18 Jul 2025 | Afghanistan, Africa, Asia and Pacific, Benin, China, Côte d'Ivoire, Europe and Central Asia, Middle East and North Africa, News and features, Palestine, Russia, United Kingdom
In the age of online information, it can feel harder than ever to stay informed. As we get bombarded with news from all angles, important stories can easily pass us by. To help you cut through the noise, every Friday Index publishes a weekly news roundup of some of the key stories covering censorship and free expression. This week, we look at how UK police are interpreting the proscription of Palestine Action, and the detention and extradition of a Beninese government critic.
An oppressive interpretation: Kent woman threatened with arrest over Palestine flags
On 1 July 2025, UK Home Secretary Yvette Cooper proscribed Palestine Action, a pro-Palestinian activist group founded in 2020, calling it a “dangerous terrorist group”. The move, which sees PA’s name added to this list, was made after two members of the organisation broke into RAF Brize Norton airbase on scooters and defaced two military planes with red paint, the latest in a long line of actions taken by the group to halt proceedings at locations and factories they believe to be aiding Israel’s offensive in Gaza. Proscription means that joining or showing support for Palestine Action is punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
The Home Secretary’s decision has provoked controversy. The move has been described by Amnesty International as “draconian” and a “disturbing legal overreach”. Since the ruling, over 70 protesters have been arrested for displaying signs showing direct support for Palestine Action, and numerous lawyers, UN experts and human rights groups have voiced concerns that the vague wording of the order could be a slippery slope into more general support for the pro-Palestinian cause being punished.
On Monday 14 July, peaceful protester Laura Murton was holding a Palestinian flag as well as signs that read “Free Gaza” and “Israel is committing genocide”, when she was threatened with arrest under the Terrorism Act by Kent police. Despite showing no support for Palestine Action, she was told by police that the phrase “Free Gaza” was “supportive of Palestine Action”; police were recorded by Murton stating that “Mentioning freedom of Gaza, Israel, genocide, all of that all come under proscribed groups, which are terror groups that have been dictated by the government.” She was made to provide her name and address, and was told that if she continued to protest, she would be arrested.
Murton told the Guardian that it was the most “authoritarian, dystopian experience I’ve had in this country”. Labour’s Minister of State for Security Dan Jarvis seemed to condemn the incident, stating “Palestine Action’s proscription does not and must not interfere with people’s legitimate right to express support for Palestinians.”
Defying refugee status: Beninese journalist forcibly detained and extradited
On 10 July, Beninese journalist and government critic Hughes Comlan Sossoukpè was arrested in a hotel room in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire and swiftly deported back to Benin, in violation of his status as a refugee.
Sossoukpè, who is the publisher and director of online newspaper Olofofo, had been living in exile in Togo since 2019 due to threats received regarding his work criticising the Beninese government and has held refugee status since 2021. He had reportedly been invited to Abidjan by the Ivorian Ministry of Digital Transition and Digitalisation to attend a forum on new technologies – one of Sossoupkè’s lawyers accused Cote d’Ivoire of inviting him for the purpose of his capture.
Another of his lawyers, speaking to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), reported that Sossoupkè recognised two of the five police officers that arrested him as being Beninese officers rather than Ivorian. They allegedly ignored his request to see a judge, confiscated his personal devices and escorted him to a plane back to Benin.
On 14 July, Sossoukpè was brought before the Court for the Repression of Economic Offences and Terrorism (CRIET) in Cotonou, Benin, and charged with “incitement to rebellion, incitement to hatred and violence, harassment by electronic means, and apology of terrorism”. He has been placed in provisional detention in a civil prison, and numerous groups such as CPJ, Frontline Defenders, and the International Federation of Journalists have called for his unconditional release.
The crime of a Google search: Russia ramps up dissent crackdown under guise of “anti-extremism”
Russia’s lower chamber of parliament, the State Duma, passed legislation on 17 July that greatly extends the state’s ability to crack down on dissenters. Starting in September, in addition to criminalising taking part in activities or groups that the Kremlin deems “extremist”, you can be fined just for looking them up online.
Anti-extremism laws in Russia have long been used to crack down on organisations whose views do not align with the state’s; There have been over 100 extremism convictions for participating in the “international LGBT movement”, and lawyers who defended opposition leader Aleksei Navalny were also arrested and imprisoned on extremism charges. But with the new changes passed on Thursday, those who “deliberately search for knowingly extremist materials” will face fines of up to 5000 roubles, or around £47.
Extremist materials are designated by the justice ministry via a running list of over 5000 entries which includes books, websites and artworks. Other materials that could result in a fine include music by Russian feminist band Pussy Riot, articles related to LGBTQ rights, Amnesty International and various other human rights groups, pro-Ukraine art or works..
The ruling has been met with a backlash from politicians and organisations from across Russia’s political spectrum; the editor-in-chief of pro-Kremlin broadcaster Russia Today said she hopes amendments will be made to the legislation, as it would be impossible to investigate extremism if online searches are prohibited, while Deputy State Duma speaker Vladislav Davankov reportedly called the bill an “attack on the basic rights of citizens”.
The Taliban vs journalism: Local Afghan reporter detained
In the most recent case of the Taliban’s crackdown on journalism in Afghanistan, journalist Aziz Watanwal was arrested and taken from his home on 12 July alongside two of his friends in a raid by intelligence forces.
A local journalist of the Nangarhar province of eastern Afghanistan, Watanwal had his professional equipment confiscated. Despite his friends being released in the hours following his arrest, Watanwal is still in custody with no information regarding his whereabouts, and the Taliban reportedly gave no reason for his detention.
Since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021, journalistic freedoms have taken a sharp decline. Afghanistan Journalists Centre have reported that in the first half of 2025, press freedom violations increased by 56% compared to the same period in 2024. In the three years following the Taliban’s return to rule, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) reported that 141 journalists had been arrested for their work, and the country currently sits 175th out of 180 countries on RSF’s Press Freedom Index.
Censorship of an archive: Chinese tech corporation seeks closure of crucial social media archive
Chinese multinational tech conglomerate Tencent has launched legal action against censorship archive organisation GreatFire to take down FreeWeChat, a platform run by GreatFire that aims to archive deleted or blocked posts on prominent Chinese messaging and social media app WeChat.
WeChat is one of the most popular apps for Chinese citizens and diaspora, and posts on the platform critical of the government are frequently subject to censorship. FreeWeChat was created in 2016 in an effort to catalogue posts taken down by Chinese authorities, but it is now under threat from this legal attack by Tencent.
Tencent’s claim is that FreeWeChat’s use of “WeChat” in the domain is a trademark and copyright infringement, submitting a takedown complaint with this reasoning on 12 June. GreatFire rebutted the allegations, stating that they do not “use WeChat’s logo, claim affiliation, or distribute any modified WeChat software”, and claim that Tencent’s intent is to “shut down a watchdog”.
Martin Johnson, lead developer of GreatFire, stated that the organisation have previously dealt with state-sanctioned DDoS attacks, but they have outlined their intent to keep FreeWeChat up and running despite a takedown order from the site’s hosting provider.
11 Jul 2025 | Africa, Asia and Pacific, Bangladesh, Israel, Middle East and North Africa, News and features, Palestine, Sudan, Togo, Tunisia
In the age of online information, it can feel harder than ever to stay informed. As we get bombarded with news from all angles, important stories can easily pass us by. To help you cut through the noise, every Friday Index publishes a weekly news roundup of some of the key stories covering censorship and free expression. This week, we look at the arrest of a Palestinian newspaper editor, and how the Bangladeshi prime minister ordered violent protest crackdowns.
Hold the front page: Palestinian newspaper editor arrested by IDF
In the early hours of 7 July, veteran Palestinian journalist Dr Nasser al-Laham was arrested inside his home by Israeli forces.
58-year-old al-Laham has been working as a journalist for over 30 years, and is the editor-in-chief of Palestinian news agency Ma’an. He is also the director of Al-Mayadeen TV’s Palestinian office, a Lebanese news channel that is reportedly affiliated with Hezbollah, according to Haaretz.
Ma’an has reported that the raid on al-Laham’s home, located in the village of al-Duha, west of Bethlehem, was destructive. Soldiers reportedly ransacked the property, confiscating computers and phones and destroying personal items before detaining al-Lahham. Al-Mayadeen described the raid as “brutal and repressive” and called for his immediate release.
Al-Lahham’s detention was brought before Ofer Military Court for a hearing on Thursday 10 July, resulting in his detention being extended by a further nine days. Arrested on suspicion of “supporting and inciting terror” due to his role at Al Mayadeen, he joins a long list of Palestinian journalists targeted by Israel since war broke out following the 7 October 2023 attacks and kidnappings by Hamas. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) have labelled Palestine as the world’s most dangerous state for journalists, with almost 200 reporters killed in Gaza by the Israeli army over the first 18 months of war, and at least 42 of those likely killed due to their work.
Caught on tape: Former Bangladesh prime minister found to have authorised protester shootings
BBC Eye have verified a recorded phone call that reveals former prime minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina authorised the use of lethal force against protesters in the mass uprising against the Bangladeshi government that took place in summer 2024.
The student-led uprising began in July 2024 when protesters took to the streets to demand an end to the job quota system that reserved public sector jobs for the descendants of war veterans. The Bangladeshi government cracked down on these protests as they increased in fervour, implementing national curfews and cutting internet access, and responding to demonstrators with lethal force. Armed forces mobilised against peaceful protesters, and the UN report that as many as 1,400 people were killed in just 46 days of protests. The harsh response only led to further demonstrations until Hasina resigned and fled the country on 5 August last year. It brought to an end her second period of rule which had lasted 15 years by that time.
Hasina was tried in absentia for crimes against humanity by Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT), and leaked audio of a phone call with an unidentified senior government official marks the most damning evidence of her direct involvement in the atrocities. Hasina is recorded saying she authorised security forces to “use lethal weapons” against protesters and that “wherever they find [them], they will shoot”.
Hasina, alongside two senior officials, were indicted by ICT on 10 July 2025 for crimes against humanity, and court proceedings for the three will begin on 3 August. Hasina lives in self-imposed exile in India, and has dismissed the trial as being politically motivated.
Arresting all rivals: Tunisian opposition leader sentenced to 14 years in prison
Rached Ghannouchi, co-founder and leader of Tunisian opposition party Ennahda, is one of at least 18 politicians and officials sentenced to lengthy jail terms on 8 July 2025 in President Kais Saied’s mass crackdown on dissent. Ghannouchi, who has been imprisoned since 2023, was sentenced to up to 14 years in jail, the latest of a number of charges issued against him in recent months that total more than 20 years behind bars.
Such harsh prison sentences have become the norm for those seen as “conspiring against state security” in Tunisia; Nadia Akacha, Saied’s former chief of staff, and Rafik Abdessalem, Ghannouchi’s son-in-law and former foreign minister were also each handed a 35-year prison sentence in absentia for their alleged offences, as well as for “forming an organisation and conspiracy related to terrorist crimes”.
In 2021, Saied suspended elected parliament and began ruling by decree in what many described as a coup. Since this takeover, opposition politicians and dissenters have faced increasing repression; Ennadha’s party headquarters were shut down in April 2023, and numerous journalists have been imprisoned for “broadcasting false information”.
A war on reporting: Sudanese forces arrest freelance journalists
Independent Sudanese journalists Nasr Yaqoub and Mohamed Ahmed Nazar were arrested on Monday 7 July by soldiers affiliated with the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) in the North Darfur region of Sudan.
Yaqoub and Nazar were reportedly in a shop when they were arrested by members of the Sudan Liberation Movement-Transitional Council (SLM-TC). Two days earlier, Yaqoub was also the victim of an assassination attempt by an officer also affiliated with the SAF; he was allegedly shot after refusing to hand over a device connected to the internet via Starlink.
The two operate as freelance journalists, using Starlink to cover the Sudanese civil war since it began in April 2023. They post updates to their popular Facebook accounts – Yaqoub has 5,000 followers on the platform, while Nazar has almost 10,000 – working to keep people informed on a conflict that has very few active reporters. Starlink has become crucial for any reports on the conflict, with internet access being routinely blocked nationwide as part of the war effort.
The SAF has claimed that Yaqoub was arrested for directing “severe insults” at the officer who shot him, and that internet restrictions were necessary to prevent “collaborators” from relaying information to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
A violent crackdown: Anti-government protests met with violence in Togo
Since 26 June, thousands have taken to the streets of Togo’s capital Lomé to protest constitutional reforms that may allow President Faure Gnassingbé to remain in power indefinitely, after he was sworn in with no term limit, and presidential elections were abolished. These protests were met with repression, and now reports are trickling in detailing the violent crackdown carried out by Togo forces.
At least ten people are thought to have died in the protests. Lomé residents report security forces entering people’s homes, beating civilians and firing tear gas. Videos verified by Al Jazeera show men in plain clothes, believed to be officers, dragging civilians away.
The spark that lit the demonstrations was the arrest of popular Togolese rapper Tchala Essowè Narcisse, known as Aamron, whose music denouncing corruption and state neglect garnered him a following on social media. He was arrested without a warrant and held incommunicado for 10 days, according to his lawyer, and a video surfaced where he reported being held in a psychiatric facility.
The protests were led by young people, many of whom have never known a leader other than Gnassingbé. Togo has been under the rule of the Gnassingbé family since 1967, apart from a three-month period in 2005 following the death of Faure’s father, Gnassingbé Eyadéma. Faure has ruled since, and his latest constitutional reforms were described by the Touche Pas à Ma Constitution coalition as “a coup against the Togolese people”.
11 Oct 2024 | News and features, Russia, Ukraine
The Ukrainian government has confirmed the death of journalist Victoria Roshchyna, who died during a prisoner swap in September. Free expression organisations, including Index on Censorship, are calling on Russia to disclose the circumstances in which the 27-year-old died.
According to Russian news outlet Mediazona, she died whilst being transferred from a prison in Taganrog, a city in the southwest of Russia near the Ukrainian border, to Moscow.
Petro Yatsenko, a Ukrainian government spokesperson for prisoner of war coordination, and Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, head of the Ukrainian parliament’s committee on freedom of speech, yesterday confirmed Roshchyna’s death. Her father has been notified of her death by the Russian authorities, according to Yurchyshyn.
Roshchyna wrote from the front line for several Ukrainian media outlets before she was seized by Russian forces in August 2023 whilst travelling to east Ukraine for a report. Her capture was confirmed by Russia in April 2024.
This was not the first time Roshchyna had been taken by the Russian forces in eastern Ukraine. In April 2022, Index published a powerful piece about her experience of being arrested while travelling from Zaporizhzhia to Mariupol. It is an exemplary piece of level-headed reporting. But it contains some chilling detail, including the moment when a member of the FSB, the Russian secret service, tells her: “If we bury you somewhere here, no one will ever find out. You will be lost forever.”
Index on Censorship will ensure that the memory of Victoria Roshchyna will never be lost.
Jemimah Steinfeld, chief executive of Index on Censorship, said: “The death in custody of any journalist is always gut-wrenching but especially so when it is one we have published. Victoria Roshchyna was a talented young journalist with her life ahead of her. We are proud to count her as an Index writer.
“Her death is a great loss, one that has shaken the Index team. It is also a stark reminder of the threat that Putin’s regime poses to freedoms more generally and to media freedom specifically, which has only increased several years into Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
“We call for an immediate and thorough investigation into the cause of her death and for those responsible to be held accountable. And our thoughts go out to her family, friends and colleagues at this challenging time. May her memory be a blessing.”
23 Jul 2018 | Global Journalist (Arabic), Journalism Toolbox Arabic
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في الليلة التي قبل فيها رحيم حاجييف جائزة “اندكس أون سنسرشب – غارديان” للصحافة، حمل معه نسخة من صحيفته التي صمدت وثابرت على الرغم من اعتداءات الحكومة عليها بعد أن كشفت الصحيفة تجاوزاتها. كان ذلك في مارس ٢٠١٤، وكان حاجييف ، رئيس التحرير بالإنابة لجريدة “أزدليق” الأذربيجانية المستقلة ، يقف على خشبة المسرح في لندن. وأعلن بنبرة المنتصر: “إن فريق الصحيفة مصمم على مواصلة هذا العمل المقدس – أي خدمة الحقيقة. لأن هذا هو معنى ما نفعله وهذا معنى حياتنا “.
بعد أربعة أشهر ، تعرضت هذه المهمة للخطر من خلال التهديدات والاعتقالات والقيود المالية بعد قيام الصحيفة بالكتابة عن قضايا الفساد الحكومي. لم تكن هذه هي المرة الأولى التي تتعرض فيها “أزدليق” لضغوط اقتصادية من قبل موزعيها المدعومين من الحكومة في ظل حكم الزعيم الأذربيجاني الحالي، أيلام علييف، الذي يواجه منذ فترة طويلة اتهامات بالحكم الاستبدادي وقمع المعارضة منذ توليه منصبه في عام ٢٠٠٣.
لكن الصحيفة فقدت قدرتها على الصمود بعد أن تجاوزت الغرامات عليها حاجز الـ ٥٠ ألف جنيه استرليني بالتزامن مع الاعتقالات ضد موظفيها، مما أجبر الصحيفة على تعليق نسختها المطبوعة في يوليو / تموز ٢٠١٤. ومن بين أعضاء آخرين في المجتمع المدني ووسائل الإعلام المستقلة ، لا يزال زميل حاجييف ، الكاتب سيمور حزي ، مسجونا بسبب ” الشغب الكبير” وهي تهمة تلقاها بعد دفاعه عن نفسه من الاعتداء الجسدي. ولقد تجاهلت الحكومة الاحتجاجات الواسعة من الراي العام ضد هذه الممارسات.
في هذا العام ، قال مؤشر حرية الصحافة لمنظمة مراسلون بلا حدود أن ١٦٥ صحفياً هم مسجونون حالياً في أذربيجان. وتعرض قاعدة بيانات مؤسسة “مسح حرية الإعلام” شهريا تقارير عن التعديات التي تقوم بها حكومة هذه الجمهورية السوفيتية السابقة ضد كل أشكال المعارضة. في يوليو / تموز ٢٠١٨ وحده ، رصدت هذه المؤسسة حجب أربعة مواقع معارضة من قبل الحكومة بتهمة نشر معلومات مضللة ، كما تم استجواب محرّرين من وسائل إخبارية مستقلة من قبل السلطات وألقي القبض على صحفي لقيامه بعصيان أوامر الشرطة في ذات الفترة.
في ديسمبر / كانون الأول ٢٠١٧ ، أيدت محكمة عليا في أذربيجان حجب المواقع الإلكترونية لخمسة من المنظمات الإعلامية المستقلة ، بما فيها موقع Azadliq.info ، النشط منذ مارس / آذار ٢٠١٧. وانتقد حاجييف هذا الاجراء باعتباره يزيد من عرقلة قدرة الشعب الأذربيجاني على الوصول إلى معلومات موضوعية.
يعيش حاجييف في المنفى في أوروبا الغربية منذ عام ٢٠١٧ ، ويقول لـ “اندكس أون سنسرشب”: “أربعة موظفين من موقعنا في السجن. تم اتهام موظفينا الموجودين في السجن بالشغب والتورط في معاملات مالية غير قانونية. كلهم اعتقلوا بتهم ملفقة. جميع التهم ملفقة”.
يشرف حاجييف على صفحة الصحيفة على فيسبوك من خارج البلاد، في حين يبقى الموقع محدثًا دورياً ومتاحًا للقراء خارج أذربيجان. وفيما يتعلق بالوضع الحالي لحرية التعبير في الوطن ، قال: “الوضع في البلاد صعب للغاية. تستمر السلطات في قمع الناس ذوي التفكير الديموقراطي. اعتقالات الناشطين السياسيين والصحفيين مستمرة “.
تحدث حاجييف مع شريا بارجان من “إندكس أون سنسرشب” حول الوضع الحالي.
اندكس أون سنسرشب: هل أزدليق وحدها مستهدفة؟ لماذا تم اعتبار هذه الصحيفة بمثابة تهديد للحكومة؟
حاجييف: لا يمكننا القول أن أزدليق فقط تتعرض للقمع. ان السلطات الأذربيجانية فاسدة للغاية ولا يمكنها تحمل الانتقادات من خصومها. تقوم الأنظمة الفاسدة والقمعية في جميع أنحاء العالم بقمع حرية التعبير. وفي هذا الصدد ، كانت السلطات الأذربيجانية ، وخاصة في السنوات الأخيرة ، من بين أكثر الدول قمعية في العالم.
اندكس أون سنسرشب: ما الذي جعلك تقرر مغادرة أذربيجان وهل كان ذلك القرار صعبا؟
حاجييف: توقفت الصحيفة عن عملياتها في سبتمبر ٢٠١٢. ولم تسمح السلطات بنشر أزدليق بعدها. في ذلك الوقت، لم يمسوا بموقع الصحيفة. مكثت في البلاد لبعض الوقت. يؤسفني أنني اضطررت لمغادرة البلاد بعد الضغط الشديد الذي تلقيته من السلطات. استمر زميلي في قيادة الموقع وصفحة الفيسبوك. بالطبع انه قرار صعب. أن أجبر على مغادرة البلاد [هو] قضية غير سارة للغاية. كان علي تحمل الكثير من المتاعب. ومع ذلك ، واصلت العمل.
اندكس أون سنسرشب: أثناء وجودك في المنفى ، كيف تمكنت من مواصلة عملك والمطالبة بالتغيير؟
حاجييف: في هذا الوقت في المنفى ، أستمر في ادارة الموقع وصفحة الفيسبوك. وكوني خارج البلاد ، فأنا أستخدم بنشاط الشبكات الاجتماعية. من جهة ، أقوم بجمع المعلومات ، ومن جهة أخرى ، أقوم بنشرها. تساعد الشبكات الاجتماعية في تنظيم العمل أيضاً. صفحة الفيسبوك الخاصة بنا هي واحدة من أكثر الصفحات شعبية في البلد ، وأنا فخور بإنجازنا.
اندكس أون سنسرشب: هل يمكنك التحدّث عن أي مجتمعات داعمة التقيت بها أثناء وجودك في المنفى؟ ما هو واجب الصحفيين الأجانب في التعاون وتقديم الدعم لبعضهم البعض في أوقات الأزمات؟
حاجييف: التواصل مع الصحفيين في الخارج مهم. وتبادل الخبرات والمعلومات هو شيء مفيد. سيكون من اللطيف للغاية أن نتمكن من نشر عمل الصحفيين المحليين.
اندكس أون سنسرشب: ما هي أوجه التناقض بين حملة القمع على الحرية الرقمية ومزاعم الحكومة عن أذربيجان حديثة حرة؟
حاجييف: يوجد في أذربيجان نظام سياسي يقمع حرية التعبير بشدة. وفقا لمؤشر حرية التعبير ، الذي تنشره منظمة مراسلون بلا حدود ، تحتل أذربيجان المركز ١٦٣. تشهد أذربيجان حاليا واحدة من أصعب الأوقات في تاريخها. لطالما كانت حقوق وحريات المواطنين ذات طابع شكلي ويوجد الآن أكثر من ١٦٠ سجينا سياسيا في البلاد.
https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2018/07/azadliq-editor-uses-social-media-pressure-azerbaijan-government/
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