29 Nov 13 | Czech Republic, Europe and Central Asia
Nominations are now open for a writing award for people and organisations contributing to the profile of Czech literature around the world.
The award, set up to commemorate a former editor of Index on Censorship magazine, is presented at the Prague Book Fair in May. The prize was first awarded in 2011 with freedom of expression in mind, and is given to a person or an organisation outside of the Czech Republic contributing in a major way to the promotion and dissemination of Czech literature abroad. The winner is chosen by a five-person jury, and also receives a prize of £1000. Nominations close on 15 February.
World of Books, which runs the annual Prague Book Fair, set up the literary award to commemorate George (Jiri) Theiner. He found his niche in England as Index on Censorship’s deputy editor in the 1970s and, following Michael Scammell’s departure, as the editor in the 1980s. George was held in high regard by writers and poets in Czechoslovakia not least because he worked tirelessly to publicise their fate and their work through translation into English. They included Vaclav Havel, Ivan Klima, Ludvik Vaculik, Bohumil Hrabal and others post 1968, or poets such as Miroslav Holub and Antonin Bartusek pre 1968.
The first recipient of the prize was Andrzej Slawomir Jagodzinski, a prolific journalist and translator of Czech literature into Polish who, from 1976 onwards, was closely involved in the Polish and Czech democratic opposition. After the collapse of the totalitarian regimes in central and eastern Europe he became the director of the Polish Cultural Centre in Prague.
The 2012 prize winner Ruth Bondy is a representative of the Czechoslovak pre WWII generation of intellectual Jews who, like many others, was deported to Theresienstadt and subsequently to Auschwitz and, towards the end of the war, to Germany. She moved to Israel in 1948 and worked as a journalist on the Hebrew daily Davar. She taught journalism at the Tel Aviv University in the 1980s and 1990s. She has translated a diverse group of Czech authors into Hebrew (including Hasek and Hrabal) and written studies centred on the fate of Czech Jews during the Holocaust.
Last year the prize was received by Paul Wilson, a journalist, literary critic and translator of many of Vaclav Havel’s works into English. He was closely associated with the persecuted band Plastic People of the Universe, as a result was thrown out of Czechoslovakia in the early 1970s. He has remained a committed publicist of Czech causes and authors.
01 Oct 13 | Events
HOSTED BY RAW IN WAR the Annual Anna Politkovskaya Award celebrates outstanding women human rights defenders working in conflict zones.
On the eve of Anna Politkovskaya’s murder, join RAW in WAR for an evening of music, theatre and discussion with some very special guests to remember Anna on the eve of the anniversary of her murder on 7th October.
Including a special performance from world famous percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie, a rare live performance of ‘Something Inside So Strong’ by Labi Siffre and guest of honour Sir Nicholas Winton – the ‘British Schindler’ who rescued 669 Jewish children from Czechoslovakia in 1939.
What: Anna Politkovskaya Award 2013
When: 7.45pm, Friday 4th October 2013
Where: Southbank Centre, London
Tickets: Click here
ELSEWHERE are events hosted and run by organisations other than Index; instances of thinking, speaking or acting freely that we applaud and support.
31 Jul 13 | In the News
#DONTSPYONME
Tell Europe’s leaders to stop mass surveillance #dontspyonme
Index on Censorship launches a petition calling on European Union Heads of Government to stop the US, UK and other governments from carrying out mass surveillance. We want to use public pressure to ensure Europe’s leaders put on the record their opposition to mass surveillance. They must place this issue firmly on the agenda for the next European Council Summit in October so action can be taken to stop this attack on the basic human right of free speech and privacy.
(Index on Censorship)
AFRICA
MISA express concern over rise in media freedom and freedom of expression violations across SADC
Having gathered in Lusaka, Zambia on Saturday, 27 July 2013, for its annual general meeting, the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) made a statement.
(Lusaka Times)
CHINA
Tech Terms Censored Online in China
China’s surveillance of its citizens’ digital activities is common knowledge. However, questions remain concerning what content is targeted by government censors and how these blacklists change in response to current events.
(Mashable)
EGYPT
AFTE highlights the fine line between freedom of expression and incitement
The Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE) released a report Tuesday distinguishing between what it called legitimate freedom of expression and hate speech tied to incitement of violence and racial discrimination.
(Daily News Egypt)
FRANCE
Censorship, Mediapart and the butler’s tapes
Following a court decision that became effective last Monday, independent French news website Mediapart has had to withdraw the infamous Bettencourt “butler tapes” from its website, as well as 72 articles including quotes from the recordings, prompting a campaign of solidarity in the French and international media.
(Index on Censorship)
GLOBAL
Extreme Internet censorship proposals challenged
As you may have heard, the latest round of secretive Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) talks have been taking place in Malaysia over the last two weeks. As with previous rounds, the Malaysia TPP talks took place in an atmosphere of near-total secrecy. Citizens, public interest groups, and internet users have been completely excluded from the negotiations, which are taking place between a small cabal of old industry lobbyists and unelected bureaucrats.
(Rabble)
MALAYSIA
Let people judge controversial movies
The decision by the Film Censorship Board to review the film ‘The New Village’ after having already given it the green light makes a mockery of our nation’s laws, policies and commitment to the right to freedom of expression.
(Free Malaysia Today)
RUSSIA
Russia to Ban Swearing Online: UK to Follow?
Yesterday I wrote about the slide into censorship and self-censorship that the UK government’s misbegotten plans to impose a default set of Net blocks could bring about. Of course, the UK is not alone in seeking to introduce disproportionate schemes.
(Computer World UK)
Russia should learn from Britain’s record on gay rights
Russia’s new ‘propaganda law’ is a more extreme version of the UK’s infamous section 28. It must be internationally condemned
(The Guardian)
SAUDI ARABIA
Saudi liberal blogger sentenced to 600 lashes and seven years in jail
A Saudi activist is being punished after calling for a “day of liberalism”
(Index on Censorship)
SLOVAKIA
Slovak lawyers demand apology for being depicted as pigs
The Slovak Bar Association has demanded an apology for a political cartoon depicting them as pigs, saying it is defamatory and dangerous.
(Index on Censorship)
TUNISIA
Release Femen Activist Held On Politically Motivated Charges
Today’s decision by a Tunisian court to dismiss a defamation case against the 18-year-old FEMEN activist Amina Sboui is only a partial victory, Amnesty International said as it called for her release.
(AllAfrica.com)
TURKEY
Intimidation and self-censorship rising in Turkey
Turkey currently holds 64 journalists in its prisons, according to the opposition. Since the begin of the Gezi Park protests, working as journalist critical of Premier Erdogan has become increasingly difficult.
(DW)
Turkey stands at the crossroads. Will it opt for democracy?
If the government changes its attitude to the protests, Turkey could become an exemplar state in the Muslim world
(The Guardian)
In Turkey, Critics of Erdogan’s Government Claim Familiar Pattern of Reprisal
The fallout from the June protests in Turkey is settling into a growing pattern of reprisal against those dissenting against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, critics of his government say. But that pattern may be backfiring, as it is fueling further discontent among Erdoğan’s opponents, and bolstering their ranks with some of his former supporters.
(Time)
UNITED KINGDOM
We can make Twitter better, but never perfect
Online misogny is a complex problem with no single solution
(Index on Censorship)
When it comes to free speech, Twitter is caught between a rock and a very hard place
An incident in which a British journalist was subjected to hundreds of abusive tweets has highlighted Twitter’s ongoing struggle to balance its defence of free speech and the rights of its users with the need to curb abuse.
(GigaOM
When it comes to free speech, Twitter is caught between a rock and a very hard place
It’s a question of where to start: TalkTalk’s filter provided by Huawei; more than porn will be blocked; UK’s ‘pornification’ MP Claire Perry hacked and now sued; at least one ISP in open rebellion; and Anonymous launches op PornStorm.
(Info Security)
Don’t lose your head over Hirst
Academics in Leicester object to a photo of Damien Hirst posing with a severed head being put on show – but why? It’s a work of genuine artistic integrity
(The Guardian)
UNITED STATES
Index on Censorship condemns verdicts in Bradley Manning case
Free speech organisation Index on Censorship condemns the guilty verdicts in the trial of Bradley Manning. However, we welcome the verdict of not guilty to the charge of aiding the enemy.
(Index on Censorship)
Bradley Manning: A verdict that shows a sense of perspective
In finding the the WikiLeaks whistleblower Bradley Manning guilty of espionage but not of aiding the enemy, a US military court delivered a verdict which showed a welcome sense of perspective after one of the most convulsive episodes in recent American judicial history.
(The Independent)
NYPD attempts to censor anticipated Park Avenue art project
An artist’s protests over his New York art installation raises the question of how to play nice in public spaces
(The Guardian)
Previous Free Expression in the News posts
July 30 | July 29 | July 26 | July 25 | July 24 | July 23 | July 22 | July 19 | July 18 | July 17 | July 16 | July 15 | July 12 | July 11 | July 10
30 Jul 13 | Europe and Central Asia, Politics and Society, Slovakia
The Slovak Bar Association has demanded an apology for a political cartoon depicting them as pigs, saying it is defamatory and dangerous.
The cartoon shows a newly qualified lawyer receiving his diploma from another lawyer, both depicted as pigs, with the message “You’ve become a doctor of law. There is no better profession for looting/plundering of this country.”
“The Chamber does not want to interfere with the right to freely express your opinions in public and even in the form of cartoons, however, that freedom of expression must not unreasonably interfere with the rights of others or belittle them,” the Slovak Bar Association said in a statement.
They argue that the cartoon is dangerous speech, which defames a group of people based on their education.
The cartoon was by Slovakia’s most popular political cartoonist Shooty, whose real name is Martin Sutovec. It was published in Sme, one of the country’s biggest daily newspapers.
While freedom of the press is guaranteed by the constitution, this is not the first time the media freedom has come under threat.
In 2010, Shooty won a lawsuit filed against him by then Prime Minister Robert Fico, over a cartoon of a doctor telling him his back pain was non-existent as he was spineless.
In March this year, a verdict ordering Sme to publish three apologies or be fined €150,000 was upheld. This stemmed from an article about a member Slovakia’s Council of Judges, who was given a free hunting trip, which would constitute an illegal gift.
