Index on Censorship weekly round-up

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Friday, 09 February 2024
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Voters have been coming to the polls this week in Pakistan. Photo: Haider Noman Ibraheem of Al Jazeera English

So far, so phoney for 2024’s bumper year of elections. Senegal ([link removed]) blotted its peaceful-handover-of-power copybook, while Pakistan shut down the internet ([link removed]) during voting. And here in the Index office, we’re struggling to work out the purpose of Russia’s upcoming presidential elections — a pretence of democracy? An attempt to legitimise Putin in the eyes of the international community? A joke that only Putin understands? Answers on a postcard, please.

Let’s stay with Russia for a moment. This week another opposition candidate, Boris Nadezhdin, got too popular for the Kremlin’s comfort. Nadezhdin is no stranger to the Kremlin. He was once an adviser to former (and assassinated) Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov, and was also an aide to Sergei Kiriyenko, who leads Russia’s domestic policy.

One of Nadezhdin’s key messages: Russia’s war in Ukraine was a mistake and it needs to end. He has also criticised the clampdown on LGBTQ+ campaigners, and wants to do some serious bridge building with Europe and the USA. The Kremlin has now banned Nadezhdin from running ([link removed]) , claiming that more than 9,000 of the 100,000 signatures of support he needs are irregular. Yulia Navalnaya, wife of Putin’s jailed opponent Alexei Navalny, was one of the people who signed her support for Nadezhdin. Although his opposition never posed much of a threat to Putin (if it had, he’d probably be in jail), it perhaps offered some vague hope, which incidentally is what his surname means.

Russia’s elections are still over a month away, but for Pakistan, this has been the week. The day before the elections, bombs at election offices killed at least 28 people. Islamic State later claimed responsibility. It was a devastating way to begin an election. When the big day came on Thursday, so too did an internet shutdown, which the interior ministry claimed was due to recent terrorism. Mobile calls and data were suspended (although wifi appeared unaffected), which for some people impacted actually finding the polling stations in the first place, or booking a taxi to get there.

For those who did make it to the voting booths, there was another hurdle. Anyone who wanted to vote for the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party (PTI) (established by former cricketer Imran Khan, who was sentenced to at least 14 years in prison ([link removed]) last week), had a surprise on the ballot paper. The party was banned from using its usual cricket bat symbol ([link removed]) , and candidates instead used a range of different symbols. This, in a country where around 40% of the population cannot read, was an important point.

And to Senegal, where this should have been election month, and which is in fact — not. The election has been postponed for another 10 months, and President Macky Sall has had his power extended until that point, after a bill passed through parliament this week. Protests erupted outside, and there were clashes with riot police. Dozens of protesters have been arrested in the following days. Seen as one of the most stable democracies on the continent, this is quite the blow.

This is a year that many are calling the “year of elections.” More people than ever before will get to cast their votes. But what does any of that matter if democracy is only surface deep?

Katie Dancey-Downs, assistant editor


** Joke’s on Lukashenka speaking rubbish Belarusian. Or is it?
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Dictator and President of the Republic of Belarus Alyaksandr Lukashenka with a machine gun. Illustration: Igor Sarozhkov/Alamy

Belarus’ belligerent leader is both tyrannical and comical. It’s fodder for the nation’s comics – when they’re not being muzzled, writes Maria Sorensen ([link removed]) .


** We have a duty to protect our politicians
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Police officer at the Houses of Parliament. Photo: Daniele Zanni/CC BY 3.0 DEED

Politicians like Mike Freer MP in the United Kingdom and Nikki Haley in the USA, the last remaining serious challenger to Donald J Trump for the Republican Party nomination, have become appalling examples of the risks individuals face for daring to voice their convictions, writes our CEO Ruth Anderson ([link removed]) .


** The Scottish Anti-SLAPP Summit
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SLAPPs have always been seen as an problem facing England - or more specifically London. The firms behind the most egregious legal threats have always found a home in the gleaming skyscrapers and ornate courtrooms of the capital. But this is to ignore how vulnerable people in Scotland are to legal threats aimed at silencing criticism or public scrutiny. This is why we have teamed up with the University of Glasgow Law School to host the Scottish Anti-SLAPP Summit on 26 February. We are bringing together SLAPP targets, lawyers, journalists, experts and activists, including Don Staniford, Christine O'Neil KC, Andy Wightman, Andrew Tickell, Rosalind McInnes, David Leask, Francesca Farrington and many others to answer one simple question: What does Scotland need to do to protect itself against SLAPPs? Sign up to find out the answer: www.indexoncensorship.org/scottishantislappsummit/


** From the Index archives
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** Rule of the Red Guards
by Alain Peyraube and Leung Kiche
Winter 1980
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Last weekend Ai Weiwei likened censorship today in the West ([link removed]) to China's Cultural Revolution. His comment was lambasted as "borderline offensive" and he has since expanded on it. So just what was China's Cultural Revolution like when it came to artistic and intellectual freedom? Read here to find out more ([link removed]) .
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