Freedom of Expression

Alyssa Barr

Russia removes Maus from

bookstores
Maus, the Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel by Art
Spiegelman, has been taken out of Moscow bookstores
this past December. In the book, which tells
Spiegelmans familys story, Jews are portrayed as mice
and Germans as cats.

Russian Artist Jailed for Organizing

Unsanctioned Rally in Siberia
The Amnesty International human rights group has
declared a Russian artist to be a "prisoner of
consciousness" after he was sentenced to 10 days in jail
for organizing a colorful anti-government
demonstration.

World Press Freedom Day: call to

protect freedom of expression
The Guardian is among more than 50 organizations
using World Press Freedom Day to call on governments
to protect freedom of expression in the wake of the
attack on Charlie Hebdo and increasing state
surveillance and censorship.

Ukraines ban on communist

propaganda
e Ukrainian parliament recently voted to ban all
propaganda of the totalitarian communist and Nazi
regimes. At first I didnt think this could be true: it
sounded like a too-perfect confirmation of Kremlin
talking points about the fascists running around Kiev.

Crimean TV cameraman detained

A cameraman for a Crimean Tatar television channel
that was shut down by the Russian authorities
controlling the Black Sea peninsula has been detained
over a clash in February 2014, shortly before its
annexation by Moscow. The Russian authorities are
prosecuting several Crimean Tatars over actions that
undermined freedom of expression in Crimea.

Russia's New Totalitarianism

Depends on Silence
famous Soviet-era dissident and human rights activist
Lyudmila Alexeyeva warned that Russia, having already
long previously become an authoritarian state, risked
mutating into something much worse a new
totalitarianism. With the recent murder of Boris
Nemtsov still unsolved and pressure growing daily on
freedom of expression "on moral and religious grounds,"
that warning takes on even greater urgency today.

Russia's most daring theatre

company
"Of course, there was nothing extremist about any of
the stuff we do - we just believe in freedom of
expression,