Yet another journalist sentenced to prison in Tunisia December 2, 2009 Naomi Hunt On Tuesday, a Tunisian court sentenced editor Zouhair Makhlouf to three months in prison for publishing a damaging interview without consent. He has also been ordered to pay 6,000 Tunisian dinar (about 3,100 Euro) in damages. His lawyers, who plan to appeal the decision, complained that the trial was unfair and that the judge interrupted […] Read more »
Tunisian journalist Taoufik Ben Brik sentenced to six months in prison November 27, 2009 Naomi Hunt Tunisian courts sentenced government critic Taoufik Ben Brik to six months in prison on Thursday for assaulting a woman in public, on charges that have been widely derided by free press and human rights group as baseless and politicized. Ben Brik was arrested on 29 October 2009 after a woman filed a complaint following a […] Read more »
Before assuming chairmanship of OSCE in 2010, Kazakhstan moves to further restrict media freedom November 23, 2009 Kazakhstan’s parliament adopted on Thursday 19 November a controversial privacy bill which critics say will place even greater constraints on journalists’ ability to carry out investigative journalism. The bill gives authorities the power to shut down publications and jail journalists for alleged violation of privacy. The bill, which needs only President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s signature before […] Read more »
IPI / SEEMO Joint Statement: Turkish journalist sentenced in absentia to over two years in prison for “insulting” public officials November 19, 2009 Colin Peters A journalist from Turkey’s Adıyaman province returned to his hometown last week after receiving medical treatment in Istanbul, to find that a local criminal court had sentenced him in absentia to over two years in prison for insulting public officials, reports IPI Turkey. Authorities in the eastern province’s Gerger district had brought criminal charges against […] Read more »
IPI India announces recipients of its annual award November 18, 2009 Barbara Trionfi The Week correspondent, Bidisha Ghosal, and the English-language daily Indian Express are the joint winners of the 2009 Award for Excellence in Journalism, presented by the Indian chapter of the International Press Institute (IPI). The award ceremony will take place in December. “IPI congratulates the recipients of the IPI-India award on their important achievement,” said IPI Deputy Director […] Read more »
Niger journalist imprisoned for ‘casting discredit on a judicial ruling’ released after two months November 2, 2009 Nayana Jayarajan The International Press Institute (IPI) welcomes news of the release of Niger journalist Abdoulaye Tiemogo, editor of the weekly Le Canard Dechainé, after two months in prison. As reported by IPI in September, Tiemogo was sentenced to three months in prison for “casting discredit on a judicial ruling” following a comment he made on a […] Read more »
Argentina moves closer to scrapping criminal defamation October 30, 2009 Colin Peters Argentina’s Chamber of Deputies on Thursday passed a bill removing prison sentences for slander and insult from the country’s penal code. Argentina’s Senate will now vote on the government-sponsored move. The executive branch introduced the proposal to reform the criminal offences of calumnias e injurias (slander and insult) on 11 September this year, in response to a […] Read more »
IPI begins press freedom advocacy mission to Russia October 29, 2009 Colin Peters An International Press Institute (IPI) advocacy mission arrived in Russia on Tuesday, 29 September 2009. During the five-day mission, the delegates will visit the cities of Moscow, Kchimki and Tomsk, to meet with local media and government officials and discuss the state of media freedom in the country. The IPI mission to Russia includes: IPI […] Read more »
Journalist tortured by elite Bangladesh security forces October 28, 2009 Barbara Trionfi Bangladeshi journalist F.M. Masum, a staff correspondent of the daily New Age in Bangladesh, was on Thursday (22 Oct.) taken from his residence by members of the country’s infamous Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and was then held incommunicado, and brutally tortured, for over ten hours, before being released. Masum, who had injury marks all over […] Read more »
Ten years after murder of Financial Times correspondent Sander Thoenes in East Timor, ‘Frontline Club’ commemoration in London condemns impunity October 26, 2009 Barbara Trionfi Ten years after Dutch Financial Times correspondent Sander Thoenes was murdered in East Timor, participants at a commemoration held at the ‘Frontline Club’ in London demanded that the Indonesian authorities bring to justice those responsible for his killing. In September 1999, Thoenes went to East Timor to report on the aftermath of a referendum vote for independence […] Read more »
Trial begins against Armenian editor accused of “organising mass disorder” October 22, 2009 Colin Peters A court in the Armenian capital of Yerevan began hearing a criminal case against prominent newspaper editor-in-chief and opposition figure Nikol Pashinyan earlier this week. Pashinyan faces up to 10 years in prison for “organising mass disorder” and “assaulting a state representative.” Armenian authorities have accused Pashinyan of organising the March 2008 riots that followed […] Read more »
Journalist freed on bail in Iran October 20, 2009 Barbara Trionfi Iranian-Canadian journalist Maziar Bahar was released on bail from Tehran’s Evin prison on Saturday, 17 October upon payment of approximately $300,000 (US) bail. Bahar, a well-known documentary filmmaker and reporter for Newsweek, was held in prison without charges for 118 days in solitary confinement under accusation of spying. He was jailed on 21 June during the […] Read more »
Following mission to Russia, IPI warns impunity still gravest obstacle to press freedom October 14, 2009 Colin Peters Following a five-day IPI press freedom advocacy mission to Russia from 29 September – 4 October, IPI warned on Wednesday that the gravest press freedom concern in today’s Russia remains the impunity enjoyed by those who assault and murder journalists. IPI called for action on the part of Russia’s federal government to ensure that both […] Read more »
IPI takes Vienna Declaration on Terrorism, Media and the Law to EU Commission October 7, 2009 IPI Press Freedom Manager Anthony Mills visited the EU Commission last week to discuss with various EU officials IPI’s Vienna Declaration on Terrorism, Media and the Law. He was accompanied by the lead drafter of the declaration, Toby Mendel, now executive director of the Canada-based Center for Law and Democracy and formerly senior director for […] Read more »
The Vienna Declaration on Terrorism, Media and the Law PREAMBLE Participants at the IPI-CILS conference, “The War on Words – Terrorism, Media and the Law”, held in Vienna, Austria, on Oct. 5-6, 2009, reiterate that freedom of expression and of the media are fundamental human rights, enshrined in Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Article 19 of the Universal […] Read more »
As IPI press freedom advocacy mission arrives in Russia, journalist goes into hiding after receiving threats September 29, 2009 Nayana Jayarajan On the day an International Press Institute (IPI) advocacy mission arrived in Russia to discuss the state of media freedom in the country, reports emerged that Russian freelance journalist and human rights activist Alexandr Podrabinek has gone into hiding after angering members of a nationalist pro-Kremlin youth movement with an article he wrote criticising Russia’s […] Read more »
IPI/SEEMO Joint Statement: Turkey investigating journalist and celebrity over newspaper interview criticising government’s ‘Kurdish initiative’ September 24, 2009 Colin Peters, IPI Press Freedom Advisor for Europe and the Americas A Turkish public prosecutor has launched a criminal investigation into a celebrity and a journalist, over comments made in an interview printed in August in the daily Millyet newspaper which the authorities claim could “incite hatred and enmity,” IPI’s Turkish National Committee reported on Wednesday. Devrim Sevimay, a journalist at Millyet, and Hulya Avsar, a […] Read more »
PRESS FREEDOM UPDATE: Sri Lankan journalist appeals 20-year sentence September 17, 2009 The lawyer of a Sri Lankan journalist sentenced at the end of August to 20 years in prison under anti-terror legislation for criticizing the Sri Lankan government’s attacks against the Tamil Tiger rebels filed an appeal on Tuesday. Tissainayagam has been imprisoned since March 2008. J. S. Tissainayagam, who ran the North Eastern Monthly magazine, and was […] Read more »
In wake of deadly Uganda riots: journalist beaten and detained; four radio stations closed September 15, 2009 In the wake of deadly riots last week in the Ugandan capital Kampala, sparked by the controversial visit of a traditional king, a radio journalist was beaten and arrested, according to a fellow Ugandan journalist. News reports said that the Uganda Broadcasting Council (UBC) also closed several radio stations and suspended radio and television journalists, […] Read more »
999 PRESS FREEDOM CALL FOR JUSTICE: On 09.09.09, IPI reminds the world of its 9 remaining ‘justice denied’ journalist cases September 9, 2009 On the 9th of September, 2009, the International Press Institute (IPI) believes it is only fitting to call attention to the nine unresolved cases in its Justice Denied campaign, which highlights the unlawful imprisonment of journalists around the world and the impunity from which the murderers of journalists all too often benefit. Journalists are routinely […] Read more »
Afghan journalist originally sentenced to death receives presidential pardon in 20-year prison sentence September 8, 2009 A journalist for local Afghan newspaper Jahan-e Naw (New World) arrested in October 2007 in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif, charged with blasphemy for downloading from the Internet an article critical of Islam’s position on women’s rights and distributing it to some of his fellow students, and sentenced to 20 years in prison – […] Read more »
Lubna Hussein convicted, ordered to pay €146 or go to prison for a month, in infamous trousers trial case September 7, 2009 Sudan has convicted journalist and former UN employee Lubna Hussein of violating the country’s decency laws, for wearing trousers, and has ordered her to pay a fine equivalent to about €146 – or spend a month in prison. ‘I will not pay the money and I will go to prison,’ Lubna told Reuters by phone […] Read more »
Mother of jailed Cuban journalist awarded US$ 27.5 million in compensation for emotional distress September 3, 2009 In an unprecedented ruling, on Wednesday, a United States federal judge ordered the Cuban Communist Party and the government of Raul Castro to pay a total of US$27.5 million to the mother of jailed Cuban journalist Omar Rodriguez Saludes – for whose release IPI has intensively campaigned as part of its Justice Denied Campaign. “This […] Read more »
Georgian opposition journalist released from prison after serving full four-year term for alleged ‘extortion’ August 27, 2009 Georgian authorities on Wednesday released journalist Shalva Ramishvili from prison, after he served a full four-year term for alleged blackmail. Ramishvili, a former reporter for – and part owner of – TV broadcaster ‘202’, has always protested his innocence, claiming his conviction was punishment for his criticism of Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili. Ramishvili was the […] Read more »
Turkey bans Günlük newspaper over alleged ‘terrorist propaganda’ August 26, 2009 An Istanbul criminal court has ordered the closure, for one month, of Günlük newspaper – which is known for raising issues related to Turkey’s Kurdish minority – over an article considered by the court to constitute propaganda for a terrorist organisation. The article was published earlier this month. The verdict, handed down on Friday 22 […] Read more »
Azeri journalist serving time for alleged ‘espionage’ dies in prison, amid concern for other jailed journalists August 18, 2009 The International Press Institute (IPI) is saddened at the death in prison on Monday of Azeri journalist Novruzali Mammadov. The 68-year-old former editor-in-chief of Tolishi Sado (“Voice of Talysh”) was serving a controversial 10-year jail sentence handed down in 2008 for alleged “espionage.” Mammadov, who died of natural causes, had suffered deteriorating health since his […] Read more »
Lubna Hussein ‘trousers’ trial postponed to 7 September August 4, 2009 The trial of Sudanese former journalist Lubna Hussein, who faces 40 lashes after being arrested a month ago for wearing trousers, has been postponed, again, until 7 September, according to IPI member and CEO of Turkey’s Hurriyet media group Vuslat Doğan Sabancı, who is in Khartoum following the trial. The further delay is reportedly because […] Read more »
Trial of female journalist arrested for wearing trousers postponed until 7 September; second female journalist faces enormous fine for ‘defamation’ August 4, 2009 The trial of Sudanese journalist Lubna Hussein, who faces 40 lashes after being arrested a month ago for wearing trousers, has been postponed, again, until 7 September, according to International Press Institute (IPI) fellow Vuslat Dogan Sabancı, who was in Khartoum for the hearing. Sabanci is a former board member of IPI and current CEO […] Read more »
Finnish journalist faces jail time in Slovenia over broadcast accusing government of corruption July 31, 2009 Slovenia has charged Finnish journalist Magnus Berglund with two counts of criminal defamation after a documentary he produced quoted unnamed sources as saying that members of the former Slovene government – including former Prime Minister Janez Jansa – accepted bribes in arms deals with Finnish arms maker Patria. Berglund made the allegations in a September […] Read more »
SOMALILAND UPDATE: Radio journalists arrested two weeks ago for allegedly inciting inter-clan violence in broadcast appear in court for third time July 29, 2009 Two Somaliland radio journalists arrested on 13 July for allegedly inciting inter-clan violence with a broadcast appeared in court for the third time on Tuesday, Hargeisa-based Media Rights Somaliland (MeRiS) told the International Press Institute (IPI) on Wednesday. At the hearing, witness Mohamed Nur Kaahin, a Gebilay province elder, testified that nothing in the defendants’ […] Read more »
Missing Nepalese journalist resurfaces, after fleeing threats over corruption article July 28, 2009 Shiva Oli, a Nepali journalist reported missing by his wife after he left his home in the Doti district in the far western region of Nepal on 25 July, was located on Tuesday morning when he contacted the police, the regional coordinator for the Far Western Region of the Federation of Nepali Journalists, Manmohan Swar, […] Read more »
Sudanese police file complaint against female journalist over article defending women arrested for wearing trousers July 27, 2009 The public order police in Sudan have filed a complaint against female journalist Amal Habbani, editor of the “Tiny Issues” column in “Ajrass Al Horreya” newspaper over a 12 July story entitled “Lubna…A Case of Subduing a Woman’s Body,” in which she defended Lubna al-Hussein, one of 13 women reportedly arrested – and in some […] Read more »
With televised threat to journalists, Gambia’s President Jammeh fuels media climate of fear July 23, 2009 Gambian President Yahya Jammeh on Wednesday 22 July warned journalists against tarnishing Gambia’s image, in a statement to state-owned GRTS television. “Any journalist who thinks that he or she can write whatever he or she wants, and go free, is making a big mistake”, Jammeh declared. “If anybody is caught, he will be severely dealt […] Read more »
