Abstract
Index Events Manager
For many artists, journalists and campaigners around the world, the right to free speech is constantly under threat. It’s a fact of life. But even amid the harshest conditions, exceptional individuals and groups challenge attempts to stifle free expression. Every year at the Index Freedom of Expression Awards we honour these groups and individuals, giving them the recognition their bravery warrants.
It’s a fascinating process from start to finish. During the three-month submissions period, we received several hundred nominations. They were sent via Twitter, through the post, from MEPs in Brussels, from anonymous contributors via our website and of course from Index staff. The breadth of nominations was extraordinary, demonstrating a free expression landscape alive with innovation and talent.
Some of these individuals were on our radar already, but other lesser-known stories were a revelation. The difficult task of whittling hundreds of potential winners to a shortlist of just 15 gave us a priceless impression of the shapes and trends in free expression over the past 12 months.
We emerged with a shortlist featuring a robust, eclectic mix of personalities and projects, from Russian punk group Pussy Riot to Indian parliamentarian Rajeev Chandrasekhar to Saudi Arabia’s first female filmmaker, Haifa al Mansour.
The ceremony itself – at which our winners in the four categories were announced and awarded – took place at the Inner Temple in London on 21 March, in front of an audience of 300. The winners had remarkable stories to tell.
Kostas Vaxevanis, winner of the Journalism Award sponsored by the Guardian
We are accustomed to hearing stories of censorship and oppression by dictators bent on quashing dissent. Kostas Vaxevanis’s story brought home the reality that the silencing of journalists is alive and well in the European Union too.
Vaxevanis edits the weekly magazine Hot Doc and was arrested in Athens in October 2012 for publishing the ‘Lagarde List’, containing the names of over 2000 wealthy and high-profile Greek citizens with Swiss bank accounts. The economic difficulties faced by the country mean that tax evasion, the single biggest drain on the Greek economy, is an intensely political topic. ‘A corrupted elite rules the country’, said Vaxevanis in his acceptance speech, adding that at the heart of Greek society are a group of businessmen who remain ‘unaccountable’ for their crimes.
ABOVE: Simon Callow speaks at the Index Awards
Credit: mark@nwmsltd.com
The arrest was condemned around the world, and Kostas Vaxevanis was found not guilty of breaking data privacy laws in November 2012. However, the Athens public prosecutor ordered a retrial, which was due to take place on 6 June 2013 and has been postponed until October. Despite Vaxevanis reporting that he has been the victim of both mental and physical intimidation, he has received no protection from police or the government. In this case, it’s clear that the Greek authorities merely paid lip service to the idea of press freedom.
‘If I am going to be convicted I will not appeal but I will ask to be put in jail’, said Vaxevanis at the awards ceremony. ‘I want to be a journalist in a country that is not afraid of the truth.’
Bassel Khartabil, winner of the Digital Freedom Award sponsored by Google
The Digital Freedom Award aims to recognise those who have taken a stand for free expression in the digital sphere. Bassel Khartabil’s story was particularly poignant for our judges: Khartabil has paid for his commitment to the principle of a free and open internet with his own liberty.
Khartabil worked as a software engineer and champion of Creative Commons initiatives in Syria for many years, teaching others about how the internet can be used to share knowledge and empower citizens.
Khartabil was arrested in Damascus in March 2012 and has remained in prison without charge since, with visitation rights only granted once the international community drew attention to his story. The Ba’ath party has been particularly relentless in persecuting and imprisoning cyber activists. Khartabil’s uncle says, ‘We told him he would wind up in jail or as a martyr, but Bassel said “I will continue, no matter what.’’’
As Khartibil is still in prison, two friends and collaborators on his projects, Jon Phillips and Dana Trometer, attended the awards ceremony and accepted the award on his behalf. Trometer recalls meeting Khartibil online, and since his arrest she and Phillips have been extremely active in raising awareness about his case. Their collaboration with Khartibil is a perfect example of how digital tools are being used to support free speech across borders – and to make it possible for people to work together innovatively and effectively.
ABOVE: Kostas Vaxevanis
Credit: mark@nwmsltd.com
Malala Yousafzai, winner of the Doughty Street Advocacy Award
For the judges, Pakistani school girl Malala Yousafzai was the outstanding candidate in the advocacy category. Since the age of ten, Malala Yousafzai has been campaigning and writing on access to education for children and women. Her aim was to draw attention to the Taliban’s impact on education in the Mingora province of Pakistan, where schools were not only closed but also systematically destroyed by the Taliblan. Yousafzai’s vocal criticism made her a target, and, in October 2012, a Taliban gunman shot her in the head and chest as she was returning home from school. Narrowly escaping death, Yousafzai has had months of treatment and surgery to her skull and ear. She enrolled in school in Birmingham in March 2013 and has founded the Malala Fund, which gives grants for girls’ education.
Malala Yousafzai’s father Ziauddin attended the ceremony and accepted the award on his daughter’s behalf. During his moving speech, he described how proud he was of his daughter: ‘I want to give a message to the world. I didn’t do anything special. As a father, I did one thing. I gave her the right to freedom of expression. All fathers and mothers, give your daughters and sons freedom of expression … the solution of any conflict is to say the right thing, to speak the truth.’
The huge support from around the world for Malala Yousafzai is testimony to the power of her message. Only through exposure to ideas, wisdom, teachers and peers can young people and women find their voices and inhabit their identities fully.
Index Arts Award: Zanele Muholi
South African artist Zanele Muholi was awarded the Index Arts award, which recognises artists facing censorship for their work or those using visual and creative arts to expand free expression for artists. Muholi has played a crucial role as an artist and activist in the LGBTI artist community globally. Zanele Muholi believes in giving gay voices a stage through art, and in creating art that presents new ideas around how the female body should be depicted.
Work like this is by no means the norm in South Africa, where lesbians have been the targets of hate crimes including murders and ‘corrective rape’. South African politicians have shown little support for Muholi’s work. In 2009, Minister for Arts Lulama Xingwana walked out of Muholi’s exhibition, saying her art was ‘immoral’ and ‘against nation-building’. Through her photography, Zanele Muholi often depicts lesbian couples in townships. But her work often has a darker side to it, showing crime scenes, wounds and scars.
ABOVE: Malala Yousafzai’s father Ziauddin
Credit: mark@nwmsltd.com
Despite mounted opposition, including a break-in to her studio during which her work was destroyed and confiscated, Zanele has continued to be vocal about the purpose of her art, which she calls ‘visual activism’.
In her acceptance speech, she dedicated her award to two friends who had been victims of hate crimes and later died as a result of HIV-related complications. ‘It’s okay to be friends with a person who is different,’ she told the audience. ‘It’s not a crime … The war is not over until we reach an end to “curative rapes” and brutal killing of black lesbians, gays and transpersons in South Africa.’
Index received extremely positive feedback regarding the 2013 Freedom of Expression Awards, with audience members reporting that they felt honoured to be celebrating such an exceptional group of people. Freedom of expression can be a complicated right to analyse in the abstract – so these incredible stories are essential for Index’s work, clearly demonstrating just how much is at stake when the right to free speech is lost.
ABOVE: Zanele Muholi
Credit: mark@nwmsltd.com
The mere existence of the Awards is a signal that censorship is present in darker and more insidious forms than ever. However, they serve an invaluable function in telling those heroes who challenge censorship that we will champion their cause and broadcast their stories to the world.
Remember to follow Index on Censorship’s work on www.indexoncensorship and by following @IndexCensorship