Index on Censorship weekly round-up
[link removed]
Home ([link removed]) Latest ([link removed]) Subscribe ([link removed]) About Index ([link removed]) Donate ([link removed])
Friday, 12 April 2024
[link removed]
Vladimir Kara-Murza and his family. Photo:handout
Vladimir Kara-Murza is a father to three children: two daughters and a son. He bears the exact same name as his father, who was one of the country's most prominent journalists and a pioneer of independent post-Soviet television. As a child growing up in Russia the younger Vladimir made up stories constantly and loved to imitate politicians, a creative, energetic character who had his family constantly roaring with laughter. When he was 12 he set up a political party to defend the rights of children. He moved to London as a teenager and, at the age of 15 in 1997, stayed up all night to follow the results of the UK general election. He was a pallbearer at the funeral of the late US senator John McCain. He's a "cat person" in contrast to his wife, Evgenia, who's a "dog person". He has a sweet tooth, especially when it comes to ice cream. He loves to cook.
These are just some facts about a man that the campaigner Bill Browder calls "incredible", "the type of person that our world needs the most". But these are not what he is known for. Instead it's his incarceration in a Russia prison, which yesterday reached the grim milestone of two years, that has made him headline news. It's his poisoning by Putin not once but twice ([link removed]) . It's also, more positively, his unrelenting pursuit of democracy and human rights, which has seen him being awarded the Václav Havel Human Rights Prize. It's his role in the 2012 passage of the Magnitsky Act, which freezes the assets and bans the visas of Russian human rights violators.
Two years ago he was sentenced to 25 years for charges linked to his criticism of the war in Ukraine. His sentence is the lengthiest at present of any political prisoner in Russia (side note yesterday was also the two-year anniversary of the detention of Sasha Skochilenko ([link removed]) , who was arrested for distributing anti-war leaflets in a grocery store. She is serving a seven-year sentence for that simple act). Fears for Vladimir's life are large. His health alone is in a terrible place.
Last night at an event organised by Browder in London, spokespeople from the UK government said they'd be taking a more active role in pursuing Vladimir's release. We hope they are true to their word and their efforts bear fruit. As we wrote yesterday ([link removed]) up to this point the UK government's response has been "woefully inadequate".
At the end of yesterday's event his mother, Elena, took to the stage. She bookended her speech with five simple words:
"Please help save my son."
Vladimir was not in Russia when they launched their full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Just before returning there he had been in London, taking to the stage at Barbican and eating with friends at Cecconi’s, a popular Italian restaurant in Shoreditch. His life was good. He could have stayed and many begged him to do just that. But he felt compelled to return. In his words: "I’m a Russian politician. All Russians should stand up to Putin. But how can I ask others to do that if I’m too afraid to return to my own country? I must be there.”
Vladimir went back to Russia to fight for a greater cause because he felt duty-bound. We now have a duty to fight for him.
Jemimah Steinfeld, editor-in-chief
Help support Index on Censorship ([link removed])
** More than sixty experts call for the
Anti-SLAPP Bill to be amended
------------------------------------------------------------
[link removed]
Over sixty editors, journalists, writers, publishers, academics, and experts have written to Justice Secretary Alex Chalk KC MP calling on the Government to support amendments to the Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation Bill, co-ordinated by Index on Censorship. Signatories include the editors of DMG Media, The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Times and The Sunday Times, Private Eye, and The Economist. Read the letter here ([link removed]) .
** Why critics like Jay Rayner have a role in battling self-censorship
------------------------------------------------------------
[link removed]
Food critic Jay Rayner was in two minds about reviewing the Jewish restaurant Freddie's Deli (whose bagels are shown above)
Our CEO Ruth Anderson ponders the challenges of being a reviewer after reading the latest column from the Observer's restaurant writer in which he questioned whether he should write about a new Jewish restaurant opening up. Read the story here ([link removed]) .
** Index on Censorship appoints Jemimah Steinfeld as its new Chief Executive Officer
------------------------------------------------------------
[link removed] on Censorship, a leading international organisation promoting freedom of expression, has this week announced the appointment of its next Chief Executive Officer ([link removed]) , Jemimah Steinfeld.
Steinfeld, the organisation's current editor-in-chief, will succeed Ruth Anderson, who is leaving Index to focus on her role as a Labour Party shadow minister in the House of Lords.
** Desperation mounts for Afghanistan’s persecuted journalists
------------------------------------------------------------
[link removed]
Afghan women take part in a journalism class in 2013. The country has since fallen to the Taliban.
Photo: U.S. Navy by HMC Josh Ives (CC BY 2.0 DEED) [link removed]
“The situation has not changed, the Taliban didn’t change. They are not allowing journalists, especially women journalists, to work, and any output is censored by the Taliban.” These were the words of Afghan journalist Ali Bezhad, who spoke to Index for our Spring 2023 magazine issue ([link removed]) after escaping the country and relocating to Germany. Since then a year has passed, but Bezhad’s words still ring true. Journalists in Afghanistan remain under constant threat of persecution by the Taliban, a situation which has been ongoing since the group regained power in 2021. Read Daisy Ruddock's update on media in the country here ([link removed]) .
[link removed]
** Thursday 2 May | The long reach: How authoritarian governments silence critics abroad
------------------------------------------------------------
Join Index on Censorship at the University of Exeter ([link removed]) for an evening discussing the growing – and worrying – trend of transnational repression. Transnational repression takes many forms: from UK residents being poisoned by Russian agents, to a Saudi dissident being murdered in Turkey, to a Polish art gallery being subject to attempted acts of censorship by Chinese diplomats, to UK-based BBC Persian journalists being threatened and harassed by Iranian authorities. John Heathershaw, Professor of International Relations at the University of Exeter, and Belarusian poet Hanna Komar join Index’s magazine Editor-in-chief, Jemimah Steinfeld, for a discussion about the extent and impact of states silencing their critics abroad and the fundamental right to free expression. Get a free ticket here
([link removed]) .
** From the Index archives
------------------------------------------------------------
** Modi’s singular vision for India
by Salil Tripathi
Spring 2023
------------------------------------------------------------
[link removed]
Elections in India start shortly. But what state exactly is the world's "largest democracy" in? Our contributing editor Salil Tripathi writes about the erosion of freedoms ([link removed]) under Narendra Modi, a nation turned mad in his view.
Help support Index on Censorship ([link removed])
Index on Censorship defends people's freedom to express themselves without fear of harm or persecution. We publish censored writers and artists, monitor and campaign against censorship, and encourage debate.
We rely on donations from readers and supporters. By donating ([link removed]) to Index you help us to protect freedom of expression and to support those who are denied that right.
[link removed] ([link removed])
============================================================
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can ** update your preferences ([link removed])
or ** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])
INDEX ON CENSORSHIP © COPYRIGHT 2023
** Privacy and Cookie Policy ([link removed])
