Rwandan newspaper editor shot dead June 26, 2010 An unidentified gunman shot dead a journalist for a banned Rwandan newspaper on Thursday, according to media reports. Jean Leonard Rugambage, an editor for the local-language Umuvugizi newspaper, was shot twice in front of his home on the outskirts of the capital Kigali on Thursday night, a police spokesperson was quoted as saying. Umuvugizi’s editor, […] Read more »
IPI adds name to global coordinating committee of press freedom letter to Venezuelan president June 23, 2010 On Monday, 14 June 2010 IPI reported that Venezuelan authorities issued an arrest warrant for Guillermo Zualoga, the owner of Globovisión television station, and his son on charges of conspiracy and usury. Zualoga and his son were charged with business malpractice, after 24 new Toyota SUVs were found at one of their homes during a […] Read more »
IPI condemns passage of Tunisian act targeting free flow of information June 16, 2010 The Tunisian Chamber of Deputies yesterday passed a new law under which press freedom activists and other human rights defenders could find themselves jailed for up to 12 years in times “of war” – and five in peace time- if they lobby against Tunisia’s economic interests. The act amends Article 61 bis. of the […] Read more »
Turkish journalist sentenced under anti-terror law June 11, 2010 Nayana Jayarajan The International Press Institute calls on the judiciary in Turkey to overturn the sentence imposed on Irfan Aktan, a Turkish journalist, for an article he wrote in October 2009. The journalist was sentenced on 4 June to a year and three months in prison, and a fine of 16,000 Turkish Lira was imposed on Merve […] Read more »
IPI joins launch of TMG Tunisia mission report in Beirut June 7, 2010 The Tunisia Monitoring Group (TMG) yesterday unveiled the findings of its 7th Mission to Tunisia during a panel on the first day of the 4th Arab Free Press Forum in Beirut, Lebanon – an event attended by IPI Director David Dadge. The report, entitled Behind the Façade: How a Politicised Judiciary and Administrative Sanctions Undermine […] Read more »
Taiwanese journalists receive WHA accreditation for second year May 25, 2010 For the second year in a row, representatives of Taiwanese media were handed accreditation for the World Health Assembly (WHA), which took place in Geneva, Switzerland, from 17-21 May. The WHA is the supreme decision-making body of the World Health Organisation (WHO), a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN). Until 2008, the WHA had […] Read more »
First South East and Central Europe Investigative Journalism Days to be held in Montenegro in May 2010 May 10, 2010 The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), a network of editors, media executives and leading journalists from South East and Central Europe and an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI), is pleased to announce the “First South East and Central Europe Investigative Journalism Days, which will be held in Becici/Budva, Montenegro, from 24 – […] Read more »
Slovakia Supreme Court president and former justice minister sues radio station for ‘damage to reputation’ May 7, 2010 Nayana Jayarajan The Supreme Court of Slovakia is suing a Slovakian radio station to the tune of €200,000 in a lawsuit alleging that the station falsely suggested that the Supreme Court had spent €32,700 on the refurbishment of the bathroom of the court’s president. If found guilty, the station may be ordered to pay damages to Supreme […] Read more »
Ecuador’s National Union of Journalists concerned about draft organic law on communications May 6, 2010 The National Union of Journalists (UNP) in Ecuador is calling on the country’s National Assembly to hold a final debate on a draft Organic Law on Communication (Ley Organica de Comunication) before it is passed. The journalists’ union recently presented a 15-page document to authorities calling for more debate on the proposed communications act, which […] Read more »
Press freedom continues to deteriorate under Kyrgyzstan’s new interim government May 5, 2010 Barbara Trionfi The International Press Institute (IPI) has joined 23 other international press freedom and human rights organizations in expressing concern about the unstable situation for journalists and media outlets in Kyrgyzstan and the press freedom restrictions imposed on print, broadcast and online media outlets, which prevent them from providing coverage of events in the country. Over […] Read more »
Sri Lankan leader pardons Tamil editor May 3, 2010 A Tamil editor who had criticised the Sri Lankan government’s military action against Tamil Tiger rebels and was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year on ‘supporting terrorism’ and ‘inciting communal disharmony’ charges, was pardoned this morning by Sri Lanka’s president, Mahinda Rajapaksa. J.S. Tissainayagam, who was the editor of North Eastern Monthly magazine […] Read more »
Why information wants to be free May 1, 2010 IPI Director David Dadge is speaking today at an event in Oviedo, Spain, hosted by the Press Association of Asturias in recognition of World Press Freedom Day and the Association’s 100th anniversary. The group consists of 300 journalists from the region of Asturias. Mr. Dadge’s speech, entitled “Why Information wants to be Free” is reproduced below. Ladies […] Read more »
Mexican journalist Lydia Cacho named IPI Press Freedom Hero April 29, 2010 Mexican journalist and human rights defender Lydia Cacho Ribeiro was declared today an IPI World Press Freedom Hero, in recognition of her years-long contribution to highlighting the importance of press freedom and investigative journalism in the defence of justice and human rights. Lydia Cacho has become famous for her reports on domestic violence, child prostitution, […] Read more »
IPI Joins TMG in welcoming release of journalist Ben Brik but condemns policy of punishing critical journalists April 28, 2010 Naomi Hunt While members of the Tunisia Monitoring Group (TMG) welcome Taoufik Ben Brik’s release from prison today, the press freedom coalition condemns the charges against journalist Fahem Boukadous as a political manoeuvre whose true aim is to silence criticism of Tunisian authorities. The TMG is a group of over twenty organisations who belong to the International […] Read more »
Tunisia releases independent journalist Taoufik Ben Brik, another journalist assaulted by police April 27, 2010 Nayana Jayarajan A prominent Tunisian journalist known for his criticism of the government has been released a day after serving a six-month sentence for allegedly assaulting a woman during a traffic incident. Taoufik Ben Brik, whose arrest and imprisonment are widely believed to have been politically motivated, was sentenced to six months in prison with no parole […] Read more »
Slovak constitutional court upholds freedom of expression April 20, 2010 Nayana Jayarajan The International Press Institute welcomes a Slovakian Constitutional Court ruling that the judiciary violated the rights of a Slovakian weekly magazine and failed to take into account the principle of freedom of expression when it directed the magazine to pay SKK 250,000 (EUR 8,300) to a judge for defamation of his character. The ruling of […] Read more »
Video on whistleblower website shows US attack that killed two Iraqi Reuters staffers April 7, 2010 Following the release of a video by Swedish whistleblower website Wikileaks showing the indiscriminate shooting of civilians, including two Reuters journalists, by US Army helicopters, IPI calls on the US government to investigate the actions of the army personnel involved. The video, which was released on Youtube and the Wikileaks website on Tuesday, involves footage filmed from an Apache helicopter, and […] Read more »
Seven years on, no sign of justice for Cuba’s jailed journalists April 5, 2010 Nayana Jayarajan Today marks the seventh anniversary of the sentencing of Cuban journalist Omar Rodriguez Saludes to 27 years in prison, the longest sentence handed down to any of the journalists charged during Cuba’s notorious 2003 ‘Black Spring’ crackdown against the media. More than 29 journalists were arrested in the roundups that began on 18 March 2003, […] Read more »
Yahoo email accounts of foreign journalists in China feared hacked March 31, 2010 Nayana Jayarajan The debate on Internet censorship in China flared today with reports that Yahoo Email accounts of foreign journalists in the country had been hacked and blocked, or were otherwise rendered inaccessible. According to the Associated Press, several foreign correspondents based in China have reported receiving error messages when attempting to log into Yahoo Email accounts. […] Read more »
On 7th anniversary of Cuba’s clampdown on independent journalism, IPI calls for immediate release of journalists March 17, 2010 Seven years after Cuba’s notorious Black Spring clampdown on independent journalism, IPI calls for the immediate release of the 19 journalists jailed in 2003 who still remain in prison, as well as of the six other journalists jailed after 2003. On 18 March 2003, the government of Fidel Castro launched a crackdown on dissent in […] Read more »
Third journalist killed in Honduras this month March 16, 2010 A TV news editor has been killed in Honduras, just days after a radio reporter was killed and only two weeks after the murder of a TV presenter. Nahúm Palacios Arteaga, 36, the news director for television channel Canal 5 in Aguán and host of a news programme on Radio Tocoa, was shot dead on […] Read more »
Miklos Haraszti ends term as OSCE representative on freedom of the media March 8, 2010 Anthony Mills Miklos Haraszti will end his six-year term of office as the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media on 10 March 2010. Haraszti, a Hungarian writer, journalist, human rights advocate and university professor co-founded the Hungarian Democratic Opposition Movement and was editor of the Beszélo journal, which was influential in shaping Hungary’s transition to democracy. […] Read more »
Officer who shot Russian journalist freed after just three months March 4, 2010 Louise Hallman A police officer who murdered an opposition journalist in August 2008 has been freed from jail after serving just three months of a two year sentence. Ibragim Yevloyev, a senior police officer in Russia’s volatile southern republic of Ingushetia, was found guilty of “reckless homicide resulting from improper performance of professional duties” in December 2009 […] Read more »
Health of imprisoned Tunisian journalist reportedly failing February 25, 2010 By Naomi Hunt, Press Freedom Adviser for Africa and the Middle East Tunisian Journalist Taoufik Ben Brik, who has been in custody since October 2009, is in danger of losing his life as a result of his failing health, poor prison conditions and negligent care by prison officials, according to reports from the Tunisia Monitoring Group (TMG), a coalition of 20 press freedom organisations. Ben Brik was […] Read more »
Turkey sentences Kurdish newspaper editor to 21 years in prison February 12, 2010 Barbara Trionfi, Press Freedom Adviser A Turkish court on 10 December sentenced the editor of a Kurdish newspaper to 21 years in prison for publishing what the court called Kurdish propaganda, only two weeks after the European Court of Human Rights ordered Turkey to pay over 40,000 Euros to 20 Turkish journalists as compensation for having violated their rights. A […] Read more »
Venezuela orders cable networks to stop broadcasting opposition TV January 25, 2010 Anthony Mills, Press Freedom Manager The Venezuelan government on Saturday ordered cable networks to stop broadcasting opposition TV station RCTV. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez had already faced international criticism in 2007, for forcing the station off free-access television. Chavez has long been accused by opposition leaders and press freedom observers of seeking to suppress private media in Venezuela, to snuff […] Read more »
Journalists in China warned over hacked Gmail accounts January 20, 2010 Nayana Jayarajan, Communications Officer The Foreign Correspondents Club of China warned its members in a statement on the Club’s website on 18 January that “foreign correspondents in a few bureaus in Beijing have recently discovered that their Gmail (Google) accounts have been hijacked.” Last week, Internet giant Google announced that its servers had been the targets of a highly […] Read more »
Critical Sri Lankan journalist granted bail January 11, 2010 Nayana Jayarajan, Communications Officer JS Tissainayagam, a Sri Lankan Tamil journalist who was sentenced to twenty years in prison in September last year after he criticised the government’s handling of an offensive against Tamil Tiger militants, has been granted bail pending appeal. An appeals court on Monday ordered the journalist to surrender his passport and pay bail of $500, […] Read more »
Five years on, murder of Gambian editor Deyda Hydara remains unsolved December 16, 2009 Naomi Hunt, Press Freedom Advisor for Africa & the Middle East Today marks the fifth anniversary of the brutal murder of Deyda Hydara, editor and co-founder of the Point daily newspaper in Gambia. Hydara was fatally shot by unknown attackers on 16 December 2004. The murderers remain at large. Disturbingly, Gambian President Yahya Jammeh seems uninterested in pursuing the murderers. In June this year, he told reporters that […] Read more »
European Court upholds right to protect sources December 16, 2009 Barbara Trionfi, Press Freedom Adviser In a landmark ruling on 15 December, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) confirmed the rights of news organisations to protect the confidentiality of their sources. With this ruling, five news organisations – The Guardian, The Independent, the Times, the Financial Times and Reuters – won a case against the Belgian-based brewers Interbrew. The news organisations brought the case before […] Read more »
“The government considers the press an enemy” says head of Bolivian media freedom organisation December 4, 2009 Colin Peters, Press Freedom Adviser for Europe and the Americas On Sunday 6 December, Bolivians will cast their votes in general elections, with the re-election of the incumbent President, Evo Morales, at stake. However, the voting will take place in a media climate that many among the country’s independent press describe as increasingly oppressive and aggressive. In recent weeks alone, attacks on the media have included […] Read more »
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 »