On 7 October 2006, Anna Politkovskaya was shot dead in her Moscow apartment building. Her sister Elena Kudimova spoke to Lance Lattig about Anna’s death, the ongoing search for justice, and the prize that bears her name
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This is a guest post by Candice Holdsworth
As part of its annual Banned Books awareness week, the American Library Association this week held a number of events promoting the right to free expression within the literary arts. Looking through the list of Frequently Challenged Books, it would seem that even in the 21st century, in seemingly liberal societies, intolerance remains prevalent and many authors are still threatened with censorship of their work, particularly if it is deemed “offensive” by those with partisan perspectives.
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In this morning’s Times, Gomorrah author Roberto Saviano, who has been in hiding since writing his best-selling expose of Neopolitan organised crime, decries the increasingly gangsterish tactics of the Italian government in dealing with its critics:
Anyone in Italy today who criticises the Government or the Prime Minister knows what to expect in return — not a contrary opinion, but a campaign aimed at discrediting him.
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Tomorrow a large demonstration promoted by the Italian National Press Federation is being held in Rome — a strange protest for a democratic state. Never before has the press had to demonstrate to safeguard its own freedom in Europe. Italy looks more and more like an anomaly in the heart of Western Europe.
Obviously, Italy cannot be compared with China, Cuba, Burma or Iran. For us to demonstrate in defence of freedom of expression means to demand to be allowed to carry out one’s work without being personally attacked. It means denouncing an all-encompassing climate of menace.
As Saviano says, it’s astounding that this happens in the European Union in 2009. You can read more about the situation in Index on Censorship’s report here.
Hat tip: Nick Cohen
Reporters from Newsweek and the Washington Post quizzed President Ahmadinejad yesterday about Iranian-Canadian journalist and filmmaker Maziar Bahari who has been detained since 21 June without access to a lawyer.
When asked whether he would release Maziar Bahari on humanitarian grounds, Ahmadinejad replied: “I would like all prisoners to be released, but I am not the judge. If I were in charge of this case, I would guarantee that all the prisoners would be released.”