27 Aug 2010 | Index Index, minipost
The Constitutional Court has declared Uganda’s law on sedition null and void. Journalists will no longer be legally prevented from criticising President Yoweri Museveni or his government. A panel of five judges ruled on 25 August that the law violated the public’s right to free speech, which is guaranteed in Uganda’s constitution. The executive secretary of the Media Council of Uganda Haruna Kanaabi said that the law has often been used as a way of silencing dissent, particularly ahead of next year’s general elections. The government has announced that it will be appeal to the Supreme Court against the decision.
25 Aug 2010 | Middle East and North Africa, News
Prohibitions on reporting on green movement leaders are just the latest restrictions imposed by the Islamic Republic. Negar Esfandiary reports
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20 Aug 2010 | Uncategorized
The Home Secretary has banned the English Defence League from marching through Bradford.
The Home Office has said:
“Having carefully balanced rights to protest against the need to ensure local communities and property are protected, the Home Secretary today gave her consent to a Bradford Council order banning any marches in the city over the bank holiday weekend.
“West Yorkshire Police are committed to using their powers to ensure communities and property are protected and we encourage all local people to work with the police to ensure community cohesion is not undermined by public disorder.”
The letter from the Home Office confirming the ban is interesting, saying:
The application from the Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police is clear that the activities of some who attend English Defence League protests — and indeed counter protests — has little to do with freedom of expression. So while the Government has set out its commitment to restore rights to non-violent protest, we are equally clear that such rights do not extend to intimidation, harassment, and criminality, and that rights to protest need to be balanced against the wider rights of local communities.
It’s nice that the notion of free expression is even acknowledged here.
But we must wonder: can we be free in a society that places public order above all other concerns?
Again, (see previous post)I’ll ask why offensive, potentially confrontational marches are allowed take place throughout Northern Ireland, but not in England?
20 Aug 2010 | News
The Turkish government’s battle with the PKK threatens to stifle art itself, says Kaya Genç
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