PEN’s Free Expression Digest brings you a daily curated round-up of the most important free expression-related stories from around the web. Please send your feedback and suggestions to [email protected]

Wife of jailed Saudi blogger urges Canada to grant husband citizenship
The wife of Saudi blogger Raif Badawi is calling on Justin Trudeau to grant her husband Canadian citizenship, a measure she feels would make it easier to obtain his release in the Middle Eastern country. Mr. Badawi was sentenced to 1,000 lashes and 10 years in jail after being convicted in Saudi Arabia of blasphemy.
THE GLOBE AND MAIL

Azerbaijani opposition activist gets seven days in prison
A court in Baku sentenced Turan Ibrahim to seven days in prison on Jan. 14 after finding him guilty of using vulgar words in public, resisting police, and disrupting public order. Ibrahim’s relatives say he hasn’t had any conflicts with police, suggesting that his arrest on Jan. 13 and sentencing might be linked to his recent postings on Facebook criticizing Azerbaijani officials. RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY

As Taiwan election nears, mainland media plays down politics
On Saturday, voters in Taiwan will go to the polls to elect a new president. Interest in Communist-ruled China, which claims the island as its own territory, is great, yet one word is almost entirely missing from the voluminous debate over the event: “president.” Where the phrase “presidential election” does appear, it is invariably encased in quotation marks, as if it were not quite legitimate. THE NEW YORK TIMES

Australian journalist claims he was ‘gagged’ by employer
A former Australian Broadcasting Corporation editor has claimed he was “gagged” from reporting on the country’s National Broadband Network and forced to write bogus articles. Nick Ross hit out at his former employer, saying he was “thrown under a bus”. He was disciplined by the broadcaster’s management in 2013 for failing to meet its “standards of objective journalism” after writing a series of favorable articles about the NBN. THE DAILY MAIL

Croatian reporter warned over national anthem satire
The Croatian Journalists’ Association issued a warning to journalist Nikola Bajto for writing a satire on the country’s national anthem that poked fun at last year’s Operation Storm military parade. In his version of the anthem, Bajto sarcastically referred to the parade organized by Croatian state to mark the 20th anniversary of the army’s victorious Operation Storm, rephrasing the title of the anthem, “Our Beautiful Homeland” as “Our Beautiful Howitzer”. BALKAN INSIGHT

Book on Chinese president pulled as fears grow for missing publishers
The author of a book which criticizes Chinese president Xi Jinping has said its publication has been suspended in Hong Kong because its publisher was fearful of the “huge consequences” of its release, following the mysterious disappearance of five of the city’s publishers in recent months. The five were linked to Sage Communications, a firm known for its books criticizing the Chinese government. THE GUARDIAN

Editorial: After arrest of a Palestinian journalist, a crucial voice is silenced
On Jan. 3, Ayman al-Aloul, a journalist who wrote about life in the Gaza Strip and about the failings of the Hamas government there, was arrested. When he was released nine days later, he announced that he won’t be writing about politics anymore. While his story isn’t the most egregious example of media suppression in the world, it is particularly sad to see a journalist acknowledge so frankly that he has been defeated. THE LOS ANGELES TIMES