Category: <span>Asia and Pacific</span>

Burma: Censors tighten grip ahead of by-election

New restrictions are being imposed on the Burmese media, despite earlier calls from the country's censor chief to ease restrictions. Ahead of...

Writers take a stand against Rushdie ban

by Salil Tripathi | 23 Jan 12

As the noise surrounding Salman Rushdie’s withdrawal from the Jaipur Literary Festival rumbles on, India’s writers take a stand against the ban on The Satanic Verses. Salil Tripathi reports

Zhu Yufu charged with subversion for poem

by Index on Censorship | 22 Jan 12

Zhu Yufu, a poet and activist, was last week charged with crimes relating to subversion for writing and publishing a poem online. The poem, It’s...

Yu Jie: An exile at heart

by Index on Censorship | 21 Jan 12

The defection of Chinese writer and dissident Yu Jie last week revealed shocking allegations of torture and beatings more usually associated with...

Malaysia: Political cartoonist takes government to court

by Marta Cooper | 20 Jan 12

Political cartoonist Zunar (Zulkifli Anwar Ulhaque) appeared at the Kuala Lumpur High Court this week for the first hearing of a civil suit in which...

India must choose to defend free speech

by Salil Tripathi | 18 Jan 12

As religious figureheads call to ban Salman Rushdie from a prestigious literature festival in India, Salil Tripathi reports on the country’s “sepulchral silence”

UPDATE: Salman Rushdie pulls out of Indian festival amid assassination fears

China: Dissident charged with subversion

by Alice Purkiss | 17 Jan 12

A veteran Chinese dissident is facing subversion charges for writing a poem urging people to defend their freedoms. Zhu Yufu was arrested last April...