Documentary’s legal battles reveal ugly truth
In a self-preserving news blackout, the mainstream media proved the central point of the Starsuckers documentary: their “behaviour is monstrously hypocritical”. Judith Townend reports
(more…)
UK: MPs take on CIA over rendition secrets
A group of MPs has launched legal action against the CIA in a landmark legal case in the United States in an attempt to force the authorities there to release thousands of pages of files about the extraordinary rendition of Islamic terrorist suspects. The group – led by Conservative MP Andrew Tyrie – has filed a complaint in a district court in Washington DC after Freedom of Information requests in the US and UK were rejected or where information released was incomplete or heavily redacted. Read more here
A year of gagging
In 2009 the government, courts and the police have connived in the suppression of investigative journalism and scientific research. But campaigns for free expression are gaining ground, says John Kampfner
(more…)
Take on the libel bullies
Not everyone can be as lucky as I was, says Alexei Sayle. Our defamation laws are as outdated as barristers’ wigs and gowns
(more…)