riot face charges of hooliganism, after allegedly...
UK: Teenager given harassment warning over tweets sent to Tom Daley
Dorset police announced yesterday that a 17-year-old who was arrested in the Weymouth area on suspicion of malicious communication has been issued with a harassment warning in connection to tweets sent to Olympic diver Tom Daley. The teenager has...
Censorship, self-censorship and the Olympic spirit: Confusion over blocking of BBC content as Olympic rules kick in
Chilling free speech in the name of brands, rights and commercialisation is not what promoting the Olympic spirit is about, says Kirsty Hughes
Read more about Locog’s tactics on our Free Speech Blog
Twitter joke trial decision a victory for free speech
Index on Censorship welcomes today’s decision in the high court to overturn the conviction of Paul Chambers in what has become known as the Twitter Joke Trial
UK: Paul Chambers wins Twitter Joke Trial appeal
Paul Chambers, the man at the centre of the Twitter Joke Trial who was found guilty in 2010 of sending a "menacing" tweet, has won his appeal against his conviction. At the Royal Courts of Justice this morning the appeal was allowed "on the basis...
Censorship subverts Olympic ideals
The censorship and control-freakery imposed by Locog makes a mockery of the idea that the London Olympics are open and inclusive, says Kirsty Hughes
Read more about Locog’s tactics on our Free Speech Blog
Belarus declares war on teddy bears
Belarus has now vowed to hold accountable those involved in parachuting teddy bears from a Swedish plane with slogans of human rights into the country, after initially denying their existence. Now there are fears for young journalist Anton Suryapin.
Andrei Aliaksandrau reports
Britain’s half-hearted bid to reform libel law
The Defamation Bill is an achievement, but more must be done to reform England’s libel laws and encourage debate in the public interest, says Rachel Ehrenfeld
Leveson: what have we learned, and where to next?
As the theatrics of the Leveson Inquiry draw to a close, Marta Cooper looks back on the hundreds of hours of evidence in court 73