NB: This is a fascinating account of one of the most deadly confrontations of modern times. I learned from it that Ayatollah Khomeini was less interested in religious orthodoxy than in seizing absolute power and cutting down moderate clerics to size, and used the book to assert his authority; that Rushdie’s assailant Hadi Matar, 26,… Read More Rushdie, Khomeini and Me
Ahmad Farhad was pushed into vehicle hours after posting about threats from country’s spy agency, says Syeda Urooj Zainab Shah Meer Baloch in Islamabad The wife of a Pakistani poet and journalist who was abducted from outside his house last week has accused the country’s spy agency of responsibility, saying it acted because of his activism.… Read More Pakistani poet was abducted because of human rights activism, says wife
Sharp rise in number of people facing a crisis in freedom of speech, while authors particularly alarmed by deterioration in India under Narendra Modi Half the world’s population cannot freely speak their mind according to a new report on freedom of expression. In its annual report, the advocate group Article 19 found the number of people… Read More More than half the world cannot speak freely, report finds
UK court approves Assange extradition appeal Washington, D.C., May 20, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the U.K. High Court’s Monday decision to allow WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to appeal his extradition case. “We are heartened that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will be allowed to appeal his extradition to the United States,” said CPJ CEO Jodie Ginsberg,… Read More UK court approves Assange extradition appeal / Why Julian Assange’s fate matters
The watchdog must reclaim its autonomy and backbone to safeguard democracy’s “soft guardrails”. VAISHNA ROY Newt Gingrich, the Republican politician from the US mostly credited with beginning the right-wing dominance of the House of Representatives, once told his partymen to stop using “Boy Scout words”. “You are fighting a war,” he said. “It is a… Read More The fall of the Election Commission
By Nectar Gan, CNN A Chinese citizen journalist who has been behind bars for four years over her reporting on the initial Covid-19 outbreak in Wuhan is due to be released Monday after serving her sentence, according to supporters and a court verdict. Zhang Zhan, a former lawyer, was one of the few independent Chinese journalists reporting in Wuhan… Read More Chinese journalist imprisoned for her Covid reporting due to be released after four years. But will she be free?
NB: The Iranian regime is a tyrannical theocracy, which permits no criticism, no deviation from so-called divinely sanctioned modes of behaviour. To punish people with flogging and imprisonment for speaking truth about corruption is itself a criminal act. It should never be forgotten that the regime’s leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, issued a fatwa for the execution… Read More Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof sentenced to eight years in prison and flogging
What the two laws have in common is desire to silence Israel-Gaza war critics Seth Stern The White House rightly said it was “concerning” when Israel’s parliament laid the groundwork to shut down Al Jazeera within its borders in April. On Sunday, Israel made its move. The Foreign Press Association called it a “dark day for democracy”. If the… Read More Israel is banning Al Jazeera, America is banning TikTok. We know why
As the bad news continues to pile up, the Modi regime has decided it is not enough to deny it. The solution: if India is falling in global rankings, it must come up with its own. P. Raman Throughout the buildup to G20, the Narendra Modi regime had repeatedly used the catchphrases ‘mother of democracy’… Read More ‘Vishwaguru’ Is Realising the World Does Not Dance to His Tune
“Free speech in India has sunk into a perilous abyss and steadily falling press freedom indices underscore the dangers of crossing a line that is becoming increasingly contentious,” the collective said in its report. The first four months of 2024 in India have already seen at least 134 instances of free speech violations, with journalists,… Read More India Has Seen At Least 134 Violations of Free Speech in 2024: Free Speech Collective
After the truth-shower 