Category Archives: Freedom of speech

‘Persecuted, jailed, destroyed’: Belarus seeks to stifle dissent

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Journalists and activists targeted in most wide-reaching crackdown since days of Soviet Union

Church bells rang in the city of Byarozawka as hundreds of mourners laid Vitold Ashurak to rest. They draped the white-red-white flag favoured by the Belarusian opposition over his body, as local police kept a wary eye on the funeral.

Sentenced to five years in prison after last year’s mass demonstrations against Alexander Lukashenko, the 50-year-old protest leader survived less than one. When Ashurak’s body was returned to his family, his head was entirely covered in bandages – only his mouth was visible, a family friend said.

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Belarus blocks top news site in ‘full-scale assault’ on free press

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Widely read Tut.by news site taken offline in latest attack on media freedom, say human rights groups

A leading news site in Belarus has been taken offline and its journalists interrogated by government officials in what human rights campaigners are calling a “full-scale assault” on the right to freedom of expression in the country.

Tut.by, a news site read by more than 40% of Belarusian internet users, has been blocked and its editors questioned after their offices and houses were raided by authorities.

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Beijing calls Hong Kong bar association chief an ‘anti-China politician’

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Authorities lambast British-born Paul Harris for criticising treatment of pro-democracy campaigners

Beijing and Hong Kong authorities have accused the British-born head of Hong Kong’s bar association of being an “anti-China politician” after he criticised jail sentences imposed on pro-democracy activists.

Paul Harris, a human rights lawyer and the chair of the HKBA, had represented one of 10 people convicted this month for organising or attending unauthorised assemblies during the pro-democracy protests in 2019. The defendants were given a range of suspended sentences or immediate jail terms of up to 18 months.

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Hong Kong democracy leaders found guilty over peaceful 2019 protest

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Seven figures including Martin Lee and media tycoon Jimmy Lai convicted over unauthorised march

Seven of Hong Kong’s most senior and prominent pro-democracy figures, including the lawyer and former legislator Martin Lee and the media tycoon Jimmy Lai, have been found guilty over their involvement in an unauthorised protest rally.

After a four-week trial, the defendants were convicted on Thursday of organising and participating in the rally in 2019, joining two others who pleaded guilty earlier. They could face up to 10 years in prison, though their sentences are likely to be shorter than that.

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Indian theatre festival forced to close after Hindu vigilantes object to satirical plays

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Bajrang Dal hardliners in Madhya Pradesh threaten violence over plays ‘disrespectful to the Indian flag’

Rightwing Hindu vigilante groups in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh have forced the cancellation of an annual theatre festival, after threatening violence over satirical plays they accused of being “anti-national”.

The annual theatre festival organised by the Indian People’s Theatre Association in the small town of Chhatarpur became the object of abuse and violent threats by Bajrang Dal, a hardline Hindu group linked with the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party (BJP).

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Like Pablo Hasél, I faced jail for my rap lyrics – but the worst censorship is self-censorship | Valtònyc

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The rapper’s arrest shows Spain has a problem with freedom of ideology. But people shouldn’t be scared to write songs that stand up to power

The arrest of Pablo Hasél this month, a Spanish rapper – like me – who is accused of glorifying terrorism and insulting the monarchy in his lyrics, didn’t surprise me. When I was 18, I wrote a song about the Spanish king, the police arrested me and I was sentenced to three and a half years in jail. The day they came to take me to prison, I fled to Belgium and have been here ever since, despite the best efforts of Spain to have me extradited. It seemed like a joke – almost four years in jail for a song. But it wasn’t: there are 18 rappers in Spain facing jail for similar charges.

Related: Angry words: rapper's jailing exposes Spain's free speech faultlines

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Free speech protests erupt in Spain after rapper’s arrest – video

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Protesters clashed with police in several Spanish cities on Tuesday night after Pablo Rivadulla, known as Pablo Hasél, was arrested to serve a prison sentence for glorifying terrorism and insulting royalty and the police in his lyrics and on social media. Hasél had barricaded himself in Lleida University to highlight 'a hugely serious attack' on freedom, and his arrest has fuelled debate about freedom of speech in Spain and the country’s so-called 'gag law'

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Mozambique expels British journalist covering insurgency

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Tom Bowker tweets that he has been banned from country for 10 years over alleged irregularities

A British journalist covering an insurgency in northern Mozambique has been expelled from the country, he tweeted on Tuesday, days after his accreditation was revoked over alleged irregularities.

Tom Bowker, the co-founder of the anglophone Mozambican news website Zitamar News, had his foreign correspondent card withdrawn on 29 January – a move he has said was politically motivated.

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‘Let’s learn about national security’: Hong Kong rewrites school rules

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Animation features an owl teaching young children about the need for the controversial law in crackdown on education

Hong Kong students as young as six will be taught about the national security law under a dramatic overhaul of the education curriculum.

Notices sent out on Thursday require schools to prevent participation in political activities, increase monitoring of employees and teaching materials, remove books and flyers deemed to endanger national security, and to report to authorities if necessary.

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Fears rise that Polish libel trial could threaten future Holocaust research

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Case brought in wake of rightwing government criminalising blame of Polish nation for Nazi crimes could have implications for further research

Two Polish historians are facing a libel trial over a book examining Poles’ behaviour during the second world war, a case whose outcome is expected to determine the future of independent Holocaust research under Poland’s nationalist government.

A verdict is expected in Warsaw’s district court on 9 February in the case against Barbara Engelking, a historian with the Polish Centre for Holocaust Research in Warsaw, and Jan Grabowski, a professor of history at the University of Ottawa. While the case is a libel trial, it comes in the wake of a 2018 law that makes it a crime to falsely accuse the Polish nation of crimes committed by Nazi Germany. The law caused a major diplomatic spat with Israel.

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Indian comedian held over ‘indecent’ jokes at show where he did not perform

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Police admit they have no evidence against Manuwar Faruqui, who has been held for three weeks

A Muslim comedian in India has been detained for more than three weeks for allegedly insulting Hindu gods during a standup routine that he did not perform.

Fellow comedians, lawyers and opposition politicians have spoken out against the detention of Manawar Faruqui, 29, who was accused of making “indecent” and “vulgar” remarks about Hinduism and government figures during a comedy show on 1 January in the city of Indore, in Madhya Pradesh.

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UN expert urges Thailand to stop targeting protesters with royal insult law

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Students among those who could face long sentences under sweeping lese-majesty law

Thailand’s authorities must stop targeting pro-democracy protesters with draconian legal action and instead enter into dialogue, according to the UN’s special rapporteur for freedom of assembly, who warned the country risks sliding into violence.

Clément Voule said he had written to the Thai government to express alarm at the use of the fierce lese-majesty law against dozens of protesters, including students as young as 16.

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Charlie Hebdo: four men charged over Paris knife attack

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Arrest of Pakistanis held on suspicion of inciting attacker comes after court convicts 14 people linked to 2015 terrorist massacre

French authorities have charged and detained four Pakistanis suspected of links to a meat cleaver attack by a compatriot outside the former offices of the Charlie Hebdo weekly that wounded two people, the national counter-terrorism prosecutor’s office has said.

The four male suspects, aged 17 to 21, were in contact with the attacker, a source familiar with the case said on Friday.

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Charlie Hebdo trial: French court convicts 14 over 2015 terror attacks

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Defendants found guilty on range of charges from membership of criminal network to complicity in attacks

A court in France has convicted 14 people in relation to the January 2015 terror attacks in Paris on the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo and a Jewish supermarket.

A total of 17 people were murdered across three days in a series of attacks that horrified the nation. All three assailants were killed in shootouts with the police, leaving only accomplices to face trial.

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France considers envoy to explain Macron’s ideas to Muslim states

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Move comes amid backlash over president’s views on secularism and freedom of expression

France is looking at appointing a special envoy to explain Emmanuel Macron’s thinking on secularism and freedom of expression in a bid to quell the anti-French backlash growing in some Muslim countries, officials have said.

The growth in anti-French sentiment also has the potential to deepen the already entrenched conflict between Macron and Turkey over Libya and oil exploration in the eastern Mediterranean.

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Emmanuel Macron: violence not an acceptable response to cartoons of Muhammad – video

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Emmanuel Macron has defended the right of publishers to depict caricatures of the prophet Muhammad in France. 'I will never accept that someone can justify the use of physical violence because of these cartoons,' Macron said.

On 16 October, a history teacher, Samuel Paty, was beheaded outside his school near Paris after showing pupils two caricatures of Muhammad as part of a discussion about free speech.

The French president sought to calm anti-French protests in Islamic countries after the reprinting of the Charlie Hebdo cartoons in an interview with Al Jazeera. Macron said he 'understands the feelings of Muslims about the caricatures'. But he said it was not his role as president to restrict freedom of expression when it caused offence

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Hong Kong says Germany harbouring a criminal after granting asylum to protester

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Meeting called with Germany’s consul general to lodge objections in what Hong Kong regards as ‘internal matters’ to China

Hong Kong has accused Germany of “harbouring criminals” after it granted asylum to a student who fled charges over last year’s pro-democracy protest.

Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, Hong Kong’s chief secretary for administration, warned against foreign interference in affairs that were “internal matters of the People’s Republic of China”.

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Paris suburb in shock after teacher beheaded – video

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Parents and students have laid flowers outside a school in north-west Paris where a history teacher was decapitated on Friday after he showed a caricature of the prophet Muhammad to his pupils.

Samuel Paty, 47, who taught history and geography at the school in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, was attacked on Friday evening by an 18-year-old man who was shot dead by police shortly afterwards

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Teacher decapitated in Paris named as Samuel Paty, 47

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Terrorism investigation opened after 18-year-old attacker shot dead by police

A history teacher decapitated outside his secondary school in a Paris suburb on Friday after he reportedly showed a caricature of the prophet Muhammad to his pupils has been named.

Samuel Paty, 47, who taught history and geography at the school in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine , north-west of the French capital, was attacked on Friday evening by an 18-year-old man who was shot dead by police shortly afterwards.

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Hong Kong primary school teacher banned for talking about independence

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Teacher accused of premeditated violation of the constitution, reportedly involving asking questions such as ‘what is freedom of speech’

A Hong Kong primary school teacher has been de-registered after using pro-independence materials in class, reportedly to teach students about the concepts of freedom of speech and independence.

The education bureau accused the teacher of a premeditated act in violation of Hong Kong’s mini constitution, the Basic Law, by having “spread a message about Hong Kong independence”.

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