S3 E5: Albania's LGBTI+ Community Facing Attacks
The Human Rights Defender
Over the past few months, Albania's LGBTI+ community has been subject of a hateful smear campaign, with calls for violence against members spread by national television hosts and other influential figures. We sat with Xheni Karaj, from Aleanca LGBT who has been personally targetted and is leading the fightback through the courts.
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#RomaSummit: MEP Evin Incir (S&D)
The Human Rights Defender
In the second episode of the #RomaSummit special, we speak with MEP Evin Incir (S&D), who has been a tireless advocate for Roma inclusion from her seat in the European Parliament. Serving as Co-President of the EP's Anti-Racism and Diversity Intergroup (ARDI), she offers us an important insight into the shortcomings of previous EU-level initiatives, how the new EU-Roma Framework might address these, as well as the challenges that remain to bringing about real institutional change.
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#RomaSummit: Gabriela Hrabanova, ERGO network
The Human Rights Defender
In anticipation of the upcoming Western Balkans Roma Summit (17-18 November), we're hosting a mini-series, focusing on the the rights and issues of the Roma community. Over the next few episodes, we’ll be speaking with EU policymakers, representatives of civil society organisations and grassroots activists tackling anti-gypsyism and promoting the community’s rights across the continent. First up, Gabriela Habranova of the Brussels-based ERGO network which represents 30 Roma and pro-Roma organisation.
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S3E2: Defender of the Year 2021: OVD-Info
The Human Rights Defender
On 23 September, Civil Rights Defenders named Russian independent human rights project OVD-Info, the Defender of the Year for 2021. Just days later, the authorities put them on a growing list of CSOs labelled as "foreign agents". We caught up with co-founder Daniil Beilinson to hear about the general human rights situation in the country, the project's vital contribution to monitoring police brutality and arrests of peaceful protestors, as well as how the newfound label will impact their work going forward.
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S3E1: The Pegasus Project
The Human Rights Defender
Its being hailed as "the story of the year" to impact HRDs. Over the past few months, 80 journalists from 17 media organisations have been sifting through a leak of 50,000 phone numbers which may have been compromised by sophisticated spyware. The clients: autocratic regimes snooping on their citizens. The victims: activists and journalists holding power to account. Ilya Lozovsky from the OCCRP tells us more about this breathtaking investigation.
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S2E10: Turkey's Assault on Press Freedoms
The Human Rights Defender
In February 2021, Erol Önderoglu was the subject of an international civil society solidarity campaign, facing a 14-year sentence on charges of "terrorism", simply for supporting independent media targetted by Turkey's crackdown on press freedoms. Marking World Press Freedom Day, the Reporters Without Borders representative tells us more about his pending case, the repressive tactics used to silence critical outlets, as well as Turkey's cooling interest to achieve justice in the case of Jamal Khashoggi.
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S2E9: Albania's Elections: Ultimate Test for Democracy
The Human Rights Defender
Albania heads to the polls on April 25th following an 8-year, increasingly authoritarian rule of PM Edi Rama. Our guest, Albi Çela, stresses it will also be a major test for Albania’s fragile democracy, as the government introduces measures intended to pressure voters and suppress a high turnout. Against the odds, though, Civil Rights Defenders is encouraging wider youth participation by launching Vota Vlen (Your Vote Counts), a platform that educates and engages first-time voters in the process.
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S2E8: #LoveisLaw: Serbia's Defining LGBTI+ Moment
The Human Rights Defender
It's quite a time to be a LGBTI+ activist in Serbia. Having successfully held consecutive Pride marches since 2014, and preparations under way for Belgrade to host EuroPride in 2022, the community is bracing for landmark legislation which would legally regulate same-sex civil unions. Our guest, Marko Mihailovic, direct from the frontlines of this struggle, sheds his thoughts on recent accomplishments and the long road ahead to equality.
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S2E7: Hungary's Media Landscape
The Human Rights Defender
BBC correspondent for Central and Eastern Europe, Nick Thorpe, offers us a unique insight into the ways and means of Orban's regime, as well as an overall look at media literacy in the region.
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S2E6: Digital Rights in the Western Balkans
The Human Rights Defender
SHARE Foundation's Director of Tech, Andrej Petrovski tells us about the growing challenges to digital rights in the Western Balkans, threats related to surveillance, digital security and other online tips.
info_outlineWe travelled to Warsaw to sit with two renowned human rights defenders on the morning of the biggest civil protest Poland has seen in decades. On October 31st, 100,000s took to the streets to protest a humiliating ban on abortions. Julia Maciocha, President of Warsaw Pride, and Bart Staszewski, LGBTI activist and film director, tell us how human rights have been systematically degraded in Poland and the long road ahead to equality.