News stories
Azerbaijan: Harlem Shake video-maker arrested in Baku, protests in London
One month since Ilkin Rustemzade was arrested for filming a Harlem Shake video in Baku, human rights groups marked the day by staging an ‘Azerbaijan Harlem Shake’ protest in London while calling for the release of political prisoners in Azerbaijan. This video was published on YouTube.com on 16 June 2013. Three days earlier, the Azerbaijani [...]
Freemuse Award presented to Festival au Désert
Manny Ansar, festival director and co-founder of Mali’s world famous ‘Festival au Désert’, received the Freemuse Award on 3 June 2013 at the United Nations headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. The award ceremony took place in connection with a UN session on the right to freedom of artistic expression and creativity featuring artists and human rights [...]
Australia: Police seized allegedly “inappropriate” art, gallery closed
Artistic freedom of expression and the threat of censorship has dominated debate in the art world of Australia after police raided a Melbourne art gallery, seizing part of an installation, on 25 May 2013. “Let not the law be a weapon to close down artist expression,” said Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for the Arts Martin Foley, [...]
Tunisia: Rapper sentenced to two years imprisonment, violence in court
On 13 June 2013, the Tunisian rapper Weld El 15 was (again) sentenced to two years in prison for insulting the police in a song. Weld El 15, who had previously been in hiding, turned himself in and was immediately taken into custody. Cries were raised in the court room when the verdict was announced. [...]
China: Two Tibetan singers sentenced to two years in prison
Two Tibetan singers, Pema Trinley, 22, and Chakdor, 32, who were detained in 2012 for releasing a music album titled ‘Agony of Unhealed Wounds’ are reported by the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy to have been secretly sentenced to two years in prison. The two singers come from a nomadic village called Meuruma. [...]
Egypt: Author sentenced to five years in prison for insulting religion
Egyptian author and human rights activist Karam Saber has been sentenced to five years in prison, after a court found his writings to have insulted religion, reported the Egyptian news website Aswat Masriya. The complaint against Karam Saber and his book ‘Ayn Allah’ (‘Where Is God?’) was initially filed in 2011, shortly after the fall [...]
Vietnam: Musician fined for publishing CD with “depraved contents”
Ngọc Đại, a prominent experimental musician, has been fined 30 million dong (app. US$ 1,500) for publishing and distributing his latest album without permission to do so. The album was printed in 1,000 copies and almost sold out before authorities reacted. It features lyrics by poets, Bui Chat and Nguyen Dinh Chinh, who allegedly are [...]
Canada: Artist publishes book about ‘dirty oil and government censorship’
The ‘troublesome’ Canadian artist Franke James says that Canada’s Conservative government targeted, monitored and blacklisted her climate change artwork because it criticises the oil and gas industry’s environmental performance and clashes with the Canadian government’s push to develop Alberta’s tar sands. In 2011, the Canadian artist Franke James was supposed to have her work exhibited [...]
Sweden: ‘Impossible Music Sessions’ in Stockholm
On 11 June 2013, music written by the censored artists Pussy Riot and Arya Aramnejad will be interpreted and presented in the Swedish capital Stockholm by the artists Jennie Abrahamson, Linnéa Olsson and Love Antell. The concert, entitled ‘The Impossible Music Sessions Stockholm Session #1’ is organised by SKAP, the Swedish Society of Popular Music, [...]
China: Video and song by Ai Weiwei banned
The song and video for ‘Dumbass’, the first track from Ai Weiwei’s forthcoming heavy metal album, ‘Divine Comedy’, are being blocked on the Chinese Internet — along with the search term “Ai Weiwei”, reported several news media. The track reconstructs Ai Weiwei’s 81-day detention in 2011, including what he says is an exact model of [...]
Russia: Jailed Pussy Riot member in hunger strike
Freemuse published the following statement regarding Maria Alyokhina’s hunger strike: Freemuse learns with dismay of the launching of a hunger strike by jailed Pussy Riot member Maria Alyokhina, in protest against the brutal conditions of her detention and the lack of fairly adjudicatation of her conviction. Freemuse sent an appeal to Russian President Vladimir Putin, [...]
Freemuse Award to be presented in UN building in Geneva
Manny Ansar, festival director and co-founder of Mali’s world famous ‘Festival au Désert’, will receive the Freemuse Award on Monday 3 June 2013 at the Geneva United Nations headquarters in Switzerland. The award ceremony will take place in connection with a UN session on the right to freedom of artistic expression and creativity featuring artists [...]
Myanmar/Burma: RFI reports of greater freedom of expression for artists
The fact that democracy activist – now politician – Aun San Suu Kyi can have his paintings exhibited at Pansodan Gallery in Myanmar is proof that censorship is at last on the way out, reported Radio France International. “For about the last 50 years we were under the very strong …. censorship. Whenever we [did] [...]
New book: ‘Music, Culture and Conflict in Mali’
Freemuse are pleased to announce the publication of our first book, ‘Music, Culture and Conflict in Mali’, which is launched in a digital and on-demand paperback edition on 21 May 2013. “Essential reading for anyone who has been touched by Saharan music. It gives a clear and gripping picture of what it’s like to live [...]
Lebanon: Award-winning film banned for being shot in Israel
Lebanese authorities have banned the award-winning film ‘The Attack’ from cinemas in the country because it was partly shot in Tel Aviv using Israeli actors. “I regret to inform you that the Interior Minister of Lebanon, Minister (Marwan) Charbel, has decided to punish us and the film by banning it… claiming that the reason for [...]
CNN’s ‘On China’: Talk about censoring contemporary art
“Which topics can you not talk about as an artist?” asks Kristie Lu Stout, host of the American tv-channel CNN’s programme ‘On China’, talking with guests in the studio about censorship of contemporary art in China. In this 2-minute excerpt from the programme, Wang Chunchen, curator of China Pavilion in Venice Biennale 2013, replies with [...]
Iran: Report from Tehran where banned tunes thrive
“Cab rides in Tehran reveal how many flout the rules banning music genres including metal, R&B, hip-hop and kooche-bazaari,” wrote the British newspaper The Guardian on 7 May 2013. The anonymous writer of the article in The Guardian mentions that Iman Hojjat — one of five Tehran musicians who were arrested in January 2013 on charges [...]
India: Artists protest against state-sponsored censorship
A protest march demanded that the Bombay High court immediately release of members of the cultural troupe Kabir Kala Manch. Published on YouTube.com on 8 May 2013. On 2 May 2013, artists, writers, journalists, filmmakers, students, cultural activists and actors from theatre groups marched in protest from Sriram Centre to Maharashtra Sadan in Mumbai demanding [...]
Algeria: Singer imprisoned for song which mocks police
29-year-old Algerian raï singer Cheb Fayçal appeared in court before the Attorney General in Oran on 2 May 2013 where he was sentenced to six months in prison. He is prosecuted for having performed a song that poked fun at the police and mentions the name of its top official, Abdelghani Hamel. Cheb Faiçal (real [...]
Russia: Request for parole from Pussy Riot member rejected in court
A court in the Russian region of Mordovia has denied a request for parole from 23-year-old Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, mother of a five-year-old and one of two jailed members of the feminist punk collective Pussy Riot, reported Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty with quotes from Interfax, AFP, and Russia Today Judge Lidiya Yakovleva said in [...]
Pakistan: Online music video banned by Telecommunication Authority
“They are helping us by making this video controversial,” Beygairat Brigade’s lead singer Ali Aftab Saeed said to Pakistan’s The Express Tribune, after the band’s online music video ‘Dhinak Dhinak’ was banned by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority. Beygairat Brigade put out their new song, ‘Dhinak Dhinak’, on Vimeo on 20 April 2013. First Post wrote: “The song, [...]
UN report on the right to artistic expression and creation
The 25-page report is now available in all UN languages. “This is the first time such a comprehensive study is carried out. Unfortunately artists all over the world are trapped between political, religious, cultural and economic interests,” said Programme Manager Ole Reitov, who has worked as a consultant to the UN office during the preparation [...]
Uzbekistan: Writer released after over 14 years in prison
The award-winning Uzbek writer Mamadali Makhmudov has finally been released after over 14 years in prison, reported PEN International on 23 April 2013. In the late evening of 19 April 2013, Mamadali Makhmudov walked out of prison and met his five grand-children for the first time. His wife told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that her [...]
South Korea: Popular music video banned for ‘abuse of public property’
A South Korean tv station has banned Psy’s music video ‘Gentleman’, allegedly because the rapper can be seen abusing public property, kicking a cone which says ‘no parking’. According to the state-funded KBS, the video clip goes against its standards as a public broadcaster. KBS stated that they have banned videos in the past for [...]
South Africa: Another painting removed from gallery
A painting depicting South African president Jacob Zuma and former president Nelson Mandela as whites and former heads of state Hendrik Verwoerd, John Vorster, PW Botha and FW de Klerk as blacks, was removed from an art exhibition in Nelspruit. The painting, created by Kobus Myburgh, was part of an exhibition scheduled to open at [...]
Russia: Self-censorship and fear has poisoned the arts sector
Criminal prosecution of artists in Russia casts chill on expression, wrote Index on Censorship on 17 April 2013. Russian MPs back harsher anti-blasphemy law, reported BBC News on 10 April 2012, after Russian MPs had given initial approval to an anti-blasphemy law with tougher jail terms or fines for anyone found guilty of offending religious [...]
United Kingdom: Play about Ai Weiwei’s fight for freedom of expression in China
A theatre play about the Chinese artist Ai Weiwei premiered on a London theater on 16 April 2013. The 19 April performance of the play will be streamed online around the globe. It’s uncertain whether Internet users in China will be able to see it, though. The reason for streaming the play is, according to [...]
Egypt: Novelist prosecuted for blasphemy
The prominent Egyptian novelist Youssef Zeidan, author of the bestselling book ‘Azazil’, stands trial for blasphemy and contempt of Islam, Christianity and Judaism because of his book ‘The Arabic Theology’. Zeidan appeared in front of the High State Security Prosecutor in mid-February 2013. The official memo which notified the author of the investigation was very stern and [...]
China: American western pulled from screens on its opening day
Following an announcement that the Beijing International Film Festival and cinemas across the country would be screening ‘Django Unchained’ for select audiences, Chinese authorities banned the American movie from release and interrupted the film during its first screening. On 11 April 2013, cinemas across the country had to abruptly cancel the screening of Quentin Tarantino’s [...]
Germany: Icelandic author’s book ‘censored’ by publisher
The German version of Hallgrímur Helga’s novel, ‘The woman at 1000°’, is 30 chapters shorter than the original novel. Key passages about Hitler, concentration camps and SS are censored to meet the German market. The author protested, he says, but accepted the censorship. “I do not know the German culture 100 percent and I did [...]
Turkey: Pianist Fazil Say sentenced for Twitter posts
World-renowned Turkish pianist Fazil Say was given a 10 month suspended jail sentence for blasphemy by the 19th Criminal Court in Istanbul on April 15 2013 after retweeting an ancient poem on Twitter. Fazil Say, 42, was found guilty of violating Article 216 (3) of the Turkish Criminal Code, which prohibits the ‘denigration of the [...]
India: Ministry organises festival of censored movies
An ‘Cut Uncut film festival’ is organised by the Indian Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in the end of April 2013. It will screen films which had been rated adult by the censor board, ministry officials announced. The film festival will run over three days as part of Centenary Film Festival, which is held from [...]
Vietnam: Film censorship upsets and confuses film producers
Producing movies on a big budget in Vietnam is risky because the regulations on censorship are general and vague. Vietnamese film makers keep feeling the “fear” of the censorship scissors, reported VietNamNet Bridge. The movie ‘Cho Lon’s Gangsters’ was suspended and may be banned from screening in local cinemas if the producers do not make [...]
United Kingdom: Previously banned Swedish play premiers in English
Banned in the United Kingdom for 50 years when first written, Strindberg’s play ‘Miss Julie’ shocked critics across Europe with its frank portrayal of sexuality and inter-class relationships in 19th century society. Now Canterbury’s Gulbenkian Theatre is to host the world premiere of a 21st century English adaptation of it. The Swedish play ‘Miss Julie’ [...]
Sweden: Panel debate on freedom and culture
The Swedish Guild of Stage Directors are offering a seminar with guests from Georgia, Hungary and Iran on the subject of the terms and conditions for culture in their countries following the political distress during 2012. Shabnam Tolouie from Iran/France, Davit Gabunia from Georgia, Tobias Biancone, Secretary General ITI from Sweden, and others, will be [...]
Sweden: Lecture on shelter cities for persecuted artists
Playwright Reza Haji Hosseini will give a 45-minutes lecture on shelter cities for persecuted artists and the conditions for dramatic arts in Iran at the Swedish Biennial for Performing Arts on Saturday 25 May 2013 at 1pm in Jönköping. In the early 1990s, a movement among cities in Europe and America was started to shelter [...]
Sweden: Nordic meeting on shelter cities for persecuted artists
On 18 April 2013, a meeting hosted by the Kulturhuset in Stockholm aims at developing long-term partnerships between the Nordic Arts Councils and the Nordic Institutes in Greenland, Faroe Islands and Åland, in order to collectively address issues related to freedom of expression and supporting artists living in exile in the region. Several organisations within [...]
Tunisia: Artists imprisoned because of rap video
Actress Sabrine Klibi and cameraman Mohamed Hedi Belgueyed were sentenced to six months in prison for their participation in the music video ‘Cops are Dogs’, reported Tunisia Live. At the Court of First Instance of Ben Arous, a southern suburb of Tunis, the artists were charged according to five articles of the Tunisian Penal Code [...]
Cameroon: Abducted filmmaker found with a finger cut
On 3 April 2013, the young filmmaker Richard Djimeli was found lying in the bush in the Mendong neighbourhood in the capital Yaoundé. One of his fingers had been cut. The kidnapping of Richard Fouofie Djimeli (also called Richard Djiff), a young film maker and multitalented artist, sent shock waves across the Cameroonian public, reported [...]
Kenya: Theatre play about oil explorations banned
Officials from the Ministry of Education in Kenya banned the winning theatre play ‘Shackles of Doom’ from the National Drama Festival set for Mombasa in April 2013, on the grounds that it contains hate speech, reported George Orido for Standard Media. Ouko Okusah’s NTV Kenya report on youtube.com was viewed 15,800 times during the first [...]
Azerbaijan: Local authorities shut down human rights film festival
Freemuse received the following press release from Baku on 9 April 2013: The Art for Democracy campaign condemns recent actions by local authorities to shut down a human rights film festival in Lankaran. This incident constitutes a violation of the rights to freedom of expression and assembly and highlights local authorities’ disrespect for human rights. [...]
India: Theatre activists arrested
Theatre activists Sheetal Sathe and Sachin Mali were arrested on 2 April 2013 on various charges, including criminal conspiracy and for alleged links to Maoists and Naxalites. They are being held in Mumbai, India, and according to Amnesty International they are at risk of torture or other ill-treatment. Sheetal Sathe and Sachin Mali are members of [...]
China: Apple censors Tibet book app
The app, ‘Jingdian Shucheng’, which offers access to ten books via the iPhone and iPad, has been removed from the App Store in China. Hao Peiqiang, the Beijing-based developer of the app, said Apple told him it had taken the step to censor it because it “includes content that is illegal in China”. According to [...]
India: Film about Punjab terrorism banned
The controversial film ‘Sadda Haq’, based on Punjab terrorism, has been banned by the Punjab government on the grounds that it will disturb communal harmony. Producers want the government to reconsider the ban. Also, the Delhi Lieutenant-Governor Tejinder Khanna issued a ban order, prohibiting the release of the film in the capital Delhi, invoking Section [...]
Morocco: Rapper El Haked is finally free
After being arrested twice and serving a one year jail term for his critical lyrics ‘Kilab ed-Dowla’ (‘Dogs of the State’), Mouad Belghouat, whose alias is El Haked (also spelled: Haqed), is finally free, reported Jadaliyya on 2 April 2013. El Haked’s trial attracted huge crowds and brought international and national scrutiny on the supposed [...]
Finland: Invitation to attend Nordic Art Asylum Network meeting
To help create a Nordic and Baltic Art Asylum Network, the Helsinki International Artist Programme is organising a three-day networking meeting for interested partners, held in Helsinki, Finland. The meeting will start at 5pm on 2 May and continue until 2pm on 4 May 2013. Background for the meeting Recent decades have seen human rights [...]
Turkey: Ban on books in prison cells: max ten
It is no longer allowed to have more than ten books in a cell in Turkey’s high-security prisons, the so-called ‘Type F prisons’ (F tipi cezaevi). Inmates and detainees who are intellectuals and political prisoners have reacted strongly against the ban on books, and they have launched an indefinite hunger strike against the decision. The [...]
Egypt: Comedian on trial: “They try to exhaust us”
The popular satirist and comedian Bassem Youssef was interrogated nearly four hours in court on 31 March 2013 for alleged insults against President Mohamed Morsi and Islam. His case has intensified discussions about freedom of expression in the country. “A new complaint has been filed against me by the state prosecutor for spreading rumors and [...]
Cameroon: Young filmmaker threatened, abducted and disappeared
Freemuse received news on 28 March 2013 that filmmaker Richard Fouofie Djimeli was abducted on 24 March in his house because of a film he has produced which is a homage to all those that lost their life trying to defend and assure the freedom of expression. Six of the film’s actors received death threats. [...]
China: German band Kraftwerk banned for being pro-Tibetan
The German electronic band Kraftwerk have apparently fallen foul of the Chinese authorities, not for their lyrics or their dissolute ways, but for something they did 14 years ago: In 1999, they were scheduled to perform at a pro-Tibetan independence concert in 1999. According to reports in Beijing, the ministry of culture denied the German [...]
Russia: The arts sector faces increasing self-censorship
Moscow artist Victoria Lomasko discussed the confrontation between her country’s orthodox church and Russian artists in an interview with DW, Germany’s international broadcaster. To avoid attacks from the Orthodox groups, artists and curators take cover in self-censorship, she told DW. Victoria Lomasko is a Russian artist who is most famous in the West for her [...]
Uzbekistan: Writer faces another prison term
Uzbekistani writer Mamadali Makhmudov will not be released from prison on completion of his 14-year jail term, reported Amnesty International. On 5 March 2013, Makhmudov was told that a new criminal case had been filed against him for allegedly violating prison rules. Makhmudov is one of the longest serving writers in prison, having been held [...]
Vietnam: Fears for the health of imprisoned writer
RAPID ACTION NETWORK • 28 March 2013 PEN International is seriously concerned for the health of writer and activist Nguyen Huu Cau, who is seriously ill and denied adequate medical care in the prison camp where he is serving a life-time sentence for his critical writings. PEN International protests his imprisonment, and demands his immediate [...]
Cameroon: PEN calls for renewed support to imprisoned writer
PEN American Center announced that Cameroonian poet and writer Enoh Meyomesse has been named an Honorary Member of PEN and launched a dynamic interactive timeline to draw attention to his case. On 27 December 2012, Meyomesse was sentenced to seven years in prison on charges of stealing and illegally selling gold. No witnesses or evidence [...]
South African photographer honoured at Index on Censorship awards
South African photographer Zanele Muholi was honoured at Index on Censorship awards for ‘courage and the powerful statements made by her work’. In the last year, four women in South Africa have been murdered because of their sexuality, including Phumeza Nkolonzi, 22, who was shot dead in front of her grandmother and niece, and Sihle [...]
Denmark: Authors’ manifesto for free speech re-opens self-censorship debate
“Danish artists have made censorship into something positive,” claimed a newspaper commentator. In 2010, a study pointed to a very real problem with self-censorship in Danish cultural life, when it comes to religious subjects. And when an author recently published a manifesto in defense of unlimited freedom of expression, only 14 other Danish authors were [...]
Belarus: Feature film about repression and censorship
A unique film about the arbitrary repression in Belarus was screened in Stockholm on 20 March 2013. Unique because it dramatises the suppression in a way which for instance a documentary would not be able to. The film’s title is the Belarusian opposition slogan. It’s called ‘Viva Belarus!’ and is about the young rock musician [...]
Myanmar/Burma: Censorship on art has relaxed, three artists say
“While censorship of print media has ended, restrictions on the visual arts are still officially in place,” said visual artist Maung Khine Mar from Yangon to The Myanmar Times. “Censorship on art has relaxed quite a bit, but they still have a blinkered attitude towards any art that goes beyond Myanmar’s cultural norms, such as [...]
Iran: Passport of Swedish-Iranian actress confiscated by police
The Iranian actress Maryam Moghaddam, who lives in Sweden and who participated in the controversial film ‘Closed Curtain’, remains stuck in Iran after she received a travel ban and her passport was confiscated by Iranian police. Maryam Moghaddam traveled from Sweden to Iran to visit her mother in a family matter in early March 2013, [...]
Angola: CDs, DVDs and audiovisual works confiscated by police
“The Angolan National Police have confiscated CDs DVDs and a series of audiovisual works by Angolan activists in an act of censorship against voices that are unsettling those in power in Angola,” reported Global Voices on 14 March 2013. These works include rapper Brigadeiro 10 Pacotes’ new DVD, a DVD about “the life and work of [...]
Tunisia: Rapper and video team charged for hate speech, two arrested
Mohamed Belgueyed, the owner of a video camera, and actress Sabrine Klibi were taken into custody on 10 March 2013 for their connection to the new music video ‘Cops are Dogs’ by Tunisian rapper Weld El 15. The video was uploaded to YouTube on 3 March 2013: The rapper, Weld El 15, (real name: Ala [...]
Algeria: Hunger strike of Performing Arts students ended
The hunger strike is over after 11 days, and according to the Algerian newspaper Liberte, the students won the first round. The Minister of Culture is now talking with the students. It is however not likely to be the last crisis in Algeria. The students from the Higher Institute of Arts and Audiovisuals, ISMAS will [...]
Australia: Ban of gay film appealed on YouTube
Actor James Franco launched an online appeal on YouTube, speaking directly to the Australian Classification Board after censors banned a gay film, ‘I Want Your Love’, from screening in Australia. His appeal has been viewed almost 80,000 times during its first six days on YouTube. “Frankly, adults should be able to choose, they’re not going [...]
Turkey: Short-lived freedom for three books, poem censored
“Despite the ban on book lifted under Judicial Pack 3, nine days after the legal statutory period, three books by Umut Publishing were decided to be confiscated,” wrote Antenna TR in the Freedom of Expression Weekly Bulletin on 1 March 2013. İstanbul 3rd Magistrate assigned to Anti-terrorism Law (TMK) Article 10 has decided to confiscate [...]
France: Art museum censored by Facebook for nude photograph
On 1 March 2013, the Jeu de Paume art museum’s Facebook account was blocked for 24 hours, following a decision by Facebook to remove a photograph the Parisian museum posted on its page and which the social network ruled was a violation of its Rights and Responsibilities guidelines. Facebook warned that next time it happens, [...]
Turkmenistan: Two popular singers released from prison
The two popular singers Maksat Kakabaev and Murad Ovezov were released from prison as part of an amnesty celebrating the National Flag Day in Turkmenistan, reported Freedom Now: “Maksat Kakabaev (also known as MARO) and Murad Ovezov are popular singers who were wrongfully detained in Turkmenistan on fabricated charges. Mr. Kakabaev and Mr. Ovezov were [...]
India: 256 movies banned in the last decade
The objections raised by the Central Board of Film Certification on these 256 films suggests that there are no specific guidelines on censoring movies in India. And on most of the occasions the victims of an irregular censoring process are the films that do not adhere to the mainstream narrative, wrote Soumik Mukherjee in an [...]
Azerbaijan: Rapper arrested, allegedly for song criticising police
“We strongly condemn the detention and harassment of popular Azerbaijani rapper Said Aliyev, also known as Dado, and consider this action as unlawful interference with his right to freedom of expression,” wrote The Art for Democracy campaign in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, on 4 March 2013. On 27 February 2013, Said Aliyev was called [...]
Pakistan: Manifestations of tolerance and acceptance of music and art
On Music Freedom Day 2013 at a local hotel in Peshawar, music lovers put their voices together to ensure the freedom of artistic and musical expressions. The participants boldly condemned militancy and extremism in all its forms. Also, at the Peshawar Press Club, a seminar and a protest walk was organised to inform about the [...]
Algeria: Performing Arts students on hunger strike
We have received the following message from Alger-Culture.com: “ALERT!!! Presently on hunger strike, the students of the Algerian High Institute of Performing Arts and Audio Visual are threatened by police and their institution is illegally closed.” “Desperate, a group of students of The Algerian High Institute of Performing Arts and Audio Visual (ISMAS) are on [...]
Harstad in Norway: First ever safe haven city for persecuted musicians
On Thursday 14 February 2013 at the Nordic music industry conference by:Larm in Oslo, the Norwegian Musicians’ Union presented their new project SafeMuse – and the first ever ‘safe haven city’ within the field of music: Harstad. Imagine that the police would come to the door of the artist and musicians after the concert in [...]
Qatar: Poet’s life sentence reduced
On 25 February 2013, poet Mohammed Ibn al-Dheeb al-Ajami’s life sentence for a critical poem was reduced to 15 years. A final ruling by the Supreme Court is expected within 30 days, reported PEN International. The Writers in Prison Committee of PEN International considers Al-Ajami to be convicted in violation of his right to freedom [...]
Iran complains: Berlin awards movie made in defiance of 20-year ban
Iranian authorities logged a protest with the Berlin International Film Festival for giving its Best Screenplay Award Silver Bear to Iranian film director Jafar Panahi and co-director Kamboziya Partovi for their film ‘Closed Curtain’, according to a report from one of the country’s leading news agencies. Jafar Panahi was unable to attend the award ceremony [...]
France: Rap lyrics targeted
The French Minister of the Interior Manuel Valls wants to fight “aggressive” rap lyrics attacking the state, insulting the flag and women. This is the conclusion after a member of the senate had chosen to question him on the subject of what she called “absolutely unprecedented violence against France”. Manuel Valls first responded that “rap [...]
Cuba: Writer sentenced to five years in prison
Writer and blogger Ángel Santiesteban Prats has been sentenced to five years in prison for alleged trespassing and assault on the basis of an apparently flawed trial, wrote The Writers in Prison Committee of PEN International on 22 February 2013. Ángel Santiesteban Prats is an award-winning writer and author of the blog ‘The Children Who [...]
India: Major media attention on lack of artistic freedom of speech
India has been enthralled in what Salman Rushdie called a ‘cultural emergency’, with writers and artists harassed for opinions. “In India today, it seems, free speech is itself an atrocity,” wrote Suketu Mehta in New York Times on 5 February 2013: “Writers and artists of all kinds are being harassed, sued and arrested for what [...]
Russia: 25-year-old rapper stomped to death
In Arkhangelsk, a city in Northern Russia, a man was stomped to death on 17 February 2013 for rapping at a sports bar. Alexei Gorlishchev, 25, was rapping at the local Bookmaker Pub, sparking the ire of some patrons, the Lifenews.ru tabloid reported. One of the critics, Artyom Furzikov, 21, offered the rapper to “take [...]
Mexico: ‘Narcocorridos’ can be sung again in Sinaloa
On 14 February 2013, The Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) in Mexico found that Sinaloa’s governor, Mario Lopez Valdez, had exceeded his powers when he created a legislation which banned public performances of ‘narcocorridos’, drug ballads. The court reversed the decision of the state government of Sinaloa, in northern Mexico, which in [...]
PEN International: 157 writers are serving long prison terms
The PEN International Writers in Prison Committee Caselist for July to December 2012 details over 870 cases of attacks on individuals who are writers, journalists, poets, publishers and editors and who have been detained or otherwise persecuted for their peaceful political activities, or for the practice of their profession. Country by country over 82 pages, [...]
Haiti: President accused of censoring three carnival bands
Lead singers behind some of Haiti’s most controversial carnival tunes this year say they are being shut out of the annual three-day pre-Lenten carnival because the President considers their songs too critical of the government. The Haitian bands claim that Haiti’s charismatic president, Michel Martelly, has personally been disinviting bands with carnival songs which criticise [...]
Azerbaijan: Writer Akram Aylisli under threat
A highly regarded novelist, Akram Aylisli, has had his life put in danger as angry protestors have gathered outside his home, burning copies of his book, and an opposition figure issued threats against him. A ransom of 9,500 euro has been announced to anyone who cut off Akram Aylisli’s ear. The source of the outcry [...]
Tanzania: Banned musicians appear on Zanzibar festival
This year, the Sauti za Busara festival, which begins today, focuses on freedom of musical expression. Tenth year in a row, the East African music festival again opens its stages for approximately 400 invited performers and an excited local as well as relatively large international audience. This year, the festival has a special focus on [...]
Turkey: Pianist Fazıl Say in court for the second time
The celebrated Turkish pianist, composer and writer Fazıl Say will be appearing in court for the second time on Monday 18 February 2013. Fazıl Say is on trial for some comments he posted on Twitter and is charged for blasphemy and insulting religious values, with a possible 18-month prison prison sentence. (More about the charges [...]
Facebook: “Worse than the censorship in the middle of the Dark Ages”
Facebook’s zealous banning of nude images is “worse than the censorship in the middle of the Dark Ages”, according to the Institute of Contemporary Arts’s former chairman Ivan Massow. The British financial services entrepreneur and political activist Ivan Massow has been repeatedly blocked from using his Facebook account after posting nude or semi-nude paintings by [...]
EU: Freedom of speech debated on Creators Conference
A conference on freedom of speech, technology and author’s rights, organised under the High Patronage of the European Parliament, will take place on 20 February 2013 at the Theatre du Vaudeville in Brussels, Belgium. It is entitled ‘Creators Conference 2013’. The opening plenary session of the conference is called ‘Your voice – your rights’. In [...]
Denmark: Apple’s puritanical censorship creates a movement
“An international protest movement is under way that has had enough of Apple’s new-puritamism and negative cultural domination,” wrote journalist Morten Løkkegaard in Politiken on 8 February 2013. After a second Danish author, Michael Næsted Nielsen, was informed by Apple that his new book, ‘Slaven’ (‘The Slave’) is going to be censored from iBookstore because [...]
Norway: Festival for freedom of artistic expression
‘RED ZONE – FREE THE ARTS’ is an international celebration of freedom of expression in art and culture, which will be held in Norway from 28 February to 3 March 2013 The famous Middle Eastern artists Tania Saleh, Rim Banna, Mohamad Abla and Syrian Bear Yumal are headlining the international culture-event ‘Red Zone’ which has [...]
Switzerland: Ban on photographic book
On 24 January 2013, Zurich Civil Court confirmed a ban on the photographic book by Christian Lutz, ‘In Jesus’ Name’, based on complaints from 21 people who appear in the book. The photographer, along with the Musée de l’Elysée and Lars Müller Publishers, have called the ban a “breach of freedom of speech and of [...]
United Kingdom: Political artwork censored at ‘Banned’ festival
A piece of work by controversial artist, poet and campaigner Vince Laws on show at the Jubilee Library in Hove, United Kingdom, was censored and removed by the city council. “Our general policy is that we do not display material promoting a particular political, philosophical or religious view point”, a spokesperson for the council said. [...]
Egypt: Concert cancelled because of threats
In Cairo, singer and guitarist Ramy Essam, winner of Freemuse Award 2011 who performed in front of hundred thousands of people during the final days of the 2011-revolution on Tahrir Square, had to cancel his performance to a few dozen fans due to threats of physical violence. Ramy Essam’s manger received information that groups of [...]
United Kingdom: Play about honour killings censored by BBC
The BBC has been accused of an “extraordinary” act of censorship after it cut a line from a controversial playwright’s drama on BBC Radio 4. Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti, whose 2004 play Behzti sparked riots and death threats and was cancelled by a Birmingham theatre over concerns about public safety, was commissioned by Radio 4 to [...]
Freemuse Award to Festival au Désert in Mali
“The Freemuse Award 2013 is given to ‘Festival au Désert’, which in spite of extreme Islamists’ attempts to silence all music in Mali, defends freedom of musical expression and struggles to continue keeping music alive in the region”, says Marie Korpe, Executive Director, Freemuse. From Bamako, Founder and Festival Director Manny Ansar says: “It is [...]
Several musicians brutally killed in Mexico
Several of the musicians from the Mexican group Kombo Kolombia who have been reported missing since 24 January, have been found dead. It is still uncertain how many band members that have been killed. Kombo Kolombia had been playing a gig in a private bar on Thursday 24 January and alledgedly the muicians were abducted [...]
Iran: Singer Arya Aramnejad released from prison
Less than two weeks after a group of international artists joined Freemuse in a campaign for the release of the Iranian singer Arya Aramnejad, who was given 91 days prison sentence, he was able to leave prison. According to Freemuse’s sources, he was released due to so called “international reactions”. In 2012, Aramnejad was given [...]
Egypt’s art world rallies to defend freedom of expression
Artists, curators, critics and academics have united against president Mohamed Morsi and his controversial new constitution, which they say threatens freedom of expression and creativity. An arts forum has been closed. A cartoonist has been taken to court, reported The Art Newspaper. In December 2012, Yasser Borhami, a member of the Al-Nour party, praised the [...]
Iran: Five members of an underground band arrested
Iranian police have arrested five members of an underground band suspected of producing music for Farsi-speaking, dissident satellite channels based in the US, and working with dissident Iranian singers abroad, reported PRI’s The World, and a semiofficial Fars news agency. A prominent Iranian songwriter was reportedly among five musicians arrested in a police raid in [...]
Denmark: Row over Muslim satire
“Every muslim must know that there are consequences if you make fun of Islam,” says Abu Zakaria and calls for a boycott of the new Danish satire-series entitled ‘Det Slører Stadig’, broadcasted by the public service channel DR2. In the tv-programme, four young women with immigrant background from Iran, Jordan and Bosnia take a satirical [...]
Syria: Actor Aiman Zidan threatened with death by hanging
A home page of one of the Syrian opposition groups has a picture of one of Syria’s most renowned and respected actors, Aiman Zidan, along with a text: “The thing is out of the hands of the FSA. It is with the Al-Nusra front now. By God’s name, we will hang you in Kafirsosa Square!” [...]
Turkey: Short play focuses on sidestepping of freedom of speech
Turkey experiences an increased sidestepping of the freedom of speech, writes Swedish PEN’s Dissident Blog which has published a theme issue with 12 texts about Turkey, including a short play, entitled ‘Forbidden Chirping’, by artist and poet Yeşim Ağaoğlu. Yeşim Ağaoğlu belongs to the new generation of leading artists and poets in Turkey who are [...]
Denmark: Theatrical performance about artistic freedom of expression
On 18 January 2013, a theatrical performance which focuses on the artistic freedom of expression versus artistic silence premieres at Theatre Grob in Copenhagen, Denmark. Inspired by the reality and the whole matter surrounding the imprisonment of members of Pussy Riot in Russia, the show, entitled ‘Stalin’s Boots’, focuses on questions such as: Why is [...]
Cameroon: Seven-year prison sentence confirmed for writer
On 8 January 2013 it was announced that writer Enoh Meyomesse is to be honoured with an Oxfam Novib / PEN Freedom of Expression Award. More than a year after his arrest, he was sentenced to seven years in prison on 27 December 2012. The Writers in Prison Committee of PEN International believes Meyomesse’s detention, [...]
Egypt: Prosecutors investigate comedian for insulting the president
A popular Egyptian political satirist, Dr Bassem Youssef, who shot to fame with his amateur internet videos poking fun at public figures in the wake of the February 2011 uprising, is being investigated by prosecutors for allegedly insulting the president. This was reported by BBC World. A formal complaint was brought against Bassem Youssef for [...]
Chile: Arrest order issued for the killers of singer Victor Jara
A judge in Chile has ordered the arrest of eight former army officers over the murder 39 years ago of well-known left-wing singer Victor Jara — one of the best known victims of Chilean military rule. A few days later, four of the men handed themselves in to the authorities, reported BBC News and Fox [...]
Mongolian dissident writer wins Hellman/Hammett Grant
Ms. Huuchinhuu Govruud, also known as Gao Yulian, a Southern Mongolian dissident writer, activist, and member of a banned organisation called the Southern Mongolian Democratic Alliance, won the prestigious Hellman/Hammett Grant for 2012, being one of 41 recipients from 19 countries. In early November 2010, Huuchinhuu was arrested by the Chinese authorities for rallying the [...]
Turkey: Protests after Grup Yorum concert was banned
A concert with the Kurdish folk ensemble Grup Yorum which was planned to be performed at Olympic Sports Hall in Bağcılar, İstanbul, was cancelled in the last minute. Group members and a crowd of 500 protested against the cancellation at Bağcılar Yavuzselim district. Police arrived to disperse the protesters but were met with resistance. “They [...]
Turkey: Ban on 453 books lifted – new bans on the way
Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor for Press, Kürşat Kayral, decided after an investigation that a ban on 453 books, 645 newspapers, periodicals, brochures, and banners should be lifted, wrote the Freedom of Expression Weekly Bulletin in its 49th issue on 7 December 2012. Under the Third Judicial Pack arrangements by the Turkish Government, publishing, distributing and [...]
Turkey: Ferhat Tunç’s prison sentence turned into speaking ban
On 27 June 2012, Dersim Malatya Third High Criminal Court sentenced singer Ferhat Tunç to two years in prison for having promoted İbrahim Kaypakkaya in a speech he held on 1 May 2011. According to new legal rearrangements, the sentence has now been turned into a three year ban on speaking about the same subject. [...]
Iran: Censorship kills cinema, says acclaimed Iranian film director
“Censorship kills cinema. Sometimes a little pressure gives filmmakers more energy to fight it. But strangulate them and they will die. That’s why many Iranian filmmakers are not able to make films there now,” said the Iranian film director Mohsen Makhmalbaf at the open forum ‘Censorship in Cinema’ at the Kochi International Film Festival in [...]
China: Open letter against film censorship rules
In an open letter to the Chinese authorities, the award-winning film director Xie Fei accuses his country’s censorship rules of ‘killing artistic exploration’. He urges the Chinese censors to give clearer rules on banned topics. It “has only become a corrupt black spot for controlling the prosperity of the cultural and entertainment industry, killing artistic [...]
Denmark: Art happening or hate speech?
Limits of free expression in the arts are currently being discussed and tested in court in Denmark. In a trial on 13 December 2012, the prosecutor claimed the artist Firoozeh Bazrafkan has violated the Danish “racism article” against hate speech, while the artist claimed it was an art happening and even turned her own trial [...]
China: ‘Gangnam for Freedom’ – Solidarity dance videos flourish
Ai Weiwei’s censored parody of the famous South Korean music video ‘Gangnam Style’ has created a special Internet trend: solidarity dance videos In October 2012, China’s best-known dissident artist Ai Weiwei presented a music video on the net, ‘Ai Weiwei does gangnam style’, dancing with handcuffs to symbolise Beijing’s efforts to silence him, which was [...]
Exiled Syrian film producer and cartoonist honoured with award
Exiled Syrians film producer Orwa Nyrabia and political cartoonist Ali Farzat were smiling and making jokes in Copenhagen with good reason. They each received the Danish Poul Lauritzen human rights award and 10,000 euros each for their work on human rights and political freedom in Syria. With the ongoing violence in Syria, the PL Foundation [...]
USA: Climate change sculpture removed after upsetting donors
Does corporate sponsorships by companies like BP and Shell have an impact on artistic freedom in the UK and USA? After a controversial climate change art installation was removed from a US university campus because it upset donors from the energy industry, Kevin Smith, co-editor of Not If But When – Culture Beyond Oil, is [...]
Myanmar/Burma: City ban on graffiti art
On 10 December 2012, Yangon city authorities imposed a ban prohibiting anyone from drawing on public buildings, roads and bridges, as well as in schools and parks. Authorities said anyone defying the ban would face an unspecified punishment. According to an article in Huffington Post, Yangon’s graffiti artists said they expected many to continue drawing, [...]
China: Campaign for imprisoned writer and poet
An international campaign has been launched by PEN International in partnership with the Dublin-based human rights group Front Line Defenders to call for the release of poet and writer Liu Xiaobo — and that of all those currently detained in the P.R. China in violation of Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and [...]
Azerbaijan: Art for Democracy campaign launched
On 10 December 2012, the Baku-based Human Rights Club launched a human rights campaign, Art for Democracy, to provide support to artists who are subjected to human rights violations. “It will be the first campaign of its kind in Azerbaijan, and we hope this new, creative approach will be effective,” said Human Rights Club Chairman [...]
Turkey: Authorities’ persecution of Kurdish artists continues
The first hearing of the court case against four members of Grup Yorum along with nine others who are charged with ‘membership of and propaganda for a terrorist organisation’, DHKP-C, was held at İstanbul No. 15 High Criminal Court. In a defense statement Ayfer Rüzgar said that the accusations simply can be seen as an [...]
Qatar: Poet Al-Ajami sentenced to life in prison
A Qatari court’s life sentence for the poet Muhammad Ibn al-Dheeb Al-Ajami after a grossly unfair trial on 29 November 2012 “flagrantly violates the right to free expression”, Human Rights Watch said on 4 December 2012. AMY GOODMAN, journalist, Democracy Now: “So, if someone read Mohammad’s poem today in Qatar out loud, they too would [...]
USA: Event dedicated to those imprisoned for voicing their beliefs
An evening event in New York, ‘Thought is Free: An Evening of Protest and Solidarity’ featured high-profile champions of free expression who read the work of writers and artists imprisoned for speaking truth to power, and author Salman Rushdie in a discussion on the responsibilities of artists. The event was organised by New York’s Public [...]
Malta: Ban of theatre play upheld by Constitutional Court
Shocked producers of the play ‘Stitching’ will take their case to the European Court of Human Rights after Malta’s Constitutional Court of Appeal on 29 november 2012 upheld a ban on performing the production in Malta. “We feel that this sentence is not a gag on the play ‘Stitching’ but on all artists,” stated the [...]
USA: Library covers up controversial artwork
A piece of artwork by Kara Walker which shows a slave performing oral sex was covered after employees of the Newark Library stated they did not like the image. Kara Walker, a renowned African-American artist who examines race, gender, sexuality and violence, created the drawing. Her drawing depicts the horrors of reconstruction, 20th-century Jim Crowism [...]
Syrian film removed from Egyptian film festival
Official sources at the Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF), which launched on 27 November 2012, said that the Syrian film ‘El Asheq’ (The Lover) was disqualified from the festival’s competition because of the lead actor’s and director’s support for Syria’s current ruler Bashar El-Assad. Syrian film director Abdul Hamid’s ‘El Asheq’ was supposed to had [...]
Russian court has banned Pussy Riot’s videos
A court in Moscow has labelled the band’s videos as ‘extremist material’, including the infamous ‘Punk Prayer’ in a cathedral in Moscow, Pussy Riot’s official website and the band’s popular LiveJournal-blog where it brings manifests and photos, reported Russian news agencies. The Moscow court has ruled that websites must remove video clips of Pussy Riot’s [...]
Singer Jowan Safadi arrested in Jordan for blasphemy
This is song is allegedly one of the reasons that Jowan Safadi was arrested. Jowan Safadi was arrested in Amman on charges of ‘insulting religion’ after his concert on 27 November 2012. A campaign was launched on Twitter under the hashtag #FreeJowanSafadi and also on his Facebook-page – where Jowan Safadi himself then posted [...]
Namibia: Artist banned due to “formal and content” issues
A controversial and edgy exhibition of works by renowned Namibian artist, Imke Rust, has been banned from the Woermannhaus gallery due to the critical stance the artist takes on environmental threats affecting the coast. Other artists are now threatening to boycott the gallery in protest against the decision to ban the work of Imke Rust. [...]
Denmark: Row over ban of theatre group’s burning flag
This photograph of a naked woman and a burning Danish flag was supposed to have been promoting a new production by the theatre group Danskdansk (‘Danishdanish’) in the capital of Copenhagen. But the advertisement agency Clear Channel did not want to see it displayed on the back of 18 Copenhagen buses, and the director of [...]
Colombia: Ten rappers murdered for criticizing the system
Ten rappers have been murdered in the last two years in the Colombian city Medellín. Their “crime”: that they volunteered to help getting young people away from paramilitary groups and drug gangs. 14 rappers have gone underground, and even more fear for their lives, reported the Danish newspaper Arbejderen. An article in the Danish newspaper [...]
Iranian film director and human rights lawyer awarded by EU
The European Parliament’s ‘Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought 2012’ goes to two Iranians as joint winners: the imprisoned lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh and film director Jafar Panahi. Nasrin Sotoudeh and Jafar Panahi will be awarded and receive 50,000 euro on 12 December 2012 during a ceremony at the European Parliament in Strasbourg. The Sakharov Prize [...]
iTunes: Apple troubled by women’s bodies
Salwa Al Neimi’s erotic novel ‘The Proof of the Honey’ was removed from the iTunes store because of its cover which features part of a woman’s naked back and bottom, said the publisher, Europa Editions, in a statement on its Facebook page on 9 November 2012. The book has already been banned in some Arab [...]
India: Activist challenges Indian blasphemy law
“Can you legislate against offence without compromising free speech?,” asks Caspar Melville, editor of New Humanist Magazine, in his report about Sanal Edamarauku, who challenges Indian blasphemy law on the basis that it conflicts with provisions in the Indian constitution which protect free speech. Catholic groups in India have brought blasphemy charges against Sanal Edamarauku, [...]
Egypt: Film team received death threats before release
After many battles with the Egyptian authorities over its release, the film ‘Al-Molhid’ (The Atheist) was passed by the Egyptian censorship committee without any scenes being removed, but the team behind the film has been receiving death threats from radicals in the country. Film producer Adham Afifi told Egyptian media that the film team has [...]
China: Blocked videos and independent films
China’s best-known dissident artist Ai Weiwei’s parodic ‘Gangnam Style’ video was blocked by Chinese authorities within 24 hours after it was uploaded to China’s video sharing site Tuduo on 24 October 2012. The original ‘Gangnam Style’ music video by South Korean artist Psy featuring his infamous horse-riding dance is the Guinness World Record holder for [...]
Banned Zimbabwean artist calls for a way to appeal a ban
Award-winning actor, writer, director and producer Tafadzwa Muzondo, whose play ‘No Choice, No Voice’ was banned for political reasons, says it is unjust to ban a work without giving artists the chance to appeal. The law in Zimbabwe provides for a board of appeal, but none exists at the moment, and according to the newspaper [...]
United Nations: Global study on the right to artistic freedom
The United Nations special rapporteur in the field of cultural rights has sent a questionnaire to all member states asking them to report on legislations and practices related to artistic freedom and censorship. Freemuse’s Programme Manager has been attached as a consultant for the world organization’s upcoming study and report on conditions and right to [...]
Persecuted Iraqi writer given two years’ safe haven in Denmark
The Iraqi writer Suhail Sami Nader arrived with his wife to Copenhagen, Denmark, on 23 October 2012 as the municipality’s first ‘safe haven’ author. The 65-year-old writer is persecuted in his home country because of his writing. In recent years Suhail Sami Nader has been living in Amman, the capital of the neighbouring country Jordan. [...]
Russia: No regrets for Pussy Riot despite bad treatment during court case
Index on Censorship had the exclusive opportunity to interview Pussy Riot member Ekatrina Samutsevich who was freed by a Moscow court on 10 October 2012. The interview took place during the same week as Samutsevich’s friends and fellow band mates Maria Alekhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova were sent to prison camps in remote Russian regions. Samutsevich [...]
Poland: Belarusian exhibition censored in the last minute
A Belarusian outdoor visual arts exhibition in Warsaw underwent serious censorship. Representatives of the Belarusian embassy removed nine paintings because they found them ‘inappropriate’. The Belarusian version of the exhibition, entitled the Zabor art project, was displayed on a fence in Minsk in the summer 2012, but less than an hour before the exhibition was [...]
European Commission: Artists are free to ‘offend, shock or disturb’
The European Union criticised Poland’s supreme court for allowing prosecutors to try Adam Darski, lead singer in the heavy metal band Behemoth, for illegal artistic expression. At issue is the interpretation of Article 196 of the Polish penal code referring to “the crime of offending religious sensibilities.” While on stage in 2007, singer Adam Darski [...]
Apple’s iBookstore censorship case: The distinction between porn and art
The distinction between porn and art is often in the eye of the beholder, wrote John Brownlee, cultofmac.com, in his comment on the latest censorship case of Apple’s iBookstore: When Danish author Peter Øvig Knudsen submitted his latest work of non-fiction, ‘Hippie 2’, to the iBookstore, the e-book was rejected based upon the fact that [...]
Belarus: Video statement about the situation for arts
Piotr Kuljeu, founder of Art Siadziba, an independent cultural centre in Belarus, made this statement about the situation for arts in Belarus During Trans Europe Halles Meeting 74 in Gothenburg, Sweden, Piotr Kuljeu, founder of Art Siadziba in Minsk, Belarus, got a phone call. He learnt that the KGB had closed his independent cultural centre [...]
Syrian actor killed – allegedly for supporting the president
The well-known Syrian-born Palestinian actor Mohammed Rafia is believed to have been killed by rebels because of his support for President Bashar al-Assad. “His death is a sign of the abyss of personal hatred and violence into which Syria has fallen,” wrote BBC’s reporter Sebastian Usher. An extremist rebel group says it killed him, though [...]
Egypt: Row over song which allegedly insults Islam
On 1 November 2012, Egypt’s Ministry of Culture censored a scene with a song in a popular new film, after Islamists claimed the song insulted Islam, reported Egypt Independent and Al Bawaba. The film ‘Abdu Mouta’ which is playing in cinemas across Egypt, recorded the highest one-day revenue in the history of Egyptian cinema, making [...]
Freemuse sends appeal letter to the president of Vietnam
Email from: Freemuse Sent: 5 November 2012 13:13 To: Embassy of Vietnam in Denmark Subject: Freemuse appeal – Att: The Ambassador Priority: High Dear Ambassador, Freemuse is an international organisation with special consultative status to the UN. Please find attached an appeal from Freemuse regarding the imprisonment of two singers in your country. We request [...]
Uganda: Theatre play that criticises president banned
Uganda’s authorities have banned a play that criticises President Yoweri Museveni’s government, the play’s co-director and co-author John Ssegawa has said, according to BBC News. The play, ‘State of the Nation’, highlights alleged corruption and poor governance in Uganda, ruled by Yoweri Museveni for 26 years. “ ‘State of the Nation’ has staged at the [...]
First global network in support of artistic freedom of expression
On 27 October 2012, 14 international arts and human rights organisations and networks – representing more than 1,200 national organisations globally – met in Oslo and launched a new network, Artsfex, which is the first international civil society network actively concerned with the right of artists to freedom of expression as well as with issues [...]
Somalia: Poet, playwright and songwriter killed by unknown gunmen
Somali poet, playwright and songwriter Warsame Shire Awale was killed in the country’s capital, Mogadishu, on 29 October 2012 in the evening, reported BBC World. Warsame Shire Awale who was in his 60s worked for the Radio Kulmiye where he wrote and acted in radio plays critical of the militant group, al-Shabab, who he accused [...]
Vietnam: Two musicians sentenced to four and six years in prison
A Vietnamese court convicted two renowned musicians to four and six years imprisonment for anti-state propaganda and links to a banned political group, one of their lawyers said on 30 October 2012. Viet Khang, 34, (real name: Vo Minh Tri) was given a four-year prison term while Hoang Nhat Thong, 37, (real name: Tran Vu [...]
Greece: Passion play cancelled after violent protests
The American passion play ‘Corpus Christi’ was planned to be staged in Athens, Greece, in October 2012. However, the premiere was cancelled after right-wing organisations, including the Greek Nationalist parliamentary party Golden Dawn, violently protested against the play. Playwright Terrence McNally wrote the play in 1997, and he received death threats when it was [...]
USA: Art work removed from exhibition after complaints about nudity
The photo art work ‘Quotidian’ by Betsy Schneider documents the artist’s daughter growing up in a series of photographs in which the girl is nude. The work was exhibited at and then removed from the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, USA, in response to complaints about nudity. A coalition of artists, critics, [...]
Turkey: Court case against pianist adjourned until February
Turkish pianist Fazil Say appeared in court in Istanbul but the court adjourned his case until 18 February 2013. Fazil Say is charged with inciting hatred and insulting the values of Muslims because of some Twitter posts, some of which he didn’t write himself, but simply forwarded. Fazil Say denied the charges in front of [...]
