Today David Drummond announced on behalf of Google that it would no longer be censoring its search services in China. As a result, Chinese users are now being redirected to Google’s servers in Hong Kong. The following interviews between Drummond and Rebecca MacKinnon were conducted prior to the announcement, they give a much needed insight into Google’s thinking (more…)
Music and comedy night in support of journalists in Iran – Friday 19th March 630pm-830pm
FREEWORD CENTRE, 60 FARRINGDON ROAD, LONDON EC1R 3GA
To reserve a place email [email protected]
Or call 020 7324 2570
Journalists Maziar Bahari and Masih Alinejad will be speaking in support of journalists in prison in Iran.
PLUS comedians Peyvand Khorsandi and Jodi Kamali
AND musicians Sahra Band and Roshi
MC Fari Bradley, Resonance FM
Index on Censorship has joined with leading international free expression groups to call for the release of Iranian journalists, bloggers and writers. Please show your support by signing the petition on the campaign site or Facebook and come to the campaign’s event this Friday at the Free Word Centre for an evening of Iranian music and comedy at the Free Word Centre, 60 Farringdon Road, London EC1R 3GA. To reserve a place email [email protected] Or call 020 7324 2570
SIGN THE PETITION
http://www.oursocietywillbeafreesociety.org
http://apps.facebook.com/causes/petitions/398
The 10th annual Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Awards honour those who, often at great personal risk, have given voice to issues and stories from around the globe that would otherwise have passed unnoticed
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In response to the brutal crackdown against journalists and writers in Iran, Index on Censorship is joining a coalition of leading press freedom and free expression groups to launch a petition drive calling for the release of those imprisoned.
More journalists and writers are now in prison in Iran than in any other country in the world – of around 60, 47 of them are journalists. “I know my jailers in Iran were aware of the depth of international concern,” said Newsweek correspondent Maziar Bahari, who was jailed for 118 days in Iran. “We need to raise a similar outcry on behalf of the more than 60 journalists, writers and bloggers jailed there today. Adding your name to this petition will help us deliver the message that people around the world are watching.”
The “Our Society Will Be A Free Society” campaign – a reference to a pledge made by Ayatollah Khomeini on the eve of the 1979 Revolution – is gathering signatures for an online petition to be sent to Ayatollah Khamenei and President Ahmadinejad on 20 March, the Iranian New Year.
To sign the petition, visit the campaign website or access our page on Facebook.
“This is a reminder that freedom was an aspiration at the very heart of the Revolution and that it’s time for the Iranian government to honour its commitment to human rights – it can start by releasing the journalists, writers and bloggers in prison,” said Jo Glanville, editor of Index on Censorship’s quarterly magazine.
“The Iranian government is counting on the world to forget about the journalists and writers who have been imprisoned under cruel conditions,” said Joel Simon, executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists. “We can’t allow that to happen.”
Index on Censorship, the Committee to Protect Journalists, PEN, Reporters Sans Frontières, Canadian Journalists for Free Expression, Article 19, WAN, the International Federation of Journalists and the International Publishers Association have joined forces for “a sense of shared, urgent concern for the welfare of journalists, writers and bloggers and a profound alarm over the situation for free expression in Iran”.
The “Our Society Will Be A Free Society” campaign will run through the Iranian New Year, with events aimed at building pressure for the release of writers and journalists in prison in Iran continuing in North America and Europe through the spring.
For more information about the campaign and to find links to upcoming events and relevant articles please visit www.oursocietywillbeafreesociety.org.