Canadian Journalists for Free Expression Olympic monitoring project

3 February 2010
Guardians of the Winter Olympics restrict free expression

Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE) has launched a campaign to monitor free expression violations related to the Winter Olympics. CJFE's Olympic Watch is highlighting recent incidents where the protection of the Olympic brand has led to threats to free expression.

U.S. journalist Amy Goodman, host of Democracy Now!, was stopped at the British Columbia-Washington border on her way to Vancouver and interrogated about a speech she was scheduled to give, in order to determine if she was going to criticise the Olympics, reports CJFE.

Two "Toronto Sun" newspaper journalists were attacked while they were covering the torch relay in Ontario. One of the journalists, photographer Ian Roberts, 60, was treated for a head injury after he was pushed to the ground by security officers for the Torch.

And in Vancouver, the city used an anti-graffiti bylaw to have a piece of art removed from a local gallery. The work of art depicted five rings, four with unhappy faces.

During the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing there were widespread reports of arrests, convictions, censorship and surveillance of journalists.

More and contact info at: http://www.cjfe.org/releases/2010/18012010olympicwatch.html