Azerbaijan: Azadliq forced to suspend publication

31 Jul 14 | Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan News

Awards Azadliq qazeti

One of the few remaining independent media outlets in Azerbaijan, the 2014 Index on Censorship Guardian Journalism Award-winning newspaper Azadliq has been forced to suspend publication due to an ongoing financial crisis. This comes just a day after the government of Azerbaijan targeted prominent human rights defenders Leyla and Arif Yunus and Rasul Jafarov. Yunus and her husband have been detained for three months as prosecutors build a case around charges that include high treason. Jafarov has been banned from traveling.

The paper’s Editor-in-Chief Rahim Haciyev told Contact AZ that without an immediate payment of 20,000 manat (£15,105.39) to its printer, the latest issue would not be produced. The paper’s government-backed distributor, which according to Haciyev owes Azadliq 70,000 manat (£52,868.86), has refused. This is not the first time that Azadliq, which has reported on government corruption and cronyism, has faced a financial cliff.

Read more about Azadliq here.

Index Reports: Locking up free expression: Azerbaijan silences critical voices (Oct 2013) | Running Scared: Azerbaijan’s silenced voices (Mar 2012)

This article was posted on July 31, 2014 at indexoncensorship.org

Index Awards 2014: Catching up with arts nominee David Cecil

28 Jul 14 | Awards, News and features, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda

Playwright David Cecil was nominated for an Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Arts Award 2014 after Ugandan authorities deported him from the country for producing a “pro-gay” play in 2013. Determined to continue his work in the Africa, Cecil is now focusing his attention on film production and education in East Africa. With one film school already set up in Uganda, he spoke to Index about his hopes to expand the project to Rwanda and Tanzania, why he believes film in Africa is going to take off in a big way over the coming years and how the situation for LGBT people in Uganda has deteriorated over recent months.

Index Awards 2014: Catching up with arts nominee Lucien Bourjeily

04 Jul 14 | Awards, News and features

Three months have passed since the 2014 Index Awards and we caught up with arts nominee, Lucien Bourjeily. The Lebanese playwright told Index he is working on the sequel to his play, Will It Pass Or Not?, which was banned because it was about censorship. He hopes the same will not happen to the sequel, but says that even if it does, he is motivated to keep working and to get his message out.

Lebanon: General security return passport to critical writer (29 May 2014)

Index Freedom of Expression Awards: Arts nominee Lucien Bourjeily (13 March 2014)

From the Magazine: Will It Pass or Not? A play by Lucien Bourjeily (12 Feb 2014)