Rightscon: “If we don’t get this right, people will be put in jail”
Rachel Greenspan reports from the Silicon Valley Human Rights Conference, where industry and activists met to discuss free expression online
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Uganda: Opposition leader arrested during protest
The Ugandan opposition leader, Kizza Besigye, was arrested during a protest against surging consumer prices and wasteful government spending yesterday. Besigye was arrested during the “Walk to work” protest on the outskirts of the capital Kampala. Opposition youths threw rocks at passing vehicles and smashing windscreens, following Besigye’s “preventative” arrest. Police say the politician was later released and taken to his home in the Kasangati suburb. In April, the country experienced deadly protests over the high costs of basic commodities and transport.
Vietnam: Two citizen journalists facing jail for operating pirate radio
Two citizen journalists face trial in Vietnam today for operating pirate radio to China. Vu Duc Trung and Le Van Thanh face charges of illegally retransmitting radio programmes after they began broadcasting Chinese-language programmes from Sound of Hope Network, a Chinese radio station based in California. According to a Vietnamese Public Security Ministry document, the programmes, which were critical of the Chinese government, were the subject of a note to the Vietnamese authorities, asking them to stop the broadcasts. The trial, which was due to begin today, has been postponed for the second time.
Notorious play to get its first staging in London for 25 years
The controversial play Saved by Edward Bond is set to be performed in London later this month. The play, which hasn’t been staged in the capital in 25 years, will feature at the Lyric Hammersmith throughout October.
Initially staged in 1965 at the Royal Court Theatre, the piece — which has rarely been performed — explores the lives of a working-class family and a group of young thugs in south London. There was uproar when it was refused a license by the Lord Chamberlain in the 60s. Particularly opposed to the scene in which the thugs stoned a baby to death, the Lord Chamberlain decreed it inappropriate, and critics were disgusted.
The theatre went underground, staging the production in a private club performance, attempting to sneak through a legal loophole, but it was unsuccessful and the Royal Court was prosecuted. During the court case, Laurence Olivier led the theatre community to defend theatrical freedom, supporting the theory that theatre must address current problems. The Royal Court lost the case, but the court case and the scandal in which the theatre and the play found themselves is widely regarded as the fundamental turning point for the abolition of stage censorship, which occurred in 1968.
Director Sean Holmes’ take on the play is described by the Lyric Hammersmith as “a disturbing and visionary account of life in the modern city”.
“Saved” will run at Lyric Hammersmith from 06 October – 05 November 2011