The latest on threats to freedom of expression around the world

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Friday, 13 January 2023
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Photo: Eneas De Troya, CC BY 2.0

It’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for – the announcement of the annual Tyrant of the Year competition winner. While competition was tough, one leader surged ahead, by a mile in fact. Our Tyrant of the Year for 2022 is Andrés Manuel López Obrador from Mexico. Obrador presides over a country which has the dubious honour of being the country in which more journalists were killed last year than any other ([link removed]) . It is also the country ranked as the most dangerous place to be an environmental defender, according to Global Witness ([link removed]) . The number of kidnappings, assaults and arrests under his watch has been huge. Mexico's climate of impunity makes it possible. Obrador has also cosied up to the military and Donald Trump and lashed out at women, NGOs and the New York Times. Forbes called Obrador “a human rights
disaster” ([link removed]) .

Index policy and campaigns officer Nik Williams, who nominated Obrador for the award, said, "The high number of votes for Obrador is testament to the structural threats to free expression in Mexico that has made it the most dangerous place in the world for journalists, outside of a warzone. For the good of journalists, their families and colleagues, as well as the broader Mexican society, we hope Obrador takes the steps necessary to protect media freedom. Only then will this be the first and last time he is voted Tyrant of the Year."

We covered Mexico a lot in the years under his predecessor, Enrique Peña Nieto. We noted with alarm the escalation of violence against journalists in particular. When Obrador came to power in 2018, he did so with promises to pull the country out of a dastardly spiral of crime, corruption and inequality. People were cynical about these pledges at the time and it’s a shame to see their cynicism was correct. Mexico remains very much on the Index radar as a result and we will continue to cover the country in our magazine and online.

Moving closer to home, this week we marked the second anniversary of the arrest and detention of our former Belarusian colleague Andrei Aliaksandrau and his partner, Irina Zlobina. Their crime is our crime: supporting journalists threatened by the Lukashenka regime. But for Andrei and Irina ([link removed]) , the consequences of their solidarity has been lengthy prison sentences for treason.

As we marked this grim anniversary we received news of the pre-trial detention of Larysa Shchyrakova, a prominent Belarusian journalist and documentary maker who was forced to cease her activities in 2021. The former English teacher and historian had previously been working on a project to document the testimonies of the families of Soviet-era dissidents, The Murdered and the Forgotten. According to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Larysa, 49, was arrested in her home city of Gomel, the second largest city in Belarus in early December. Her son, Sviataslau, was taken into the care of the authorities and placed in a “social pedagogical centre”. In 2021 Larysa recorded a piece ([link removed]) for us about her experience of harassment by the authorities, which was broadcast by Times Radio. She wrote movingly about her fear of arrest and the consequences for her son: “Several times I was detained in front of my teenage son. Because of this, he
was very stressed and even six months later he felt the effects of this psycho-emotional trauma. My psychological state also deteriorated. I began to feel anxious, afraid of detention and arrest and I found it difficult to sleep.”

In recent months, Larysa had been retraining as a psychologist and working on ethnographic photo shoots taking portraits of people in Belarusian folk costumes. Writing in the latest issue of Index, Katie Dancey-Downs explained ([link removed]) the significance of folk art in expressing Belarusian identity. Artist Rufina Bazlova and curator Sofia Tocar formed the Stitchit Colllective to use traditional Belarusian embroidery to pay tribute to the political prisoners held in Lukashenka’s prisons, now thought to number over 1400.

Andrei and Irina have already been rendered in cross-stitch as a way of paying tribute to their courage. Bazlova calls the political prisoners “the most brave and the most clever people in Belarus”. Andrei, Irina and Larysa are fully worthy of that description.
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** Join our Twitter storm of protest against Salma al-Shehab’s 34-year sentence
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This coming Sunday, 15 January, followers of our social media feeds will note that we are only posting about a single subject – the University of Leeds PhD student Salma al-Shehab. Salma is currently serving a 34-year jail sentence in her native Saudi Arabia simply for tweeting her support for prisoners of conscience in the country and calling for better women’s rights.

Salma was studying for a PhD in oral and human health when she was arrested after going back to Saudi Arabia to spend the holiday with her husband and two children, Adam and Noah. She was questioned for almost a year before being charged by the Specialised Criminal Court under various parts of the country’s Counter-Terrorism Law and the Anti-Cybercrime Law for “supporting those seeking to disrupt public order, undermining the safety of the general public and stability of the state, and publishing false and tendentious rumours on Twitter”. She was initially handed a six-year sentence but on appeal this was increased to 34 years, including a discretionary five years added by the judge. She has been slapped with a travel ban for a further 34 years following her sentence. All of this is horrific. The Gulf Centre for Human Rights says it is in fact the longest sentence ever given to a peaceful activist.

This Sunday, we’re working withALQST for Human Rights ([link removed]) to re-focus international attention on Salma’s case. In September, ALQST sent an open letter signed by NGOs and 400 academics ([link removed]) to then-Prime Minister Liz Truss and Foreign Secretary James Cleverly to raise awareness of this inhumane sentence. We sent a further letter to the UK Foreign Secretary ([link removed]) signed by other human rights organisations in October 2022.

[link removed] was arrested and sentenced for standing in solidarity with imprisoned human rights defenders, such as Loujain al-Hathloul. Now we must stand in solidarity with her. On Sunday we will initiate the Twitter storm – and we’d love you to join. There are two ways to take part. The first is to tweet the following from your own Twitter account:

Salma al-Shehab was sentenced to 34 years in prison for tweeting in support of women human rights defenders in #SaudiArabia. Two years on from her arrest we stand in solidarity with her and demand her release #FreeSalma

To give it more impact you can attach our campaign graphic ([link removed]) , by clicking on the image above and downloading it to your computer before posting your tweet.

The second way you can help is to quote-tweet Salma’s original posts. It is our belief that what she published in her posts does not constitute a crime and we encourage you to post her original words along with a quote-tweet to stand in solidarity with her.

To quote-tweet, click on the tweet link in the table below to open up Salma's original tweet, click on the retweet button and choose to do a quote-tweet. You can use our suggested covering text from the table below or use your own. Please remember to include the hashtag #FreeSalma.

Remember that we are running this campaign on Sunday 15 January. It is possible to schedule your quote tweet by clicking the calendar icon in Twitter. Thank you for your support in this important campaign.
Salma's original tweet Suggested quote tweet
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Translation : #Free_Loujain_Alhathloul

Context: Salma quote-tweeted a tweet supporting Saudi human rights defender Loujain Alhathloul

Salma al-Shehab was arrested two years ago today for tweeting her support for prisoners of conscience including Loujain al-Hathloul. We believe no crime has been committed and we call on #SaudiArabia to release her without delay #FreeSalma
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Translation: Godmothers of the 6th of November 1990: Aziza Al-Youssef, Hessa Al-Sheikh, Aisha Al-Manea. Manal al-Sharif, leader of the “I will drive my own car” movement. All Saudi women prisoners of conscience - or those who have been previously arrested - the free, virtuous women: Loujain Al-Hathloul, Nassima Al-Sada, Iman Al-Nafjan, Mia Al-Zahrani, Nof Abdulaziz, Hatoon Al-Fassi, Samar Badawi.

Context: Salma quote-tweeted a feminist account in which they ask people to name respected women rights activists. Salma tweeted the names of some of those who flouted the ban on women driving in Saudi Arabia.

Salma al-Shehab was sentenced to 34 years in prison for tweeting in support of the 47 women of the 6 Nov 1990 driving ban protest in #SaudiArabia. Two years on from her arrest we stand in solidarity with her and demand her release #FreeSalma
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Translation: Yes, it is true, all feminist movements throughout history are offensive movements. Not for subtraction and not for argument. All feminist movements are aimed at extracting stolen female rights and destroying the patriarchal system. And whoever stands in front of it to reject or disrupt is called the masculine or the misogynistic. All of your words are correct, the difference is that we don't see anything wrong with it.

In these words, #SaudiArabia sees a crime. We do not, we see someone standing up for basic human rights. Salma al-Shehab was arrested two years ago today and should be released immediately #FreeSalma
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Translation: Human rights constitute a single concept, and cannot be distinguished as Islamic or non-Islamic rights; accepting and adopting this distinction in the name of cultural relativity means annihilating these rights." - Sherine Ebadi [Iranian lawyer and activist]

In these words, #SaudiArabia sees a crime. We do not, we see someone standing up for basic human rights for women. Salma al-Shehab was arrested two years ago today and should be released immediately #FreeSalma
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Translation: Thank you, Lord, for a beautiful year. O Lord, may this year be better, and may it bring good news to all prisoners of conscience. Lord bring them safely close to their beloved ones.

In 2018, Salma al-Shehab tweeted to wish the families of imprisoned women human rights defenders joy and safety. Now she is imprisoned for speaking out we wish her the same and call for her release #FreeSalma
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** From the archive
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** Shooting the messengers
Duncan Tucker
June 2016
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Mexico is home to a vast sex trafficking industry, but threats await those who try to report on it, especially if the reporters are women. Read the article here ([link removed]) .


** 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]) .
Support the important work of Index on Censorship by making a donation ([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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