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Index on Censorship is proud to announce that long-time BBC reporter Razia Iqbal and CEO of the world famous Serpentine Galleries Yana Peel will join a panel of judges to decide the 2018 Freedom of Expression Awards Fellowship winners.
The Freedom of Expression Awards, now in their 18th year, honour champions of free expression and those battling censorship around the world in the field of arts, campaigning, digital activism and journalism. Many have faced prosecution and punishment for their work.
Peel sits on advisory boards for the Tate, the British Fashion Council and the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, and is a young global leader of the World Economic Forum. Currently CEO of the Serpentine Galleries, she previously ran Intelligence Squared Group, a leading forum for live debate, and was a regular contributor to the Davos annual meeting and the DLD, particularly on topics at the intersection of technology and visual art.
Iqbal has been an arts correspondent for the BBC for over a decade and is one of the main presenters of Newshour, the flagship news and current affairs programme on BBC World Service radio, and regularly presents The World Tonight on BBC Radio 4.
Iqbal says “In my lifetime, there has never been a more critical time to fight for freedom of expression. Whether it is in countries where people are imprisoned or worse, killed, for saying things the state or others, don’t want to hear, it continues to be fought for and demanded. It is a privilege to be associated with the Index on Censorship judging panel.”
The judging panel will also include Raspberry Pi Ltd CEO Eben Upton, founder of the Raspberry Pi Foundation, a UK-based charity that advances computer science education in schools, who was recently elected to the fellowship of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2017; and Tim Moloney QC, deputy head of Doughty Street Chambers and Band 1 of Crime Silks, classed as leading silk in the current Legal 500.
Announcing the judging panel, Index on Censorship chief executive Jodie Ginsberg said:“Freedom of expression is a right that our award winners and nominees work tirelessly to defend. The awards draw attention to the repression that they face every day and give us a chance to celebrate and support these inspiring journalists, activists, and artists.
“We’re excited to announce this year’s remarkable panel of judges, who are leaders and experts in their fields. The Freedom of Expression Awards Fellowship recognise global free speech heroes and provide assistance so that their important work can continue.”
Previous winners of the Freedom of Expression Awards include Nobel Peace Prize winner Pakistani education campaigner Malala Yousafzai, Chinese political cartoonist Rebel Pepper and Yemeni street artist Murad Subay. Hundreds of public nominations are made for the awards each year. Many of those nominated are regularly targeted by authorities or by criminal and extremist groups for their work. Some face regular death threats, others criminal prosecution.
Previous judges include digital campaigner and entrepreneur Martha Lane Fox, Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka, Harry Potter actor Noma Dumezweni, novelist Elif Shafak, award-winning journalist and former editor-in-chief of Vanity Fair and The New Yorker Tina Brown and human rights lawyer and shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer.
The Freedom of Expression Awards Fellowship ceremony 2018 will be held on April 19 in London.
For Index on Censorship
Sean Gallagher, [email protected]
About the Freedom of Expression Awards Fellowship
Winners of the 2018 Freedom of Expression Awards Fellowship receive 12 months of capacity building, coaching and strategic support. Through the fellowships, Index seeks to maximise the impact and sustainability of voices at the forefront of pushing back censorship worldwide. More information
About Index on Censorship
Index on Censorship is a London-based non-profit organisation that publishes work by censored writers and artists and campaigns against censorship worldwide. Since its founding in 1972, Index on Censorship has published some of the greatest names in literature in its award-winning quarterly magazine, including Samuel Beckett, Nadine Gordimer, Mario Vargas Llosa, Arthur Miller and Kurt Vonnegut. It also has published some of the world’s best campaigning writers from Vaclav Havel to Elif Shafak.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][staff name=”Razia Iqbal, Journalist” profile_image=”97201″]Razia Iqbal is a presenter for BBC News: she is one of the main presenters of Newshour, the flagship news and current affairs programme on BBC World Service radio. She also regularly presents The World Tonight on BBC Radio 4, a British weekday current affairs radio programme broadcast. Iqbal has hosted HARDtalk Extra, a BBC television and radio programme that conducts in depth one-on-one interviews with significant artists such as Pakistani pop star Haroon and prolific American writer, Joyce Carol Oates. She was the BBC’s arts correspondent for a decade, and has worked as a political reporter and a foreign correspondent in Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Iqbal has also made several successful documentaries through the BBC and presented on a variety of programmes. She was born in Kampala, Uganda and came to London as a child. Iqbal graduated with a BA in American Studies from the University of East Anglia and was nominated in 2013 for the “Services to Media” award at the British Muslims Awards. [/staff][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][staff name=”Tim Moloney QC, Barrister” profile_image=”97202″]Tim Moloney QC is the deputy head of Doughty Street Chambers. His practice encompasses crime, extradition, international criminal law, international death penalty litigation, public law and media law. Moloney consistently acts in high profile litigation across the spectrum of his practice. He also advises high profile organisations on their exposure to involvement with acts of terrorism and is regularly involved in training of lawyers overseas in the law and practice relating to terrorism and the death penalty. He also regularly advises media organisations on issues they face relating to terrorism and disclosure. Following the completion of his Ph.D, Moloney was a lecturer in law before being called to the Bar in 1993. He became a QC in 2010. He continues to write and lecture extensively. He is the author of the sexual offences, terrorism and appeals sections of the leading reference work, Blackstone’s Criminal Practice, and is the author of the sentencing chapters in Rook and Ward on Sexual Offences. Moloney is also a member of the panel of experts for Halsbury’s Laws.[/staff][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][staff name=”Yana Peel, Chief Executive” profile_image=”97203″]Yana Peel is CEO of the Serpentine Galleries, London, one of the most recognised organisations in the global contemporary art, design and architecture worlds. Prior to this she ran Intelligence Squared Group, the leading forum for live debate. Having co-founded Outset Contemporary Art Fund in 2003 as a hub for creative funding solutions for cultural projects, Peel maintains advisory positions across the arts that include: Tate, British Fashion Council, V-A-C Foundation Moscow, Lincoln Center and Asia Art Archive. At ParaSite Art Space and Intelligence Squared, she serves as board co-chair. Peel is a young global leader of the World Economic Forum and a regular contributor to the Davos annual meeting and DLD, particularly on topics at the intersection of technology and visual art. Her two children provide inspiration for her best-selling book series, Art for Baby, which benefits the National Society for the Protection against Cruelty to Children (NSPCC). Peel was born in St Petersburg, Russia, attended McGill University, completed her post-graduate studies in Economics at LSE, and started her career at Goldman Sachs.[/staff][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][staff name=”Eben Upton CBE, Chief Executive” profile_image=”97204″]Eben Upton CBE is a founder of the Raspberry Pi Foundation and serves as the CEO of Raspberry Pi Ltd, its commercial and engineering subsidiary. He is the co-author, with Gareth Halfacree of the Raspberry Pi User Guide, and with Jeff Duntemann and others of Learning Computer Architecture with Raspberry Pi. He was elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2017. In an earlier life, he founded two successful mobile games and middleware companies, Ideaworks 3d and Podfun, held the post of director of studies for Computer Science at St John’s College, Cambridge, and wrote the Oxford Rhyming Dictionary with his father, Professor Clive Upton. He holds a BA in Physics and Engineering, a PhD in Computer Science, and an MBA, from the University of Cambridge.[/staff][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row_content” equal_height=”yes” css=”.vc_custom_1515150485442{background-color: #cb3000 !important;}” el_class=”text_white”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_custom_heading text=”Support the Index Fellowship” font_container=”tag:h2|text_align:center” use_theme_fonts=”yes” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.indexoncensorship.org%2Fsupport-the-freedom-of-expression-awards%2F|||”][vc_column_text]
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″ css=”.vc_custom_1515150288338{background-image: url(https://www.indexoncensorship.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/2017-awards-fellows-1460×490-2.jpg?id=89631) !important;background-position: center !important;background-repeat: no-repeat !important;background-size: cover !important;}”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Don’t lose your voice. Stay informed.” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Index on Censorship is a nonprofit that campaigns for and defends free expression worldwide. We publish work by censored writers and artists, promote debate, and monitor threats to free speech. We believe that everyone should be free to express themselves without fear of harm or persecution – no matter what their views.
Join our mailing list (or follow us on Twitter or Facebook) and we’ll send you our weekly newsletter about our activities defending free speech. We won’t share your personal information with anyone outside Index.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][gravityform id=”20″ title=”false” description=”false” ajax=”false”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row]
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”A menudo los corresponsales en el extranjero tienen que ayudarse de guías (fixers en inglés), para informar desde países asolados por la guerra. Sin embargo, como revela Caroline Lees, estos pueden terminar en el punto de mira por espionaje si sus nombres se hacen conocidos en la zona”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text]
Periodistas ucranianos toman asiento en una conferencia de prensa de la embajada de EE.UU, US Embassy Kiev Ukraine/Flickr
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[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”95198″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]The 19th hearing of the leading Bahraini human rights defender Nabeel Rajab was unexpectedly held earlier than the court had originally ruled.
On 3 December, one of the lawyers was informally told by the court that the 2012 Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Award-winning Rajab’s hearing would take place on 5 December – almost 4 weeks earlier than the agreed date. The court claimed that this was because a key witness, the man who initially arrested Rajab and confiscated his electronic devices, would be travelling on 31 December and unable to attend the hearing.
The case is related to comments on Rajab’s Twitter account about the Saudi-led coalition airstrikes in Yemen, and further comments exposing the torture in Bahrain’s notorious Jau prison. If convicted, Rajab will be sentenced to 15 years imprisonment. He is already serving a two-year sentence for conducting TV interviews.
Despite the protests of Rajab’s lawyers, who wrote to the court on 4 December to ask that the arguments instead be heard on 31 December, the hearing went ahead on Tuesday 5 December. However, the hearing was adjourned until 7 December for the defence to be given further preparation time to prepare the questions and interview Nabeel. Rajab was not present at the hearing due to an ongoing illness.
Despite the Public Prosecution’s failure to provide any incriminating evidence against Rajab, the court continues to chase evidence against him. In November, the prosecution requested to call on the officer who confiscated Rajab’s electronic devices to be examined in court. This request was granted and the trial was adjourned to 31 December. The sudden rearrangement of the trial has not given Rajab’s legal team adequate time to prepare, and violates Rajab’s right to a fair trial.
Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, director of advocacy at the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, said: “The rescheduling of Nabeel’s trial for a significantly earlier date is especially worrying, since it suggests that he may be sentenced soon. It is probable that the government of Bahrain will use the distraction of the Christmas period to bury further news of Nabeel’s fate. The continued, unethical support of the UK and the US to Bahrain fosters a culture of impunity.”
Joy Hyvarinen, head of advocacy at Index on Censorship, said: “The moving of the hearing without due notice to Nabeel and his legal team violates his right to a fair trial and international norms for justice.”
In September 2017, a new set of charges was brought against Rajab related to social media posts. The posts were allegedly made in January 2017, when Rajab was already in detention and without internet access. Rajab also faces a fourth set of charges relating to a letter he penned to the New York Times in September 2016. In July 2017 he was sentenced to two years in prison for “spreading false news”; An appeal court upheld his sentence last month.
Rajab was transferred from the Manama Fort hospital to Jau Prison on 25 October 2017. On arrival he was immediately mistreated, subjected to a humiliating physical search, and shaved against his will. All of his personal effects, including books, clothes, toiletries and his shaving set, were confiscated. He is now kept with another 5 prisoners in a very small cell of no more than 3×3 meters.
Rajab is being continuously deprived of his basic rights in Jau Prison. He is denied any books, a specially-designed pillow that he requires for medical reasons, and the cotton clothing his family members gave to him. The clothing is particularly important, given that Nabeel is allergic to the synthetic clothes provided by Jau Prison.
Rajab also complains of a poor, insufficient diet; he is not allowed to visit the prison canteen to buy snacks and is allowed out of his cell for no more than one hour each day. A formal complaint to the Ombudsman has already been made about his treatment, but with no positive results so far.
Rajab, President of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, was arrested on 13 June 2016 and has been detained ever since. He was held largely in solitary confinement in the first nine months of his detention, violating the UN Standard Minimum Rules for Non-Custodial Measures (Tokyo Rules) which state: “pre-trial detention shall be used as a means of last resort in criminal proceedings, with due regard for the investigation of the alleged offence and for the protection of society and the victim.”
In early April 2017, Rajab was admitted to the Bahrain Defence Force hospital for a necessary surgery. He was transferred back to police custody just a day later, before he had fully recovered from his operation. As a result, his health deteriorated significantly; from there he was transferred to the Ministry of Interior Clinic (Al-Qalaa), where he remains to date. Between April and August 2017, Rajab was unable to attend court, leading numerous hearings to be held in his absence. Rajab was transferred back to Jau Prison in October.
The UN Committee Against Torture has called for Rajab’s release.
The UK Foreign Office stated: “We continue to closely monitor the case of Nabeel Rajab and have frequently raised it with the Bahraini Government at the highest levels. The UK Government continues to emphasise the need to respect the rights of all citizens, including freedom of expression.”
In the US, the Trump administration this year removed Obama-era human rights conditions on arms sales, one of which was the unconditional release of Rajab. In November, President Trump announced the advancement of $9 billion in commercial deals with the government of Bahrain, including finalizing the purchase of several American F16 jets.
-“History shows that those who take the decision to start wars loses the power to end them”
-“We have the right to say no to the war in #Yemen & should struggle for peace and stability but not bloodshed”
-For tweets as mentioned above my father Nabeel Rajab might serve 15years pic.twitter.com/pObwMbrTSi
— Adam Nabeel Rajab (@AdamNabeel) December 5, 2017
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Protesters call for freedom for Nabeel Rajab outside the Bahraini embassy in London.
Nabeel Rajab’s sentence to two years in prison for speaking to journalists was upheld on 22 November 2017 by a Bahraini appeals court at the conclusion of a long-running, unfair trial.
Rajab will serve his sentence at notorious Jau Prison until December 2018, by which time he will have actually spent two and a half years in prison. He faces up to 15 years in prison in a second case related to his comments on Twitter, with the next hearing on 31 December. Index on Censorship and the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) condemns Rajab’s imprisonment, which is a reprisal against his work as a human rights defender, and calls for his immediate and unconditional release.
Rajab was sentenced in absentia on 10 July 2017 on charges of “publishing and broadcasting fake news that undermines the prestige of the state” under article 134 of Bahrain’s Penal Code. This is in relation to statements he has made to media that:
International Journalists and researchers are barred from entering the country
The courts lack independence and controlled by the government. Use judiciary as a tool to crush dissidents.
Foreign mercenaries are employed in the security forces to repress citizens
Torture is systematic in Bahrain.
In the last appeal court hearing on 8 November, the judge refused to allow the defence’s evidence, which included testimonies of high-profile journalists and researchers who had been banned from entering Bahrain.
Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, Director of Advocacy, BIRD: “This is a slap in the face of free expression and tragically proves Nabeel’s point that the justice system is corrupt. Bahrain’s rulers are fearful of the truth and have lashed out against it once again. This Bahraini repression has been enabled by their western allies in the US and UK.”
Jodie Ginsberg, CEO, Index on Censorship: “This is an outrageous decision. Nabeel has committed no crime. Bahrain needs to end this injustice and its harassment of Nabeel.”
The Bahraini courts have failed to provide Rajab, the president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR), a fair trial at every turn. He has been prosecuted for his expression, as protected under article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. During his hospitalisation earlier this year, multiple court hearings were held in Rajab’s absence, including his sentencing in July.
Rajab had a separate hearing on 19 November 2017 in a concurrent case relating to his tweets about torture in Bahrain’s notorious Jau Prison and the Saudi-led coalition’s war in Yemen, for which he faces up to 15 additional years in prison. The court heard a prosecution witness, who had already appeared in a previous hearing last year, and who was not able to provide any evidence against Rajab. The trial was adjourned to 31 December 2017, when the security officer who confiscated Rajab’s electronic devices for another case will be brought as a prosecution witness. The next court hearing will be the eighteenth since the trial began.
Rajab also has been charged with “spreading false news” in relation to a letter he wrote to the New York Times in September 2016. A new set of charges were brought against Rajab in September 2017 in relation to social media posts made in January 2017, when he was already in detention and without internet access.
The human rights defender was transferred to Jau Prison on 25 October 2017, having been hospitalised the previous six months, since April, after a serious deterioration of his health resulting from the authorities’ denial of adequate medical care and unhygienic conditions of detention.
Rajab was subjected to humiliating treatment on arrival at the prison, when guards immediately searched him in a degrading manner and shaved his hair by force. Prison authorities have singled him out by confiscating his books, toiletries and clothes, and raiding his cell at night. Rajab is isolated from other prisoners convicted for speech-related crimes and is instead detained in a three-by-three meter cell with five inmates. Prison officers have threatened him with punishment if he speaks with other inmates, and he is not allowed out of his cell for more than one hour a day.
One of Rajab’s outstanding charges is that he spoke out about the degrading treatment in Jau Prison.The evidence he and BCHR gathered proving torture in the prison was exposed in a joint-NGO report, Inside Jau, in 2015. Human Rights Watch also reported on the same incidents of torture.
The upholding of the sentence means Rajab will be imprisoned at least until December 2018, by which time he will have spent 30 months in prison. This itself reflects the unfair court procedures: Rajab was first arrested in June 2016 and charged with spreading fake news in media interviews. However, the prosecution did not begin investigating his charges until six months into his detention, in December 2016.
International Positions
The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office has avoided expressing concern over Nabeel Rajab’s sentencing in its answers to four parliamentary questions since July. In their latest statement, they stated: “We continue to closely monitor the case of Nabeel Rajab and have frequently raised it with the Bahraini Government at the highest levels.”
25 British MPs have condemned the sentence.
Following Rajab’s sentencing on 10 July, the United States, European Union and Norway all called for Rajab’s release. Germany deplored his sentence. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights’ office called for his unconditional release.
In September 2017, the UN condemned the increasing number of Bahraini human rights defenders facing reprisals, naming nine affected individuals, Rajab among them. The UN Committee Against Torture has called for Rajab’s release.
Yesterday, fifteen international and local NGOs wrote to states including the UK, US, EU, Norway, Germany, France, Italy, Denmark, Sweden, Ireland and Canada urging them to call for Nabeel Rajab’s immediate and unconditional release. Their voices were joined by protesters in London. In Washington D.C., a petition signed by 15,000 people calling for Rajab’s release was delivered to the Bahrain embassy.
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