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IFEX Communiqué Vol 20, No 15

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Bahrain

IFEX defends member BCHR in light of free expression abuses

Last week, the president of Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR), Nabeel Rajab, made history as the first person prosecuted in the Arab world for a tweet, reports the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI). He was accused of alerting readers through Twitter to "fabricated" pictures of the tortured body of Ali Isa Saqer, who Rajab alleged died at the hands of security forces in a Bahraini prison. While Bahrain is quickly turning into a police state, IFEX has expressed concern for Rajab and the sudden escalation of arrests and threats against other free expression advocates in Bahrain.

Azerbaijan

IFEX members urge Council of Europe to condemn crackdown

Protests in Azerbaijan inspired by pro-democracy uprisings across the Arab world have led to hundreds of bloggers, journalists, civil society activists and opposition party members being harassed, arrested and beaten, report the Institute for Journalists' Freedom and Safety (IRFS), ARTICLE 19 and other IFEX members who make up the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan. Members of the Partnership Group, a coalition of 20 organisations working to defend free expression in Azerbaijan, are in Strasbourg, France, this week to urge the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly to condemn the ongoing crackdown and call for an end to the abuse.

Cuba

Last jailed journalist released into exile

The last remaining Cuban journalist in prison, Albert Santiago Du Bouchet Hernández, was freed on 7 April and exiled to Spain, report the Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC) of PEN International, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). This ends "a dark, eight-year-long era in which the island nation was one of the world's worst jailers of the press," at one time jailing nearly 30 independent reporters and writers, says CPJ.

Iran / Awards / World Press Freedom Day

Jailed Iranian journalist wins World Press Freedom Prize

In 2009, well-known Iranian journalist Ahmad Zeidabadi was one of dozens of journalists arrested following the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and charged with plotting to overthrow the government with a "soft revolution". He was sentenced to six years in jail, five years of exile and a lifetime ban from practising journalism. In 2011, he has been awarded the UNESCO Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize.

International

Freedom House reviews ways to bypass Internet censors

Which tool is best for getting around Internet censorship? A new Freedom House report says it depends on the country you're from - and how sophisticated your government is at filtering content and monitoring your activity.

Awards and other opportunities / International

War correspondents invited to apply for Bayeux-Calvados Awards

War correspondents and photographers from all over the world are invited to apply for the Bayeux-Calvados Awards for War Correspondents, which honour journalists who risk their lives in the world's hot spots to cover the news. The deadline for applications is 6 June 2011.