PEN’s Free Expression Digest brings you a daily curated round-up of the most important free expression-related stories from around the web. Subscribe here. *This mailing list is currently in BETA as we work out the kinks. Please send your feedback and suggestions to [email protected]

The Washington Post petitions UN to help free imprisoned journalist Jason Rezaian on the first anniversary of his arrest *PEN Case List
The newspaper accuses Iran of breaching Rezaian’s human rights in a year of “arbitrary and unlawful” detention. The charges against him have never been made public, and he is being tried in secret. However, Iranian news agencies say he could be charged with espionage, which could mean a 10 to 20 year prison sentence. ABC
 
China returns passport to dissident artist Ai Weiwei *PEN Case List
Ai Weiwei, artist and critic of the Chinese government, has been given his passport back after a four-year travel ban. It was confiscated in 2011 when he was detained for 81 days without charge. The artist said his first trip would be to Germany, where his son has been living for the past year. BBC
 
Another journalist murdered in India – the third murder in seven weeks
Raghavendra Dube, the 44-year-old owner and editor of Khushboo Ujala, a local weekly in Mumbai, was beaten and stabbed to death just half an hour after he left the police station, where he had been helping a police investigation into an attack on two other journalists. REPORTERS WITHOUT BORDERS
 
New report by Turkish Publishers Associated shows restriction of press freedom
A report by the Turkish Publishers Association has revealed growing restrictions on freedom of the press in Turkey, where journalists and writers face legal action for their work on a daily basis. The report shows there are a total of 22 jailed journalists in Turkey, most of whom are Kurdish. TODAY’S ZAMAN
 
Pakistan is building a mass surveillance system ‘to rival NSA’ 
A new report by the UK-based advocacy group Privacy International claims that Pakistan has been trying to build a sophisticated, NSA-style mass surveillance system that would let it tap the phone calls and emails of hundreds of millions of people worldwide – and has been contracting with Western companies to do so. THE NATION
 
Kuwait: Cybercrime law a blow to free speech
Kuwait’s new cybercrime law includes far-reaching restrictions on Internet-based speech that breach Kuwait’s obligations under international human rights law. Articles 6 and 7 of the Cybercrime Law expand the reach of existing prohibitions on print publications to virtually all dissemination of information through the Internet. HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
 
GCHQ unlawfully intercepting parliamentary communications, tribunal hears
A two-day hearing at Britain’s top security court is set to test MPs’ and peers’ claims that the government is unlawfully intercepting parliamentary communications.
MPs say that GCHQ has intercepted their email and phone communications in breach of the Wilson doctrine. COMPUTER WEEKLY
 
How China’s national security and cybersecurity laws will further curb press freedom
On July 6, the Chinese government released a draft Cybersecurity Law that would give it the authority to further tighten the grip on the flow of information online. The draft law places even more responsibility on companies to enforce the real-name registration of users and censor “prohibited” information. CPJ