15 Jun 2017 | Campaigns -- Featured, Russia, Statements
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Protesters in St. Petersburg demonstrated against corruption in Russia (Photo: Andrey Kalikh)
Over 1,500 protesters were reportedly detained by riot police on 12 June 2017 during anti-corruption demonstrations in cities across Russia. The demonstrations were called by Alexei Navalny, a prominent critic of the Russian government.
Journalists detained include Mapping Media Freedom’s Russia correspondent Andrey Kalikh, was held until the eve of the 13th and is currently facing 10,500 ruble fine (160 euros). Russian journalists Ksenia Morozova and Andrey Poznaykov, photographer David Frenkel, and Spanish reporter Ignacio Ortega were also detained after showing their press credentials.
Activist and Index Freedom of Expression winner Ildar Dadin was also detained and reported that he was beaten while in custody after the protests. Police also threatened to put a plastic bag over his head.
“The mass detainment of protesters, journalists and their alleged mistreatment by security forces clearly violates multiple articles of the European Convention on Human Rights”, said Hannah Machlin, project manager, Mapping Media Freedom at Index on Censorship. “These detentions show how repressive and intolerant the current regime is toward free speech.”
Index on Censorship calls on the Russian authorities to respect the right to freedom of assembly and freedom of expression, immediately release and drop all charges against demonstrators and journalists.
Authorities in Moscow said Monday’s protest was illegal and arrested Navalny when he tried to leave his home that morning. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_basic_grid post_type=”post” max_items=”12″ style=”load-more” items_per_page=”4″ element_width=”6″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1497944483848-d02328db-81e9-7″ taxonomies=”6534″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row_content_no_spaces” content_placement=”middle”][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”91122″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2017/05/stand-up-for-satire/”][/vc_column][/vc_row]
6 Jun 2017 | Events, Volume 46.02 Summer 2017 Extras
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Join Index on Censorship for a summer party to launch its upcoming issue exploring the impact of the Russian revolution of 1917 on our freedoms today.
We’re launching the magazine at Calvert 22 Space, which celebrates the culture and creativity of the New East – eastern Europe, the Balkans, Russia and Central Asia.
There’ll be pop-up provocations looking at contemporary influences of the Russian revolution on propaganda, culture and politics from around the globe, alongside live readings of speeches tracing the political rhetoric from Lenin to Putin.
Speakers include Don Guttenplan, Editor-at-Large for the Nation on the cultural cold war, Katya Rogatchevskaia, lead Curator of Central and East European collections at the British Library on Russian propaganda, and Adam Cathcart, a specialist and lecturer in Chinese history at Leeds University on the impact of Soviet art on North Korean art and culture.
We’ll be serving beer from Flying Dog Brewery and all attendees will receive a free copy of the latest magazine.
This issue has reports from all corners of the globe including Uzbekistan, China, Russia, Cuba and Turkey. Writers for this issue include David Aaronovitch on film, Khrushchev’s great-granddaughter Nina Khrushcheva on living in the USA, and an interview with author Margaret Atwood on science censorship and her childhood in the wilderness.
[/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”91222″ img_size=”full” onclick=”custom_link” link=”http://calvert22.org/”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]Calvert 22 Space is hosting the summer 2017 Index on Censorship magazine launch.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”91220″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
When: Tuesday 27 June, 7 – 9pm
Where: Calvert 22 Space, 22 Calvert Avenue, London, E2 7JP
Tickets: Free. Registration required. RSVP to [email protected]
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29 May 2017 | Azerbaijan, Digital Freedom, Europe and Central Asia, France, Mapping Media Freedom, News, Russia, Spain, Turkey, Uncategorized
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Each week, Index on Censorship’s Mapping Media Freedom project verifies threats, violations and limitations faced by the media throughout the European Union and neighbouring countries. Here are five recent reports that give us cause for concern.
24 May, 2017 – The body of the well-known editor-in-chief and founder of local newspaper Ton-M was found in the sauna in his backyard on 24 May in the town of Minusinsk in the Krasnodarski province, Regional Investigative Committee reported.
Dmitri Popkov was shot five times by an unidentified perpetrator according to the Regional Investigative Committee.
Popkov funds Ton-M which includes commentary on police corruption, garnering significant public attention for the publication. In an interview with RFE/RL, Popkov claims his newspaper became “an obstacle” for local officials who are now “threatening and intimidating journalists”.
Popkov founded the publication after a court found him guilty of beating a child and he was stripped of his position on Minusinsk City Council in 2012, according to The Moscow Times. Popkov claimed the case was an excuse to fire him.
Outside of the newspaper business, Popkov is recognisable in his region as a regional parliament deputy for the Communist Party.
22 May, 2017 – An independent reporter was arrested and sentenced to 30 days in administrative detention for allegedly resisting police.
Nijat Amiraslanov is from the Gazakh region and his lawyer and friends say the charges are fictitious. They say he was arrested for his reporting and online posts.
19 May, 2017 – During a workers’ protest against market liberalisation, dock workers assaulted and intimidated reporters covering the event.
A cameraperson for Canal Sur Television and Antena 3 programme was injured requiring medical assistance at a local hospital after being punched and kicked.
19 May, 2017 – Four Sözcü employees received arrest warrants after being accused of “committing crimes on behalf of the Fetullahist Terrorist Organisation (FETÖ),” as well as assisting attempts to “assassinate and physically attack the president and armed rebellion against the Government of the Republic of Turkey”.
The issued warrants include the newspaper’s owner Burak Akbay, manager of the newspaper’s website Mediha Olgun, Financial Affairs Manager Yonca Kaleli and the İzmir correspondent Gökmen Ulu. Kaleli was included in the investigation for “suspicious money transfers” for the secular opposition publication.
The charges against the four stemmed from their 15 July 2016, publication of the address and photos of a hotel where President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was vacationing.
Yonca Kaleli, Gökmen Ulu and Mediha Olgun have since been detained. Akbay is currently abroad.
18 May, 2017 – Macron’s head of communication insulted journalist Yann Barthès of Quotidien on channel TMC during the presidential campaign and now at the Elysee by calling him a “dickhead” and a “mentally-retarded person”, according to Le Monde M magazine.
Macron’s Sylvain Fort commented in reaction to show host Barthè’s coverage of the first round of the presidential election. Fort denies he used the latter phrase.
Quotidien showed Macron celebrating his victory at La Rotonde. Quotidien journalist Paul Larouturou asked Macron whether this episode was the equivalent of Nicolas Sarkozy’s celebration of his presidential victory at Fouquet’s. Macron told the journalist “you don’t understand anything about life”, adding he had “no lesson to receive from a small Parisian milieu”.
The magazine reported that access was restricted to Quotidien team and that Fort contacted Barthès directly to insult him.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Mapping Media Freedom
Click on the bubbles to view reports or double-click to zoom in on specific regions. The full site can be accessed at https://mappingmediafreedom.org/[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
26 May 2017 | Campaigns -- Featured, Europe and Central Asia, Russia, Statements
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Russian journalist Dmitri Popkov was killed in his backyard in the late evening of 24 May after being shot five times by an unidentified perpetrator.
Popkov is the editor-in-chief and founder of local newspaper Ton-M, whose investigations, including on police corruption, have garnered significant public attention. According to RFE/RL, Popkov claimed his newspaper became “an obstacle” for local officials who are now “threatening and intimidating journalists”.
“The climate of impunity makes Russia one of the most dangerous countries to do journalism,” said Hannah Machlin, project manager at Index on Censorship. “Popkov is the second journalist to be killed in 2017. Index calls on Russian authorities to conduct a thorough investigation into the killing and bring the perpetrators to justice.”
Earlier this year on 9 May, Nikolay Andruschenko, an investigative correspondent for weekly newspaper Novyi Petersburg, died as a result of injuries following two brutal assaults. Andruschenkov also conducted investigations into corruption, abuse of power and torture by the police. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
