IPI concerned at alleged death threats against Mexican journalist Lydia Cacho July 19, 2011 Mariela Hoyer Guerrero Mexican journalist and human rights activist Lydia Cacho, 48, was threatened twice last month, according to news reports. On 14 June, the foundation which carries her name, based in Madrid, received an email warning Cacho to “keep her mouth shut” or she would be killed. Only three days later she received an anonymous phone call […] Read more »
IPI News Innovation Contest: Over 300 applications submitted July 18, 2011 The International Press Institute (IPI) has initiated the second phase of the IPI News Innovation Contest, and is reviewing 309 applications from the 23 February – 1 June submission period. The entries came in from all over the world; most, however, were from the contest’s focal regions: Europe, the Middle East and Africa. IPI also […] Read more »
IPI FEATURE STORY: The challenge of covering Syria July 13, 2011 Enid Portuguez The late American poet and musician Gil Scott-Heron famously declared in a 1970 recording that “the revolution will not be televised.” In the case of the uprising in Syria, this phrase almost rang true. Unlike the closely documented protests in Tunisia and Egypt, in which 24-hour news coverage captured the historic fall of two long-standing […] Read more »
IPI calls for transparent investigation into attacks on journalists in Chiapas, Mexico July 8, 2011 Mariela Hoyer Guerrero The International Press Institute (IPI) urges the authorities to conduct a transparent investigation into recent attacks against, and harassment of, journalists in the Mexican state of Chiapas, in the southern part of the country. Jacobo Elnecavé Luttman, 31, has been in critical condition for almost three weeks after six individuals brutally beat him on 19 […] Read more »
Belarusian court sentences Andrzej Poczobut July 8, 2011 Piotr Stasiński Andrzej Poczobut – Belarusian correspondent of Gazeta Wyborcza, a leading Polish daily newspaper, and a Polish-Belarusian minority activist – was sentenced Tuesday on criminal charges that he insulted Belarus’ President Alexander Lukashenko. A closed-door court in Grodno, Belarus, sentenced Poczobut to three years imprisonment, but suspended the sentence and freed the journalist from jail, where […] Read more »
Sudanese journalist jailed for reporting on alleged rape July 6, 2011 Mina Nacheva The International Press Institute (IPI) today condemned the decision of a Sudanese court to sentence a journalist to one month in prison for reporting on the alleged rape of a female opposition activist by members of the country’s security forces. Fatimah Ghazali was jailed on Tuesday, 5 July, freelance journalist and human rights advocate Abdelgadir […] Read more »
UPDATE: Ethiopian journalists accused of planning to sabotage power and phone lines July 1, 2011 Naomi Hunt Yesterday, Ethiopian officials told the media that two journalists who were detained last week have been accused of planning to sabotage power and phone lines, and recruiting people to destabilize the country, Reuters and other news outlets reported. Woubshet Taye, deputy editor of the publication Awramba Times, and Reyot Alemu from the Feteh newspaper, were […] Read more »
Iranian sports journalist and photographer arrested June 30, 2011 Enid Portuguez Iranian sports reporter and photographer Maryam Majd has been arrested and jailed in Tehran’s Evin prison, according to the Los Angeles Times. The reason for her arrest is still unknown, but International Campaign for Human Rights reports that Majd phoned her family on 21 June, five days after she was taken from her home by […] Read more »
Yemen Times journalist to join panel at IPI World Congress June 29, 2011 In a session titled “Facebook Revolutions: The Media and the Uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East”, to be held on Monday, 26 September 2011, during the IPI World Congress in Taipei, panellists will examine the role that social media networks such as Facebook and Twitter, as well as online media outlets and the […] Read more »
Chinese investigative journalist sentenced to additional eight years in prison June 27, 2011 Barbara Trionfi Chinese journalist Qi Chonghuai, who has been jailed since September 2007, has been handed an additional eight-year sentence on the same charges, in breach of Chinese law. Until his detention in 2007, Qi had been working as a journalist and editor for different mainstream news media outlets, including the Fazhi Zaobao (“Legal System Morning News”), […] Read more »
Attacks on the media continue in eastern Africa June 24, 2011 Mina Nacheva The International Press Institute (IPI) today condemned the recent attacks on two radio stations, the detention of a journalist, and the ongoing trials against at least eight others in Eastern Africa. Local Somali radio stations Codka Hiiraan and Dhusamareb were seized on 22 June, and the editor of the latter was detained briefly on the […] Read more »
Global Coordinating Committee approves press freedom resolutions June 22, 2011 The Global Coordinating Committee of Press Freedom Organizations, at its meeting held in Vienna, Austria, on 17 June, 2011, agreed to adopt the following resolutions on the Americas and Turkey by unanimous vote of the members present. Members who voted in favour of the resolutions included representatives from the International Press Institute (IPI), the International […] Read more »
U.S. journalist, British activist brutally assaulted in Azerbaijan June 17, 2011 Mina Nacheva The International Press Institute (IPI) today condemned the brutal assault on an American freelance journalist and a British human rights activist in the capital of Azerbaijan, Baku. Amanda Erickson and Celia Davies Carys were followed to their home at around midnight on 15 June and attacked by four unidentified men outside the women’s apartment building, […] Read more »
Pakistani journalist found murdered June 3, 2011 Mina Nacheva The International Press Institute (IPI) today condemned the murder of a Pakistani journalist who was found dead 150km from Islamabad on 31 May. The body of Syed Saleem Shahzad, who disappeared on 29 May, was discovered floating in a canal in Pakistan’s northern Gujarat district, according to media reports. Shahzad was the Pakistan bureau chief […] Read more »
Two people receive life sentences for murdering a journalist in Nepal June 1, 2011 Mina Nacheva The Bara District Court in Nepal on 30 May handed down a life sentence to two people accused of the murder of journalist Birendra Saha in 2007, the International Press Institute’s (IPI) Nepal National Committee reported. Maoist activists Managar Giri and Ram Ekbal Sahani, who have already spent the last two years in judicial custody, […] Read more »
Governments continue to crack down on social media May 30, 2011 Mina Nacheva Chinese authorities have cracked down on social media in Inner Mongolia after days of unrest that forced the government to tighten security in the autonomous region. Information sources such as QQ instant messenger, internet chatting and text messaging have been recognized as playing a major role in organizing large-scale protests in the region and have […] Read more »
Three journalists in Italy handed prison sentences on defamation charges May 28, 2011 Barbara Trionfi Three Italian journalists have been handed prison sentences for defamation by a court in Chieti, Central Italy, in connection with a series of articles published in 2007 about an alleged investigation into the mayor of Sulmona, a nearby city, by the Financial Crime Investigation Unit (Guardia di Finanza), an Italian police force directly under the […] Read more »
Released Azerbaijan journalist savours freedom May 27, 2011 Mina Nacheva Azerbaijani journalist Eynulla Fatullayev, released from prison on Thursday under an amnesty after serving four years, thanked the International Press Institute (IPI) and other organisations for their support during his imprisonment, and said he was savouring freedom. Speaking to IPI by telephone he said, audibly relieved: “Thank you very much for all your support and […] Read more »
Syrian government intensifies crackdown on social media May 23, 2011 Nayana Jayarajan A disturbing article in the New York Times today chronicles the Syrian government’s crackdown on social media to stifle protest and destabilize the revolutionaries. As the article points out, since journalists are prohibited from entering the country, social media channels like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube have become essential, not only to spread information outside the country, but […] Read more »
Journalist sentenced to eight months under media laws in Burundi, released against time already served May 18, 2011 Nayana Jayarajan The International Press Institute (IPI) is relieved at the release of online journalist Jean-Claude Kavumbagu, editor of the online daily NetPress, on Monday. Kavumbagu was charged with treason under the penal code of Burundi, and sentenced to eight months and a fine of 100,000 Bfu (56 euro) on a lesser charge of publishing an article […] Read more »
23 days in a Syrian detention facility: Q&A with Khaled Sid Mohand May 17, 2011 Journalist Khaled Sid Mohand, a reporter for French newspaper Le Monde and Radio France, participated in a Q&A with the International Press Institute (IPI) and Wissam Tarif of human rights NGO Insan about the 23 days he spent in a Syrian detention facility. Arrested in a Damascus café on 9 April, Mohand was held for nearly a […] Read more »
Belarus journalist and opposition activist receives suspended sentence May 16, 2011 Mina Nacheva The wife of Andrei Sannikov, an activist arrested for allegedly organizing and participating in a political rally against Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko on 19 December, has herself been handed a suspended sentence, Reuters reported on Monday. Irina Khalip, correspondent for the Moscow-based Novaya Gazeta and a member of the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), was […] Read more »
IPI joins IFEX-Tunisia monitoring group in calling for fair broadcast license distribution May 12, 2011 IPI/IFEX-TMG – 10 May 2011 – Decades of government-imposed restrictions on freedom of speech and freedom of media through censorship, imprisonments, and pressure on media outlets and journalists have left the Tunisian media landscape in urgent need of reform, with the promotion of freedom of expression as a founding cornerstone, say members of the International […] Read more »
Investigate attacks on Uganda journalists, says IPI May 11, 2011 Naomi Hunt Ugandan authorities must investigate attacks, including by security forces, against journalists attempting to cover the “Walk to Work” demonstrations and the ensuing violence that erupted last month, the director of the International Press Institute (IPI) said today. According to reports from local media and the Human Rights Network for Journalists-Uganda (HRNJ-Uganda), a Kampala-based free press […] Read more »
Missing Pakistani journalist found dead May 5, 2011 Saurabh Sati The body of a missing Pakistani journalist was found in the southwestern region of the country on 28 April, according to local media reports. Independent investigations have so far ruled out the possibility of his death being work-related. According to the Express Tribune, the bullet-riddled bodies of Sadiq Baloch, a member of Human Rights Commission […] Read more »
IPI on World Press Freedom Day: Naomi Hunt speaks at Oviedo Press Association on 3 May May 3, 2011 Naomi Hunt IPI Press Freedom Adviser for Africa and the Middle East Naomi Hunt is speaking at the Oviedo Press Association World Press Freedom Day Event in Oviedo, Spain, on threats facing press freedom in the Middle East. Her speech is below. Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen. Thank you very much to the Press Club of Oviedo […] Read more »
IPI on World Press Freedom Day: Steven M. Ellis speaks at Freedom for Journalists Platform Congress in Istanbul, Turkey May 3, 2011 Steven M Ellis IPI Press Freedom Adviser for Europe Steven Ellis is in Istanbul to speak at the Congress of the Freedom for Journalists Platform, Turkey on World Press Freedom Day, May 3, 2011. His speech is below: We are here today to talk about press freedom in Turkey. IPI’s Director, Alison Bethel McKenzie, and our Press Freedom […] Read more »
IPI on World Press Freedom Day: Barbara Trionfi speaks at the Norwegian Editors Forum May 3, 2011 Barbara Trionfi I would like to thank the organizers of this event and the IPI National Committee in Norway for this opportunity to address the participants of the Norwegian Editors Forum and celebrate with you International World Press Freedom Day. Before presenting one by one what IPI has found to be the top ten threats to press […] Read more »
IPI renews call to free Azerbaijani journalist Eynulla Fatullayev April 21, 2011 Steven M. Ellis The International Press Institute (IPI) on Wednesday renewed its call for the release of jailed Azerbaijani journalist Eynulla Fatullayev on the fourth anniversary of his imprisonment. IPI also condemned Azerbaijani authorities’ deportation of three Swedish journalists who were arrested Sunday while trying to observe an opposition rally. The detention and expulsion came amidst growing reports […] Read more »
Two renowned photojournalists killed in Misrata April 21, 2011 Two highly-respected Western war photojournalists were among at least five people killed on Wednesday in the rebel-held city of Misrata when they were hit by a rocket-propelled grenade, international news reports said. At least two other journalists were wounded in the attack. Tim Hetherington, 41, was a British war photographer and filmmaker whose documentary “Restrepo,” […] Read more »
IPI alarmed at reports of bloggers, journalists detained in Syria March 25, 2011 Naomi Hunt At least five journalists and bloggers have been detained since the violent crackdown on protests in Daraa began several days ago, according to news reports, and one private television station has received threats from the Syrian authorities, a report on AlArabiya.net stated. Journalist Mazen Darwish, writer Louay Hussein, cameraman Maen Al-Ali and bloggers Khaled Elekhetayar […] Read more »
IPI director, press freedom manager wrap up emergency visit to Turkey March 21, 2011 IPI Director Alison Bethel McKenzie and IPI Press Freedom Manager Anthony Mills on Friday wrapped up an IPI emergency visit to IPI’s Turkish National Committee in Istanbul, following the recent wave of arrests of Turkish journalists, including IPI World Press Freedom Hero Nedim Şener. Those recently arrested join dozens of other journalists in prison in […] Read more »
Radio Free Europe journalist reportedly beaten covering demonstration in Baku March 14, 2011 Steven M. Ellis The International Press Institute (IPI) today expressed disappointment following reports from Radio Free Europe that a freelance photographer working for its Azeri service was beaten by a police officer Friday in downtown Baku while photographing a demonstration. Abbas Atilay said he was covering the protest – where demonstrators reportedly demanded the release of jailed journalists […] Read more »