Latest news with #freedomOfExpression
The Guardian
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Leila Aboulela wins PEN Pinter prize for writing on migration and faith
Leila Aboulela has won this year's PEN Pinter prize for her writing on migration, faith and the lives of women. The prize is awarded to a writer who, in the words of the late British playwright Harold Pinter, casts an 'unflinching, unswerving' gaze on the world, and shows a 'fierce intellectual determination … to define the real truth of our lives and our societies'. Aboulela grew up in Khartoum, Sudan, and has lived in Aberdeen since 1990. Her six novels and two short story collections include The Translator, Elsewhere, Home and, most recently, 2023's River Spirit. 'This comes as a complete and utter surprise,' said the writer on hearing the news. 'For someone like me, a Muslim Sudanese immigrant who writes from a religious perspective probing the limits of secular tolerance, this recognition feels truly significant. It brings expansion and depth to the meaning of freedom of expression and whose stories get heard.' Aboulela was announced winner at English PEN's summer party on Wednesday evening, where actors Khalid Abdalla and Amira Ghazalla read from her work. She will receive the award on 10 October at the British Library in London, where she will announce her choice of winner for the PEN Pinter Writer of Courage award, given to an author 'active in defence of freedom of expression, often at great risk to their own safety and liberty'. Aboulela's work 'is marked by a commitment to make the lives and decisions of Muslim women central to her fiction, and to examine their struggles and pleasures with dignity,' said novelist Nadifa Mohamed, who judged this year's prize alongside the poet and author Mona Arshi and the chair of English PEN, Ruth Borthwick. 'In a world seemingly on fire, and with immense suffering unmarked and little mourned in Sudan, Gaza, and beyond, her writing is a balm, a shelter, and an inspiration.' Aboulela 'offers us nuanced and rich perspectives on themes that are vital in our contemporary world: faith, migration, and displacement,' said Arshi. 'She is not the first to write about the experience of migration, but Leila is a writer for this moment, and my hope is that with this prize her gorgeous books find new readers, and open our minds to other possibilities,' added Borthwick. Last year, Arundhati Roy won the prize, and selected the imprisoned British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah as Writer of Courage. Sign up to Bookmarks Discover new books and learn more about your favourite authors with our expert reviews, interviews and news stories. Literary delights delivered direct to you after newsletter promotion The prize is awarded annually to writers resident in the UK, Ireland, the Commonwealth or the former Commonwealth. Previous winners include Michael Rosen, Malorie Blackman, Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie, Margaret Atwood, Salman Rushdie and Hanif Kureishi.
Zawya
03-07-2025
- Politics
- Zawya
Zimbabwe: Arbitrary detention of journalist an assault on freedom of expression
Responding to the arrest and detention of Faith Zaba, editor of the weekly Zimbabwe Independent, on allegations of undermining the authority of or insulting the country's President Emmerson Mnangagwa, Khanyo Farisè, Amnesty International's Senior Researcher in East and Southern Africa, said: 'Amnesty International strongly condemns the arrest and detention of Faith Zaba for exercising her constitutionally guaranteed rights as a journalist. This is an assault on the right to freedom of expression and press freedom. 'Zimbabwean authorities must immediately release Faith Zaba and drop all charges against her as she is detained simply for doing her job. Journalism is not a crime. Authorities must allow journalists to carry out their work freely, safely and without fear of harassment, intimidation or reprisals. 'The arrest of journalists such as Zaba, and her colleague Blessed Mhlanga who was arbitrarily detained earlier this year simply for doing their job, are part of an ongoing pattern in which the criminal justice system is being misused to target independent media voices to instill fear and curb press freedom. 'These tactics pose a significant threat to a free media in Zimbabwe and the public's right to information. Authorities must end the growing restriction on civic space in the country and allow everyone to freely exercise their human rights." Background Faith Zaba was arrested on 1 July and detained in Harare on allegations of undermining the authority of or insulting the President. According to her lawyer, Chris Mhike, the charge relates to a satirical article published in the weekly's Muckraker column last Friday. Her bail application has been postponed to 3 July, pending a review of her medical record due to her ill health. Zaba's arrest comes after the recent arrest and lengthy detention of another journalist from the same outlet, Alpha Media House's head of news at HSTV, Blessed Mhlanga, who spent 72 days in pretrial detention. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Amnesty International.
Al Jazeera
02-07-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
UK lawmakers vote to ban Palestine Action as ‘terrorist' group
Lawmakers in the United Kingdom have voted to proscribe campaign group Palestine Action as a 'terrorist' organisation, raising fears about freedom of expression in the country. Parliament voted 385-26 in favour of the measure against the group on Wednesday, the move coming after its activists broke into a military base last month and sprayed red paint on two planes in protest at the UK's support for Israel's war on Gaza. Critics decried the chilling effect of the ban, which puts Palestine Action on a par with armed groups like al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS) in the UK, making it a criminal offence to support or be part of the protest group. 'Let us be clear: to equate a spray can of paint with a suicide bomb isn't just absurd, it is grotesque. It is a deliberate distortion of the law to chill dissent, criminalise solidarity, and suppress the truth,' said lawmaker Zarah Sultana, a member of the ruling Labour party. Zarah Sultana not only stands against the proscription of our group, she declares we are all Palestine Action❤️ — Palestine Action (@Pal_action) July 2, 2025 Sacha Deshmukh, chief executive of Amnesty International UK, slammed the move as 'unprecedented legal overreach', pointing out that it gave the authorities 'massive powers to arrest and detain people, suppress speech and reporting, conduct surveillance and take other measures'. 'Using them against a direct-action protest group is an egregious abuse of what they were created for,' he said. The proscription order will reach parliament's upper chamber, the House of Lords, on Thursday. If approved there, the ban on Palestine Action would become effective in the following days. The group, which has called its proscription unjustified and an 'abuse of power,' has challenged the decision in court and an urgent hearing is expected on Friday. Zero tolerance Launched in July 2020, Palestine Action says it uses 'disruptive tactics' to target 'corporate enablers' and companies involved in weapons manufacture for Israel, such as Israel-based Elbit Systems and French multinational Thales. The British government has accused the group of causing millions of pounds of damage through its actions. On Tuesday, the group said its activists had blocked the entrance to an Elbit site in Bristol, southwestern England. Other members reportedly occupied the rooftop of a subcontracting firm in Suffolk, eastern England, that the group had linked to Elbit. United Nations experts appointed by the UN Human Rights Council had previously urged the UK government to reconsider its threat to proscribe the group, arguing that acts of property damage without the intention to endanger life should not be considered 'terrorism'. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, the UK's interior minister, says that violence and criminal damage have no place in legitimate protest, and that a zero-tolerance approach was necessary for national security. In addition to Palestine Action, the proscription order approved by parliament includes neo-Nazi group Maniacs Murder Cult and the Russian Imperial Movement, a white supremacist group which seeks to create a new Russian imperial state.
Associated Press
02-07-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
Turkey arrests 4 satirical magazine staff for inciting ‘public hatred' with cartoon
ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkish authorities on Wednesday arrested four staff members of a satirical magazine on charges of inciting 'public hatred and enmity' over a controversial cartoon that officials claim depicts the Prophet Muhammad, Turkish state television reported. The cartoon, published in the weekly LeMan magazine, sparked a backlash from government officials and religious groups, culminating in protests outside the magazine's Istanbul offices. Authorities claim that the cartoon violates laws against provoking hostility and social divisions. The magazine denies the allegations. In a statement, LeMan said the illustration portrays a Muslim named Muhammad, not the Prophet, and was intended to highlight the suffering of Muslims during armed conflict. On Wednesday, a court in Istanbul ordered four staff — LeMan's cartoonist Dogan Pehlevan, Editor-in-Chief Zafer Aknar, graphic designer Cebrail Okcu, and manager Ali Yavuz — be detained in custody pending a trial, TRT television reported. Authorities have also issued warrants for two editors believed to be abroad, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported. Footage released by the Interior Ministry earlier this week showed some of the detainees, including Pehlevan and Yavuz, being forcibly taken from their homes with their hands cuffed behind their backs. The pro-government Yeni Safak newspaper said the cartoon showed 'two figures alleged to be Prophet Muhammad and Prophet Moses — with wings and halos — shaking hands in the sky, while a war scene unfolds below with bombs raining down.' The independent Birgun newspaper said the winged figures hovering in the sky were interpreted by some as Prophets Muhammad and Moses. LeMan has apologized to readers for any offence caused by the cartoon, but maintains that the drawing was misinterpreted. It has also asked judicial authorities to defend freedom of expression and shield its staff from ongoing threats. The cartoon triggered protests outside the magazine's Istanbul office, with demonstrators — reportedly from an Islamist organization -- throwing rocks at the building. Tensions flared again Tuesday, with dozens staging a demonstration following noon prayers at a mosque in central Istanbul. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called the cartoon a 'clear provocation disguised as humor' and vowed that 'those who insult the Prophet and other messengers will be held accountable before the law.' Ozgur Ozel, the leader of Turkey's main opposition, however, expressed support to the magazine, stating that he does not consider the cartoon to be depicting the prophet. 'I see an angel who died in a bombardment in Gaza, with a halo and wings, who encounters another angel also killed by a bomb. They meet each other in the sky,' he said. Ozel added: 'I will not allow any disrespect to the Prophet Muhammad, but I won't remain silent toward a social lynching based on a non-existent disrespect.' The incident has reignited debate about press freedom in Turkey, which ranks 159th out of 180 countries in the 2025 Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index. Critics argue that laws intended to curb hate speech are increasingly being used to silence dissenting voices. __ Fraser reported from Ankara, Turkey.
Al Arabiya
02-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Al Arabiya
‘Death to the IDF' chant at Glastonbury: Bob Vylan and Kneecap debate
Bob Vylan and Kneecap lit up Glastonbury, but not just with music. Their controversial chants sparked accusations of antisemitism, igniting a firestorm about where art ends and hate begins. Is this freedom of expression, or has a line been crossed? As artists defend their right to protest, critics call it dangerous rhetoric. At the center of the storm: chants some heard as a call to resistance, others as a call to violence. So, who gets to decide what crosses the line, artists, governments, the public? And when does censorship become more dangerous than the speech itself? Joining the CounterPoints debate:
