President of Puntland in Somalia should respect free expression September 14, 2016 Last week, IPI joined over fifty journalist unions and freedom of expression groups in signing a letter from the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) that calls on Puntland President Abdirahman Mohamed Farole to respect freedom of expression and refrain from attacks on journalists and the media. Since President Farole assumed office, independent media have […] Read more »
Fifth and sixth Somali journalists killed within a week September 14, 2016 Naomi Hunt Abdirahman Mohamud Ali is the fifth Somali journalist to be killed within a week, reports say. His beheaded body was reportedly found in Mogadishu yesterday, but no one has yet claimed responsibility for the attacks. Ali, 26, reportedly worked for the news website cayaarahamaanta.com. Ahmed Abdulahi Fanah, 32, of SAPA News Agency, was shot to […] Read more »
How a €3 million libel suit led a Greek journalist to fight for legal change September 14, 2016 IPI Correspondent Lambrini Papadopoulou One can only imagine the feeling of satisfaction and vindication that Greek journalist Dimitris Hortargias must have felt on Dec. 22, 2015, when lawmakers overwhelmingly approved critical reforms to Greece’s Press Law, widely known then as the “press killer”. “All I was thinking on that day was that no other colleague of mine will have to […] Read more »
Journalist abducted and murdered in Pakistan’s Balochistan province September 13, 2016 Molly Ochs The International Press Institute (IPI) strongly condemned the murder of senior Pakistani journalist Razzaq Gul, a reporter at Express News in Turbat city, in southern Balochistan. Gul was found dead in the Kech district of Pakistan’s Balochistan Province on May 19, 2012. According to the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), Gul was reported missing near […] Read more »
Media workers killed in India, Pakistan and Syria September 13, 2016 Nadia Danecek The International Press Institute (IPI) condemned the recent killings of journalists in Pakistan, India and Syria and reiterated its deep concern over the disappearance of three journalists in Syria, who have been missing for several weeks. In Pakistan, Abdul Haq Baloch, 37, correspondent for ARY News television station and Secretary of the Khuzdar Press Club, […] Read more »
Environmental journalist killed in Cambodia September 13, 2016 Fatma Elshhati The International Press Institute (IPI) today condemned the killing of Hang Serei Oudom, a reporter with the Cambodian local language newspaper Vorakchun Khmer Daily. According to reports, Oudom, who had been missing since Sunday evening, was found dead yesterday in an abandoned vehicle in a cashew nut plantation in the northern Ratanakiri province, with several […] Read more »
IPI condemns spate of deadly attacks on Syrian citizen reporters September 12, 2016 Molly Ochs The International Press Institute (IPI) today condemned the continued attacks against citizen reporters in Syria by forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad. On May 27, three citizen reporters of the Shaam News Network were killed by security forces in the Al-Khalidiya neighborhood in Homs, according to Massoud Akko of the Syrian Centre for Media and […] Read more »
Journalist jailed in Chechnya on drug possession charges September 8, 2016 The International Press Institute (IPI) today expressed concern over the Sept. 5 sentencing of Zhalaudi Geriev, a journalist with the Russian news website Kavkazsky Uzel (Caucasian Knot), by a court in Chechnya to three years imprisonment for alleged marijuana possession. IPI Director of Advocacy and Communications Steven M. Ellis expressed fears that the charges against […] Read more »
Bahraini cameraman shot dead September 8, 2016 Nisha Thanki 22 year old cameraman, Ahmed Ismael Al-Samadi was shot last night while covering a protest in Salmabad, according to reports. He was reportedly taken to International Hospital by his family and was later pronounced dead. According to the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR), a protest in Salmabad began peacefully and then was allegedly suppressed […] Read more »
Mexico: IPI calls for immediate investigation into latest journalist murders September 8, 2016 IPI Contributor Anne ter Rele The IPI global network for independent journalism condemns the killing of two Mexican journalists during the past week and calls for an immediate investigation by authorities in both cases. Last week, two veteran reporters in Mexico were murdered. On Thursday, October 28, reporter Fredy López Arévalo was murdered in his home in San Cristóbal de […] Read more »
Russian journalist murdered September 8, 2016 Steven M. Ellis Russian authorities said today that a journalist gunned down last night in the North Caucasus republic of Kabardino-Balkaria may have been killed due to his work. The Investigative Committee of Russia suggested the link in a statement announcing that the Committee will head the investigation into the slaying of All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting […] Read more »
IPI World Congress 2011: Innovations in political cartooning September 6, 2016 Lin King, Adrienne Shih Amidst heavy topics such as Taiwan-China cross-strait relations and poverty in North Korea, “Innovations in Political Cartooning” seemed comparatively lighthearted. It was, in fact, a discussion of blatant infringements of free speech and the role of static images in the rapidly evolving electronic media. “With newspapers dropping like flies, cartoonists are often the first ones […] Read more »
Greek editor sentenced for criticising school director’s extremist views September 5, 2016 IPI Correspondent Lambrini Papadopoulou “There is no worse thing for a journalist than to sit in a courtroom and hear that he has been sentenced to prison for doing his job,” Greek journalist Stratis Balaskas recounts. Nearly two months ago, on July 11, Balaskas found himself exactly in this position after the Northern Aegean Court of Appeals confirmed a […] Read more »
Journalists killed in Syria and Pakistan September 5, 2016 Sasu Siegelbaum A well-known Syrian journalist working for a pro-government television channel was killed yesterday in a sniper attack near the country’s border with Lebanon, according to international reports. Al-Jazeera reported that Yara Abbas, 26, a war correspondent for the al-Ikhbariya television channel, was killed by opposition gunfire in an offensive by forces loyal to President Bashar […] Read more »
Missing journalist found dead in Pakistan September 5, 2016 The murder of Pakistani journalist Abdul Razzak Baloch, whose body was found last week, seven months after the journalist went missing on March 24, is a sad reminder of the challenges journalists face in Pakistan, the International Press Institute (IPI) said today. Baloch, a copy editor for the Balochistan-based newspaper Daily Tawaar, is the eighth […] Read more »
Honduran television journalist kidnapped September 5, 2016 The International Press Institute (IPI) is horrified by the kidnapping and possible murder of a well-known television journalist yesterday in Honduras’s second-largest city of San Pedro Sula. IPI urges police to continue their search for Anibal Barrow and to pursue all possible leads in bringing his kidnappers to justice. Barrow, 58, an agronomist and university […] Read more »
Honduran photographer killed three years after human-rights body requested his protection September 5, 2016 Scott Griffen A Honduran photographer who formerly worked for deposed president Manuel Zelaya was found dead last week in Tegucigalpa, three years after the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) requested that the Honduran state guarantee the photographer’s “life and personal integrity”. According to the Honduras press-freedom group C-Libre as well as media reports, the body of […] Read more »
Fourth Brazilian journalist killed this year September 5, 2016 Jan Beyer The International Press Institute (IPI) today called on Brazilian authorities to fully investigate last Sunday’s killing of photojournalist Walgney Assis Carvalho. According to the news website em.com.br, Assis, who worked as a freelancer for the newspaper Vale de Arco, was shot while sitting in a fish restaurant in the town of Coronel Fabriciano, in the […] Read more »
IPI concerned by Bhutan defamation case September 2, 2016 IPI Contributor Tara Nissl A defamation case over a Facebook post that could force a freelance journalist in Bhutan to pay the equivalent of 10 years’ salary or go to prison – and its potential implications for regulation of social media – raise serious concerns, the International Press Institute (IPI) said today. Journalist Namgay Zam is on trial for […] Read more »
Coalition: Bahrain should free Nabeel Rajab immediately September 2, 2016 Prominent human rights defender Nabeel Rajab, who has been held behind bars in Bahrain for 81 days, should be freed immediately and unconditionally, a coalition of 34 rights groups, including the International Press Institute (IPI), said today in a letter to Bahrain’s king. The groups made the call one day after the 52nd birthday of […] Read more »
IPI urges UAE to release Jordanian journalist September 1, 2016 IPI Contributor Tara Nissl The International Press Institute (IPI) today called on the United Arab Emirates to release a Jordanian journalist who has been detained for eight-and-a-half months, reportedly without charge. Tayseer al-Najjar, who works as culture reporter for the Emirates-based newspaper Dar, was prevented from flying to Jordan in December and then detained on Dec. 13. He was […] Read more »
Federal investigation of Russian editor’s 2013 murder urged September 1, 2016 The International Press Institute (IPI) and over 30 free expression groups yesterday called for Russia’s Investigative Committee to take over the investigation into the July 2013 murder of Dagestani editor Ahkmednabi Akhmednabiyev and to end the cycle of impunity for crimes against journalists in the country. The groups made the call to Aleksandr Bastrykin, head […] Read more »
Violence ‘the easiest way’ to deal with journalists in Russia September 1, 2016 The 2006 murder of Russian investigative journalist and International Press Institute (IPI) World Press Freedom Hero Anna Politkovskaya is emblematic of the state of impunity for such crimes in her country, yet she is only one of at least 62 journalists to have lost her life in Russia since 1997, according to IPI’s Death Watch. […] Read more »
Abdul Rahman Abu Batra, Syria Abdul Rahman Abu Batra was killed by Islamic State militants on December 5, 2014 in Lattakia, a city in northwest Syria, according to the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). The Syrian Network for Human Rights reported that he was kidnapped nearly a year earlier. Batra was a presenter and journalist at Syrian Al Shaab TV. […] Read more »
Aung Kyaw Naing (Par Gyi), Myanmar Freelance journalist Aung Kyaw Naing, aka Par Gyi, was killed in military custody on Oct. 4, 2014. He reportedly was detained on Sept. 30 while covering violent clashes between Myanmar’s military and the rebel group Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA) near the Thai border. Military reports originally claimed that he was taken into custody as […] Read more »
Egypt pressed to curb violence against journalists August 31, 2016 Egyptian leaders must act immediately to curb police intimidation of media workers and provide a safer working environment for journalists, who have endured months of attacks from street mobs as well as security agents, the International Press Institute (IPI) said in a report released today. Since the military-led ouster of Egypt’s democratically elected president last […] Read more »
Pablo Medina, Paraguay Pablo Medina, a correspondent for Paraguayan daily newspaper “ABC Color,” was shot in his car in the country’s northeastern Canindeyú department while returning from covering a news story on Oct 16, 2014. The unknown gunmen ambushed the journalist and his two assistants. One of them, Antonia Almada, was also killed by the gunfire. The IPI […] Read more »
Long-time Mexican journalist found dead days after abduction August 31, 2016 Vanessa I. Garnica The International Press Institute (IPI) today urged Mexican authorities to conduct a full investigation into the murder of Mexican journalist Jorge Torres Palacios, whose body was found on June 2, four days after he was kidnapped by his home in Acapulco, Guerrero state. The long-time journalist had worked as the spokesman for the Health Office […] Read more »
Hernán Cruz Barnica, Honduras Hernán Cruz Barnica, 45, community radio journalist, was reportedly killed near Dulce Nombre, in the district of Copan, in Honduras on May 28. The IPI Weekly Digest & IPI Distribution List Subscribe for all IPI press freedom news and updates, opportunities for journalists, and the latest in media innovation. Join us! The reporter hosted a […] Read more »
Yonni Steven Caicedo, Colombia Colombian journalist Yonni Steven Caicedo was shot and killed on Feb. 19, 2014 after receiving death threats for covering a criminal investigation in the Caldas neighbourhood, located in the coastal town of Buenaventura, in western Colombia, human rights and press freedom groups reported. The IPI Weekly Digest & IPI Distribution List Subscribe for all IPI […] Read more »
Andrea Rocchelli, Ukraine Italian photojournalist Andrea Rocchelli was killed in Sloviansk in eastern Ukraine along with Andrei Mironov, his Russian interpreter and fixer, on May 24, 2014 when they were hit by mortar fire. French photojournalist William Roguelon was wounded in the attack. The three were covering clashes between government forces and pro-Russian separatists in the area and […] Read more »
Turkey detains more journalists as purge continues August 30, 2016 Turkey’s government has issued warrants to detain another 35 people, including journalists, with alleged links to U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gülen just two days after authorities detained dozens of Kurdish journalists, reportedly bringing the total number of journalists now held in Turkey to 140. Hürriyet reported that police detained nine of the 35 sought under the […] Read more »
2016 Alfred Fried Photography Award (Sept. 20) For the third consecutive year, the International Press Institute (IPI) has partnered with the Photographische Gesellschaft (PHG) and Edition Lammerhuber to present the 2016 Alfred Fried Photography Award. Named for Austrian pacifist, author and 1911 Nobel Peace Prize recipient Alfred Hermann Fried, the Award recognises the year’s best photograph signifying the theme of peace. The […] Read more »
