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Freedom of expression
Activist Ahmed el-Senussi: Libyan prince and human rights hero
Currently a member of Libya's national transitional council, the prince was in solitary confinement during his imprisonment and did not speak to a single person for nine years. We meet in Strasbourg where the former prisoner of conscience was one of five Arabs to win the Sakharov freedom of thought prize for 2011
freedom of expression, brunch, prison, activism, libya, strasbourg, arab spring
Voina: 'As a Russian activist, I'm not sure that I will live long'
With organisers saying that almost 100, 000 people protested in Russia's biggest anti-governmental rally on 10 December - accusing the kremlin of 'fraud' in 4 December parliamentary elections - we hear from the Moscow-based self-styled 'street art gang' in part two of an exclusive interview, where they describe their role in this Russia
freedom of expression, media, protest, ideology, best of cafebabel.com, russian federation, elections
Spanish user describes 'big bad twitter'
‘21st Century Agora’, the ‘New Public Sphere’ and the ‘Fifth Power’ - the micro-blogging service has been labelled many things since its launch in 2006, some of which seem grandiose and others which don’t sound right at all. Labels for twitter are a variation of the following three themes: that it is a place, a medium and a tool
freedom of expression, techno-media, twitter, democracy, culture, technology, libya
Censorship: EU vs Turkey's 138 internet domain name ban
Rated ‘partially free’ in the reporters without borders freedom index, Turkey is the European country with the highest amount of domain name bans. The Turkish telecommunications directorate list of 'expurgatorial words' - for example, you can't use the word for sister-in-law (Bildaz) - was sent to web hosting companies on 28 April. In the EU there are less amusing comparisons
freedom of expression, tower of babel, idioms, censorship, youtube, internet, turkey
Assange arrest: Swedish, Swiss, Spanish and German reactions
WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Julian Assange was arrested in London on 6 December on charges of rape. Commentators suspect US pressure behind the arrest, as punishment for Assange's publishing of secret US documents. European press review
freedom of expression, freedom of opinion, censorship, wikileaks, julian assange, united states, politics
Corruption, crime and journalism in Europe
Political corruption in Europe is the drama of the season. Confronted by media revelations, the governments of Old Europe are criticising, even muzzling the media space whose influence they fear. Not all countries react in the same way: in Great Britain, Germany and Poland, media investigations pressure governments to fire people. In France and Italy, the news isn’t causing a stir at all
freedom of expression, media, italy, information, corruption, germany, poland
Fired public radio satirists - 'Berlusconisation France'?
Censor one person and someone else will speak for them. That’s what happened on 1 July in front of La Maison de la Radio in Paris, where disappointed listeners and exasperated France Inter workers protested against the sacking of morning show comedians Stéphane Guillon and Didier Porte. Flashback
freedom of expression, media, strike, paris, european media, nicolas sarkozy, silvio berlusconi
Bloggers in Romania, hailed by President Terminator
Between fierce entrepreneurs, A-listers, history re-writers and new media journalists, bloggers are thriving in Romania. It's hailed by the president, but not well liked by other media stalwarts. The country, one of three ‘partially free’ medias in the EU (alongside Bulgaria and Italy), ranks a poor 50th on the European press freedom index
freedom of expression, eucrisis on the ground, media, bucharest, censorship, romania, barack obama
Louis-Georges Tin, the man behind 'international day against homophobia and transphobia'
17 May has marked international day against homophobia and transphobia since 2005. Its international recognition is largely due to the hard work of the IDAHO committee and its founder-president. As a researcher the Martiniquan was convinced that the deconstruction of gender prejudices was the best way to fight prejudice
freedom of expression, religion, gay rights, sexism, civil society, homosexuality, transgender
'Free', 'partly free', 'not free': press freedom in Europe
American NGO Freedom House uses three categories to rank the degree of press freedom in countries across the world. On 3 May 2010, world press freedom day, each region of Europe learnt its category: the press in western Europe is 'free', central Europe is 'partly free' and in eastern Europe the press is 'not free'. But there are signs that the trend could change
freedom of expression, italy, corruption, balkans, censorship, kosovo, europe
Three Croatian journalists to remember on world press freedom day
When renowned sports journalist Zarko Susic died a natural death aged 95 on 26 April, it was almost a shock that his passing wasn't suspicious. The US-based watchdog Freedom House ranks Croatia 85th in the world for its lack of press freedom
freedom of expression, media, balkans, censorship, croatia, mafia, journalism
Press freedom: touchdown on European journalism
You'll hear perturbed murmurings on whether Europe's press freedom is being endangered via its civil society nodes or blog republics. The latest reporters without borders survey lists France and Italy in its top forty. The violet wave activists in Italy, who went on a 100% anti-Berlusconi media charge in late 2009, still feel they haven't been heard out. In other news, press correspondents are fleeing the corridors of Brussels. So where does the future of information lie - online?
Almost 50 journalists behind bars: 'all young Iranians are potential journalists'
On 11 February 2010, both opponents and supporters of Ahmadinejad were in the streets to celebrate the 31st anniversary of the Islamic revolution. We speak to the Iranian lawyer and 2003 nobel peace prize laureate Shirin Ebadi
freedom of expression, world affairs, censorship, internet, shirin ebadi, islam, human rights
Art in Slovenia: Eclipse is an 'open vagina nibbling at things'
The anonymous art collective admit they don't 'fit the norms': they use everything from pigs’ heads to world war weaponry to get across their message of social criticism. Ten years on, the female duo from Ljubljana have just finished the final works for their new exhibition '10 – Of Blasphemy We Are Guilty'. We discuss erotic nudes, kitsch art and their being questioned by police for offending the catholic church
freedom of expression, photography, balkans, sex, photo, ljubljana, josip broz tito
Crisis in European journalism
Between the precarious nature of the work and fear for the vocation, journalism hardly dares to testify anymore against its patrons, the big communications companies. The public’s right to information is decreasing alarmingly as a result of the current economic crisis
freedom of expression, labour market, job, censorship, civil society, censorship, precarity
Alison Smale: 'by learning languages I could escape the boring life I had been living as a child in England'
The former German and Politics student at Bristol university is the first woman to lead the Paris-based International Herald Tribune. The multilingual managing editor talks European elections, languages and journalism
freedom of expression, media, newspaper, paris, brunch, european elections 2009, copenhagen
Marco Travaglio: ‘Berlusconi, where did you get the money from?’
In 2001, he put one question to ‘The Cavalier’ - Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi - in his book, ‘The Smell of Money’, repeated it on his TV programme Satyricon. It’s never been answered. Three questions to the Italian journalist who dared to ask
freedom of expression, italy, european elections 2009, stampa, culture, silvio berlusconi
Closed down 'parlorama.eu' transparency portal can claim victory
Before the European elections between 4 - 7 June 2009, you will know which MP’s aren’t working as hard as they should be thanks to a French portal which was closed down recently - the latest titbit of news from Brussels
freedom of expression, european elections 2009, eudebate2009, money, mep, employment, european parliament
Parlorama.eu portal reopens despite EU politician threats
On 24 April, political pressure temporarily gagged the website which classifies Euro MPs according to their plenary sessions and parliamentary commission attendances. It is due to make a triumphant comeback with three new linguistic versions to boot on 4 or 5 May
freedom of expression, scandal, european elections 2009, brussels, censorship, internet, eudebate2009
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