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IFEX Communiqué Vol 19, No 1

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International

Impunity, war and elections behind journalists killed in 2009

In a worldwide analysis of journalists killed in 2009, IFEX members report that most are murdered in their own country. Local journalists pay the highest price for informing the world about wars, elections, corruption and censorship, or the destruction of the environment. In their year-end reports, IFEX members highlight how journalists are targeted as a result of war, impunity and elections.

Iran

Journalists and opposition critics rounded up; 42 imprisoned

Iranian authorities have been on the hunt for prominent independent journalists and opposition figures in a new wave of arrests that began a day after opposition demonstrations took place countrywide on 27 December 2009, report IFEX members. Iran is now the world's biggest prison for media with 42 journalists behind bars as of this week, says Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

Kyrgyzstan

Journalist hurled out six-story window

A prominent Kyrgyz journalist highly critical of the government died on 22 December, days after being thrown out the sixth-story window of an apartment building in Kazakhstan, report the International Press Institute (IPI) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

Afghanistan

Journalist killed in bomb blast; media workers abducted

A Canadian journalist was killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan on 30 December while travelling with four Canadian soldiers, reports Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE).

Pakistan

Press club attacked by suicide bomber

A suicide bomber detonated an explosive on the grounds of the Peshawar Press Club on 22 December, killing the bomber and at least four people, report the Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) and other IFEX members.

China

Dissident writer sentenced to 11 years in prison

Chinese dissident and acclaimed writer Liu Xiaobo was sentenced on 25 December to 11 years in prison and two years deprivation of political rights for exercising the right of free expression, reports the PEN American Center. Members of PEN gathered on the steps of the New York Public Library on New Year's Eve in a call for action to release Xiaobo.

Mexico

Editor killed; reporter kidnapped

A Mexican journalist who wrote about corruption in local politics was murdered on 22 December 2009, report the Inter American Press Association (IAPA), the Observatorio Latinoamericano para la Libertad de Expresión (OLA), the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and other IFEX members. The journalist's newspaper had received death threats in recent months and its printing press was fire bombed last November, says CPJ.