The latest on threats to freedom of expression around the world
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Friday, 06 January 2023
** A new hope for the new year?
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Photo: Greater London Assembly/Kois Miah
Happy new year all. As a team of optimists (we have to be in our profession to keep going) we hope this year is better than the last when it comes to free expression. But as our CEO Ruth Anderson says in her weekly blog post 2023 already promises "interesting times" ([link removed]) .
We have already lost one of free expression's bravest cheerleaders. Red Square demonstrator Viktor Fainberg passed away this week at the age of 91. Fainberg was one of the eight people who protested in Moscow on 25 August 1968 against the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia. Despite the protest lasting only five minutes, all were arrested by the Soviet authorities. Fainberg paid bitterly for his bravery - four years in a psychiatric hospital as was a Soviet-era custom (they liked to make out dissidents were suffering from mental illness). Still, his experiences didn't stop his activism and right until the end he continued to raise the profile of political prisoners and injustice more broadly. Read about his amazing life in our obituary here ([link removed]) and about his fellow Red Square demonstrator, Pavel Litvinov ([link removed]) , here.
Scotland. It's not often that we take aim at the country but data released this week turns our view northward. As reported by The Times, Police Scotland has been recording “non-crime hate incidents” alongside its ongoing moitoring of hate crimes. What exactly is a non-crime we hear you ask? Well it is, according to the police force, "any incident which is perceived by the victim or any other person to be motivated (wholly or partly) by malice and ill-will towards a social group but which does not constitute a criminal offence." It is that last part that is key: if it is not a criminal offence why are the police involved? The Court of Appeal in England and Wales raised its concerns in a ruling, saying such monitoring had a “chilling effect” on freedom of expression. A High Court Judge went further stating “in this country we have never had a Cheka, a Gestapo or a Stasi”. We're also concerned, as we told The Times here
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We have also carried out a superb interview with the award-winning journalist Ramita Navai ([link removed]) on the current protests in Iran. Navai gives her own chilling account of being arrested while covering the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution in Tehran. She sounds a note of optimism on the current protests though, describing them as "unlike anything we have ever seen". She adds: "The protests have been a unifying force, uniting Iranians of all colours against the regime. I don’t think the regime will fall imminently although I do think something has shifted and there is no going back from that. I think a very different future for Iran has now become a reality in a way that it wasn’t a year ago.”
We hope Navai is right and we want to wish you all a happy, healthy and free new year.
The Index on Censorship team
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** Date for your diary:
18 January, Crown Confidential launch
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Detail of Shadow of Turning Elizabeth by Eria Nsubuga
You might be enjoying the royal soap opera or you might be sick to death of hearing from "Harold". Whichever camp you're in you should still definitely attend the launch of our winter magazine on 18 January, which specifically looks at our in-house investigation into how the Royal Family censor their own history. The results are eye-opening and our line-up of speakers on the night is stellar. Also there is wine. More information and tickets here ([link removed]) .
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** From the archive
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** Better the devil
Fay Weldon
May 1999
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The future, in the shape of cloning and genetic engineering, is already with us. But society has yet to address the difficult moral choices they throw up. The writer Fay Weldon, who died this week, wades in ([link removed]) .
** Votes closing for Tyrant of the Year
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One of our twelve would-be Tyrants of the Year has crept into the lead and it is now your last chance to make sure that your favoured despot walks away with this uncoveted award.
Cast your final votes by Monday 9 January 2023 ([link removed]) .
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.
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