Friday, 21 January 2022

Kazakhstan's independent media and civil society shiver after protests

Protests in Aqtobe, Kazakhstan on 4 January 2022. Photo: Esetok, CC BY-SA 4.0

Hundreds of protesters have been killed and thousands thrown in prison in the unrest in Kazakhstan as a result of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev's violent crackdown. While order is returning, civil society and the independent media in the country fear for the future. Read our report from the streets here.

Who was 2021's Tyrant of the Year?

Kazakh family share horror of speaking up about Xinjiang

Kazakh rights activist Serikzhan Bilash speaks to reporters outside a courthouse in Almaty, Kazakhstan, 13 February 2019. Credit: Mariya Gordeyeva/Reuters/Alamy

Prominent human rights defender and activist Serikzhan Bilash has had to seek asylum in the United States after recording, translating and publishing thousands of video testimonies of abuses against the Uyghurs. He fled Kazakshtan after becoming a target of pro-Chinese elements in the country's government. Read the story here.

"All this for a simple post on Facebook": Index award-winner in Niger speaks out

Nigerien journalist Samira Sabou, winner of Index on Censorship’s Freedom of Expression Awards 2021 in the journalism category, has been handed a one-month suspended prison sentence and a fine of 50,000 FCFA for circulating an article on drugs trafficking in the country. The sentence was handed down by the courts despite her house being searched without a warrant and Sabou being questioned without a lawyer being present. Read her story here.

Greece: Concern over criminal charges against investigative reporters

Greek newspapers. Photo: Hindrik Sijens, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Index and six other international media freedom and freedom of expression organisations have registered their concern over the serious criminal charges levelled against two investigative journalists in Greece linked to their reporting on a major corruption scandal. Read our statement here.

Boris Johnson's Partygate is a distraction from the important issues

The British Government has been distracted for weeks, caught in a political crisis of their own making about whether or not the Prime Minister knowingly broke his own Covid-19 regulations.

While the political establishment awaits a report from a senior civil servant to clarify what was, or wasn’t, happening behind the doors of Number 10, important issues are being sidelined or ignored and people are suffering. Read the latest blog from our CEO Ruth Smeeth. (Photo: Justin Tallis/PA Wire/PA Images)

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