Hear Tulip Siddiq recite Nazanin's poem and see our new Covid mapping report  

[link removed]
[link removed] Donate ([link removed])
[link removed] Subscribe ([link removed])
Friday, 30 October 2020


** US elections: media freedom and the black vote
------------------------------------------------------------

US voters go to the polls on Tuesday 3 November and the result is proving difficult to call despite Joe Biden's lead in the opinion polls.

In her blog this week, our CEO Ruth Smeeth discusses Donald Trump's attacks on media freedom ([link removed]) and we hear about plans from the Department for Homeland Security to restrict the visas ([link removed]) that foreign journalists require to report from the country.

Meanwhile, Index's head of content Jemimah Steinfeld talks to acclaimed author Darryl Pinckney about the barriers black voters still face ([link removed]) in the USA.
Donate to Index on Censorship ([link removed])


** #FreeNazanin: Charity worker faces new charges on Monday
------------------------------------------------------------

“We are caught up in a shadow play, only part of which we get to see.”

These are the words of Richard Ratcliffe, the husband of British-Iranian charity worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who has been in solitary confinement and prison in Iran since 2016 for plotting against the Iranian government, charges she denies and which most people believe are fabricated.

Richard's comments come as it has been revealed that Nazanin will have to return to court next Monday, 2 November, to face yet more charges ([link removed]) .

In this article ([link removed]) , we hear from Richard and their local MP, Tulip Siddiq, who recites the poem Autumn Light which Nazanin wrote from prison in 2018 and which we published in Index ([link removed]) at the time.


** [link removed] and Justice for Journalists launch Covid media freedom report
------------------------------------------------------------

In February, as the world began to recognise the seriousness of the Covid outbreak, Index on Censorship and Justice for Journalists Foundation started working together on a new interactive mapping project that would track attacks on media freedom that we anticipated would happen as a result of the crisis.
Eight months on, we have produced a report showing the extent of the other epidemic that has been caused by Covid - one in which journalists have been fined, physically attacked and even disappeared just for doing their job of reporting on the growing health crisis. The report ([link removed]) is launched today.
Join Index's associate editor Mark Frary and JFJ's Maria Ordzhonikidze for a Safe Havens talk today, Friday, 30 October at 1.30 pm GMT / 2.30 pm CET, about the findings of the project. Register for the event here ([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 2020
** Privacy and Cookie Policy ([link removed])