A year after the mass protests marking Vladimir Putin’s controversial presidential win, Elena Vlasenko reports from Moscow on the heavy-handed repression confronting the Russian opposition.
Putin’s war on dissent in Russia
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CATEGORY: Europe and Central Asia
Journalists defend colleagues in Ukraine’s ‘new war with press’
Two journalists were attacked while covering a street rally in Kiev, and nine more Ukrainian reporters were in danger of losing government accreditation following a protest to support their colleagues, Andrei Alaiksandrau reports.
Stockholm Internet Forum: Balancing rights and security
Does surveillance and monitoring chill free expression? Is population-wide mass surveillance always a bad idea? Amongst many questions and debates at today’s Stockholm Internet Forum, the answers to these two questions are surely obvious – yes to both, writes Index on Censorship CEO Kirsty Hughes from Sweden.
Irish Justice Minister’s erotic novel referred to censor’s board
Alan Shatter’s 24-year old work of fiction sent to censor amid controversy over abortion and police contact. Padraig Reidy reports.
Plus: The full list of publications banned in Ireland
Azerbaijani journalist reports threats
The Index Award-winning Azerbaijani journalist Idrak Abbasov says he had been threatened by the family of a man who was arrested after an online posting, according to Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety.
UK arrest guidelines are a shift towards secrecy
Justice is better served by openness and transparency, writes Padraig Reidy
Glitz and glamour can’t hide Eurovision’s politics
Europe was once again be swept away by a sparkly hurricane of techno beats and pompous ballads, kitschy and/or traditional costumes, wind machines, pyrotechnics, heavily accented English, awkward host banter and nul points. Yes, Eurovision took our breath away in more ways than one, Milana Knezevic writes.
Bulgaria’s government mirrored in the media
An election is always a good litmus test for a country’s media freedom — particularly in Bulgaria. It consistently ranks last amongst European Union members for media freedom, and the US Department of State called its “gravely damaged media pluralism” one of its most pressing human rights problems, Georgi Kantchev reports.
Azerbaijan: New legislative amendments further erode rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly
The International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA) -- Index on Censorship is a signatory -- strongly condemns a series of repressive legislative amendments that Azerbaijan’s National Assembly (Milli Majlis) adopted on 14 May 2013. The...
Russian bird lovers targeted as ‘foreign agents’
An organisation behind a nature reserve dedicated to the protection of Russia’s cranes has been ordered to register as “a foreign agent” under the country’s non-governmental organisation law. The case highlights how arbitrary implementation is chilling free expression in the country, Andrei Aliaksandrau reports