Just months after Hong Kong-based bookseller and Swedish citizen Gui Minhai was supposedly released after nearly two years of detention in mainland China, he is back in official custody after being seized by plainclothes police officers on a Beijing-bound train.…
Category: International
Russia Raids Movie Theater Showing Historical Farce
Last week Russian Ministry of Culture officials revoked the distribution license for Armando Iannucci’s satire, The Death of Stalin, based on the Fabien Nury and Thierry Robin’s graphic novel of the same name. When the Pioneer cinema in Moscow proceeded…
Thai Political Cartoon Goes Mysteriously Dark
Thai political cartoon, Khai Meaw, disappeared from Facebook on January 18, 2018, without attribution or explanation. The popular cartoon never employed speech or thought bubbles but was clearly critical of the military junta. The Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand claimed…
Last Week for Guantanamo Art
This week could be your last chance to ever see the art exhibit from Guantanamo Bay detainees, it closes Friday, January 26th. Since the November shift in policy from the U.S. military, art made by inmates is no longer allowed…
Ahmed Naji to Face Trial Again for Book Excerpt
Egyptian novelist Ahmed Naji will be tried a third time for “harming public morality” with an excerpt from his book Use of Life which was reprinted in Akhbar al-Adab newspaper in 2014. Naji was previously convicted and sentenced to two…
Zunar Challenges Malaysia’s Latest Ban on Cartoon Book
Malaysian cartoonist Zunar was back in court this week, filing a legal challenge to the government’s ban on his latest book Sapuman: The Man of Steal. The ban was imposed last year after the cartoons critical of Prime Minister Najib…
Guantánamo Bay Art Show Causes Pentagon Policy Crackdown
Since early October, an unassuming exhibit of 36 paintings, drawings, and sculptures has lined two beige hallways on the sixth floor of Haaren Hall, part of John Jay College of Criminal Justice’s campus. The catalog is photocopied and stapled together, available…
Prolific Taiwanese Comics Artist on Government Censorship
Hsu Mao-sung, an 81 year-old Taiwanese comic book artist and publisher, spoke about the censorship of comics from the 1960s to the 1980s in a recent video interview with the BBC. Hsu spoke about some of the restrictions artists faced…
Support CBLDF Today For 2017 Tax-Deductions!
CBLDF made a major difference in the fight for free expression this year. Help us continue this important work by making a tax-deductible donation today! Donations made before the end of the year are tax-deductible in 2017. Become a CBLDF member today…
Sonny Liew Nominated for Singaporean of the Year
Sonny Liew, the triple Eisner Award-winning creator of The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye, is wrapping up a banner year with yet another honor back home in Singapore. Along with nine other impressive residents of the city-state, Liew is…