3 Oct 2019 | Events
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Index on Censorship chief executive Jodie Ginsberg chairs a panel including Elizabeth Denham, information commissioner, John Battle, head of compliance, ITN, John Whittingdale MP and Martin Breen, Sunday Life editor (Northern Ireland) to debate challenges to media freedom.
This is the concluding panel of the Society of Editors’ 20th anniversary conference in London.
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When: Tuesday November 12, 3.30-4.30pm
Where: Stationers’ Hall, Ave Maria Lane, London EC4M 7DD
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1 Oct 2019 | Campaigns -- Featured, Media Freedom, Statements, Tanzania
Journalist Erick Kabendera
Index on Censorship has urged authorities in Tanzania to release journalist Erick Kabendera, who faces charges of money laundering and involvement in organised crime.
Kabendera, who wrote for Index on Censorship magazine in 2014 on the risks faced by journalists working in Tanzania, faces up to five years in jail without trial because of the nature of the charges. He has already been imprisoned for more than two months awaiting trial. His case has now been postponed for the sixth time.
“Index is extremely concerned about Erick Kabendera’s health and at the growing threats to media in Tanzania,” said Jodie Ginsberg, Index on Censorship chief executive. “We call on the authorities to drop these charges, which appear to have been concocted to punish Erick Kabendera for his investigative reporting.”
Kabendera’s lawyer Jebra Kambole has now called on President John Magufuli to pardon him as a court last week postponed a hearing into his case for a sixth time. Kabendera’s lawyers called for the process to move forward given that their client was being held on charges that are not bailable, said African newspaper Doberre.
According to The Guardian newspaper, the “accusations against Kabendera changed several times, ranging from claims that he was not a Tanzanian national to sedition under cybercrime laws, before the police settled on economic crimes.”
Since being detained, his health has deteriorated, although he is now receiving medical treatment.
The UK and the US have said they are “deeply concerned about the steady erosion of due process in Tanzania” and highlighted Kabendera’s case. The UK is the largest provider of foreign direct investment to Tanzania, including a project supporting quality journalism in the country. The UK’s Foreign Office has made media freedom its main campaign of 2019.
In 2014, Kabendera wrote in Index about how his elderly parents had been arrested by authorities who asked them “to tell me to “be careful with stories”.
11 Sep 2019 | Campaigns -- Featured, Statements
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Index on Censorship welcomes the discussion on media freedom that took place during the International Media Freedom Seminar, which was hosted by the British Group of the Interparliamentary Union (BGIPU) in London between 9-11 September.
The seminar consisted of 8 sessions and more than 30 speakers, including Index’s head of advocacy, Joy Hyvarinen.
Parliamentarians from thirteen countries heard from panellists about the rise in cross-border threats against journalists, about countering fake news, and about the need to develop and implement regional and national instruments, including action plans and platforms for the protection of journalism and safety of journalists (such as the Council of Europe platform).
“During the seminar, we repeatedly heard that respect for media freedom is a ‘barometer’ for the state of its democracy – and it is painfully clear that both are in a downward spiral worldwide,” said Jessica Ní Mhainín, policy research and advocacy officer. “As important as the seminar discussion has been, the urgent state of press freedom calls for action. The onus is on every one of us to act.”
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10 Sep 2019 | Mexico, News and features, North Korea, South Korea, United Kingdom, United States, Volume 48.03 Autumn 2019
In the Index on Censorship autumn 2019 podcast, we focus on how travel restrictions at borders are limiting the flow of free thought and ideas. Lewis Jennings and Sally Gimson discuss the latest issue of the magazine and reveal what to expect. Guests include trans woman and activist Peppermint, runner-up of RuPaul’s Drag Race season nine, who opens up about a transphobic experience in a Russian airport; San Diego photojournalist Ariana Drehsler talks about her detainment at a Mexican border and how this compares to a similar situation that happened in Egypt; and Steven Borowiec, a regular contributor to the magazine based in South Korea, discusses the laws surrounding the toughest border in the world.
Print copies of the magazine are available on Amazon, or you can take out a digital subscription via Exact Editions. Copies are also available at the BFI, the Serpetine Gallery and MagCulture (all London), News from Nowhere (Liverpool). Red Lion Books (Colchester) and Home (Manchester). Each magazine sale helps Index on Censorship continue its fight for free expression worldwide.
The autumn 2019 podcast can also be found on iTunes.
