Index on Censorship today welcomes the Justice Secretary’s decision to cut lawyers’ fees dramatically in ‘no win no fee’ defamation cases, but warns that costs are only one part of a libel system in need of serious reform
CATEGORY: News and features
Michael Foot – free speech champion
Michael Foot was not only a principled politician, writes Paul Anderson. The former Labour party leader was a passionate journalist and a lifelong defender of free expression
“Our Society Will be A Free Society” campaign launches petition
In response to the brutal crackdown against journalists and writers in Iran, Index on Censorship and a coalition of leading press freedom and free expression groups launch a petition calling for the release of those imprisoned
Today is a good day for free expression
John Kampfner: MPs’ report delivers a boost to libel reformers
Jo Glanville: Unanimous backing for real freedom of the press
Judge ‘baffled’ by Simon Singh chiropractic case
The Lord Chief Justice expressed surprised today at the BCA’s libel suit against Simon Singh. Padraig Reidy reports
Iran must open door to UN human rights experts
Campaign groups call on Iran to reconsider after envoy reverses its position and withdraws invite to UN human rights experts
Russia: FSB press office licenced to spy
Russia’s Federal Security Service, the successor to the KGB, has granted the same office that responds to journalists requests licence to search their homes, wiretap them and place them under surveillance, reveals Andrei Soldatov
Freedom is not a luxury
Michael Scammell, founding editor of Index on Censorship, recalls the role of Stephen Spender in the birth of the magazine
Iran’s controlling interest
Azar Mahloujian guides us through some of the stranger examples of literary repression in Iran
Open letter to Ayatollah Khamenei
On the 31st anniversary of the Islamic revolution, Index on Censorship and international free speech campaigners call on Iran to release the more than 60 writers, journalists, and bloggers currently in prison
PLUS: Maziar Bahari calls on the regime to let his colleagues go