The latest on threats to freedom of expression around the world

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Friday, 24 February 2023
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Protesters from Led by Donkeys made a colourful statement outside the Russian Embassy in London. Photo: twitter.com/ByDonkeys

Today is the grimmest of anniversaries. When Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine a year ago, the whole world hoped that the situation would be resolved quickly. How naïve we all were. So, what else could we focus on in today’s newsletter, but Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine, and the battle for freedom.

To begin our coverage of the anniversary that we’d rather didn’t exist, Ruth Anderson looks back at a year consumed by Kremlin-wrought violence ([link removed]) . It’s a war that looks very much like autocracy versus democracy.

This, of course, is far from the first we’ve seen of Russian aggression, both in Ukraine and outside of it, as an anonymous journalist from Chechnya wrote for Index this week ([link removed]) . They likened the invasion to the war on Chechnya in the 1990s and 2000s, and explored whether Chechen people really support Putin’s attack on Ukraine. In one harrowing example, they recount how a group of women organised a demonstration against Chechens being sent to fight for Russia. “The women were taken to Grozny’s City Hall and their husbands forced to beat them,” the journalist writes. In an even crueller act, at least one of the women’s sons was then sent away to fight.

As global protests and actions of solidarity with Ukraine have been a staple of the last year, today will likely come with more. Many dissenting voices and activists will be at risk as they fight for democratic freedoms — whether they are within the reach of Putin-sympathising governments or whether they are in our own backyard (which for some readers, might be one and the same). In what can only be described as a bold move yesterday, activists (who have since been arrested for criminal damage) unleashed wheelbarrows full of yellow paint across one carriageway of Bayswater Road in London, and blue across the other side (pictured above). Not the latest Farrow & Ball advert, but a message to the Russian embassy ([link removed]) outside which it was painted.

The war is not a simple matter of Russia against Ukraine. On today’s anniversary, Jessica Ní Mhainín considers a country closely tied to Putin. That country is Belarus, where the political prisoners are so numerous following protests around a disputed election that we have a whole collection of letters ([link removed]) from them, including from a former Index staffer, Andrei Aliaksandrau. We must not forget about them, Ní Mhainín urges ([link removed]) .

Last summer, our magazine ([link removed]) gave space to artists, journalists and dissidents to respond to the battle for Ukraine. We explored the corrosive effect on freedoms, exposed creeping disinformation and debated the cancelling of Russian culture. Dominic Cavendish reminded us of the murdered Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya’s words of warning ([link removed]) . Slavenka Drakulic described what it is like to pack up emotional baggage and become a refugee ([link removed]) . And Andrey Kurkov — Freedom of Expression Awards winner, celebrated Ukrainian author and regular voice at Index — wrote about Ukrainian culture under attack ([link removed]) .

These discussions are just as relevant now as they were at the beginning of the invasion, and so we’ve lowered the drawbridge across our paywall moat, and invite you to revisit the issue ([link removed]) . If you have a physical copy lying around (or proudly displayed, perhaps even framed), we would strongly recommend a re-read, with the weary eyes of hindsight. You can explore the contents here ([link removed]) .

A magazine born out of Soviet repression 50 years ago, we now find many of our stories back where Index started. Even in our latest issue ([link removed]) , Moscow-born dissident author Zinovy Zinik pens a story on the freedom to write in Russia, while Pavel Litvinov offers a retrospective on Russian imperialism, looking through the lens of the war in Ukraine.

As global headlines cover occupations, destroyed Ukrainian cities and international support, we — as always — keep our eyes trained on threats to free expression.


** Editing Dahl: inclusivity or whizzpop?
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[link removed] less violent news this week (even today, we can’t quite bear to leave you in a pit of despair), rapscallion editors have unleashed their red pens on Roald Dahl’s back catalogue. Free speech human beans and authors were biffsquiggled at the censorship. Even Rishi Sunak got involved in the criticism.

But is it a phizz-whizzing attempt to make language in children’s literature more inclusive, or all a load of whizzpop? Jemimah Steinfeld says rewriting uncomfortable texts is glossing over history ([link removed]) , and that instead of deciding how to describe Augustus Gloop, we should focus on championing new stories.
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** From the archive
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** Ukraine's ethnic kitchen
Andrey Kurkov
October 2001
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At a time when Ukrainian culture is under attack, it is well worth revisiting Kurkov’s poetic exploration of Kyiv ([link removed]) and its linguistic history.


** Conference, 23 March, Dublin:
SLAPPS: A Threat to Our Freedom of Expression and Our Democracy
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Strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) are brought by powerful and wealthy entities against public watchdogs in an effort to compel them to withhold or remove critical coverage, even if it is accurate and in the public interest.

How do SLAPPs work and, crucially, what can we do to stop them? At this full-day conference, attendees will hear from lawyers, journalists, academics, politicians, and campaigners, as well as from keynote speakers, UN Special Rapporteur Mary Lawlor, and human rights campaigner Bill Browder.

Reserve your in-person or online livestream ticket here ([link removed]) .
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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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