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According to the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) the Iranian human rights lawyer Mohammad Mostafaei is in the Republic of Turkey. According to some reports Mohammad Mostafaei might be applying for asylum. Unable to arrest Mohammad Mostafaei, Iranian officials detained his wife, brother-in-law, who remain in detention without charges.

Internet censorship is alive in the Republic of Turkey, with at least 5000 websites currently being blocked within the country. On 17 July 2010 about 2,000 protestors marched against Internet censorship in Istanbul in the Republic of Turkey chanting slogans against Transport and Communications Minister Binali Yıldırım, Internet censorship, and especially against Law No 5651.

Ragip Zarakolu, publisher and free expression activist, is on trial again for publishing another book by author Mehmet Güler. Both Zarakolu and Güiler are accused under the Anti Terror Law for Güler’s The KCK File/The Global State and Kurds Without a State. Zarakolu was acquitted last month for publishing another book by Güler, More Difficult Decisions Than Death, for which the author received a 15 months sentence.

British author Alan Shadrake was arrested in Singapore on 18 July for writing a book critical of the city state’s use of the death sentence. He was released on a bail on 20 July. If found guilty of criminal defamation, Shadrake could face up to two years in prison and a large fine.

On 15 July 2009, Natalia Estemirova, a representative of the Memorial Human Rights Centre in Grozny, was abducted and murdered. On the anniversary of her death ARTICLE 19 and other human rights organizations commemorated her work and reiterated calls for bringing perpetrators to justice. But despite the Kremlin’s pledge to punish her killers, there has been no prosecution so far.

Join us for an evening benefiting the first ever Burmese Arts Festival, an event designed to highlight the role of artists in bringing about change in Burma. The Festival will take place on 14-17th October 2010 at London’s Free Word Centre.

Two Russian art curators, Andrei Yerofeev and Yuri Samodurov, who staged an exhibition titled Forbidden Art 2006 featuring censored Soviet and post-Soviet art works, were convicted on 12 July by a Moscow court for “inciting hatred or enmity” and “denigration of human dignity.” Human rights organisation Article 19 condemns the fines the two men received as an outright attack on the right to freedom of expression.

Freedom of expression is not less important than freedom of “expression” as artist understand it. In June 2010 some movies and cartoons faced state’s censorship in Japan, Jordan and Malaysia. In Germany Jewish street dancers were attacked and in Islamic Republic of Pakistan music market was bombes for selling western video and music products. Find out more highlighted cases of artists around the world whose right to freedom of expression has been curtailed and abused.

The Azerbaijani authorities ignore pressure from the international community. Most recently, few days after the visit to Republic of Azerbaijan of United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton the editor Eynulla Fatullaeyv has been sentenced to 2,5 years imprisonment despite appeals from the United Nations and the Council of Europe.