There is a real war with civil society going on in Russia; this war has its toll, its physical victims, murdered and wounded. The aim of this war is a total clean-up of the field of any kind of civic activism, including environmental.
The status quo between the European Union and Belarus remains in place. The EU Council prolonged its present sanctions against Belarusian officials last week.
Keeping tight control over every sphere of social life is the general policy of the Belarusian authorities. This is true not only about politics, economy or media; arts and culture face censorship as well.
Music: to “black lists” and back
In the run-up to next week’s presidential elections, Index on Censorship travelled to Baku to meet journalists, human rights defenders, political activists, and citizens.
It seems you can’t step away from the computer for more than a few hours these days without a story revealing previously secret information about the National Security Agency (NSA) setting the internet aflame.
The situation for freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and association in Russia has deteriorated since the re-election of Vladimir Putin in March 2012.
Freedom of expression is generally protected in France, although is limited by strict defamation and privacy laws. Several laws have passed since 1972 that have further restricted this fundamental right.
