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Dangerous T-shirts from around the world
Index on Censorship's deputy editor on the perils of wearing a slogan T-shirt
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Your support makes all the difference.The latest issue of Index on Censorship magazine looks at how certain slogan T-shirts have spelt big trouble for those that wear them, from financial penalties to court cases to jail time. The magazine's deputy editor, Vicky Baker, talks us through some of the current cases.
Malaysia
Yellow T-shirts are a legitimate national security concern, a court in Malaysia ruled in February, after a group of citizens called for a review of the government’s countrywide ban. The ruling related specifically to shirts with a slogan for the Bersih 4 slogan, which refers to a protest movement for more transparent governance (Bersih meaning clean in Malay). The press and social media spoke of a new-found xanthophobia, a fear of the colour yellow.
Egypt
“Nation without torture”: this was the message on the front of a T-shirt worn by Egyptian student Mahmoud Hussein when he attended a commemoration of the third anniversary of the 2011 Tahrir Square uprising in Cairo. It caught the authorities attention and he was arrested. Despite not being formally charged with a crime, Hussein, now 20, spent over two years in prison. He was finally released last month. Amnesty International reported alleged electric-shock treatment to his face, testicles, back and hands while he was in prison.
South Africa
A black student at University of the Witwatersrand was called to face the South African Human Rights Commission on charges of hate speech after wearing a plain T-shirt, on which he’d scrawled, “Being black is shit” on one side and “Fuck white people” on the other. He told South Africa’s The Times, “I was feeling hatred because it was times of financial exclusion.”
US
Taylor Victor, 16, sued her Californian high school after she was told she couldn’t wear a “Nobody knows I’m a lesbian” T-shirt. She invoked the First Amendment and won. In February, the Manteca Unified School District was told its policy must clarify that students can wear clothing with statements that celebrate their or their classmates' cultural identities.
Angola
Nito Alves was charged with defamation and arrested in Angola's capital, Luanda in 2013 after he ordered 20 T-shirts to be printed with the words, "Ze Dú, out disgusting dictator". Ze Dú is the nickname for the country's long-ruling president, José Eduardo dos Santos. Alves, then aged 17, served two months, but he is currently back in jail again. He has been convicted of rebellion after a book club he was part of was arrested for reading From Dictatorship to Democracy by Nobel Peace Prize-nominated author Gene Sharp.
Vicky Baker is the deputy editor of Index on Censorship magazine. The latest issue is out now.
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