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]

Saudi Supreme Court reviewing case of jailed blogger Raif Badawi *PEN Case List
Saudi Arabia’s Supreme Court is again reviewing Badawi’s case, raising hopes that the blogger’s draconian sentence could be reduced. He was sentenced to a decade in prison and 1,000 lashes after criticizing the kingdom’s clerics online. Badawi’s family hopes the return of his case to the court is a good sign. THE INDEPENDENT
 
Supreme Court upholds libel ruling against Khadija Ismayilova *PEN Case List
Yesterday, investigative journalist Ismayilova faced cases in two Azerbaijani courts: one in the Supreme Court, which upheld a libel ruling against her, and one in Baku’s Court of Grave Crimes, which is still ongoing. Human rights groups maintain that the charges against her are an attempt to stop the journalist from exposing corruption. OCCRP
 
Whistleblower faces indefinite solitary confinement over expired toothpaste
Former intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning is serving a 35-year sentence for leaking government documents to WikiLeaks. Manning’s upcoming sentencing hearing for possession of “prohibited property” (books and magazines) and “medicine misuse” (AKA having expired toothpaste) carries a maximum punishment of indefinite solitary confinement. Manning writes for the Guardian regularly from prison. NEWSWEEK
 
FOIA docs reveal the CIA spied on the Senate in attempt to control information
Documents obtained by VICE News via FOIA show that the CIA spied on the Senate Intelligence Committee and hacked into their shared computer network in an effort to control what information the committee was able to access when putting together the damning torture report released last year. VICE NEWS
 
Brit lights up Berlin with spies, lies and censorship art
British artist and anti-surveillance activist James Bridle is illuminating Germany with artwork exploring the darkest state secrets, cover-ups and information blackouts. REUTERS
 
Two convicted of meat cleaver attack on Hong Kong newspaper editor
Today, a Hong Kong court found two men guilty of attacking a former chief editor of a major Hong Kong newspaper with a meat cleaver in a case that raised concerns about press freedom in the Chinese-run city. REUTERS
 
After murders, police warn Bangladeshi bloggers not to write controversial pieces 
Bangladesh has just seen the fourth murder of a blogger with secularist views in 2015. Rather than providing protection, police are telling writers not to “cross the limit.” Yet the police have had a “hit list” of 84 threatened writers in their possession since 2014. All four bloggers murdered this year were on that list. AL JAZEERA
 
Egypt: Journalists Syndicate voices concern over health of detained journalists
Egypt’s Journalists Syndicate has expressed concern over the declining health of several detained Egyptian journalists, blaming the interior minister for the situation. The statement called for better conditions for imprisoned journalists who, it said, are subject to mistreatment and deprived of much needed healthcare. AHRAM ONLINE
 
Online abuse of free speech makes new Internet laws necessary, minister says
Malaysia’s government is planning new laws to regulate online media. Yet it is unclear why existing laws such as those covering defamation and sedition are insufficient to address the offences cited as necessitating the new law nor why online news portals may be regulated for issues blamed on social network users. THE MALAY MAIL