Trouble with the Truth

Last year’s protests in Belarus seemed like a watershed moment that was poised to bring an end to the 26-year rule of president Alexander Lukashenko.  The peaceful demonstrations that started with songs, chants and red-and-white flags were soon met with state-sanctioned violence that saw thousands of people imprisoned and many more fleeing the country. There were widespread reports of beatings, to...

It’s been over three months since the military coup in Myanmar that has resulted in violence and mass protests. Press freedom has suffered immensely, as the military junta shut down the internet, muzzled and attacked journalists. In this latest episode of Trouble with the Truth, Lana speaks about the origins and the consequences of the coup with UK-based academic and human rights activist Maung Za...

We have reached a grim milestone with the ten-year anniversary of the Syrian revolution that turned into a bloody war and tore the country apart. In the latest episode of Trouble with the Truth, Lana interviews a very special guest: Syrian journalist Zaina Erhaim, who is currently based in London. It takes an unsurpassed kind of bravery to report on what was happening on the ground and Zaina was o...

In the latest episode of Trouble with the Truth, Lana interviews Somali journalist Abdalle Ahmed Mumin. Somalia has an appalling record when it comes to press freedom – more than 70 journalists have been killed since 1992, their murderers enjoying total impunity. Abdalle has received numerous threats because of his reporting and narrowly survived an assassination attempt in 2015. He was forced to...

In this new episode of Trouble with the Truth, Lana interviews journalist Clare Rewcastle-Brown who helped to uncover the infamous 1MDB corruption scandal in 2015. The focus of their discussion wasn’t the investigation itself but the legal turmoil and harassment that followed it. Not only has she been banned from entering Malaysia but while living in the UK, the journalist was subjected to a defam...

In their latest investigation, Roman and his colleagues examined the suspects involved in the murder of Belarussian journalist Pavel Sheremet, who was working in Ukraine. Pavel was killed by a car bomb as he was leaving his home in 2016. It took three years for the Ukrainian police to come up with the murder suspects. The investigation has proved controversial, with critics calling it flawed as it...

In this new episode of Trouble with the Truth Lana interviews Evin Barış Altıntaş, a journalist and the founder of the Media and Law Studies Association. MLSA provides legal support to journalists, promotes press freedom and the rights of minority groups.   The past few years have been disastrous for Turkish independent journalists. In 2016, using the failed coup attempt as a pretext, Tayyop’s Erd...

In the new episode on Trouble with the Truth, Lana interviews Roman Dobrokhotov from The Insider- an investigative media outlet that together with Bellingcat uncovered the names of the would-be murderers of the Russian opposition politician Alexey Navalny. Journalist Timur Kuashev, activist Ruslan Magomedragimov and a politician Nikita Isaev (once close to Kremlin) all died suspiciously - there is...

In the new episode of Trouble with the Truth, Lana talks to Susan Coughtrie, from Foreign Policy Centre. Susan is the editor of their latest report “Unsafe for Scrutiny…” that “explores the role that the United Kingdom plays as a hub for the facilitation of global financial crime and corruption, as well as for services that can be utilised against journalists reporting on this topic.” SLAPP legisl...

In 2020’s final episode of Trouble with the Truth, Lana reflects on the year that has passed and takes a closer look at the mission and work of the Justice for Journalists Foundation - the organisation that has helped bring this podcast to life. Maria Ordzhonikidze, the JFJ’s Director, talks about the origins of the foundation, the projects it sponsored over the course of this year, and how their...

In this episode of Trouble with the Truth, Lana chats to the co-founder and editor-in-chief of Coda Story Natalia Antelava. The news about vaccine was met with glee but also contributed to the spread of conspiracy theories and false information online. What impact has the continuous disinformation had on independent journalism before and during the pandemic? Why have some populist leaders thrived...

 In this new episode of Trouble with the Truth, Lana Estemirova continues to explore Mexico’s appalling record on journalists’ safety.  Special guests are freelance journalist and writer Paula Mónaco Felipe and Juan Sebastián Salamanca from Article 19.   Mexico is one of the most dangerous countries in the world to be a journalist. More than 140 journalists have been killed there since 2000 and co...

In the new episode of Trouble with the Truth, Lana interviews Rebecca Vincent from Reporters without Borders.   Rebecca has been monitoring the extradition trial of the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. After spending seven years in the Ecuadorian embassy, the journalist has been arrested by the Met police in 2019 and if extradited to the US, he’s facing 175 years in prison. Rebecca talks about th...

In this new episode of Trouble with the Truth, Lana Estemirova investigates why writing about women’s rights in the North Caucuses leads to threats and intimidation of journalists and activists. “I’ve been given orders to handle the feminists,”- said man’s voice on the phone. It wasn’t the first time Dagestani journalist Svetlana Anokhina has been threatened. Daptar, the online portal where she wo...

In this new episode of Trouble with the Truth, Lana Estemirova interviews Andres Arturo Solis Àlvarez, a freelance journalist and teacher based in Mexico.    Mexico is one of the most dangerous countries in the world to be a journalist. More than 140 journalists have been killed there since 2000 and countless more have been intimidated, harassed, attacked and driven out of the country. In more tha...

London, 8th October- in the new episode of Trouble with the Truth, Lana Estemirova interviews Bektour Iskender, a journalist from Kyrgyzstan and one of the founders of Kloop media.   Several days prior to Kyrgyzstan’s post-election protests that resulted in toppling of the government, Lana recorded an interview with Bektour Iskender, one of the founders of Kloop media. What started as a website ru...

On the 7th of September, a shocking video started circulating across Chechen social media. In the video, a young man called Salman Tepsurkaev denounces his work for Adat telegram channel and is forced to rape himself with a bottle. Adat is one of the few outlets that writes about human rights abuses in Chechnya and corruption amongst the elites. In Chechen, Adat means an unwritten set of laws and...

London, 9th September- in the new episode of Trouble with the Truth, Lana Estemirova interviews Caroline Muscat, the founder of The Shift News, based in Malta.   It’s impossible to talk about independent media in Malta without mentioning Daphne Caruana Galizia- a courageous investigative journalist who was killed three years ago for exposing the corrupt underbelly of her country. Caroline talks ab...

London, 30th August- in our second episode of Trouble with the Truth, Lana Estemirova interviews Anna Nemtsova, a Moscow-based journalist for the Daily Beast.    They discuss the case of Ivan Safronov, a former journalist who was arrested and charged with treason in what appears to be a politically motivated move. A correspondent for Kommersant and Vedomosti newspapers and military reporter in the...

London, 18 August 2020 – In the first episode of Trouble with the Truth, Lana Estemirova interviews Mariya Sadouskaya Komlach, Belarussian journalist and a media analyst based in Europe. The conversation is focused on the challenges of reporting in times of the revolution, how and why the protests started, what is happening with the President-elect Svetlana Tikhanovskaya and finally – what the int...