Trouble with the Truth

In this new episode of Trouble with the Truth, Lana speaks to a senior investigator from the Sentry about the Central African Republic- one of the most dangerous countries in the world. They discuss a recent Sentry report that exposes the links between a major French sugar refinery and local militias implicated in massacres and human rights violations. They also touch on the infamous Wagner group – a secretive Russian military contractor that’s linked to Putin ally Evgeny Prigozhin. The Wagner group has been accused of committing shocking crimes against civilians in CAR although officially, the military company is not registered anywhere. This episode doesn’t reveal the face of the speaker in order to protect their identity. 

In the latest episode of Trouble with the Truth, Lana meets Jake Hanrahan, the founder of Popular Front. He vowed to produce a different kind of conflict reporting – raw, independent, accessible, and sponsored solely through public donations. Popular Front has released documentaries, podcasts and articles on conflicts all over the world- Palestine, Ukraine, Hong-Kong, Turkey, Northern Ireland and many more. 

 In this episode, Jake talks about his latest docs on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, 3-D printed guns and the man behind them and what makes Popular Front so special. He alsshares some advice he would give to an aspiring conflict reporter.

 She was threatened, harassed, attacked and sent to prison for 2.5 years but it only made Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova more determined to pursue the truth. For years she’s been exposing the corrupt underbelly of the Azerbaijani elite, linking it to international firms and European politicians. Her work, including the Panama Papers investigations, has gained her notoriety all over the world but also attracted powerful enemies. 

 In the latest episode of Trouble with the Truth, Khadija talks about the trials of an independent journalist in Azerbaijan, on her investigations into the Azarbaijani ‘Laundramat’, on what kept her spirits high when she was in prison and her criticism of ECHR mechanisms. 

In 1990 Columbia was shocked by the horrific murder of popular investigative journalist Silvia Duzan. She was working on a hopeful story about how several peasant leaders banned together against the violence of cartel rule but ended up being assassinated alongside her interviewees. 

 Thirty years later, filmmaker Paola Desiderio is exploring the tragic event and the story around it in her upcoming documentary “The Law of Silence”. It is a sad yet inspiring story about the perseverance of human spirit in the hardest of circumstance and a decades-long search for justice. Paula tells us why the documentary is still relevant, whether Columbia is any safer for journalists today than thirty years ago and what can be done to break the cycle of violence. 

In this episode of Trouble with the Truth journalist Mariam Nikuradze recalls the shocking attacks on journalists that took place in Tbilisi on 5 July. That day was supposed to be a celebration of Pride but the organizers were forced to cancel the event because of numerous threats. Despite, the cancellation far-right mobs still turned out in force and targeted anyone who looked LGBTQ. It was journalists that suffered the most: over fifty media workers were attacked, many ending up in hospital. In a tragic turn of events, cameraman Lexo Lashkarava, who sustained serious injuries was found dead several days later. Following his death, thousands of people rallied on the streets demanding the resignation of government ministers.  The investigation is on-going...

Journalist and filmmaker Dairus Bazargan talks to us about his upcoming documentary on Nazanin-Zaghari Ratcliffe and his undercover work investigating ritual killings in Malawi that almost cost him his life. 

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian citizen, has been held hostage by the Iranian government since 2016, following her arrest on trumped-up spying charges. Nazanin was released in 2021 only to be faced with an additional charge that will trap her in Iran for at least another year. Darius has been in close contact with Nazanin’s husband Richard Ratcliffe and daughter Gabriella, capturing the difficult journey of the family as they campaign for her release. 

Darius also shares an emotional account of his undercover trip to Malawi in 2018, where he was investigating the murder of children by adults who sell their body parts as talismans for rich buyers. Daris and his team were taken to be the real murderers, and they soon found themselves surrounded by villagers with sharp machetes.

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, torture and the inhumane treatment of prisoners – those on the outside faced intimidation and the prospect of losing their jobs.

The latest news from Belarus that shocked the world was the dramatic abduction of journalist Roman Protasevich, whose Ryanair flight was force-landed in Minsk, creating an international scandal. While he is currently under house arrest, his future looks bleak. 

In the latest episode of Trouble with the Truth, Lana Estemirova talks to risk analyst Alex Kokcharov and journalist Hanna Liubakova- about the role of telegram channels in resistance, the fate of Roman Protasevich, whether sanctions work and how crackdown on Belarusian media is complicating the job of reporters. 

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 Zarni. He is a co-founder Forces of Renewal Southeast Asia network, Burmese coordinator of the Free Rohingya Coalition and has been engaged in activism for over thirty years. Zarni gave a detailed and thought-provoking account of the events in Myanmar – the unravelling of the coup, how people came together to join the fight against the junta and how civilians and journalists are navigating the social media and information shutdown. He touches on what can be done at a local and global level to help topple the military dictatorship.

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 one of those journalists. She explains why she chose to leave her studies in London and go back to face the danger, and how she managed to keep herself safe. Zaina also speaks about the challenges of being a female journalist in a conflict zone and why people did not believe she was Syrian. To listen to the full interview, tune into the latest episode of Trouble with the Truth.

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 hide his family and go into an exile. This made his subsequent return to Somalia particularly extraordinary - not only did he go back to reporting but he also helped to set up the Somali Journalists Syndicate. Abdalle spoke to me about the organisation of his Syndicate’s mission and how their work has been affected by the global pandemic. He also addressed Somalia’s dangerous new Media Law and stressed why the international community should pay attention to what’s happening in Somalia.