Entries Tagged as 'Index on Censorship'

Monday, November 21st, 2011

olympic ideal puts money before democracy

A series of Home Office proposals could ban protests during the London 2012 Olympic games. In reaction to the longevity and scale of recent Occupy London takeovers of public and private space at St Paul’s Cathedral, Finsbury Square and a former UBS bank, ministers are reported to be drafting legislation loosely based on part 3 of the Police [...]

Wednesday, August 3rd, 2011

jonnie marbles’ sentence sends a clear signal

Comedian Jonathan May-Bowles was yesterday sentenced to six weeks in jail for throwing a shaving-foam pie at Rupert Murdoch whilst the media tycoon was giving evidence at the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee.
Better known as “Jonnie Marbles”, May-Bowles was also ordered to pay £250 costs and a £15 victim fine after pleading guilty to [...]

Tuesday, August 2nd, 2011

“any information relating to anarchists should be reported to your local police”

London’s Metropolitan Police has called for large businesses and the public to report suspicious anarchist activities immediately. A weekly communiqué (see below) issued by the City of Westminster’s Counter Terrorist Focus Desk said:
“Anarchism is a political philosophy which considers the state undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, and instead promotes a stateless society, or anarchy. Any information [...]

Friday, May 13th, 2011

how ai weiwei politicised the art establishment

Chinese artist Ai Weiwei was detained on 03 April 2011 by the authorities at Beijing Capital Airport preparing to board a scheduled flight to Hong Kong. He has yet to be charged and the state has not yet confirmed his whereabouts.
A major survey show of his work has opened at London’s Lisson Gallery joining his [...]

Thursday, September 9th, 2010

Tony Blair and Censorship

The argument that mob censorship is what stopped Tony Blair from going ahead with his London book signing and subsequent private shindig at Tate Modern holds no water. A much larger mob of millions in 2003 marched against the invasion of Iraq in 800 cities around the world. But in those days Blair ran Britain. [...]

Thursday, July 22nd, 2010

No charge in Ian Tomlinson death

The Crown Prosecution Service has said there is no charge to answer in the case of a newspaper vendor who died during the G20 protests in London. So the police culture of impunity continues.

The police officer filmed pushing Ian Tomlinson to the ground will not face criminal charges, the Crown Prosecution Service said [...]

Monday, July 19th, 2010

Well I’ve been doing some editing…

…for the Index on Censorship.
They recently had Sir Tom Stoppard and the Belarus Free Theatre on at the Free Word Centre.
Nick Cohen wrote a smashing review in the Guardian about how to make a drama out of a crisis.
Belarus is possibly Europe’s last dictatorship where freedom of speech and expression are, to state the bleeding [...]

Thursday, July 8th, 2010

Anti-terror Stop and Search Powers To Be Scrapped

Home Secretary Theresa May is to halt searches of individuals without reasonable suspicion after the European Court of Human Rights rules the power unlawful.

The controversial use of Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 is to be scrapped immediately, Home Secretary Theresa May has said.
In a speech to the House of [...]

Friday, June 18th, 2010

Sky’s the Limit

BSkyB has rejected a takeover bid from its sister company News Corp, the beast that owns News International. In the eyes of the general public, this media clustershag is commonly referred to as Murdoch. Specifically, its patriarch Rupert Murdoch. If a takeover became reality, what would the future of Sky’s television news be?
Learning Mandarin Chinese [...]

Friday, June 11th, 2010

Section 44 – Your Rights

Thousands of people across Britain have been stopped and searched illegally by police using Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000, the Home Office has revealed.

One of the most flagrant of these illegal uses was in London in April 2004, involving 840 people.
Fourteen police forces in the UK including the Metropolitan Police, City Police and [...]