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LATEST NEWS

Mahsa Vahdat
Two video interviews with Iranian singer Mahsat Vahdat. About women, religion, and music censorship in modern Iran
02 September 2010
Guatemala: Teacher of indigenous music brutally murdered
Leonardo Lisandro Guarcax, promoter and defender of indigenous maya culture, has been found dead after he was abducted by unknown assailants on 25 August 2010
31 August 2010
Cameroon: Lapiro fires back at Minister of Communication
Lapiro de Mbanga, imprisoned since 2008 retaliates at Minister of Communication who on 30 July 2010 announced that Cameroon did not host any political prisoners
30 August 2010
Russia: Concert banned but protest singer continue unplugged
On 22 August 2010, Yuri Shevchuk, a popular rock singer and political critic, defied the Russian authorities' sudden ban on a staged protest concert and performed without amplification
27 August 2010
Azagaia
Video interview with Azagaia - a Mozambican hip-hop artist, rapper and sociologist - about freedom of expression and self-censorship among musicians in his country
25 August 2010
Myanmar/Burma: Freemuse in joint campaign for imprisoned comedian
The Free Zarganar Campaign, which advocates for the release of Burmese comedian Zarganar, urges MEP's to nominate him for the European Parliament's Sakharov Price
25 August 2010
Venezuela: Reggae artist defies government ban on violent images
Venezuelan authorities are set to launch an investigation into a music video called 'Rotten Town' by reggae artist Onechot that depicts the current state of violence in the country
24 August 2010
Somalia: Al-Shabaab bans music like the Taliban
Somalia is starting to resemble Afghanistan under the Taliban, where hard-line Islamist militia bans music and movies and forbids the public from watching sports on TV
23 August 2010
Saudi Arabia: King limits clerics who can issue fatwas
A decree sent by King Abdullahs office states that only senior Islamic clerics appointed by him can issue fatwas and religious rulings
19 August 2010
Zimbabwe: Opposition music denied airtime
As Zimbabweans brace for a possible election next year, contesting political parties have turned to music for their campaigns
18 August 2010
Freemuse receives grant from The Sigrid Rausing Trust
The Sigrid Rausing Trust has awarded a grant of £50,000 for the next year to the work of Freemuse
12 August 2010
Smashed Hits 2.0
On 8 September 2010, the British magazine Index on Censorship publishes a special theme issue on music censorship entitled ‘Smashed hits 2.0’
12 August 2010
United Arab Emirates: Censored rap duo ready with new album
The first and only album of the Emirati hip-hop duo Desert Heat which came out in 2008, was banned in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, reported AFP
12 August 2010
EU policy library refers to Freemuse Visa White Paper
The Freemuse report ‘Visas / The Discordant Note’ has been included as an official research document in the EU Commission's 'Library of Policy Documents'
11 August 2010
Songlines review of Freemuse CD: ‘It is Top of the World’
Songlines, an influential UK-based world music magazine, has chosen the CD ‘Listen to the banned’ as ‘Top of the World’ in their August 2010 issue
11 August 2010
Iran: Supreme leader discourages music
Music is ‘not compatible’ with the values of the Islamic Republic, announced Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on 2 August 2010
04 August 2010
Turkey: Date of next hearing set in Ferhat Tunç's case
The date for the next hearing in the case against musician and Freemuse Award winner Ferhat Tunç has been set to 30 September 2010
04 August 2010
Russia: Rapper jailed for 10 days for offending police
The popular rapper Ivan Alekseev, also known as Noize MC has been sentenced to 10 days admnistrative imprisonment for offending the police at a concert held in Volgograd
03 August 2010
Turkey: Court sentences band to 10 months imprisonment for Kurdish song
The Malatya Criminal Court has sentenced the band members of Grup Munzur to 10 months imprisonment for singing a Kurdish song at a concert held in June 2008
27 July 2010
Turkey: Singer sentenced to 10 months in prison
Singer Cevdet Bağca to serve a 10 months prison term for a statement given to the crowd before his concert in the Turkish town Siirt in September 2009
22 July 2010
Cameroon: International Pen and Freemuse in joint appeal for Lapiro
African Human Rights bodies and monitoring systems are urged to act on behalf of Cameroonian singer Lapiro de Mbanga
30 June 2010
Freemuse appeals to Turkish Prime Minister: Dismiss Ferhat Tunç's case
Artists, human rights activists and scholars join Freemuse in an appeal to the Turkish government for the dismissal of the latest court case against Kurdish singer Ferhat Tunç
24 June 2010
Cameroon/Denmark: Danish minister drawn into Lapiro de Mbanga's case
Danish politicians demand investigation of financial support to company accused of inhuman working conditions and co-responsibility for the imprisonment of singer Lapiro
22 June 2010
Cameroon: Lapiro de Mbanga’s legal team files petition to United Nations
On 16 June 2010, the international legal team for singer Lapiro de Mbanga filed an urgent action petition with the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention
18 June 2010
Norway: Festival celebrates musicians who refuse to be silenced
With the theme 'Freedom and oppression', the 21st edition of the Førde Folk Music Festival in Norway in July 2010 focuses on musicians' struggle for human rights
16 June 2010
Cameroon: United Nations secretary-general urged to speak up for Lapiro
Freedom Now, a US-based lawyers’ advocacy organisation urges secretary-general of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, to request that President Biya releases Lapiro de Mbanga
09 June 2010
France: Threats, campaigns and media rage against heavy metal festival
The ecclectic metal festival Hellfest in France received threats from religious groups. The media attention which followed doubled the festival's ticket sales
09 June 2010
Guinea-Bissau / USA: Rap artists threatened, appear on live video in New York
Via a live video feed Baloberos Crew from Guinea-Bissau will give a virtual performance in New York on 30 June 2010: Impossible Music Session 2
09 June 2010
Iran: No teaching of music in private schools
Teaching music in state schools is already prohibited in Iran. Now, the music ban also applies to Iran’s 16,000 private schools with 1.1 million students
07 June 2010
Join Music Freedom Day 2011
Freemuse invites musicians, music clubs, cultural institutions, broadcasters and media to join the annual Music Freedom Day on 3 March 2011
02 June 2010
Austria: Museum of sound preserves banned music
The Akustikon Museum of Sound in Linz, Austria, opened a special section dedicated to preserving banned music on 30 May 2010
02 June 2010
Iran: Authorities warn about punishments for playing banned music in taxis
If taxi drivers play banned music in their taxis, it could lead to cancellation of their taxi permit and confiscation of their cars, warned a government official
31 May 2010
Russia: City bans heavy metal music in cafés, clubs and restaurants
Authorities in the West-Russian city of Belgorod has banned performances of heavy metal music in a bid to “save the city’s youth”
31 May 2010
Cameroon: Maersk Group accused for involvement in case against Lapiro
A.P. Moller - Maersk Group, the worldwide conglomerate operating in around 130 countries, is accused for being partly responsible for the imprisonment of singer Lapiro
26 May 2010
Turkey: Kurdish singer Ferhat Tunc faces 15 years in prison
Kurdish singer Ferhat Tunç faces imprisonment of up to 15 years regarding charges of "spreading propaganda for the PKK organisation", the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party
26 May 2010
Cuba: Censored rap group thrives on YouTube
While songs of Los Aldeanos are banned on Cuban radio stations, YouTube has instead become their channel for expressing themselves
19 May 2010
Turkey: Kurdish music in turmoil of censorship and court cases
A Kurdish song has been banned, and Kurdish singers are being arrested for singing - or just singing along to - specific Kurdish songs, accused of making propaganda
19 May 2010
Afghanistan: Protest singer forced into exile after receiving threats
Afghan singer Shakib Mosadeq dared sing songs of political protest, and was subsequently forced to leave his country, reported Global Post on 16 May 2010
17 May 2010
Germany: Expelled from teachers collage for playing death metal
A singer from the death metal band Debauchery was given the choice of either abandoning his music for three years or quit the teachers college
10 May 2010
Iran: 80 young people arrested at illegal concert
Iranian police detained 80 young men and women for "lustful pleasure-seeking" activities at an illegal concert, Tehran's chief prosecutor was quoted as saying
10 May 2010
Egypt: Music officials banned British rock star from performing
Egyptian music officials have banned Elton John from performing at a private party in Egypt because of his recent comments that Jesus was gay
05 May 2010
Iran: Music from 'below the radar' distributed on free CD
A compilation of underground Iranian music, compiled by the music centre Bar-Ax, was published as a free bonus-CD with April-May 2010 issue of the music magazine Songlines
05 May 2010
Lebanon: Song touching 'The Armenian question' banned
Eileen Khatchadourian's music video ‘Zartir Vortyag’ which touches on Armenian topics is reported to have been banned by the Lebanese General Security
03 May 2010
Somalia: Government minister backs up radical Islamists’ music ban
Somalia's Minister of Information has backed up a music ban in Mogadishu and in this way countermanded a government order to radio stations to play music or face closure
03 May 2010
Cameroon: International PEN releases new protest campaign for Lapiro
The Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN has launched a new protest campaign for the continuing imprisonment of singer-songwriter Lapiro de Mbanga
28 April 2010
Cameroon: Lapiro de Mbanga honoured at Cameroon Music Awards
Organisers of the Cameroon music and cultural awards, Canal D'Or, have honoured jailed singer Lapiro de Mbanga with a Life Time Achievement Award
28 April 2010
China / Tibet: Singer imprisoned for publishing 'subversive songs'
A Chinese court has sentenced the Tibetan singer Tashi Dhondup to one year and seven months’ imprisonment for producing a music album with “subversive songs”
26 April 2010
Myanmar/Burma: Music a vehicle for significant dissent
Nine out of 12 songs on Thxa Soe's most recent album were banned by Burma's censorship board. Interview with Thxa Soe in the British newspaper The Guardian
26 April 2010
Somalia: The government insists: radios must play music
Four private radio stations in Mogadishu have been accused of collusion with radical Islamists over music ban
23 April 2010
Turkey: German musician detained and told to leave the country
The German DJ Shantel was denied access into Turkey on 14 April 2010 when he arrived at the airport in Istanbul. His concerts had to be canceled.
23 April 2010
Turkey: One year ban and prison sentences to Kurdish music group
Diyarbakır High Criminal Court banned 13 members of Bahar Cultural Centre from performing arts for one year and gave them 10 months prison sentence each
23 April 2010
Australia: Controversy over race-hate music festival
When a white supremacy group in Queensland organised a race-hate music festival on the Gold Coast on 17 April 2010, authorities' response was not to give them much attention
20 April 2010
Germany: 11 Jamaican 'hate music' albums blacklisted
An official German authority has blacklisted 11 dancehall albums in the period between 2008 and January 2010 due to violent and homophobic content
20 April 2010
Myanmar/Burma: Exiled musicians publish album of protest songs
A new album of satire, poetry and music produced by Burmese activists living in exile in India is aired around the world and smuggled into Burma
19 April 2010
South Africa: Old anti-apartheid song banned on hate speech charges
On 26 March 2010, a South African high court prohibited the singing of a controversial anti-apartheid song, ‘Ayesab'amagwala’ (‘The cowards are afraid’)
19 April 2010
Turkey: A new investigation against musician Ferhat Tunç
Ferhat Tunç made a formal deposition at a Public Prosecution Office due to an investigation filed against him about a speech he made at a music festival in 2009.
16 April 2010
Poland: Death metal band leader charged for offending religious feelings
Vocalist and guitarist Adam Darski of the Polish heavy metal band Behemoth was charged on 8 March 2010 for insulting Roman Catholics, facing up to two years in prison
14 April 2010
Somalia: 14 radio stations in Somalia's capital turned off music
All radio stations in Mogadishu stopped playing music on 13 April 2010, following an ultimatum by hardline Islamist militia, reported AFP.
14 April 2010
Nigeria: Music festival cancelled by censorship board
A three-night music festival at a cultural centre in Kano in northern Nigeria, KANFEST, was cancelled by the Kano State Censorship Board, reported AFP
12 April 2010
China: Uncertainty over ban of concerts with American folk singer Bob Dylan
The Chinese government allegedly refused to allow the 68-year-old American folk singer Bob Dylan to perform in Beijing and Shanghai because of his reputation as a protestsinger
07 April 2010
Myanmar/Burma: Hip hop musician's third year in prison
Burma's popular hip-hop artist Zayar Thaw serves his third year under detention in a prison at Kawthaung
07 April 2010
Somalia: Music ban on radio stations was expected
On 3 April 2010, the commander for Hisbul Islam in Mogadishu issued a 10-day ultimatum to radio stations to stop broadcasting music or face Sharia-based penalties
07 April 2010
Freemuse Award 2010: Winners honoured in London
The joint winners of the Freemuse Award 2010, Mahsa Vahdat and Ferhat Tunç, gave a short and impressive performance at the award ceremony in London
29 March 2010
Rwanda: Singer Bikindi's conviction affirmed by UN Appeals Chamber
On 18 March 2010, Rwandan singer Simon Bikindi’s conviction and sentence of 15 years in prison was affirmed by an Appeals Chamber of the United Nations
29 March 2010
Syria: Interrogated and harassed for listening to metal music
Young people in Syria are interrogated by the secret police if they listen to heavy metal music, writes Romuald Stankiewicz in this personal travel report from the country
29 March 2010
Turkey: Kurdish singer Rojda charged with 20 months imprisonment
In a court in Diyarbakır, the Kurdish singer Rojda Şenses was charged with one year and eight months imprisonment for ‘conducting propaganda’ in two separate concerts
29 March 2010
Freemuse Award winners 2010: Mahsa Vahdat and Ferhat Tunç
Award ceremony held in London on 25 March 2010 in collaboration with Index on Censorship
22 March 2010
Afghanistan: Ban on women singers debated in Herat
A 'Morality and Knowledge Association' recently established in Herat wants to ban women's voices from the airwaves, reported Jean MacKenzie and Rateb Muzhda from Herat
15 March 2010
CD: Listen to the banned
Compiled by the artist Deeyah and Freemuse, this CD compilation album is published on 3 March 2010 by Norway's most successful music label, Grappa Records
15 March 2010
Music Freedom Day 2010 becomes a truly global event
3 March 2010 is Music Freedom Day where radio and tv broadcasters world-wide focus on music censorship, and where seminars and concerts are held in various countries
05 March 2010
Turkey: Killed for singing Kurdish folk songs in bar
A young man, Emrah Gezer, was killed because he and his friends had been singing Kurdish folk songs in a bar
03 March 2010
Turkey: Broadcasting in local languages allowed without time limit
Autorities has granted permission to 14 radio and tv stations in Turkey to broadcast in Kurdish, Zazaki, and Arabic without time limit
03 March 2010
Facts about the CD 'Listen to the banned'
Track list, cover photo for download, and general information about the Freemuse CD 'Listen to the banned', published in March 2010
03 March 2010
Turkey: Police convicted of beating café worker for playing Kurdish music
Eight months prison sentences were issued by Turkish authorities to two police officers who beat up a 28-year-old café worker for playing an Ahmet Kaya song
03 March 2010
Iran: Concert banned because of presence of women musicians
Iranian authorities have cancelled a concert of traditional Iranian singer Homayoun Shajarian because two members of the band are women
24 February 2010
Turkey: Kurdish singer and musician Rojda arrested
Kurdish artist Rojda was arrested for singing a Kurdish song entitled ‘Heval Kamuran’. She was released within a couple of hours
24 February 2010
Launch of Freemuse's new report on censorship of heavy metal music
Mark LeVine is online, ready to communicate with you on Facebook and Skype, from 6 PM to 8 PM GMT on Monday 22 February 2010.
17 February 2010
Turkey: Folk singer and poet on trial for "praising crime"
Tunceli Prosecution Office has filed a case against folk singer Pınar Sağ and poet Mehmet Özcan charging them with two years prison sentences for "praising crime".
17 February 2010
Book by Salman Ahmad: 'Rock & Roll Jihad'
Rock star Salman Ahmad desribes his encounters with angry mullahs and oppressive dictators who wanted all music to be banned from the Islamic Republic of Pakistan
10 February 2010
Music & Islam - what's the big fuss?
In Pakistan and Afghanistan, the Taliban continues to attack musicians and music shops, but what is the position on music in Islam?
10 February 2010
Pakistan: Five injured and 10 music shops damaged by bomb blast
Five people were injured and 10 shops damaged in a bomb blast on 28 January 2010 in a music and video market in the small town of Jand in Pakistan's Punjab province
10 February 2010
Somalia: Interview with Somali music shop owner in exile
Interview with Fatma Adow who is one of 25 women who on November 2008 faced the wrath of Somali militiamen the for taking part in a folklore dance galore in Somalia
10 February 2010
Mexico: Legislators propose nation-wide ban on 'drug ballads'
A bill presented to Mexico’s congress proposes that musicians could be sent to prison in up to three years for playing songs that glorify the drug trade
01 February 2010
Cameroon / USA: American lawyers prepare UN petition for Lapiro
Cameroon keeping Lapiro imprisoned is a violation of international law, argues a team of four lawyers from a US law firm
25 January 2010
Freemuse report on censorship of heavy metal music
Headbanging against repressive regimes - Censorship of heavy metal in the Middle East, North Africa, Southeast Asia and China. Freemuse report no. 9
25 January 2010
Syria: Musicians arrested for singing Kurdish songs
Seven men, including members of a wedding music band, were arrested at a Kurdish wedding party. In court they were accused of singing patriotic Kurdish songs.
18 January 2010
Malawi: National radio bans the music of musician Lucius Banda
Malawi Broadcasting Corporation has banned the music of Lucius Banda - allegedly because certain songs on his latest album express criticism of the government
11 January 2010
Cameroon: Free-for-download album in support of Lapiro de Mbanga
Mondomix has launched a free-for-download album in support of the imprisoned cameroonian singer Lapiro de Mbanga
06 January 2010
Mexico: Eight musicians arrested
Ramon Ayala and Lupe Tijerina, two of the most famous accordionists in Northern Mexico, were arrested together with six other musicians on 11 December 2009
06 January 2010
Myanmar/Burma: Ban on Western musical instruments
Burma's Ministry of Culture has ordered the country's traditional Saing orchestras not to use Western musical instruments
06 January 2010
Uganda: Two songs banned for ‘defamation’
Two songs by musician Mathias Walukagga was banned from being played or distributed as from 3 November 2009, and the singer was imprisoned for three days
06 January 2010
Iraq: Violence against singers continues
In Iraq, the clerics have conflicting opinions about music prohibition, writes Wisam Tahir from Nasiriya in an article published in The Herald Scotland
09 December 2009
USA: Banned music showcased in concert series in New York
A concert with the exiled Pakistani singer Haroon Bacha on 9 December 2009 marks the start of 'Impossible Music Sessions' in New York showcasing banned music
09 December 2009

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News 2009