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Alerts - 2006 - October-December

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Liberia

Publishers accuse government of attempting to undermine independent media's credibility through Christmas cheques

(CEMESP/IFEX) - Several journalists, under the banner of the Concerned Publishers of Liberia, have chided the government of Liberia for reportedly handing out large sums of money, consisting of cheques to the tune of US$500 each, to media institutions as a Christmas gift.

Serbia

Court confiscates station's broadcast equipment, oversteps authority, ANEM says

(ANEM/IFEX) - The following is a 28 December 2006 ANEM press release:

Morocco

Publisher fears for magazine's survival as deadline passes for payment of record "defamation" damages

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 28 December 2006 CPJ press release:

Egypt

On governor's orders, police storm and attempt to close headquarters of NGO that countered official claims

(HRinfo/IFEX) - The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (HRinfo) is highly concerned by the resolution of the Qalubia governor to close the Ahalina Centre for Egyptian Family Support and Development (Ahalina). The governor's resolution is an act of revenge on Ahalina, which had disclosed the falseness of his mid-November statements that all slum areas in the Qalubia governorate are completely supplied with utilities. Ahalina reported that many areas in the governorate are still lacking the minimum humanitarian requirements for life.

Venezuela

IAPA condemns President Chávez's non-renewal of television network's license

(IAPA/IFEX) - The following is an IAPA press release:

Palestine / Israel

"Palestinian journalists caught in the Gaza crossfire": RSF issues report on fact-finding visit to Gaza and Israel

(RSF/IFEX) - The following is a 28 December 2006 RSF press release:

Somalia

RSF and Somali journalists' union call for charter to protect journalists as government troops take over

(RSF/IFEX) - The following is a 28 December 2006 RSF press release:

Uruguay

IACHR rapporteur calls for swift passage of law recognising community media

(AMARC/IFEX) - The following is a 19 December 2006 AMARC press release:

International

Security Council passes resolution on journalists' protection in conflict areas

(RSF/IFEX) - The following is a 23 December 2006 RSF press release:

Mexico

CJFE makes five key recommendations to President Felipe Calderón to end the violence against journalists

(CJFE/IFEX) - The following is a 20 December 2006 CJFE press release:

Argentina

Two journalists detained, accused of inciting violence after reporting on demonstrations

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF condemns the detention of journalists Néstor Pasquín and Hugo Francischelli in Corral de Bustos, a town in Córdoba province in Argentina's north-central region. Both were detained for alleged instigation of violence, arson and minor injuries, for which they may face from 3 to 15 years' imprisonment.

Nepal

Journalists assaulted by doctors while covering protest; another threatened over lack of news coverage

(FNJ/IFEX) - Toya Dahal, a reporter with Kantipur Television, and cameraperson Poonam Baskota were attacked by Dr. Krishna Prasad Poudel, Dr. Ambus Karna and others on 26 December 2006 in Kathmandu.

Nepal

Two journalists assaulted while covering communal clash; two others harassed

(FNJ/IFEX) - Cadres of the Nepal Sadbhawana Party-Anandadevi (NSP-A) attacked journalists Prabhat Devkota of "Satya Patra Daily" and Basanta Sharma of "Nispakcha Weekly" in Tribhuwan Chowk in the mid-western city of Nepalgunj on 26 December 2006 at around 11:30 a.m. (local time).

Lebanon

New TV reporter, cameraman and driver held in connection with Hariri murder coverage

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has condemned the continuing detention of New TV reporter Firas Hatoum, cameraman Abdel-Azim Khayat and driver Mohammed Barbar, who were arrested on 19 December 2006 for entering the apartment of a key prosecution witness in the February 2005 murder of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. New TV is a satellite news station based in Beirut.

Nigeria

Leading journalist shot dead at wheel of car: RSF urges police to consider all possibilities

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has called on the Nigerian police to consider all possibilities in their investigation into the 22 December 2006 murder of Godwin Agbroko, the head of the editorial board of the privately-owned "This Day" newspaper, after his family expressed scepticism about a police claim that he was probably killed by robbers.

Algeria

Journalists get three months in prison for accusing prefect of corruption

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has condemned the three-month prison sentences passed by a court in eastern city of Jijel on 25 December 2006 on Omar Belhouchet, editor of the daily "El Watan", and Chawki Amari, one of his journalists, for "libelling" the local prefect in an article last June accusing him of corruption. They were also fined 1 million dinars (approx. 10,900 euros).

China

Liu Jianhua receives 20-year sentence for "revealing state secrets"; Ching Cheong spends his 57th birthday in prison

(RSF/IFEX) - Journalist Ching Cheong, seriously ill and serving a five-year sentence for "spying", spent his 57th birthday in prison on 22 December 2006, as Reporter Without Borders and the Hong Kong Journalists' Association (HKJA) presented a petition for his release.

Pakistan

Police briefly detain photographer, seize his equipment; journalist assaulted

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 22 December 2006 CPJ press release:

Sudan

Two journalists convicted, face fines or imprisonment, over column on government perks

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a CPJ press release:

Azerbaijan

Journalist with opposition newspaper severely beaten following threats

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 26 December 2006 CPJ press release:

Morocco

Staff members of banned magazine receive death threats; journalists face possible imprisonment

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 22 December 2006 CPJ press release:

Argentina

Crime journalist's car torched

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 20 December 2006, unidentified individuals set fire to a car belonging to journalist Eduardo Manrique, head of the the crime section of the daily newspaper "Diario de Cuyo", based in the city of Cuyo in San Juan province in western Argentina.

International

2006 most deadly year for journalists, says CJFE

(CJFE/IFEX) - The following is a 20 December 2006 CJFE media release:

Zimbabwe

Independent media council to be launched in January 2007

(MISA/IFEX) - Media stakeholders are set to launch an independent, self-regulatory media council in January 2007 after getting endorsement from government, publishers, civic society organisations, political parties, church groups and the business community.

Mexico

Chiapas journalist Angel Mario Ksheratto again released on bail

(RSF/IFEX) - Facing a defamation case first brought in 2002 by an official in Chiapas state, in southern Mexico, Angel Mario Ksheratto, of the regional daily "Cuarto Poder", is now out on bail after having been in jail since 11 November 2006. On 19 December, a local judge released him on payment of 33,500 pesos (about 2,300 euros) bail put up by state governor Juan Sabines Guerrero. The journalist had already spent 18 days in prison, from 4 to 22 February this year, before being freed on bail equivalent to 8,000 euros. He was previously arrested on two occasions, in January 2003 and October 2005.

Colombia

Launching of Guillermo Cano university chair among activities marking 20th anniversary of "El Espectador" editor's murder, still unpunished

(FLIP/IFEX) - The following is an abridged version of a 15 December 2006 FLIP press release:

Morocco

Weekly banned for "anti-Islamic" jokes

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders said it firmly and utterly condemns a ban that has been slapped on the Arabic-language weekly "Nichane" and legal action launched against it for "damaging Islam".

Venezuela

Future of private television network may be subject to referendum and its broadcast frequency offered to cooperatives

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF today voiced concern about the threat hanging over the privately-owned broadcasting group Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV) that its licence may not be renewed. Communication and information minister William Lara announced after the presidential election on 3 December 2006 that the network's future will be put to a referendum.

India

Following move to corporatise independent news service provider, IFJ urges government to introduce legislation prohibiting media monopoly

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is a 20 December 2006 IFJ media release:

Cuba

Young journalist freed after being held eight days at state security headquarters

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF welcomes the news that Ahmed Rodríguez Albacia of the Jóvenes sin Censura independent news agency was released on 12 December 2006 after being held for eight days at the headquarters of the Directorate for State Security, the political police, in Havana.

Philippines

Radio reporter stabbed to death

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a CPJ press release:

International

In Iraq, journalist deaths spike to record; worldwide death toll rises, says CPJ in annual analysis

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 20 December 2006 CPJ press release:

Turkey

Author Ipek Calislar, publisher Fatih Tas acquitted; trials against others continue

(WiPC/IFEX) - The acquittal on 19 December 2006 of author Ipek Calislar, who was accused of insulting the memory of Kemal Atatürk, the founder and first President of the Turkish Republic, in her biography of his first wife, is warmly welcomed by International PEN. PEN remains concerned that other writers and journalists remain on trial in Turkey on charges of insult despite suggestions that there will be legislative changes towards improving the protection of the right to freedom of expression.

Sri Lanka

Senior journalists questioned by police under new Anti-Terrorism Regulations

(FMM/IFEX) - The following is an FMM press release:

The Gambia

Newspaper editor attacked

(MFWA/IFEX) - Baron Eloagu, a Nigerian news editor of the Banjul-based privately-owned "Daily Express" newspaper, was violently attacked on 10 December 2006 by four unknown assailants for allegedly writing "stupid things about the Gambia."

Syria

Cyber-dissident Ali Sayed al-Shihabi held four months without trial, reportedly tortured during questioning

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has repeated its call for the release of cyber-dissident Ali Sayed al-Shihabi, who has been held for more than four months without trial in Adra prison, near Damascus.

Peru

Radio journalist free on conditional release while investigation of violent protest is being completed

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 14 December 2006, journalist Juan José Ramírez Villacorta was granted a conditional release after having been imprisoned for 21 days in Huaraz, Ancash region, northwestern Peru. Ramírez works for Radio Cushin radio station and is also a correspondent for Radio Ancash station.

Moldova

Journalists protest privatisation of radio and television stations, fearing loss of plurality of voices

(IPI/IFEX) - The following is a 19 December 2006 press release by the South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), an IPI affiliate:

Peru

Court closes proceedings on journalist's disappearance, allegedly at the hands of Navy officers

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 12 December 2006, Lima's Second Supraprovincial Criminal Court decided to close the case of journalist Jaime Ayala Sulca, a correspondent for the newspaper "La República", who disappeared in 1984 in the city of Huanta, Ayacucho, in central Peru. Officers of Peru's Navy (Marina de Guerra) who had been deployed to the region in order to fight terrorists had been accused of being behind his disappearance.

Zimbabwe

Court orders security agents to return confiscated radio receivers

(MISA/IFEX) - Zimbabwean security agents reportedly confiscated short wave radio receivers bought for rural teachers in Gokwe district in a desperate bid to bar them from listening to foreign stations that beam into Zimbabwe. The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Zimbabwe confirmed on 18 December 2006 that a Gokwe magistrate had ordered two identified security agents to return the radio receivers after the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) successfully filed an application for the granting of the provisional order.

Zimbabwe

Police assault street theatre artists for "inciting revolt" against president

(MISA/IFEX) - On 28 November 2006, police in Bulawayo severely assaulted four street theatre artists for satirising Zimbabwe's worsening socio-economic crisis following the staging of a play dubbed "Indhlala" (Hunger).

Singapore

Key opposition leader, imprisoned for speaking in public without permit, released early for good behaviour

(SEAPA/IFEX) - The Singapore government released vocal opposition leader Dr Chee Soon Juan from prison on 16 December 2006, two weeks short of the five-week term meted out to him for speaking in public without a permit.

Lebanon

IPI report says political instability undermining press freedom

(IPI/IFEX) - The following is a 19 December 2006 IPI press release:

East Timor / Australia

IFJ urges Australian government not to impede long-awaited inquest into deaths of "Balibo Five" journalists 30 years ago

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is a 19 December 2006 IFJ press release:

Chile

Argentine and Spanish journalists assaulted by Pinochet supporters; President Bachelet condemns late dictator's supporters' attacks on press

(IPYS/IFEX) - On the evening of 11 December 2006, a group of former dictator Augusto Pinochet's supporters insulted and threw objects at Televisión Española's team of journalists, led by reporter María José Ramundo, while they covered the general's funeral at the Military School in Santiago de Chile. One of the supporters hit Ramundo in the face and another one snatched away her microphone in order to insult the Spaniards, shouting slogans against Judge Baltazar Garzón, who gave the order to arrest the dictator in London in 1998. The policemen who were protecting the military headquarters did not stop the assault.

Botswana

Without accountability mechanisms and access to information legislation, proposed expansion of security services threatens citizens, says MISA

(MISA/IFEX) - The 3 November 2006 edition of the "Government Gazette Extraordinary" indicates that the Government of Botswana plans to bring a bill to Parliament on intelligence and security services.

India

Plans for wage board will improve labour standards, allow journalists to better exercise their rights to report independently, and increase press freedom, says IFJ

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is a 19 December 2006 IFJ media release:

Peru

Threats and smear campaigns against community radio stations and staff, for critical coverage of land expropriation and mining companies' behaviour

(AMARC/IFEX) - AMARC condemns a series of threats and smear campaigns against various radio stations belonging to the national coordinating body of radio stations (Coordinadora Nacional de Radios, CNR), AMARC's partner in Peru.

International

Four special mandates on freedom of expression issue joint declaration addressing key issues

(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) - The following is an ARTICLE 19 press release:

Bolivia

Nine journalists assaulted in San Julián during confrontations over Santa Cruz secession proposal; two "La Razón" reporters beaten in Cochabamba

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 15 December 2006, several reporters were assaulted by local residents in the town of San Julián, in Santa Cruz region in eastern Peru, while they were covering a confrontation between supporters and critics of the Santa Cruz regional government over the public consultation meeting held by the government to propose Santa Cruz's independence. Assaults were also perpetrated on 12 December when pro-secession demonstrators in the same region beat several journalists for being critical of the proposal (see IFEX alerts of 18 and 15 December 2006).

Honduras

Radio station personnel threatened over critical coverage, followed, denied information and police protection services

(PROBIDAD/IFEX) - Municipal authorities' aggressiveness with Radio Progreso station staff and its director, Jesuit priest Ismael Moreno, intensified on 14 December 2006, when Moreno was warned to "watch out and stop talking shit," station personnel reported to the Committee for Free Expression (Comité por la Libre Expresión, C-Libre).

Iran

As censorship of bloggers and online journalists intensifies, ARTICLE 19 launches interactive campaign

(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) - The following is an 18 December 2006 ARTICLE 19 press release:

Sri Lanka

New anti-terrorism law forces columnist into self-censorship

(FMM/IFEX) - The following is an FMM press release:

Cyprus

Newspaper and editor charged with "insulting" attorney general

(WPFC/IFEX) - The following is a 15 December 2006 WPFC letter to Turkish Cypriot Attorney General Akin Sait:

Honduras

NGO's journalists learn of plot to murder them; human rights commissioner asks IACHR and government for precautionary measures

(PROBIDAD/IFEX) - On 15 December 2006, journalists Robert Marín García and Dina Meza, both members of the Revistazo.com on-line newspaper team of the Association for a More Just Society (Asociación por una Sociedad más Justa, ASJ), spoke with National Human Rights Commissioner (Comisionado Nacional de los Derechos Humanos) Ramón Custodio, to report the existence of a plot to kill them for their investigations regarding the operations of two private security companies that provide services to the government.

Egypt

Blogger Abdel Kareem Nabil Suleiman has spent six weeks in custody

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has repeated an appeal for the release of blogger Abdel Kareem Nabil Suleiman - known as Kareem Amer - who has been held in custody for six weeks after posting articles critical of Islam on his blog ( http://www.karam903.blogspot.com ).

Burundi

Prosecutor seeks three-year prison sentences for three journalists

(MFWA/IFEX) - Three radio journalists in Burundi face prison sentences if found guilty on charges resulting from material they broadcast a few months ago.

Colombia

Jailed Telesur journalist charged with "rebellion and terrorism" may be victim of mistaken identity

(RSF/IFEX) - Journalist Freddy Muñoz of Telesur international television network was charged on 7 December 2006 with "rebellion and terrorism" and faces six to 15 years in prison. The prosecutor's office in Barranquilla, northern Colombia, where the journalist is being held, said the case would take eight months to come to court. The Colombian authorities insist that the case against him has nothing to do with his work as a journalist, in particular his interview a year ago with guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, FARC). They said Muñoz is accused of taking part in a 2002 FARC attack, which he has always denied, in which no one was injured.

United States

Shareholder resolution filed by New York City Pension Fund asks Yahoo! and Google to respect free expression

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has voiced support for a shareholder resolution about freedom of expression that has been filed with Yahoo! and Google by the New York City Pension Fund, which owns around US$400 million of stock in the two companies.

Bolivia

Assaults on journalists critical of Santa Cruz department's secessionist movement continue

(IPYS/IFEX) - On the night of 12 December 2006, a group of demonstrators supporting the independence of the Department of Santa Cruz in eastern Bolivia assaulted several of the region's journalists for being critical of the department's emancipation attempt.

Palestine

Correspondent for French daily "Libération" shot in leg while covering clashes between rival factions

(RSF/IFEX) - French journalist Didier François, the correspondent of the French newspaper "Libération" and the French international TV news station France 24, sustained a bullet wound to the leg during the clashes that began early on 17 December 2006 in Gaza between the armed wing of Hamas, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, and Fatah militants.

Venezuela

Government supporters assault Globovision television station journalists

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 3 December 2006, journalist Heyra Zerpa and cameraman Carlos Idogro, both from the private television company Globovisión, were assaulted by a group of government supporters who were trying to stop the reporters from covering the closing of the presidential election polls in an area in Bolívar state, southern Venezuela.

Nepal

Interim constitution guarantees press freedom

(FNJ/IFEX) - Top leaders of eight political parties signed the Interim Constitution on 16 December 2006 at the prime minister's official residence at Baluwatar, Kathmandu.

Somalia

Journalist arrested, another released

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is an IFJ media release:

Somalia

Two leaders of journalists' union arrested at Mogadishu airport

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has condemned the arrest of Omar Faruk Osman, the secretary general of its partner organisation in Somalia, the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ), and Ali Moalim Isak, the NUSOJ organising secretary. The two journalists were arrested by the security forces of the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) at Mogadishu airport on the morning of 17 December 2006 and were held all day at the Waberi district police station without being charged or being told the official reason for their detention.

Angola

As Angola joins OPEC, Human Rights Watch calls on government to cease harassing critics of oil corruption

(HRW/IFEX) - The following is a 15 December 2006 Human Rights Watch press release:

Malaysia

Government tells editors to downplay reports on toll hike; SEAPA calls for a stop to executive interference in media editorial matters

(SEAPA/IFEX) - The Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) is concerned with the latest interference in the media by the Malaysian government through a directive to downplay news of an increase in highway toll charges.

Cuba

Journalist and writer Normando Hernández González reportedly transferred to hospital after suffering further health complications; growing fears he may die in detention

(WiPC/IFEX) - The Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN is deeply concerned about the deteriorating health of Normando Hernández González. He is among a number of Cuban writers, journalists and librarians still detained today in violation of their right to freedom of expression following mass arrests in April 2003. They are held in prisons where reports of poor conditions, ill treatment and lack of medical attention are common.

Bangladesh

Three journalists receive death threats as election nears; CPJ urges president to ensure safe and free media environment

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 15 December 2006 CPJ letter to Bangladeshi President Iajuddin Ahmed

Peru

Another death threat against journalist following reopening of drug trafficking case she had investigated

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 14 December 2006, journalist Marilú Gambini received a death threat on her cell phone. The journalist has remained in hiding since April after having been threatened and assaulted several times, beginning in 2005, because of her investigations on drug trafficking and corruption in the city of Chimbote in northwestern Peru. The authorities have not yet identified those responsible. The callers stated that they know where she is and that they will kill her.

Cambodia

Radio Free Asia correspondent seriously injured in suspicious road accident

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has called for a thorough and impartial investigation into a traffic accident in which Sok Serei, one of the Cambodia correspondents of Radio Free Asia's Khmer-language service, was knocked off his motorcycle and seriously injured.

Somalia

Transitional government's police close Baidoa-based radio station by force

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has firmly condemned the forcible closure of privately-owned Radio Warsan in the western city of Baidoa. Police working for the federal transition government, which has its headquarters in Baidoa, have been occupying the radio station since the afternoon of 14 December 2006.

Bolivia

Radio Erbol director assaulted, threatened; journalists in Santa Cruz, Beni, Pando and Tarija departments in danger, says RSF

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF has voiced deep concern about an increase in the past two weeks in attacks on the press that are linked to Bolivia's growing political crisis. State and privately-owned media are becoming targets in tit-for-tat violence between government supporters and opponents.

Indonesia

Legislators urged to reject provisions curbing free expression in draft Criminal Code

(SEAPA/IFEX) - The Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) welcomes the Indonesian Constitutional Court's landmark ruling on 6 December 2006, which declared as unconstitutional the "lèse majesté" articles that criminalise insulting the president and vice-president.

Pakistan

New press regulatory body may reinstate past curbs on journalists

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is an IFJ media release:

Philippines

Charged with defaming president's husband, journalists post bail to pre-empt arrest warrants

(CMFR/IFEX) - Five journalists posted bail at the Regional Trial Court of the Manila City Hall on 14 December 2006 following the approval of the filing in court of libel charges against them by Jose Miguel Arroyo, the husband of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

Fiji

"Fiji Post" editor-in-chief to be deported; military visits newspaper's offices to instruct on editorial policy

(IPI/IFEX) - The following is a 14 December 2006 IPI press release:

The Gambia

President Jammeh's inauguration marred by impunity and contempt for press since journalist Deyda Hydara's murder two years ago

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has reminded leaders from democratic countries attending the 15 and 16 December 2006 ceremonies marking the start of another five-year term for Gambian President Yahya Jammeh in Banjul that 16 December will be the second anniversary of journalist Deyda Hydara's still unpunished murder.

Chile

Police look on while Pinochet supporters continue assaults on journalists in Santiago

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF condemns the violence against Chilean and foreign journalists by supporters of the former dictator Augusto Pinochet, who died on 10 December 2006, in the days before and on the day of his funeral in Santiago.

Peru

Radio station director receives death threat following coverage of land expropriation protests

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 10 December 2006, a death threat against the director of radio station La Voz de Cainarachi, priest Mario Bartolini, was painted on the facade of the Church of Barranquita, a village located between the regions of San Martín and Loreto, in northeastern Peru. The threat may be related to the station's coverage over the last year or more of the protests by local residents against the concession of more than 20 thousand hectares of land which were expropriated from peasant farmers by the State and handed over to the Palmas de Cainarachi company.

Iraq

Al Hurra journalist escapes second murder attempt

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders called for an end to the impunity with which journalists are being targeted in Iraq after Omar Mohammed, of US-run Arabic satellite channel al Hurra, escaped a second murder attempt after being ambushed in central Baghdad.

India

IFJ calls for global support as journalists demonstrate for justice at work, says precarious economic situation hampers ability to report freely

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is a 13 December 2006 IFJ media release:

Philippines

Former journalist's killing not related to past work, says widow

(CMFR/IFEX) - Two gunmen on a motorcycle killed and robbed a former radio and newspaper reporter on 7 December 2006 in his farm in Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija, a province north of Manila.

Iran

Journalist contacts family, but no news on where he is being held

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders expressed relief after obtaining proof that Shirko Jahani is still alive. He was given permission on 13 December 2006 to contact his mother and his wife. But the journalist, who sounded frail on the phone, was unable to give any information about his whereabouts.

Iran

Despite coerced confessions, four bloggers on trial for "disturbing national security"

(HRW/IFEX) - The following is a 12 December 2006 Human Rights Watch press release:

Chile

RSF pays tribute to 68 media workers murdered or disappeared under Pinochet dictatorship

(RSF/IFEX) - The following is an 11 December 2006 RSF press release:

Bolivia

Crowd protests opposite television networks' headquarters, accusing them of undermining the government

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 6 December 2006, demonstrators supporting the work being done by the Constituent Assembly, which is drafting a new national constitution, protested opposite the headquarters of television networks PAT (Channel 39) and Unitel (Channel 2) in La Paz, the capital, accusing them of undermining the government. The crowd warned them that if they did not change their editorial line, they will have to face the consequences.

Bolivia

Santa Cruz TV station target of arson attack, threats

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 7 December 2006, a group of unidentified individuals entered the premises of television station Televisión Boliviana Regional de Santa Cruz, Channel 7, in order to set fire to the government-owned station's facilities, but their plan was hindered by security guards. According to the station's director, Jaime Jaramillo, the would-be arsonists left behind fourteen litres of gasoline, some Molotov cocktails and the cover of a shotgun as they fled. The event took place in Santa Cruz, a department in eastern Bolivia.

Jordan

Three journalists assaulted in Parliament after taking photos of brawl between two legislators

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has condemned the behaviour of Jordanian legislators, who assaulted three press photographers during a parliamentary session on 11 December 2006 because they had just taken photos of a scuffle between two parliamentarians. The victims were Mohammed Kissawani, Mohammed Al Rafayah and Usama Al Rifai, who were working for the "Al Dustour", "Al Arab Al Youm" and "Al Ghad" daily newspapers.

International

HRinfo releases report on Internet use in Arab world, detailing hostility of governments toward new media for free expression

(HRinfo/IFEX) - The following is a 10 December 2006 HRinfo statement:

Lebanon

Journalist Gebran Tueni's killers go unpunished one year on

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is an 11 December 2006 CPJ press release:

Chad

CPJ urges government to lift media censorship as private newspapers and radio stations hold news blackouts in protest

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 7 December 2006 CPJ letter to Chadian President Idriss Deby Itno:

International

RSF-Fondation de France prize presented in Paris

(RSF/IFEX) - The following is a 12 December 2006 RSF press release:

Azerbaijan

Provisional lift of ban on ANS TV; two newspapers resume publishing; two journalists threatened by fatwa now charged with "inciting racial hatred", remain in detention pending trial

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has given a cautious welcome to a decision by the National Radio and Television Council (NTRC) to provisionally lift a ban on the privately-owned television station ANS TV, which resumed broadcasting on 12 December 2006. It was also announced that two independent newspapers, "Realni Azerbaidjan" and "Daily Azerbaijan", will be able to resume publishing in January.

Chile

Pinochet sympathizers assault Chilevisión and Canal 7 television station journalists

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 10 December 2006, a group of supporters of the late former dictator Augusto Pinochet reacted violently against journalists who were covering the details of the retired general's death. Thousands of militants who were stationed outside Santiago de Chile's Military Hospital, where the former dictator had died, threw coins and bottles at the journalists.

Peru

Journalist jailed for allegedly participating in violent demonstration, despite evidence proving his innocence

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 24 November 2006, Radio Cushin journalist José Ramírez Villacorta, who is also a correspondent for Radio Ancash, was ordered jailed by Judge Demetrio Vela Marroquín. The judge concluded that the journalist had participated in the acts of violence perpetrated on 21 November by a group of citizens who were dissatisfied with the results of the municipal elections in the district of Huari, Ancash region, northwestern Peru.

Iraq

Media allowed to cover parliamentary sessions again after two-week ban, but placed under surveillance

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has hailed a decision by the speaker of the Iraqi parliament, Mahmoud Al Mashhadani, to allow journalists to cover its sessions again after a two-week ban. But the organisation condemned new restrictions on the media, as well as the murder of cameraman Aswan Ahmed Lutfallah of the US television news agency, Associated Press Television Network (APTN) (see previous IFEX alert of 12 December 2006).

Iraq

Associated Press journalist killed by insurgents in Mosul

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is an IFJ media release:

Mexico

Journalist murdered in Oaxaca, police not investigating possible connection to his work; governor's supporters lift siege of newspaper

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF is horrified by the murder in Oaxaca State in southern Mexico of Raúl Marcial Pérez, editorial columnist for the regional daily "El Gráfico"; his death brings to nine the number of journalists killed in Mexico since the start of 2006.

Kashmir (India)

Journalist arrested: RSF calls for explanations

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has urged the Indian authorities, particularly Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil, to provide clear and objective information about the detention of Abdul Rouf, an editor with the "Srinagar News", and his wife Zeenat Rouf.

North Africa / International / Middle East and North Africa

Media forum examines widespread press freedom abuses

(WAN/IFEX) - The following is an 11 December 2006 WAN press release:

International

Draft Security Council resolution to recognise targeted attacks on journalists in conflict situations as war crimes

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is an 8 December 2006 IFJ media release:

Iran

RSF condemns "sham justice" and impunity since wave of murders of writers and journalists eight years ago

(RSF/IFEX) - Eight years after the brutal murders of five Iranian writers and journalists between 25 November and 12 December 1998, Reporters Without Borders has condemned that fact that those implicated in their deaths now hold high government positions. The victims were strangled or stabbed to death for demanding free expression, calling for a lay government or criticising the regime's policies.

Burundi

Anti-graft activist arrested, charged with defaming businessman; peace activist tried over letter to president, awaiting verdict; trial date set for radio journalists charged for reports on fake coup plot

(HRW/IFEX) - The following is an 11 December 2006 Human Rights Watch press release:

North Africa / International / Middle East and North Africa

WAN awards Yemen's first woman editor, Nadia Al-Saqqaf, with inaugural Arab newspaper prize

(WAN/IFEX) - The following is a 10 December 2006 WAN press release:

Russia

Television crew expelled from political meeting; unknown persons threaten, break into television station, damage equipment

(CJES/IFEX) - The crew of NSN-Balashov, an independent television station covering the Saratov region, were expelled from the Assembly of Deputies of the Balashov District on 1 December 2006.

Honduras

NGO's president receives death threat, staff members' homes visited and vandalised, in ongoing intimidation campaign

(PROBIDAD/IFEX) - Threats against the staff of the social organisation Association for a More Just Society (Asociación por una Sociedad Más Justa, ASJ) continue. On 7 December 2006, ASJ president Carlos Hernández received a death threat and was followed by an unidentified individual on a motorcycle. He received the threat in English on his cellular phone, warning him "you will be the next victim, since you are the head of the institution." The incident took place in the capital, Tegucigalpa.

China

New curbs on lawyers representing protesters restrict access to media

(HRW/IFEX) - The following is a Human Rights Watch press release:

China

Journalist Gao Qinrong released five years early

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has expressed huge relief at the early release of journalist Gao Qinrong, who was sentenced to 13 years in prison in 1999 for exposing a corruption scandal implicating top provincial officials.

Liberia

Two "Daily Observer" reporters accosted by National Archives official, newspaper threatened

(CEMESP/IFEX) - Reporter Rufus Paul of the "Daily Observer" was insulted, assaulted and thrown out of the National Archives in Monrovia on 5 December 2006, on the orders of Archives Director Sam Toe.

Croatia

Two state TV journalists suspended for broadcasting president's comments on Croatia's fascist past

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has condemned a decision by the Croatian state radio and TV broadcaster HRT to suspend two of its journalists, Danko Druzijanic and Goran Rotim, for broadcasting comments by President Stepan Mesic in which he spoke approvingly of Croatia's fascist past during the Second World War.

Indonesia

"KOMPAS Daily" journalist detained against his will by employer, fired unfairly

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is an IFJ media release:

Kazakhstan

Media advocacy groups protest ministry's attempt to introduce licencing provision for publishers, point out other legislative attempts to curb free expression

(Adil Soz/IFEX) - The following is a joint statement to deputies of the Kazakh Parliament. Media advocacy organisations that have signed the letter are listed below:

Venezuela

Demonstrators push, grope female journalist from state-owned television channel

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 22 November 2006, journalist Marianne Martín, a correspondent for the state-owned television channel Venezolana de Televisión (VTV), was assaulted by seven men when she was covering a march that had been organized by forces in opposition to President Hugo Chávez's government in the state of Lara, in central Venezuela.

India

Journalists injured by police during protest

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is an IFJ media release:

Philippines

Journalist killed

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is an IFJ media release:

Burundi

Journalist summoned by prosecutor goes missing; IFJ calls for end of intimidation campaign against independent journalism

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is a 5 December 2006 IFJ media release:

Philippines

Police officer, relieved of duties after reports alleging wrongdoing, blames and threatens radio journalist

(CMFR/IFEX) - A radio reporter has complained of threats by a police officer after the latter became the subject of her reports alleging him of wrongdoing.

Indonesia

Court rules that legal articles on "insulting president" violate Constitution

(AJI/IFEX) - The Alliance of Independent Journalist (AJI) Indonesia welcomes a ruling by the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Indonesia which, in ruling Number 013-022/PUU-IV/2006, states that articles regarding "insult of the president" - namely, Article 134, Article 136 bis, and Article 137 of the Criminal Code - are not legally binding because they violate the 1945 Constitution.

Kazakhstan

Journalist facing criminal charges for insulting president, tells court his intention was to help president correct mistake

(Adil Soz/IFEX) - Journalist Kazis Toguzbayev continues to face criminal charges for insulting the honor and dignity of President Nursultan Nazarbayev under Article 318 of the Criminal Code of Kazakhstan, after publishing two articles on news site http://www.kub.kz entitled, "Mafia regime shadows the murderers of Altynbek Sarsenbayev" and "Roman Catholic Pope and Astana Pope - feel the difference."

Azerbaijan

Appeals court refuses to hear witnesses for journalist, bars visitors as his health deteriorates in prison

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 7 December 2006 CPJ press release:

Sri Lanka

New emergency rules threaten free expression

(FMM/IFEX) - The following is a 7 December 2006 FMM press release:

Mexico

Police detain two suspects in murder of journalist Adolfo Sánchez Guzmán

(RSF/IFEX) - Police in the eastern state of Veracruz revealed on 4 December 2006 that they had been holding two suspects in the murder of journalist Adolfo Sánchez Guzmán for three days. The suspects are Julian Rosas Palestino, 34, and his brother Juan Carlos Rosas Palestino, 30, both from the southern state of Puebla, who were identified thanks to information provided by a dozen different witnesses.

Australia

Student magazine editor subjected to terror probe

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has expressed shock that the editor of a student magazine became the subject of an investigation under a federal anti-terror law after being denounced on an "anti-terrorist" hotline.

Fiji

Media refuse to bow to military censorship, successfully order soldiers out of newsrooms and office premises

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 7 December 2006 CPJ press release:

Fiji

PINA condemns coup, applauds media outlets' resistance to new leadership's demands, calls for immediate re-establishment of free media conditions

(PINA/IFEX) - The following is a 6 December 2006 PINA media release:

Brazil

Presidential security agent assaults photographer at official event

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 2 December 2006, photographer Lula Marques of the newspaper "Folha de S. Paulo" was assaulted by one of the President's security guards when he was covering an official presentation by First Lady Marisa Leticia da Silva, in Brasilia.

Iraq / Spain / United States

Spanish Supreme Court orders reopening of investigation into cameraman's death in Iraq

(RSF/IFEX) - Spain's Supreme Court has ordered the reopening of the Spanish judicial investigation into the death of Spanish cameraman José Couso, who was killed when a US tank shelled the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad on 8 April 2003.

Bolivia

Ruling party's supporters assault journalists, alleging they are "accomplices" of the opposition

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 27 November 2006, a group of journalists was assaulted by militant activists of the governing party, Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS), when they were covering a national meeting of prefects and leaders of citizens' organisations in the city of Cochabamba, central Bolivia. Those assaulted were Radio Betel radio station journalist Julio Saavedra, Radio Centro radio station journalist Franz Navia, and an unidentified cameraman from Canal 52 television station. All three sustained minor injuries.

Argentina

Journalists threatened for investigating murder in Salta

(IPYS/IFEX) - Since November 2006, a group of journalists in the city of Salta, in north-eastern Argentina, has been threatened via telephone and e-mail after they reported on the alleged connection of former pro-government congress member Ernesto Aparicio, and of drug traffickers to the murder of rural businesswoman Liliana Ledesma, which took place on 21 September.

Paraguay

Supreme Court sentences journalist to 10 months of social work for defamation

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 5 December 2006, the Supreme Court of Justice sentenced journalist Luis Verón, of the newspaper "ABC Color", to 10 months of social work for defamation, slander and calumny. The sentence is the result of a suit filed by architect Luis Pereira Javaloyes after Verón published an article in 1999 that questioned the restoration of an architectural work done by Pereira.

Venezuela

Telemundo television network prevented from broadcasting on elections

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 3 December 2006, officials who identified themselves as members of the National Commission for Telecommunications (Comisión Nacional de Telecomunicaciones, CONATEL) forced Telemundo to suspend its transmission of the presidential elections from a hotel in Caracas.

Singapore

Jailed opposition leader's health deteriorating, Human Rights Watch calls for his release and appropriate medical care

(HRW/IFEX) - The following is a Human Rights Watch press release:

Sri Lanka

Several newspapers unable to circulate in east of country

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has called on media and information minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa to act quickly to ensure that all Tamil newspapers can circulate freely in areas controlled by the government.

International

CAPSULE REPORT: CPJ census finds more journalists held without charge or due process in 2006, with Internet fuelling rise in imprisonment

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 7 December 2006 CPJ press release:

Cambodia

Local authority stops citizens from flying kites in demand for free expression

(SEAPA/IFEX) - The Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) is disappointed that the Cambodian local authority of Daun Penh District in Phnom Penh has prevented an attempt by its citizens to fly kites as a means of expressing their demand for legal reforms to allow for peaceful demonstration in public places.

Indonesia

Movie banned for "excessive violence"; AJI deplores continued use of criminal code and violence against journalists

(AJI/IFEX) - The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) Indonesia slams the use of criminal law in solving press-related disputes. AJI Indonesia also condemns the continued violence against journalists in the course of their duties. At least 64 cases of violence against Indonesian journalists were recorded from August 2005 to August 2006.

Nepal

Two journalists and their families receive death threats

(FNJ/IFEX) - Two journalists of "Himalayan Times", a Nepali national daily, Panakaj Jha and Shravan Dev, were threatened with murder on 7 December 2006 by Yugal Kishor Mukhiya, in the city of Kunauli in Saptari, an eastern district of Nepal.

Guinea

Newspaper accused of "damaging state's reputation", suspended for two months

(MFWA/IFEX) - "Kalum Express", a privately-owned Conakry-based newspaper, was suspended for two months by the media regulator, the National Council for Communication (CNC), on 27 November 2006, for allegedly damaging the reputation of the state of Guinea.

Tunisia

Imprisoned lawyer's wife and three companions harassed by police and attacked by youths to prevent prison visit

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has condemned the use of police roadblocks and physical attacks by groups of youths to prevent Samia Abbou and three companions - opposition politician Moncef Marzouki, journalist Slim Boukhdir and lawyer Samir Ben Amar - from visiting her husband, leading dissident lawyer and human rights activist Mohammed Abbou in Kef prison.

Peru

Police officer threatens journalist in Chimbote after being photographed drinking in station

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 2 December 2006, journalist Miguel Ángel Palomino, of the newspaper "Diario de Chimbote", was threatened at gunpoint by the National Police's Chimbote Division's Emergency Squadron chief, Captain Jorge Gonzáles Sánchez, after he took a photograph of the officer drinking alcohol with a group of other policemen in the back of the police station in the city of Chimbote, northwestern Peru.

Venezuela

President Chávez threatens to close television stations that broadcast voting station exit polls on election day

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 30 November 2006, during a press conference, President Hugo Chávez, who is running for re-election, warned that he would close private television stations if they broadcasted exit poll results about voter choices in the 3 December elections before the official results from the National Electoral Council are tabulated and announced. Chávez reiterated that he will not accept destabilizing moves from the media and stated that he regretted not having closed Venevisión, Radio Caracas TV, Globovisón and Televen television stations during the events of April 2002, when an attempted coup ousted him from power for 47 hours. The press conference took place in his office at the Miraflores Palace.

Mexico

Two officials suspected in shooting of U.S. journalist released

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 4 December 2006 CPJ press release:

Mexico

Murder of columnist in Mazatlán still unpunished, IAPA calls for action

(IAPA/IFEX) - The following is a 30 November 2006 IAPA press release:

Mexico

Death threats against "El Mundo" photographer and journalist over drug trafficking coverage; more details on disappearance of Michoacán journalist

(IAPA/IFEX) - The following is a 6 December 2006 IAPA press release:

Peru

Police injure two journalists during confrontation with demonstrators, one in critical condition

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 5 December 2006, freelance journalist Wilmar Taychihua was shot in the head while he was covering a confrontation between demonstrators and the National Police in the city of Abancay, southeastern Peru. The demonstrators were attempting to storm the headquarters of Apurímac's regional government when the police opened fire. The bullet that hit Taychihua entered his skull and came out through his mouth. The reporter was evacuated to Cusco's regional hospital and it is expected that he will be transferred to Lima due to the seriousness of his condition.

Fiji

Military forcefully remove journalists from area surrounding PM's residence

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is a 5 December 2006 IFJ media release:

Russia / International

IPI names murdered Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya World Press Freedom Hero

(IPI/IFEX) - The following is an IPI press release:

International

Disclosure policy of EU development bank still lags behind international standards, says ARTICLE 19

(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) - The following is a 6 December 2006 ARTICLE 19 press release:

Ghana

Two journalists barred from press conference

(MFWA/IFEX) - Alfred Ogbamey, managing editor of the "Gye Nyame Concord", and Samuel Asamoah, a reporter for the newspaper, were prevented from covering a press conference by the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) on 4 December 2006.

Sri Lanka

Military detains two journalists for police questioning, film and photographs confiscated before release

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is a 6 December 2006 IFJ media release:

Colombia

Detention of Telesur television network correspondent extended; RSF joins international call for his release

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF condemns the 28 November 2006 decision to extend the detention of Freddy Muñoz Altamiranda, the Colombian correspondent of the Latin American television network Telesur. Muñoz was arrested on 19 November at the Bogotá airport on his return from Venezuela and was charged with "rebellion" and "terrorism" over allegations dating back to 2002 of links with the guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, FARC).

Bolivia

Officials confiscate journalist's documents

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 29 November 2006, officials of the Ministry of the Interior (Ministerio de Gobierno) confiscated documents related to alleged administrative irregularities which took place in the Migrations Office in the city of Santa Cruz, eastern Bolivia, in the possession of journalist José Antonio Quisbert, of the newspaper "Nuevo Día". Ministry personnel detained Quisbert for several minutes in the Migrations Office headquarters in order to confiscate the documents he had been given by its former director, Olga Espinoza. According to the journalist, the order was issued by Vice-minister Rubén Gamarra, who was on the premises at the time, appointing the new director.

Venezuela

National Assembly member urges president's supporters to be prepared to take control of private media outlets on election day

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 29 November 2006, National Assembly Member Iris Valera, of the ruling party, asked the followers of President Hugo Chávez, who is running for re-election, to get ready to take control of private television and radio stations on 3 December - the day of the presidential elections - as she fears that those media outlets will be used to proclaim opposition candidate Manuel Rosales as the winner. Valera made this statement during the news programme "Al Momento", on the state-run television station Venezolana de Televisión (VTV).

Peru

Journalists under surveillance by intelligence agents

(IPYS/IFEX) - A group of Peruvian journalists has reported that they have been kept under surveillance by officials of Peru's anti-terrorism units - the national counter-terrorism directorate (Dirección Nacional Contra el Terrorismo, DINCOTE) and the terrorism directorate (Dirección de Terrorismo, DITER) - as well as special agents of the Huallaga police department, since 12 November 2006. The journalists are Amancio del Águila, a correspondent for Panamericana Televisión, Ernesto Alvarado, of radio station Estúdio 92 de Aucayacu, and Nóbel Panduro, of Radio La Luz. According to them, the surveillance began after they broadcast an interview with "Artemio", a spokesman for the subversive group "Sendero Luminoso", which took place on 11 November in the district of Aucayacu, Huánuco region, in east-central Peru. The surveillance has been videotaped.

Netherlands

CORRECTION: Jailed journalists released; new legislation needed to protect confidentiality of sources in future, says ARTICLE 19

(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) - Please note, the previous version of this alert incorrectly stated that the court order requiring the two journalists to disclose their sources remained in force. In fact, the order has been dropped. ARTICLE 19 apologises for the error. The corrected version of the 30 November 2006 ARTICLE 19 statement follows:

Sudan

Journalist freed after being held incommunicado for 12 days

(RSF/IFEX) - "Al-Sahafa" columnist Al-Tahir Satti was released on 4 December 2006 after being held for 12 days in what he described as "poor conditions" at an investigative police department in north Khartoum. He said he had to sleep on the floor, was never given a change of clothes and was not allowed to talk to his family or to a lawyer. He also said he was questioned for less than 10 minutes during all the time he was held.

Cuba

Provincial journalist gets four years for being "social danger"; Havana reporter arrested by state security

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has called for the immediate and unconditional release of Ahmed Rodríguez Albacia of the Jóvenes sin Censura independent news agency, who was arrested by the State Security police on 4 December 2006 in Havana. The organisation also condemned the four-year prison sentence passed on independent journalist Raymundo Perdigón Brito on 5 December for being a "pre-criminal danger to society."

Malaysia

Government signals crackdown on bloggers

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has voiced alarm that Malaysia could introduce repressive legislation on the Internet after the science and technology minister, Kong Cho Ha, said the government planned new rules to block its malicious use and prevent bloggers from posting news jeopardising social harmony.

Maldives

International press freedom mission concerned by lack of progress on democratic reforms

(RSF/IFEX) - The following is a 4 December 2006 open letter to Information and Arts Minister Mohamed Nasheed from the International Mission for Press Freedom in the Maldives, which includes RSF, ARTICLE 19, the International Federation of Journalists and two other organisations:

Fiji

Military moves into newsrooms, requires all news items to be screened

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is an IFJ media release:

Nepal

Youths, allegedly Maoist, attack media vehicle and harass driver, objecting to newspaper's content

(CEHURDES/IFEX) ? CEHURDES condemns the attack by an unidentified group on a vehicle belonging to the "Kantipur" newspaper, which was carrying press materials.

Iran

YouTube and "New York Times" sites blocked as Iran steps up censorship of foreign content

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders expressed deep concern for the future of the Internet in Iran, where censorship is now the rule rather than the exception, after the video sharing website YouTube and that of the US daily "New York Times" were added to the country's blacklist. In addition, the English version of the online encyclopaedia Wikipedia was blocked from 1-3 December 2006. These steps come two months after Iran banned high-speed Internet access.

Malaysia

Arbitrary restriction of books shows government oblivious of people's free expression rights, says local media rights group

(SEAPA/IFEX) - A communications rights group in Malaysia has raised concerns over the government's arbitrary and opaque manner of restricting books.

China

Restrictions loosened for foreign journalists ahead of Olympic Games; appeal court confirms three-year sentence for "New York Times" researcher Zhao Yan

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has hailed a foreign ministry decision, taken under international pressure, to loosen regulations for foreign journalists working in China. From the beginning of January 2007 until October 2008, foreign journalists with accreditation for the Olympic and Paralympic Games will be able to travel freely throughout China, including Tibet and Xinjiang.

Peru

Journalist critical of ex-president Fujimori may face prison for "plagiarizing" his own novel

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 21 November 2006, Lima's Sixth Criminal Court summoned journalist and writer Nicolás Yerovi to the reading of the verdict and possibly a sentence in a suit filed against him for allegedly plagiarizing a novel that he himself wrote.

Honduras

NGO lawyer investigating corruption murdered following death threats

(PROBIDAD/IFEX) - Honduran lawyer Dionisio García, aged 43, was murdered on the morning of 4 December 2006 by two hit-men on a motorcycle as he headed toward the Supreme Court. He died instantly of gunshot wounds. García was a lawyer for the Association for a More Just Society (Asociación por una Sociedad Más Justa, ASJ).

Mexico

Newspaper editor missing in Michoacán state following his investigations into drug-trafficking

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF is alarmed by the news that José Antonio García Apac, the editor of the weekly "Ecos de la Cuenca" in Tepalcatepec, in the southwestern state of Michoacán, has been missing since 20 November 2006. The press freedom organisation fears the worst given that Adolfo Sánchez Guzmán of radio Xhora Ori Stereo 99.3 was found shot dead on 30 November in the eastern state of Veracruz, two days after going missing (see IFEX alerts of 30 November and 4 December 2006).

Benin

Two journalists sentenced to six months in prison with no parole for "defamation"

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders expressed shock at a six-month prison sentence handed down to publisher Clément Adéchian and editor Cécil Adjévi, of the privately-owned daily "L'Informateur", together with a fine of 500,000 FCFA (752 euros) for "defamation".

Democratic Republic of Congo

Journalist released after spending four days in detention

(JED/IFEX) - Television show host Honore Kabongo, of the morning programme "Écran matinale" ("Morning View"), was released on 29 November 2006 at 2:00 p.m. (local time). He spent four days in detention at the Congolese special police headquarters, commonly known as Kin Mazière. The journalist reported that he was left almost completely naked during the course of his detention and that his wedding ring was taken away and only given back after he lodged several complaints.

Colombia

Journalists in Sincelejo and Córdoba receive death threats; broadcast on politicians' links to paramilitary interrupted; "Semana" circulation impeded

(FLIP/IFEX) - Threats against journalists, barriers to the distribution of media products, and the possible sabotage of television broadcasts all underscore the worrisome situation of journalism in the Atlantic Coast region, following the first court rulings regarding the links between politicians and paramilitaries.

Guinea-Bissau

President's supporters besiege radio station, force journalist to disclose source

(MFWA/IFEX) - On 15 November 2006, a group of sympathizers of President Joao Bernardo Vieira besieged Radio Bombolom, an independent radio station based in Bissau, the capital, and forced journalist Antonio Iaia Seidi to disclose a source of information. The angry group also forcibly broadcast a rejoinder to an earlier story filed by Seidi.

Democratic Republic of Congo

Journalist released after nine days in detention

(JED/IFEX) - Clement Nku, a cameraman with Canal Congo Television (CCTV), which is privately-owned by Jean-Pierre Bemba, was released on 29 November 2006 at approximately 2:00 p.m. (local time) after being held for nine days. No charge has been raised against him.

Senegal

Two journalists threatened: RSF call for measures to defuse tension in run-up to elections

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has condemned two separate cases of threats against Senegalese journalists in the past two weeks. The targets were freelance reporter Dié Maty Fall, who works for the privately-owned newspapers "Sud Quotidien", "Le Populaire" and "L'As" and the websites Rewmi.com ( http://www.rewmi.com ) and Nettali.net ( http://www.nettali.net ), and Pape Alé Niang, who presents the press review on privately-owned radio Sud FM.

Burundi

Bonesha FM director summoned by prosecutor

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF is outraged by the wave of arrests of journalists in the capital city, Bujumbura. In the latest incident, on 1 December 2006, the director of the privately-owned radio station Bonesha FM, Corneille Nibaratu, was summoned by the public prosecutor, a prelude to his probable incarceration in Mpimba central prison.

France

Website editor faces prosecution for posting union press release

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has condemned a judge's decision to open a judicial investigation against Roberto Ferrario, the editor of the left-wing website Bellaciao ( http://bellaciao.org ), in response to a libel suit by the Saint Nazaire-based shipyard, Chantiers de l'Atlantique, over a critical press release by the USM-CGT union that was posted on the site.

Fiji

Violent threats against media by military during coup; television station and newspaper suspend operations

(IPI/IFEX) - The following is an IPI press release:

Azerbaijan / Iran

Ayatollah issues fatwa calling for two journalists in Azerbaijan to be killed

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has voiced deep concern about a fatwa (religious decree) issued by an Iranian ayatollah calling for two journalists in neighbouring Azerbaijan to be killed for an allegedly blasphemous article. The fatwa's targets are Rafiq Nazar Oughlo Taghizadh of the Azerbaijani fortnightly "Sanat" ("Industry") and his editor Samir Sadaght Oughlo.

Iraq

Radio news editor shot dead in Baghdad

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 4 December 2006 CPJ press release:

Philippines

Two radio journalists lightly wounded in shooting

(CMFR/IFEX) - Two radio journalists were injured when two unidentified men fired their guns at them on 1 December 2006 in Estancia, Iloilo province, a province located about 400 kilometres south of the capital, Manila.

Somalia

Radio journalist in detention; Italian journalist arrested, questioned, released

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is a 4 December 2006 IFJ media release:

Denmark

WAN hails victory for press freedom as court acquits journalists of disclosing Iraq intelligence secrets

(WAN/IFEX) - The following is a 4 December 2006 WAN press release:

Nepal

State-owned television station cancels program following debate on recently-enacted law

(FNJ/IFEX) - Nepal Television (NTV) has cancelled a program, "Sarbajanik Sunuwai" ("Public Hearing"), accusing the program director and presenter of disrupting national integrity and communal harmony.

Colombia

Paramilitary hold meeting in Santa Marta to plan journalist's assassination

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 27 November 2006, journalist José Ponce Obispo, producer of the news programme of Radio Galeón, accused a paramilitary group of planning to murder him.

Libya

Outspoken critic of government detained incommunicado for a month, still in detention

(HRW/IFEX) - The following is a Human Rights Watch press release:

Mexico

Missing journalist found shot dead on riverbank in Veracruz state

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 1 December 2006 CPJ press release:

Haiti

Cassation court rejects request by family for civil party status in journalist Brignol Lindor's murder case

(RSF/IFEX) - The following is a 30 November 2006 RSF letter to Haitian President René Préval, and Port-au-Prince Public Prosecutor Claudy Gassant:

Colombia

Journalist found murdered as paramilitary threats increase

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is a 1 December 2006 IFJ media release:

Colombia

Paramilitary's resurgence threatening free expression, international community demands action from authorities

(FLIP/IFEX) - The following is a 30 November 2006 joint action by FLIP and IPYS, supported by other IFEX members and other organisations, as well as individual journalists:

Nigeria

Armed government agents raid radio station, arrest staff, seize materials, shut it down temporarily

(MRA/IFEX) - On 2 December 2006, agents of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nigeria's anti corruption agency, raided the privately owned radio station Cosmo FM, based in Enugu in south-eastern Nigeria. They arrested some staff, took away documents belonging to the station house and shut the station down for about two hours.

Fiji

Newspaper temporarily closes in face of death and bomb threats, rumours of impending military coup

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is an IFJ media release:

Guinea

Newspaper journalist assaulted, briefly detained by police officer

(MFWA/IFEX) - On November 16, 2006 Alpha Camara, a reporter for "L'Observateur", a privately-owned weekly newspaper, was attacked by a police officer from the criminal investigations department (Direction de la Police Judiciaire) in Kaloum district, southwest of Conakry, the capital.

Burma

Intelligence agents and paramilitaries monitor writer's 91st birthday celebration; Rangoon High Court rejects appeal against 19-year sentences for publishers of political poems

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders and the Burma Media Association have voiced outrage at the military government's use of intimidation to disrupt the celebration of leading writer and journalist Ludu Daw Amar's 91st birthday on 29 November 2006 in the central city of Mandalay.

Nepal

Right to information bill flawed, contains overbroad exceptions, says ARTICLE 19

(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) - The following is a 1 December 2006 ARTICLE 19 press release:

Iran

Two journalists detained, national weekly suspended for "ethnic insult"

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has condemned the arrests of two journalists, Shirko Jahani and Hussein Saidpour, and the suspension of a weekly newspaper amid mounting pressure on the media that has prompted five provincial newspapers to stop publishing in a gesture of protest.

South Korea

State-owned news agency seeks to close news market and monopolise information distribution

(WAN/IFEX) - The following is a 1 December 2006 letter by WAN and others to South Korean minister of culture and tourism Myung-Gon Kim:

Nepal

Cameraperson attacked by student activists

(FNJ/IFEX) - Ananta Chalise, a cameraperson with "Image Channel", and Pradeep Shrestha, a photographer for "Himalaya Times", a Nepali national newspaper were attacked by members of the All Nepal National Free Student Union-Revolutionary (ANNFSU-R) on 30 November 2006.

Iran

Government wants all news websites dealing with Iran to be registered

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has voiced concern about a government decision, taken at a cabinet meeting on 27 November 2006, that all websites dealing with Iran will have to register with the culture ministry in the next two months. The new rule will probably be difficult to implement and seems designed above all to give the authorities grounds to close down independent news sites.

China

Journalist reportedly arrested for "illegal interviews" with coal miners after accident

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has called on the Chinese government to reveal the names of the journalist and his three assistants from the southern Guizhou province who were reportedly arrested in Linfen, in the central province of Shanxi, on 3 November 2006 for investigating an explosion at the Luweitan coal mine. The organisation also asked the authorities to explain why they were arrested.

Liberia

Two newspaper editors receive death threats over critical reporting on security chief following agent's murder

(CEMESP/IFEX) - On 1 December 2006, two editors of the independent "Public Agenda" newspaper in Liberia's capital Monrovia complained of threats on their lives by people believed to be agents of Special Security Service (SSS) Director Chris Massaquoi.

Cambodia

Provincial officials threaten radio journalist against reporting on land issues

(SEAPA/IFEX) - A provincial governor has threatened a radio journalist for reporting on land disputes and illegal logging, accusing him of inciting disaffection among the people.

Nepal

Photojournalist assaulted, injured by student activists in Kathmandu

(FNJ/IFEX) - CEHURDES condemns the rough treatment given a photojournalist by student activists belonging to the All Nepal National Independent Students Union- Revolutionary (ANNISU-R), affiliated with the CPN (Maoists).

France

Three "Midi Libre" reporters under judicial investigation over leaked audit

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has condemned the opening of a formal judicial investigation into three journalists with the Montpellier-based daily "Midi Libre" on suspicion of "violating professional confidentiality." It stems from a complaint by former Languedoc-Roussillon regional council president Jacques Blanc of the ruling UMP party over a leaked official audit.

Netherlands

Jailed journalists released, but court order to reveal sources stands; new legislation needed to protect confidentiality of sources, says ARTICLE 19

(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) - The following is a 30 November 2006 ARTICLE 19 statement:

Eritrea / Sudan

Closure of Eritrean radio station Al-Sharq, broadcasting from Sudan; one journalist released, eight still held in police-run "Agip" centre in Asmara

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has disputed Eritrean information minister Ali Abdu's claim that nine journalists arrested on 12 November 2006 have been released, insisting that only one of the nine has been freed and the other eight are still being held. The journalist who was released is Simon Zewde (previously identified as "Simon"), who works for the state television station Eri-TV.

Zambia

New minister threatens to revoke licences of "errant" broadcasters, is hesitant to enact freedom of information bill

(MISA/IFEX) - On 22 November 2006, Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services Vernon Johnson Mwaanga threatened to withdraw radio and television licences from stations that failed to abide by the law of broadcasting.

Sri Lanka

Freelance Tamil journalist arrested

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 30 December 2006 CPJ press release:

Zimbabwe

Revised bill still threatens rights of access to information and free expression, says MISA

(MISA/IFEX) - MISA-Zimbabwe notes with great concern that the revised Interception of Communications Bill (ICB) still retains undemocratic provisions that threaten citizens' fundamental rights of privacy, freedom of conscience and association, and urges the Parliament of Zimbabwe not to pass the proposed law.

Canada

Court orders writer to turn over documents used for book, jeopardising confidentiality of sources

(PEN Canada/IFEX) - The following is a 29 November 2006 PEN Canada media release:

Sri Lanka

Photojournalist assaulted by police, detained overnight, his camera broken, faces charges after filming police action in temple

(FMM/IFEX) - The following is a 30 November 2006 FMM press release:

Honduras

Congress approves access to information law that "will allow citizens to hold public servants accountable," according to PROBIDAD and C-Libre

(PROBIDAD/IFEX) - On 23 November 2006 Congress approved, on the third and final debate, the Transparency and Access to Public Information Law (Ley de Transparencia y Acceso a la Información Pública), containing 49 articles, with significant improvements on the original version presented on 26 January, according to legislative sources and social organizations that have discussed the new law with the Committee for Free Expression (Comité por la Libre Expresión, C-Libre).

Indonesia

Four films on Aceh and East Timor censored

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has lambasted the decision of the Indonesian authorities to ban screening of four films, three on East Timor and one about Aceh province, at the 8th international Jakarta film festival (JiFFest).

Malaysia

Media groups' planned merger will lead to "monopolisation of information and political influence," warns SEAPA

(SEAPA/IFEX) - SEAPA is greatly concerned by the news that two media groups in Malaysia may be merging.

Burundi

Third radio journalist jailed in growing crackdown

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 29 November 2006 CPJ press release:

Mexico

Another journalist disappears, this time in Veracruz state

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF has voiced alarm at the news that Adolfo Sánchez Guzmán, correspondent for Televisa Veracruz television station and Xhora Ori Stereo 99.3 radio station in Orizaba, in the eastern state Veracruz, has been missing since 28 November 2006. He is the third journalist to have disappeared this year in Mexico. Seven others have been murdered.

Iran

CAPSULE REPORT: Provisional release used as censorship tool: two journalists summoned to serve sentences; another fired under ministry orders; over 30 forbidden to work

(RSF/IFEX) - The following is a 28 November 2006 RSF capsule report:

Burundi

Prosecutor questions journalists on sources in aborted coup case

(JED/IFEX) - On 28 November 2006, Bob Rugurika and Christelle Ruvari, journalists with the Bujumbura-based, privately-owned radio station Radio publique africaine (RPA), were questioned by the Bujumbura Prosecutor's Office.

Brazil

Federal Supreme Court rules that university degree not required to practice journalism

(RSF/IFEX) - On 21 November 2006, the judges of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) unanimously resolved that it should not be compulsory for anyone working as a journalist to have a university degree. The STF was asked to rule on this issue the same day that the Superior Court of Justice (STJ), another senior federal court, voted unanimously to make it obligatory for journalists to have a degree.

Côte d'Ivoire

President seizes control of state media outlets

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF has expressed outrage over President Laurent Gbagbo's heavy-handed takeover of the state media following the 28 November 2006 announcement of the dismissal of Radiotélévision ivoirienne (RTI) Director Kébé Yacouba. Yacouba was replaced by Brou Amessan, who served as a news anchor during the January takeover of the station by the nationalist pro-government youth movement, the "Jeunes patriotes" ("Young Patriots").

Yemen

State-run newspaper accuses award-winning journalist of being US agent over critical coverage of Saudi Arabia

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 28 November 2006 CPJ press release:

Colombia

Journalists rally to question their colleague's detention

(FLIP/IFEX) - The following is a 27 November 2006 open letter from FLIP and others to the Colombian authorities:

Azerbaijan

Imprisoned journalist joins independent media hunger-strikers

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders reiterated its support for a two-week-old hunger strike by a group of journalists and press freedom activists after imprisoned journalist Sakit Zahidov, who received a three-year sentence in October 2006, announced on 23 November he was joining the protest against government threats to the independent media.

Pakistan

Ban lifted on Sindh TV

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has welcomed the lifting of a ban on the privately-owned channel Sindh TV. On 24 November 2006, the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) authorised Pakistani cable and satellite operators to resume its broadcasts. A spokesperson at the television channel confirmed to Reporters Without Borders that broadcasts to Pakistani territory resumed from midday on 25 November. The ban had been imposed on 8 November.

Niger

Publisher and editor of "Le Républicain" freed after appeal hearing, final verdict still pending

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders welcomes the release, at the end of their appeal hearing, of Maman Abou and Oumaru Keita, respectively publisher and editor of the privately-owned weekly "Le Républicain".

Pakistan / Afghanistan

Taliban attack press in North Waziristan: journalist questioned, his son kidnapped and released; two-day ban on newspaper distribution imposed; two journalists released

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders condemned Taliban reprisals against the press in North Waziristan in response to an inaccurate report carried by several national and international media. A journalist's son was kidnapped for several hours, media offices were attacked, copies of newspapers were burned and a two-day ban on newspaper distribution was proclaimed.

United States

"New York Times" obliged by Supreme Court to hand over telephone records

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF has voiced deep regret at the US Supreme Court's 27 November 2006 refusal to stay implementation of a federal court ruling requiring the "New York Times" to surrender the phone records of two of its journalists. The organisation reiterated its appeal to Congress to pass a federal shield law that would recognize journalists' right to protect their sources.

Democratic Republic of Congo

Twelve armed agents raid television station, arrest and detain host, cameraman

(JED/IFEX) - Television show host Honore Kabongo and Radiotelevision Kintuadi (RTK) cameraman Bienvenu Ngizulu were detained on 25 November 2006 when a dozen armed men stormed onto the set of "Écran matinale" ("Morning View") at 11:45 a.m. (local time). The journalists were presenting a morning show programme devoted to the growing insecurity in Kinshasa that resulted from an untimely power cut. Radiotelevision Kintuadi is owned by the Kimbaguiste Church and is based in Kinshasa.

Iran

Previously imprisoned cartoonist, in exile after facing death threats, seeks asylum

(CRN/IFEX) - Cartoonist Mana Neyestani has left Dubai where he had lived in exile since one of his cartoons elicited death threats. He is now in Europe, where he has notified the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the refugee agency of the United Nations, that he is seeking asylum.

Iraq

Two state media workers killed in span of five days

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders condemns the murders of two employees of the state-owned Iraqi Media Network (IMN) in the span of five days. Raad Jaafar Hamadi, a journalist with the daily "Al Sabah", was killed on 22 November 2006 in Baghdad. Fadhila Abdelkarim, a member of the administrative staff of the local TV station Nainawa, was killed on 26 November in Mosul (370 km north of Baghdad).

Palestine

Unity of journalists is "key to peace and democracy", says IFJ in solidarity call

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is a 28 November 2006 IFJ media release:

China / International

Journalist imprisoned with Yahoo complicity wins WAN's Golden Pen of Freedom award

(WAN/IFEX) - The following is a 28 November 2006 WAN press release:

Azerbaijan

Imprisoned editor pardoned but campaign of intimidation against news media continues, says WPFC

(WPFC/IFEX) - The following is a WPFC letter to Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev:

Azerbaijan

Authorities shut down TV station, evict two newspapers and news agency in crackdown on independent media

(RSF/IFEX) - Stepping up their harassment of the independent and opposition media, the authorities have suspended the first independent TV station and have evicted two newspapers and a news agency from their premises. The independent press has been staging protests for several weeks against harassment and President Ilham Aliev's authoritarian methods.

Netherlands

Two journalists jailed for refusing to reveal sources for story on intelligence leak to underworld

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is an IFJ media release:

Sri Lanka

UNESCO senior advisor asks president to ban book critical of her conduct as former president

(FMM/IFEX) - The following is a 23 November 2006 FMM letter to UNESCO Director General Koïchiro Matsuura:

Rwanda

French radio station's broadcasts suspended

(JED/IFEX) - JED has deplored the 26 November 2006 suspension of a Paris-based Radio France Internationale's (RFI) FM transmitter, which operated from Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda.

Somalia

Journalist held by pro-government militias for three days

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has condemned the arrest and mistreatment of Abdullahi Yasin Jama of privately-owned Radio Warsan by militiamen loyal to the federal transition government in the western city of Baidoa. They held him for three days and abused him physically after luring him to the presidential palace on 24 November 2006 with an invitation to a fake news conference.

Sudan

Reporter from independent daily "Al-Sahafa" detained incommunicado

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has called on the Sudanese authorities to explain why Al-Tahir Satti, a reporter with the independent daily "Al-Sahafa", has been held incommunicado by the criminal investigation police since 22 November 2006.

Singapore

Three opposition politicians imprisoned for speaking publicly without permit

(SEAPA/IFEX) - Singapore opposition leader Dr. Chee Soon Juan has been imprisoned for five weeks following a 24 November 2006 court verdict which found him and two other party members guilty of breaching the city-state's restrictions on free speech.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Television journalist receives death threats following broadcast on public figures' involvement in prostitution ring

(IPI/IFEX) - The following is a 24 November 2006 press release by the South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), an IPI affiliate:

Philippines

Peasant leader involved in outspoken community radio station shot dead

(AMARC/IFEX) - The following is an AMARC press release:

Burundi

Two more journalists summoned in case of alleged coup plot

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is a 23 November 2006 IFJ media release:

Zimbabwe

Regional human rights commission defers hearing challenge to access to information legislation

(MISA/IFEX) - The African Commission for Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR) has deferred to its next session a communication filed jointly by the Independent Journalists Association of Zimbabwe (IJAZ), Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) and MISA-Zimbabwe challenging the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA).

Ukraine

President meets with WAN, reaffirms commitment to press freedom

(WAN/IFEX) - The following is a 27 November 2006 WAN press release:

International

WAN releases half-year review of press freedom

(WAN/IFEX) - The following is a 27 November 2006 WAN press release:

Nepal

Court orders reinstatement of journalist forced into early retirement

(FNJ/IFEX) - On 20 November 2006, the Labor Court ordered a news group to reinstate a journalist who was forced into retirement, allegedly for disobeying the management's order to disseminate certain news.

Venezuela

Unidentified individual threatens editor over photograph published in newspaper

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 21 November 2006, the chief editor of the newspaper "El Impulso", José Ángel Ocanto, was threatened with death by a man who identified himself as a member of the armed forces and the father of a child whose photograph had been published by the paper earlier that day.

Belarus

Independent weekly threatened with closure on the eve of its 100th anniversary

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has condemned the Belarusian government's repeated attempts to close down the weekly "Nasha Niva", one of the country's few independent newspapers, this time exploiting the fact that it now lacks fixed premises.

Yemen

Editor may face one-year prison sentence in Mohammed cartoons case; newspaper given six-month suspension

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has condemned a one-year prison sentence against the editor-in-chief of the weekly "al Rai al-Aam", and a six-month suspension of the paper for publishing the controversial Danish cartoons of the prophet Mohammed.

Venezuela

Soldiers assault cameraman from repeatedly-harassed Globovisión television station, prevent crew from covering protest

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 23 November 2006, a Globovisión television crew was harassed, and one of its members physically assaulted, by security personnel at the government's Casa Militar when they were covering a protest march which took place in front of its headquarters in Caracas. The members of the crew were Beatriz Adrián, Edwin Moreno and José Luis Ochoa.

Peru

Photojournalists assaulted by police while covering women's march in Lima

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 24 November 2006, members of Perú's National Police assaulted freelance photojournalist Walter Upiú and Agence France Press news agency photojournalist Eitam Abramovich when they were covering the march of a group of women who were celebrating No Violence against Women Day in Lima's main square.

Malawi

Journalist censored; MISA takes issue with State House press officer

(MISA/IFEX) - On November 22, 2006, the National Media Institute of Southern Africa (Namisa) - also known as MISA Malawi - petitioned Malawi's President Bingu wa Mutharika on the conduct of the State House Press Officer, Chikumbutso Mtumodzi.

Ecuador

Presidential candidate Alvaro Noboa accuses journalists of "destroying the country"; RSF fears post-election media witch-hunt

(RSF/IFEX) - On the eve of the 26 November 2006 presidential run-off election between left-winger Rafael Correa and right-winger Alvaro Noboa, RSF has voiced concern that the threats and insults between the two candidates and their supporters that have marked the campaign could result in a witch-hunt against media outlets after the election.

Swaziland

Newspaper sued again; endless stream of lawsuits leading to media self-censorship, says MISA

(MISA/IFEX) - The "Times of Swaziland" newspaper has been sued for E75,000 (approx. US$10,000) by a man accused of recently bombing government structures and who is facing high treason charges at the High Court of Swaziland.

Chad

National Assembly votes to extend state of emergency for six months, entrenching prior censorship of the press

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has voiced dismay over the decision by the Chadian National Assembly to extend a 10-day-old state of emergency for six months, thereby maintaining prior censorship of the print media and permanent monitoring of independent radio stations.

Democratic Republic of Congo

Police hold two journalists illegally after clashes outside Supreme Court

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders and its local partner organisation, Journalist in Danger (JED), have called on the Congolese authorities to explain why they have been holding two journalists since 21 November 2006 without bringing charges against them. The two were arrested following clashes at the Supreme Court between police and supporters of presidential candidate Jean-Pierre Bemba.

Nepal

Journalist assaulted, threatened with death by dozens of local youth at his Dokhu residence; three journalists harassed by Maoists in Chitwan

(FNJ/IFEX) - A group of around 50 local youths led by a local Maoist cadre beat Dharma Poudel, "Kathmandu Post" correspondent for Taplejung district, on 25 November 2006 at around 8 p.m. (local time) at his residence in Dokhu village.

Afghanistan

Two Pakistani journalists arrested, detained, put on trial by Taliban

(PPF/IFEX) - Two Pakistani journalists have been arrested by members of the Taliban in the southern Helmand province of Afghanistan and put on trial on unknown charges. Saleem Shahzad, correspondent of "The Star" daily and the Hong Kong-based Asia Times Online, and another journalist, Qamar Yousafzai, have been detained by Taliban commander Matiullah.

China

Court rejects journalist Ching Cheong's appeal, confirms five-year prison term

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is a 24 November 2006 IFJ media release:

Guinea

MFWA calls for reinstatement of two newspaper journalists

(MFWA/IFEX) - MFWA urges the government of Guinea to immediately reinstate "Horoya" state-owned daily newspaper managing director Ibrahima Sory Dieng and editor-in-chief Alhassane Souare to their posts.

The Gambia

Television journalist dismissed for the second time since September

(MFWA/IFEX) - Dodou Sanneh, a journalist working with the public broadcaster Gambia Radio and Television Services (GRTS), was sacked on 20 November 2006 by the management, which offered no explanation for his dismissal.

Serbia

Justice Minister's accusation that Radio Boom 93 distributed misleading information is unfair and arbitrary, says ANEM

(ANEM/IFEX) - The following is an ANEM statement:

China

Cyber-dissident Huang Qi again threatened by Chengdu authorities

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has voiced concern about attempts to intimidate cyber-dissident Huang Qi, who is in the government's sights again for posting comments and photos about a demonstration by retired workers in the southwestern city of Chengdu on his website http://www.64tianwang.com in June 2006. The city's bureau of commerce published a propaganda leaflet accusing him of helping to organise the protests.

Thailand

Culture Ministry forces opera composer to alter final scene of his work

(SEAPA/IFEX) - The military-ruled Thai government recently forced an opera composer to alter the final scene of his work, claiming that it transgressed the tradition of the classical dance genre to which his opera belongs.

Russia

Editor sentenced to five years in prison for coverage of Chechnya conflict; case will "undermine media freedom," says ARTICLE 19

(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) - The following is an ARTICLE 19 statement:

Burundi

Journalists imprisoned for "violating judicial secrecy"

(JED/IFEX) - On 22 November 2006, Serges Nibizi, an executive producer with the independent Bujumbura-based radio station Radio publique africaine (RPA), and Domitile Kiramvu, a journalist with the station, were arrested on orders of the Bujumbura Prosecutor's Office. The two were later transferred to the Mpimba central prison, where they are currently being held.

India

"Hindsat" correspondent beaten and injured by anti-Maoist group, forced to move, "Jansatta" journalist and others also threatened

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is an IFJ media release

Bangladesh

Student activists attack reporter for negative coverage

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has condemned the 22 November 2006 attack on Hasibur Rahman Bilu, a reporter for the "Daily Star", Radio Today and radio Deutsche Welle, in Bogra, north of Dhaka, by student activists belonging to an organisation linked to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).

Iraq

Famous TV comedian shot dead during kidnapping attempt in Baghdad; murdered journalist had received warnings to leave her job prior to her death

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has condemned the murder of Iraqi comedian and TV producer Walid Hassan, who was killed as he tried to elude a kidnapping attempt on 20 November 2006 in Baghdad. The organisation also condemned the murder of newspaper reporter Luma Abdallah Al Karkhi the previous week in Baquba.

Chad

Several N'Djamena newspapers suspend publication in face of censorship pressures

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF has called on Chadian members of Parliament to take the necessary steps to ensure the N'Djamena press may continue to publish without restrictions, as they did before the a state of emergency was declared on 13 November 2006. Residents of the nation's capital now have only one source to turn to for their written news, the pro-government "Le Progrès", following the decision of bi-weekly "N'Djamena Bi-hebdo" and weekly "Le Temps" to suspend publication until the state of emergency's initial period is over.

Azerbaijan

Editor's health deteriorating as he continues hunger strike and is joined by others in campaign against press freedom violations

(RSF/IFEX) - The health of the hunger-striking editor of the daily "Azadlig", Ganimat Zahidov, has deteriorated sharply but he rejected a plea from the journalists' union to end his fast as a campaign by journalists and opponents of President Ilham Aliyev against press freedom violations gained momentum.

Mexico

Crime reporter murdered near Veracruz

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 22 November 2006 CPJ press release:

Kyrgyzstan

Independent television station's antenna attacked; another television station's live broadcasts interrupted; online newspaper's contents and files deleted

(RSF/IFEX) - Although the international community has hailed a new constitution limiting the president's powers and increasing those of parliament as an important step in Kyrgyzstan's democratic evolution, a wave of press freedom violations occurred during the massive demonstrations that preceded its adoption on 9 November 2006, said Reporters Without Borders.

Cuba

Journalist freed after 16 months in jail without charges ever being brought against him

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 21 November 2006 CPJ press release:

Venezuela

Prosecutor accuses journalist of illegal possession of court ruling

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 6 November 2006, journalist Freddy Machado, a correspondent for Globovisión television station in the State of Táchira, in western Venezuela, was accused of illegal possession of a government document.

Philippines

Journalists, media outlets to file civil suit against president's husband for "violating their right to freedom of expression"

(CMFR/IFEX) - Filipino journalists and media organizations are planning to file a civil suit against the husband of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, for violating their right to freedom of expression.

Peru

Plot to kill witness in journalist's murder case uncovered

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 16 November 2006, staff at Peru's National Penitentiary Institute (Instituto Nacional Penitenciario del Perú, INPE) uncovered a plan to kill one of the men involved in the murder of journalist Alberto Rivera Fernández, which took place in April 2004 in the town of Pucallpa, northeastern Peru.

Lesotho

Radio presenter threatened after interviewing political journalist banned from public broadcast media

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has voiced concern about attempts to intimidate leading political journalist Thabo Thakalekoala, who was recently elected president of the regional press freedom organisation, the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA). Since he covered a split in the ruling party for several international media, he and his family have received daily death threats and he says he has been banned from speaking on the public broadcast media.

Peru

Former minister seeking US$900,000 in damages from newspaper over allegation that he "freed terrorists"

(IAPA/IFEX) - The following is a 20 November 2006 IAPA press release:

Mexico

Murdered "El Sol" columnist's recent book about "Excélsior" newspaper's sale had sharply criticised powerful sectors

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 17 November 2006 CPJ press release:

Eritrea

At least nine journalists arrested in new round-up by security services

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders is appalled by a new round-up of journalists by the Eritrean government, in which at least nine employees of state-owned media outlets have been arrested since 12 November 2006 and are being held at undisclosed locations in conditions that are probably extremely harsh.

Venezuela

President Chávez threatens to close television stations if they broadcast "destabilizing" messages the day of the elections

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 17 November 2006, President Hugo Chávez, who is running for re-election, threatened to close any television station that broadcasts "destabilizing" messages on 3 December, the day of national elections. He made this warning during the announcement of a social programme, in Isla Margarita, Nueva Esparta state, in northern Venezuela.

Peru

Journalist receives death threat in Aucayacu for questioning mayor on alleged corruption

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 17 November 2006, journalist Ricardo Núñez Torres received a death threat via an Internet message in retaliation for questions about alleged acts of corruption that he posed to the mayor of the town of Aucayacu, Wilder Miranda, who is running for re-election. The town of Aucayacu is situated in the Huánuco region, in central Peru.

Egypt

Blogger's detention extended for another 15 days

(HRinfo/IFEX) - HRinfo condemns the extension of Abdel Karim Suliman Amer's detention for an additional 15 days. The blogger, also known as Kareem Amer, is in detention while being investigated only because he practiced the basic right to express his own thoughts on his blog.

Venezuela

Private media outlets denied access to government ceremony

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 10 November 2006, several private media outlets were prevented from attending the Venezuelan Air Force anniversary ceremony. Only state-owned media outlets were allowed to attend. The ceremony took place in the municipality of Palavecino in Lara state, central Venezuela.

Bangladesh

Journalist receives death threats, police protection withdrawn for six threatened media outlets as European Parliament adopts resolution on violence against the media

(RSF/IFEX) - Six journalists have been the targets of attacks and threats in the past nine days, in a continuing wave of violence against the media that prompted the European parliament to pass a resolution urging the Bangladeshi authorities to prosecute those responsible, said Reporters Without Borders.

Vietnam

Journalist under house arrest following weeks of harassment, detentions and interrogations over Internet writings

(WiPC/IFEX) - WiPC is seriously concerned for the safety of the woman writer and journalist Tran Khai Thanh, who has been subject to serious harassment and sustained interrogations about her Internet writings since 2 September 2006. Her case appears to be part of a pattern of organised and widespread police harassment of dissident writers and human rights activists in Vietnam since August, apparently in the lead-up to the Asia-Pacific Economic Forum (APEC) summit held in Hanoi from 12 to 19 November

Peru

Radio journalist arrested while covering protest, remains in detention

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 21 November 2006, journalist Alexis Carrasco Ipanaqué, a correspondent for radio station Radio Cutivalú, was arrested by police when he was covering the protest of a group of demonstrators against the results of the 19 November municipal elections.

Nepal

CAPSULE REPORT: Morang district Maoists threaten two journalists; IFJ calls for the protection of journalists' rights as situation deteriorates

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is a 21 November 2006 IFJ capsule report:

Ghana

Court exonerates newspaper's publisher, two editors, in libel suit by former first lady

(MFWA/IFEX) - On 16 November 2006 an Accra high court exonerated Western Publications Limited, publishers of the privately-owned Accra-based "Daily Guide" newspaper; its managing editor, Gina Blay; and its former deputy editor, Ebenezer Ato Sam, of libel charges brought against them by the former first lady, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings.

Colombia

Host of radio news programme receives death threat, his family threatened

(IPYS/IFEX) - On the morning of 14 November 2006, unidentified persons communicated a death threat to José Ponce Obispo, producer of the news programme at Radio Galeón radio station in the town of Santa Marta, northern Colombia.

Russia

Secrecy, repression of reporting on environmental issues endangering thousands of lives, says ARTICLE 19

(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) - The following is an ARTICLE 19 press release:

Colombia

Television correspondent wrongly detained, charged with "rebellion and terrorism"

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF protests the arrest and questioning in Bogotá of Freddy Muñoz, correspondent in Colombia for the international Latin American television channel Telesur, for "rebellion and terrorism". RSF calls for his release.

Bangladesh

Journalist survives attempted murder; two others receive death threats; five others injured in attacks; murdered journalist's case stalled despite court change

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is an IFJ media release:

Pakistan

Abducted journalist released after being questioned, beaten and held for 24 hours

(PPF/IFEX) - Dilawar Khan Wazir, correspondent for BBC and Pakistan's "Daily Dawn", was released a day after being kidnapped. The journalist, who reached the BBC office in Islamabad, the capital city of Pakistan, on the evening of 21 November 2006, said he had been held blindfolded and was kicked, slapped and questioned about his reporting and his sources. The journalist did not know the identity of his abductors.

China

Shareholders ask Cisco Systems to account for its activities in countries that repress freedom of expression

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has praised all the individual and institutional shareholders who chose to express their concern about Cisco Systems' ethical failings by voting at an annual shareholders meeting on 15 November 2006 in favour of a resolution that would have forced it to produce a report on its activities in repressive countries.

Liberia

Journalist threatened, his camera seized, by police officers for taking photographs of tax collection scene

(CEMESP/IFEX) - On 21 November 2006, officers of the Liberia National Police temporarily seized the camera of reporter Daylue Goah of the "New Democrat" newspaper.

The Gambia

Journalist's "false information" trial to be re-initiated under new magistrate

(MFWA/IFEX) - The trial of Lamin Fatty, a reporter with the banned Banjul-based bi-weekly "The Independent", who is being tried for publishing "false information", is to start anew, following the appointment of the trial magistrate, Kebba Sanyang, as Gambia's Attorney General and Secretary of State for Justice.

China

RSF calls on organising committee to guarantee free flow of information during 2008 Olympic Games

(RSF/IFEX) - The following is a 16 November 2006 RSF press release:

France

In landmark decision, Paris court drops charges against journalist who revealed details of judicial investigation

(RSF/IFEX) - A Paris court's 14 November 2006 decision to drop charges against journalist Claude Ardid and lawyer Albert Lévy for revealing details of a judicial investigation into alleged corruption in school meal contracts in Toulon in 1998 has been hailed as a milestone by Reporters Without Borders.

Sri Lanka

Chief editor of public newspaper dismissed without explanation

(FMM/IFEX) - The following is a 19 November 2006 FMM press release:

Peru

"Disproportionate" damages award against television station could jeopardize its existence, says IAPA

(IAPA/IFEX) - The following is a 16 November 2006 IAPA press release:

Peru

Municipal official assaults journalist

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 10 November 2006, journalist Darwin Paniagua Yumbato, a correspondent for the television channel Frecuencia Latina, was hit by the general manager of Maynas provincial municipality, José Mamán, after the journalist criticized Mamán's participation in the mayor's re-election campaign during his working hours as a municipal official. The assault took place in the region of Loreto, in northeastern Peru, while the journalist was covering a political event in which Mayor Juan del Águila Cárdenas was participating.

Sri Lanka

Education director of public television station sent on compulsory leave over sexual content of programme

(FMM/IFEX) - The following is a 19 November 2006 FMM press release:

Democratic Republic of Congo

Cameramen attacked by interior minister's guards

(JED/IFEX) - On 12 November 2006, Basile Kokwalet and John Kintendu, Kinshasa correspondents and cameramen for Radio France's overseas division, RFO, were attacked by guards of the minister of the interior and security, General Denis Kalume Numbi, as they attempted to interview a local pastor.

Pakistan

BBC reporter missing in Islamabad

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders is deeply concerned about the disappearance in Islamabad of Dilawar Khan, a reporter for the Urdu-language section of the BBC World Service and the daily "Dawn" in the South Waziristan tribal area. RSF fears he may have been kidnapped.

Peru

Graffiti death threats against journalists, accusations of corruption and bias

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 17 November 2006, unidentified persons wrote intimidating messages against a group of journalists in Huaraz's main square, in northwestern Peru. The messages threaten them with death and accuse them of being corrupt and of defending the interests of Barrick, a mining company.

Peru

Unidentified women hit and wound radio journalist over reporting on alleged land trafficking

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 6 November 2006, Radio Atlantis journalist Walter Yarasca Quispe, host of the programme "Contacto Noticioso", was hit by two women at the entrance to the station.

Peru

Mayoralty candidate and supporters assault and threaten to kill journalist during radio broadcast

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 14 November 2006, journalist Michael Cahuas, a correspondent for the newspaper "La Jornada", was assaulted by Ciro Gavilán, mayoralty candidate in Ayacucho, while he was hosting a radio programme.

Zimbabwe

CAPSULE REPORT: MISA highlights continued suppression of freedom of expression to human rights commission

(MISA/IFEX) - The following is a MISA statement:

International

CPJ honours four journalists with International Press Freedom Awards

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 17 November 2006 CPJ press release:

Azerbaijan

Newspaper editor, journalist arrested and detained, receive death threats, over article on Islamic values

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 17 November 2006 CPJ press release:

Mexico

"Excélsior" newspaper's Washington correspondent for 22 years murdered in Mexico City

(IAPA/IFEX) - The following is an IAPA press release:

United States

Federal appeal court refuses rehearing in case of blogger Josh Wolf

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has condemned as "absurd inflexibility" the decision of a federal appeal court to refuse to rehear the case of blogger Josh Wolf, who has been in prison since 18 September 2006 for refusing to hand over video footage shot at a demonstration that turned violent in July 2005. Wolf is therefore likely to remain in custody until July 2007, when a grand jury could decide to release him on bail.

Egypt

Hundreds of plainclothes police prevent journalists from covering Cairo demonstration

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has protested against the harassment and intimidation of numbers of local and foreign journalists covering a demonstration against the sexual harassment of women in the capital, Cairo, on 14 November 2006.

Iraq

Reporter killed in Ba'kouba: fourth media worker killed in past week

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is an IFJ media release:

Thailand

Draft anti-cybercrime legislation poses potential threat to freedom of expression on Internet, says SEAPA

(SEAPA/IFEX) - SEAPA is alarmed that Thailand's interim, military-installed government plans to push through draft legislation on computer-related crimes which contains provisions that may curtail freedom of expression on the Internet.

Vietnam

CAPSULE REPORT: RSF calls for support of dissident press as writers "quarantined" during APEC summit

(RSF/IFEX) - The following is an RSF press release:

Ghana

Journalist beaten, subjected to abuse, briefly detained by police officer

(MFWA/IFEX) - Christopher Serlom Adzivor, Volta regional correspondent of "The Independent", a tri-weekly Accra-based independent newspaper, was violently attacked and detained on 11 November 2006 by Lance Corporal Badu, a police officer at the Ho municipal police station.

Colombia

Journalist threatened after reporting on corruption in Sincelejo municipal government

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 9 November 2006, journalist Olga Brú Polo, of the newspaper "El Meridiano de Sucre", received a second threat on her mobile phone after publishing reports about irregularities in the municipal government of Sincelejo, capital of the department of Sucre in northern Colombia. The first threat was sent the day before.

International

Oscar Arias urges media to be critical of concentration of economic power and help resolve key global problems

(IAPA/IFEX) - The following is a 15 November 2006 IAPA press release:

United States

"The New York Times" refuses to reveal a journalists' source for anthrax story, risks fine for defamation

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF hopes that the federal court will demonstrate clemency on 17 November 2006, when it makes it ruling about the request for sanctions against "The New York Times", after one of its reporters, Nicholas Kristof, refused to reveal his sources of information to the court. Kristof and "The New York Times" are being sued for defamation by a former US Army bioterrorism expert, Stephen J. Hatfill.

Ghana

Police harass, mistreat journalists at press conference; seize and destroy journalist's camera

(MFWA/IFEX) - On 10 November 2006, in Ada Foah, located in the Dangbe West district of Ghana's Eastern region, some 27 journalists were heckled and mistreated by armed policemen while covering a press conference.

Syria

Relatives of Syrian prisoners of conscience testify to abuses before French Parliament

(RSF/IFEX) - Relatives of two Syrian prisoners of conscience, journalist and writer Michel Kilo and lawyer and human rights activist Anwar Al Bunni, talked about their conditions of detention and the harassment of their families at a 14 November 2006 news conference at the French National Assembly. It was hosted by Green Party deputy Noël Mamère and organised by Reporters Without Borders, the Damascus-Beirut Declaration Committee and the Association of Friends of Samir Kassir.

Venezuela

President Chávez warns that licenses of television companies that "promoted his overthrow" may not be renewed

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 3 November 2006, President Hugo Chávez warned television companies, without specifying any individually, that his government would not renew the transmission concessions for 2007 of those that had promoted his overthrow. He made the warning during an official ceremony in the town of Los Teques in the State of Miranda, northern Venezuela.

Peru

Judge imposes prior censorship on newspaper editor

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 30 October 2006, Judge Mercedes Gómez Marchisio, of Lima's Thirty-fifth Criminal Court, ordered "Expreso" newspaper editor Luis García Miró to abstain from publishing any news or journalistic reports about former justice minister Diego García Sayán.

China

In run-up to 2008 Games, CPJ asks International Olympic Committee to address erosion of press freedom

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 15 November 2006 CPJ press release:

India

Government passes historic new policy democratising community radio

(AMARC/IFEX) - AMARC welcomes a government of India decision that legitimizes community radio in the country. According to the policy, which was released on 16 November 2006, civil society organizations, non-governmental organizations, and other non-profits will be able to apply for community radio licenses. The new policy will also allow community radios to become self-supporting through limited advertising revenue.

Kazakhstan

Media advocacy groups submit draft media law to Parliament

(Adil Soz/IFEX) - On 8 November 2006, Kazakh media advocacy organizations submitted a new draft media law to the Majilis (lower chamber of Parliament).

Sierra Leone

US journalist arrested, released, warned not to report on disgruntled young labourers

(MFWA/IFEX) - Elligh Mothershed, a visiting American journalist, was arrested at 6B Jannet Lane Kingtom in Freetown on 15 November 2006, on the orders of Alpha Timbo, minister in charge of labour and industrial relations.

Chad

Communications Ministry begins implementing prior censorship after declaration of state of emergency

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has condemned the "archaic censorship" being implemented by the communications ministry and reiterated its call for the government of Chad to lift the draconian curbs on press freedom that are part of a state of emergency decreed on 13 November 2006.

Paraguay

Government "feigning ignorance" in response to IACHR inquiry regarding journalist's disappearance, says SPP

(SPP/IFEX) - The following is an abridged version of a 15 November 2006 SPP statement:

Sri Lanka

Television presenter receives death threats

(FMM/IFEX) - The following is an FMM press statement:

Bolivia

Police assault, injure EFE news agency photojournalist

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 13 November 2006, photojournalist Martín Alípaz of EFE news agency was assaulted by a group of policemen while he was photographing a police operation to restore the movement of traffic along a stretch of the highway that runs between La Paz and Oruro, following a march by transport vehicle owners protesting against licensing fees. The event took place in the Konani region, western Bolivia.

Malaysia

Pressure on media as police suspected in model's murder

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has condemned the actions of Malaysia's police in trying to stifle coverage of a murder case in which police officers are among the suspects and expressed concern about protection of their sources. Police have been summoning and putting pressure on journalists while the head of police has told the press that it was speculating dangerously.

Brazil

High court ruling that university degree required to practice journalism "contrary to press freedom", says RSF

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is set to challenge a ruling by Brazil's Superior Court of Justice (STJ) that journalists must possess a university degree to be allowed to practice the profession, which the court pronounced to be in line with the Constitution.

International

WiPC mounts campaign defending writers and journalists imprisoned or facing jail sentences for "defamation" or "insult"

(WiPC/IFEX) - The following is a 15 November 2006 WiPC press release:

Denmark

IFJ testifies in defence of journalists accused of publishing government secrets in reports on Iraq

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is a 14 November 2006 media release:

Republic of Congo

Authorities arrest, detain, charge two anti-corruption activists in effort to silence them, says Human Rights Watch

(HRW/IFEX) - The following is a 15 November 2006 Human Rights Watch press release:

Vietnam

CAPSULE REPORT: Human Rights Watch calls on regional summit to press government on human rights reforms

(HRW/IFEX) - The following is a 14 November 2006 Human Rights Watch press release:

Angola

CAPSULE REPORT: Human Rights Watch reviews new press law, press freedom situation ahead of 2007 elections

(HRW/IFEX) - The following is an HRW press release:

Bangladesh

Influential former minister sues six publications

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has voiced outrage at former cabinet minister Mirza Abbas's decision to sue six publications for libel. A total of 18 editors and journalists currently face the possibility of prison terms as a result of criminal libel suits. One of the defendants, Shahadat Chowdhury, has been dead for the past two years.

Venezuela

Mayor denies four critical media outlets access to municipal buildings, government advertising

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF condemns the "news and publicity ban" which the mayor of the eastern city of Maturín, Numa Rojas, imposed on the two leading regional dailies and two radio stations on 12 November 2006.

Iraq

Two journalists killed; journalist flees city after shots fired, his home raided; mortar shells explode near TV station, causing injuries

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has condemned the killings of five media employees (three journalists and two drivers) in Mosul and Baghdad in recent days, as well as armed attacks on a journalist's home in Baquba and a Shiite TV station in Baghdad.

Russia

Website editor facing criminal defamation charges, his computers seized

(CJES/IFEX) - On 14 November 2006, in the city of Abakan, acting on a matter affecting him personally, a police officer from the Abakan public prosecutor's office, Lieutenant Sergey Burdogov, visited the office of Michael Afanasyev, and prepared an official report on an administrative offence allegedly committed there. Abakan is located in Khakassia, a republic in south-central Russia.

United States

RSF urges new Congress members to support federal "shield" law, free imprisoned journalists

(RSF/IFEX) - The following is a 14 November 2006 letter to the House of Representatives' speaker-elect and the Senate's deputy speaker-elect:

Azerbaijan

Journalists and opposition representatives on hunger strike in protest against crackdown on independent media

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has voiced its full support for those staging a hunger strike in Azerbaijan "to protest against the government's undeclared war on the free press." Members of the Azadlig ("Freedom") opposition block began the protest on 20 October 2006. They were joined by the editors of independent media on 9 November.

Hong Kong (China)

Radio station presenters on trial face possible prison terms

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has condemned the methods being used by the Office of the Telecommunications Authority (OFTA) in Hong Kong in its all-out bid to close down Citizens' Radio, a radio station that continues to broadcast on the Internet and, sometimes, on the airwaves despite arrests and seizures of equipment. Some of its presenters could even receive prison sentences in a trial that begins on 17 November 2006.

Burma

ARTICLE 19 urges Security Council to pass resolution to end violations of free expression, other rights

(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) - The following is a 13 November 2006 ARTICLE 19 press release:

International

ARTICLE 19 and others urge European Council to set high standard in freedom of information treaty

(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) - The following is an ARTICLE 19 press release:

Mexico

Journalist found dead had received threats two months before

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 13 November 2006 CPJ press release:

Argentina

Football team fans assault journalists

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 12 November 2006, journalists Juan Manuel Allan, of "Olé" newspaper, and Osvaldo Fanjul, of television station TyC Sports, were assaulted by a group of fans of the Gimnasia y Esgrima (La Plata) football team, after a match in which the team had played. The fans beat them in a corridor near the locker rooms of the city of La Plata's municipal stadium, in eastern Argentina, while the journalists waited for the doors to the changing rooms to be opened.

Chad

Government announces state of emergency, censorship of private newspapers and radio stations

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has condemned the imposition of prior censorship on the print media and a ban on sensitive issues on private radio stations under a state of emergency in the capital, N'Djamena, and six of the country's regions, which the government decreed on 14 November 2006 in response to the serious intercommunal violence of the past few weeks.

Peru

Editor and journalist receive one-year suspended sentence, fine for defamation

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 10 November 2006, Julio Lara Ladrón de Guevara, the editor of the newspaper "El Comercio del Cusco", and Carolina Zamalloa, a journalist for that same newspaper, were given a suspended sentence of one year in prison and fined 2,000 nuevos soles (approx. US$620) as civil reparation for defamation. The ruling was issued by Judge Aníbal Paredes of Cusco's Sixth Tribunal. The city of Cusco is situated in southern Peru.

Lesotho

Broadcast journalist inundated with threats over his reporting on political developments

(MISA/IFEX) - The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) correspondent in Lesotho, Thabo Thakalekoala, who is also the regional chairperson of MISA, has been inundated with threatening anonymous calls that complain about his reporting, ever since the former minister of communications, Tom Thabane, defected from the ruling Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) to form the All Basotho Convention (ABC) on 9 October 2006.

Mexico

Journalist Angel Mario Ksheratto sent back to prison, RSF complains of "judicial hounding"

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF has condemned the "judicial hounding" of journalist Angel Mario Ksheratto of the local daily "Cuarto Poder", which has just led to him being sent back to prison for failing to observe his bail conditions.

Eritrea

Report suggests three journalists may have died in prison camp in northeastern desert

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has called on the Eritrean government to urgently produce evidence that three journalists illegally held since September 2001 are still alive, as information from credible sources indicates they died in the course of the past 20 months in a detention centre at a place called Eiraeiro, in a remote northeastern desert.

China

Dissident writer arrested, charged with subversion, his home raided, as apparent crackdown continues

(WiPC/IFEX) - WiPC is seriously concerned about the detention of dissident writer and member of the Independent Chinese PEN Center (ICPC) Yan Zhengxue, who was arrested on 18 October 2006 and officially charged on 1 November with "subversion", apparently in connection with his writings and dissident activities.

Peru

International pressure forces Congress to postpone last vote on anti-NGO law

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 9 November 2006, a plenary session of the Peruvian Congress decided to postpone, due to lack of consensus, the second vote on the law that modifies the powers of the Peruvian Agency for International Cooperation (Agencia Peruana de Cooperación Internacional, APCI) by granting it control over funds received by NGOs, including those that defend freedom of expression, and establishing severe penalties for those organizations that do not follow its guidelines.

Northern Ireland (United Kingdom)

Police deny protection to journalist facing death threats

(RSF/IFEX) - Police have refused to extend a protection programme to a reporter facing death threats. The journalist works for the Northern Ireland newspaper "Sunday World", for which journalist Martin O'Hagan was working when he was murdered by a loyalist paramilitary in September 2001. No one has been brought to justice for the killing.

Paraguay

Two journalists in Ybycuí threatened

(SPP/IFEX) - The SPP is concerned about the repeated threats and harassment of our colleague, journalist Aldo Lezcano, of Ybybcuí, by groups associated with Colorado Party (Partido Colorado) Senator Julio César Fanego. Ybycuí is a town in Paraguarí department. The Colorado Party is currently in power nationally.

New Caledonia (France) / France

Protest ends after disrupting access to information and media operations for eight months

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has hailed the signing of an accord on 8 November 2006 in Noumea, the capital of New Caledonia, between the pro-independence Union of Kanak and Exploited Workers (USTKE) and the management of the French public radio and TV broadcaster RFO. The accord should end eight months of turmoil for RFO's staff in Noumea.

Democratic Republic of Congo

CAPSULE REPORT: JED calls for urgent reforms to state-owned radio and television in wake of presidential elections

(JED/IFEX) - The following is an 11 November 2006 JED press release:

Nepal

Member of Parliament threatens to burn down newspaper's office and attack journalists

(FNJ/IFEX) - A Member of Parliament has threatened a correspondent of "Rajbiraj Today" over an article of his, published on 11 November 2006.

Iraq

Iraqi television journalist gunned down

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 13 November 2006 CPJ press release:

Philippines

Authorities attempt to arrest journalist over article critical of president

(SEAPA/IFEX) - The Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) is concerned by the latest attempt by Philippine authorities to arrest a journalist.

Malaysia

Newspaper, editor suspended by government for feature on sex

(SEAPA/IFEX) - The Malaysian government has suspended a weekend newspaper and its editor for publishing a feature on sex.

Singapore

Blogger questioned, ordered to remove online video of himself speaking in public

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has voiced concern about proposed criminal code amendments designed to encourage online self-censorship and to enable the authorities to prosecute bloggers living abroad. The organisation also condemned the imminent prosecution of opposition member Yap Keng Ho for posting a video of one of his public addresses online.

Democratic Republic of Congo

Ten radio and television stations suspended

(AMARC/IFEX) - AMARC condemns in the strongest terms the broadcast suspensions carried out against Kinshasa-based Radio Réveil FM, along with six other radio stations and three television channels in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The decision was taken by the media regulatory agency (Haute Autorité des Médias, HAM) on 8 November 2006, with immediate effect, "until the delivery of [the media outlets'] programme schedules to the HAM."

Denmark

Three journalists charged with "harming state security", face possible two-year prison sentence

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders condemned the trial that began on 13 November 2006 in Copenhagen in which the editor of the "Berlingske Tidende" daily newspaper, Niels Lunde, and two of his reporters, Michael Bjerre and Jesper Larsen, are accused of "harming state security" by publishing leaked Danish intelligence about weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in Iraq.

Nigeria

National intelligence agents detain two newspaper editors, raid publisher's office, seize materials

(MRA/IFEX) - On 10 November 2006, operatives from the Lagos office of Nigeria's intelligence agency, the State Security Service (SSS), raided the office of PostNet Communications, publishers of the "Southwest Post", a weekly newspaper based in Lagos, and arrested the publisher and editor-in-chief, Dupe Ashama, and the entertainment editor, Taiwo Obatusin.

Afghanistan

Journalist detained for several days over article critical of influential minister

(RSF/IFEX) - Journalist Khalil Naramgo, who was arrested on 28 October 2006 in the northern province of Baghlan by representatives of the Kabul prosecutor's office, was released on 2 November.

Mexico

Editor of Guerrero state's leading daily found murdered in motel room

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF is appalled by the murder of Misael Tamayo Hernández, the editor of the leading regional daily, "El Despertar de la Costa", who was found dead in a motel room in Ixtapa Zihuatanejo in the southern state of Guerrero on 10 November 2006. He was the fifth journalist to be killed this year in Mexico.

East Timor

As political violence rages, journalist stoned by mob, receives death threats

(SEAPA/IFEX) - A local Agence France-Presse (AFP) stringer, Nelson da Cruz, was struck in the face with a stone thrown by an unidentified youth while on his way to report a riot in Dili on 9 November 2006.

Philippines

Columnist receives death threat for article criticising government

(SEAPA/IFEX) - The Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) is alarmed that a Philippine columnist has received death threats for an article she wrote criticising government affairs.

Egypt

Blogger dismissed from university, detained and interrogated, faces possible imprisonment for expressing secular views

(HRinfo/IFEX) - The following is an 11 November 2006 HRinfo press release:

Brazil

Television station's broadcasts cut by municipal police force on Itu mayor's orders

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 20 October 2006, the signal of television station TV Convenção in the town of Itu, in São Paulo state, southeastern Brazil, was cut. According to the station's director, Rosângela Soares Sena, the town's municipal police force cut all broadcasts on orders from the town's mayor, Herculaneo Júnior.

Russia

Supreme Court overturns acquittals in editor's murder

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 9 November 2006 CPJ press release:

Ghana

Government must be more open with information regarding "blood diamond" trade, says ARTICLE 19

(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) - The following is a 10 November 2006 ARTICLE 19 press release:

Nepal

Multi-party forum stresses need to review draft Constitution, calls for non-commercial and autonomous media

(FNJ/IFEX) - The FNJ organized a participatory forum themed "Interim constitution and guarantee of press freedom" on 10 November 2006 at the Department of Information, Media Village, Kathmandu.

The Gambia

"False information" case against journalist repeatedly adjourned

(MFWA/IFEX) - On 7 November 2006, a magistrate's court adjourned to 20 November the trial of Lamin Fatty, a reporter with the banned Banjul-based bi-weekly "The Independent", who is charged with publishing false information.

Haiti

UN mission apologises for assault on photographer

(RSF/IFEX) - The UN stabilisation force in Haiti (Minustah) apologised on 8 November 2006 to the daily "Le Nouvelliste", whose photographer, François Louis, was assaulted five days earlier by UN peacekeeping troops during a demonstration at Martissant, in the suburbs of the capital, Port-au-Prince.

Brazil

Federal police violate press freedom by tapping newspaper's telephone lines, says RSF

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders condemns the action of the federal police in tapping the telephone lines at the Brasilia bureau of the "A Folha de São Paulo" daily newspaper. The phone tapping comes in the course of an investigation into an alleged attempt by members of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's reelection campaign to buy a "dossier" of documents that supposedly incriminated his rival. The newspaper learned of the tapping on 8 November 2006.

Turkey

CAPSULE REPORT: EU report could help promote press freedom, says RSF

(RSF/IFEX) - The following is a 9 November 2006 RSF press release:

Swaziland

Newspaper found guilty of defamation, ordered to pay compensation

(MISA/IFEX) - On 8 November 2006, "The Times of Swaziland" newspaper was found guilty of defamation and ordered by the High Court to pay E20,000 (approx. US$3,000) in compensation to former attorney general Phesheya Dlamini, now Swaziland's envoy to the United Nations.

Peru

WPFC urges President García to refuse to sign bill restricting NGOs and press freedom

(WPFC/IFEX) - The following is a 9 November 2006 WPFC letter to Peruvian President García:

Togo

Journalist assaulted by president's brothers

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is an IFJ media release:

Uzbekistan

Wrongly-convicted journalist freed

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF has welcomed the unexpected release of freelance journalist Ulugbek Khaidarov, who was sentenced to six years' imprisonment on 5 October 2006 after being wrongly charged with "extortion and blackmail". He was set free, to general surprise, immediately after the adjournment of his appeal hearing. But his release should not allow the constant injustice suffered by journalists to be forgotten, the organisation said.

Cambodia

Journalist shot in foot while investigating assault case

(SEAPA/IFEX) - A journalist in Phnom Penh was shot in the foot while trying to obtain information about an assault case, according to the Cambodian Association for the Protection of Journalists (CAPJ).

Venezuela

National Guard officer denies Globovisión television station ready access to its microwave transmission towers

(IAPA/IFEX) - The following is an 8 November 2006 IAPA press release:

Singapore

Government reviews Penal Code, placing more curbs on free expression

(SEAPA/IFEX) - A review of the Singapore Penal Code will see further curtailment of the already limited freedoms in the city-state notorious for its intolerance for basic free expression and assembly rights.

Sri Lanka

FM radio channel banned without warning over programming with sexual content

(FMM/IFEX) - The following is a 9 November 2006 FMM press release:

Nepal

In historic agreement, Seven Party Alliance and Maoists express commitment to full press freedom

(FNJ/IFEX) - The following is a 9 November 2006 FNJ press release:

Russia

Homeless man convicted of killing reporter during break-in

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has said it hoped investigators did not ignore the possibility that newspaper reporter Yevgeny Gerasimenko was murdered in connection with his work after a court in Saratov on 30 October 2006 found a homeless man, Sergei Finogeyev, guilty of killing him while robbing his apartment. Finogeyev was sentenced to 18 years in prison.

Tunisia

Intelligence services go to great lengths to prevent visiting Algerian journalist from working

(RSF/IFEX) - Meddi Adlène, of the Algerian daily "Al Watan", has been questioned, searched and followed by intelligence agents ever since he arrived in Tunisia on 1 November 2006 to write a series of reports and to interview Moncef Marzouki, the head of the Tunisian League of Human Rights, RSF reports.

Somalia

Authorities in Baidoa free two journalists, return their cameras and phones

(RSF/IFEX) - Two journalists working for privately-owned radio stations who were arrested on 24 October 2006, Mohammed Adawe Adam of Radio Shabelle and Muktar Mohammed Atosh of HornAfrik, were freed on 2 November and were able to resume working without any problems, Reporters Without Borders has learned from its partner organisation, the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ).

Cameroon

Radio host abducted, beaten

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is an 8 November 2006 IFJ media release:

Peru

Journalist threatened during broadcast

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 7 November 2006, journalist Javier Poma Sotelo, producer and host of the news programme "ATV Noticias Regional", was threatened by a woman who burst onto the set while the program was on air. The assailant demanded that Poma Sotelo stop criticizing Alberto Espinoza Cerrón, a candidate for the district of Independencia in the forthcoming municipal elections, or face the consequences. She then fled. The woman only identified herself as press adviser to the candidate. The act of intimidation took place in the city of Huaraz, northwestern Perú.

Morocco

Reporter questioned by prosecutor, intelligence services

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF has condemned the 7 November 2006 arrest of "Assahifa Al Maghribiya" reporter Jamal Ouahbi by plain-clothes police as he was photographing three detainees being escorted from a court in the northern city of Tétouan.

Pakistan

Regulator suspends Sindh TV while correspondent gets death threats

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF has called on the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) to immediately rescind the orders it gave to cable TV operators to stop retransmitting Sindh TV, the second most popular channel in the southern province of Sindh. The organisation also voiced concern about threats against one of its correspondents, Pervaiz Narejo.

Brazil

Military police captain threatens to murder journalist over articles

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 19 October 2006, Military Police Captain Luís Carlos Ferreira threatened to kill "Dois Pontos" newspaper journalist Roberto Pazzianotto, in a bar in the town of Capivari, São Paulo state, southeastern Brazil.

Cuba

Independent journalist sentenced to two years' house arrest

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is an 8 November 2006 CPJ press release:

Jordan

Charges against ex-royal advisor have "chilling effect", repressive laws used to intimidate critics, says Human Rights Watch

(HRW/IFEX) - The following is a 7 November 2006 Human Rights Watch press release:

Sri Lanka

Police chief accuses media of publishing false information; Reuters journalist threatened by soldiers; Minister accuses BBC of supporting rebels

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has condemned a campaign of harassment by Sri Lankan security forces in a bid to force Tamil journalists into self-censorship, since the resumption of conflict between the army and Tamil Tigers (LTTE) rebels.

Brazil

Newspaper editor sentenced to 10 months in prison and fined for defamatory article

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 31 October 2006, Fausto Brites, the editor of "Correio do Estado" newspaper, was found guilty and sentenced to 10 months in prison and fined approximately US$875 for defamation.

Morocco

Gendarmes harass family of cartoonist living in France

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has said it was stunned by the almost "surreal" way the Moroccan gendarmerie has been harassing the family of cartoonist Khalid Gueddar, who currently lives in France. Gendarmes visited his family in Ain Aouda (40 km outside Rabat) five times on 2 November 2006, requesting information about his activities.

Azerbaijan

Police disperse demonstration in support of threatened newspaper

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders voiced astonishment that the police dispersed a group of 50 journalists staging a peaceful demonstration on the afternoon of 7 November 2006, outside the building in Baku that houses the State Committee for Property Control. The journalists had gathered to show support for the newspaper "Azadlig", which is threatened with eviction. The police said they "violated public security."

Kyrgyzstan

Journalists covering recent political protests threatened, assaulted, injured

(Adil Soz/IFEX) - On 7 and 8 November 2006, a number of journalists and media workers were injured while covering clashes between opposition protesters and authorities in Kyrgyzstan's capital, Bishkek, in the wake of a six-day anti-presidential protest organized by political party "For Reforms." The protesters were demanding the resignation of Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev.

Honduras

Court dismisses defamation charges against television station owner-manager

(PROBIDAD/IFEX) - In a decisive ruling on 2 November 2006, the first court of appeals of Tegucigalpa, the Honduran capital, dismissed the defamation lawsuit against journalist Esdras Amado López, owner and manager of the Tegucigalpa-based television station Canal 36.

Pakistan

CAPSULE REPORT: IFJ concerned over deterioration of press freedoms and journalists' safety

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is a 7 November 2006 IFJ capsule report:

Gabon

Journalist released after spending 20 days in jail

(JED/IFEX) - Norbert Ngoua Mezui, the founder and of the Libreville-based, privately-owned bi-monthly "Nku'u Le Messager", was released provisionally on 6 November 2006, following a Libreville Correctional Appeal Court ruling, which came as the journalist was serving the second last day of his prison sentence. The court scheduled a public hearing for 11 December, to examine the journalist's appeal.

Iraq

Allegations against photographer, detained by US military for months without charge, discredited

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 7 November 2006 CPJ press release:

International

ARTICLE 19 publishes checklist for implementation of Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression

(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) - The following is a 6 November 2006 ARTICLE 19 press release:

Sudan

CAPSULE REPORT: Harassment of media continues, undermines implementation of peace agreement

(HRW/IFEX) - The following is a 6 November 2006 Human Rights Watch press release:

Brazil

Lawyer assaults television reporter

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 3 November 2006, Roberto de Lima, a reporter with Red Globo television network's local affiliated station TV Tem, was assaulted by Walter José Tardelli, attorney to Màrio Sérgio do Lago Ramos Neto, a professional wrestler.

Maldives

Two foreign journalists expelled; cartoonist arrested; editors charged with "disobedience to order"

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has voiced concern about the attitude of the Maldivian authorities, who recently expelled two foreign journalists ( including one working for the online newspaper http://www.Minivannews.com ), arrested an opposition cartoonist, and backtracked on plans to end the state's broadcast media monopoly.

Haiti

UN peacekeepers assault "Le Nouvelliste" photographer

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders condemned an assault by UN forces in Haiti on photographer François Louis, of the daily "Le Nouvelliste" as he was covering a demonstration in Port-au-Prince by supporters of former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide, in which one person died.

Peru

Mayor's security personnel assault journalists

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 16 October 2006, a group of reporters were assaulted by Urarinas district mayor Juan Salas Inuma's security guards, at the end of a hearing at the Superior Court of Loreto, where the mayor is on trial for alleged embezzlement.

Sri Lanka

Editors of three Jaffna newspapers warned by military against critical coverage, reporting on rebels

(FMM/IFEX) - The following is an FMM press release:

South Africa

Journalist pressured to testify in court; FXI decries creeping assault on right to protect sources

(FXI/IFEX) - The following is a 6 November 2006 FXI media statement:

Yemen

CAPSULE REPORT: Despite progress, media performance flawed during presidential elections, says EOHR

(EOHR/IFEX) - The following is an abridged 6 November 2006 EOHR statement:

Iraq

Journalist killed; two TV stations closed for showing Iraqis protesting against death sentence for Saddam; other journalists attacked and censored

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has condemned the Iraqi government's decision on 5 November 2006 to close down two privately-owned TV stations for "inciting violence and murder" by screening footage of protests against former President Saddam Hussein's death sentence. The main daily newspapers have also been suspended for three days, beginning 5 November, under a curfew decreed prior to the verdict.

Tajikistan

CAPSULE REPORT: Government controls on news compromise fairness of presidential election

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 3 November 2006 CPJ press release:

Cyprus

Two French broadcast journalists detained for a day, fined for allegedly violating restricted military area

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is a 6 November 2006 media release of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), an IFJ regional group:

Venezuela

Students accost photographer during protest

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 2 November 2006, photographer Jorge Reyes of the newspaper "El Carabobeño" was accosted by a group of students of Pedro Gual secondary school when he was taking photographs of their protest. The students surrounded him with the intention of snatching his camera, but he was able to escape thanks to the intervention of two members of the Carabobo State Police Department. Carabobo State is located in northern Venezuela.

Russia

Amendments to environmental legislation will limit access to information, say ARTICLE 19 and others

(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) - The following is a November 2006 joint statement by Article 19 and other organizations:

Montenegro

Writer severely injured in shooting, his driver murdered

(WiPC/IFEX) - International PEN condemns the brutal attack on 25 October 2006 by three masked men on Montenegrin poet and author Jevrem Brkovic outside his home in the capital, Podgorica. The attack left his driver, Srdjan Vojicic, dead from gunshot wounds, and Brkovic, 73, with severe head injuries.

Egypt

Professor target of death threats; EOHR concerned by trend of labeling people as "infidels" for expressing their opinions

(EOHR/IFEX) - EOHR is very concerned about the aggressive campaign being waged against Dr. Souad Saleh, a professor of Islamic jurisprudence at the Azhar University, following her publicly stating her opinion on the Niquab (the Islamic full body veil), saying it is not compulsory in Islam. Her statement angered many fundamentalists, some of whom have called for the "shedding of her blood".

Venezuela

Security personnel interfere with Globovisión television station's access to ceremony with president

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 30 October 2006, Casa Militar - the unit responsible for the president's security as well as security at the presidential palace and surrounding area - and Metropolitan Police security personnel attempted to stop Globovisión television channel from covering an official ceremony involving President Hugo Chávez in a parish church west of Caracas. The security guards stopped the station's mobile unit from entering the area but allowed state media vehicles to do so, according to Globovisión journalist Mayela León. She stated that the guards let her pass eventually, but only on foot.

Seychelles

Judicial harassment forces opposition weekly to stop publishing

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has voiced dismay at the decision of a Seychelles court to sentence the privately-owned weekly "Regar" to pay an exorbitant fine, thereby forcing one of the archipelago's only two opposition newspapers to suspend publication.

Nepal

Newspaper publisher-editor receives death threat over critical article on local water committee

(FNJ/IFEX) - Dhirendra Prasad Shah, publisher and editor of the Siraha-based "Shree Jan Aakrosh Daily" newspaper, was repeatedly threatened with death by Dharmendra Kumar Mandal, treasurer of the Kathoauna Bazzar Water Consumer and Cleaning Committee, on 2 and 3 November 2006 at Siraha, in eastern Nepal.

Peru

Political group militants assault journalist

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 26 October 2006, activists of the political group "Fuerza Loretana" assaulted journalist Raúl Celis López, producer and host of the television programme "Hora Zero", after he criticized the group's candidate to the regional government, Iván Vásquez Valera. The event took place in Loreto, a region in northeastern Peru.

China

"New York Times" researcher Zhao Yan denied open appeal hearing

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 3 November 2006 CPJ press release:

Afghanistan

Abducted photographer released after three weeks in captivity

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 3 November 2006 CPJ press release:

International / Austria

European court overturns defamation judgements against Austrian newspaper

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is a 3 November 2006 IFJ media release:

Nigeria

CORRECTION: Media consultant harassed, faces criminal charges for obtaining classified documents relating to journalist's death

(MRA/IFEX) - Please note, in the previous version of this alert, Atiku Abubakar was misidentified as the vice-president of the Nigerian Guild of Editors when he is, in fact, the vice-president of the country. The IFEX Clearing House apologizes for the error.

Russia

Five television station crews briefly detained by Krasnoyarsk governor's security staff

(CJES/IFEX) - In the city of Krasnoyarsk, security staff for Krasnoyarsk Region Governor Andrey Khloponin's residence detained the film crews of five local broadcasting companies - TVK (TV Krasnoyarsk); GTRK (the Krasnoyarsk State broadcasting company); Telesphere channel; Afontovo channel; and ORTV channel - accusing them of trespassing on the grounds of the governor's residence. The crews were accompanying a federal wildlife management supervisor conducting a spot check in the Udachniy settlement. Journalists Sergey Dostavalov, Anna Pavlova, Vyacheslav Novokreshchennyh, Natalya Lifanteva, Sergey Mitruhin, Vyacheslav Lebedev and Andrey Gavrilov, as well as wildlife management supervisor Vitaly Netrebko, were detained.

Ghana

Journalists threatened while working

(MFWA/IFEX) - On 2 November 2006, a group of journalists covering the trial of suspected drug criminals in an Accra regional court were threatened and insulted by sympathisers for taking photographs of the suspects.

Russia

An official assaults and threatens journalists reporting on poor local living conditions

(CJES/IFEX) - On 1 November 2006, in the city of Pyatigorsk in Stavropol region, an individual identifying himself as a local deputy blocked the vehicle in which three journalists were traveling, then insulted, assaulted, and threatened the three journalists within. The victims of the attack were correspondent Julia Bychkova and cameraman Roman Agaev, both of the Stavropol State Broadcasting Company's Pyatigorsk TV television studio, and Diana Artyomova, a correspondent of the radio station Pyataya Vershina (The 5th Top).

Palestine

Radio presenter injured in latest attack on a Gaza radio station

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has firmly condemned a shooting attack on 1 November 2006 on radio Sawt al Shaab, a station affiliated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (FPLP), in which presenter Shadi Shamiya and one of his guests were injured during a live broadcast. The attack was believed to have been prompted by the broadcast of an incorrect report about a Cabinet shuffle that was picked up by many other media outlets.

Philippines

Still no word on missing radio host and environmentalist eight months after his abduction

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF has voiced outrage at the indifference of both local and national authorities to the fate of radio host and anti-logging campaigner Joey Estriber, who has been missing ever since he was kidnapped outside an Internet café in Baler, in Aurora province (northeast of Manila), on the evening of 3 March 2006.

Palestine / Israel

Palestinian cameraman badly wounded by Israeli gunfire in the north of the Gaza strip

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders accused the Israeli government of indifference to repeated acts of violence by its troops against journalists after a young Palestinian cameraman sustained serious gunshot wounds on 3 November 2006, in Beit Hanun, in the north of the Gaza Strip.

Mexico

Five journalists injured, two others roughed up, in clashes with federal police in Oaxaca; investigators of Brad Will's murder slipping up, says RSF

(RSF/IFEX) - While noting that two of Indymedia cameraman Brad Will's alleged killers were arrested and taken before a judge on 2 November 2006 in Oaxaca, RSF has condemned the shortcomings in the investigation into his fatal shooting and the fact that three others allegedly involved have been able to escape.

Tunisia

OLPEC condemns defamation campaign against Al Jazeera

(OLPEC/IFEX) - The following is a 2 November 2006 OLPEC press release:

Nigeria

Media consultant harassed, faces criminal charges for obtaining classified documents relating to journalist's death

(MRA/IFEX) - On 2 November 2006, the Nigerian government filed criminal charges at the Federal High Court in Abuja against Mr. Shehu Garba, a former president of the Nigerian Guild of Editors and currently media consultant to that organization's vice president, Atiku Abubakar, accusing him of violating the Official Secrets Act.

Poland

Constitutional courts uphold defamation as a criminal offence: journalist Andrzej Marek could be sent back to prison

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF has condemned the Polish constitutional court's decision to uphold Article 212 of the Criminal Code, under which defaming or publicly humiliating someone is punishable by up to a year in prison, or two years if done in the media.

Honduras

Court dismisses defamation complaint against two journalists

(PROBIDAD/IFEX) - A court in Tegucigalpa, the nation's capital, dismissed as invalid defamation charges against Robert Marín García and Dina Meza, editors of the digital magazine Revistazo.com. The charges were brought forward by SETECH, a private security company.

Russia

State security agents question journalist over interview with oligarch living overseas

(CJES/IFEX) - On 30 October 2006, in the city of Barnaul in Altay region, Sergey Teplyakov, head of the news department of "Altayskaya Pravda" ("The Altay Truth") newspaper and reporter for "Izvestiya" newspaper, was summoned to the regional Federal Security Service (FSB) office. According to the Barnaul-based information agency Amic.ru, the journalist was questioned regarding an interview he had conducted with the Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky, who lives in London.

Pakistan

Journalist wounded in shooting

(RSF/IFEX) - The body of the Islamabad bureau chief of Pakistan Press International (PPI), Mohammad Ismail Malik, was found near his office in the capital on 1 November 2006, while a second journalist was seriously wounded in a shooting in the north-west of the country (see previous IFEX alert of 2 November 2006).

Russia

Television journalist harassed, forced to delete footage, by security guards

(CJES/IFEX) - On 1 November 2006, in the city of Chita (in Chita region), Andrey Sharonov, a camera operator with the state broadcasting company Chita, was harassed by security guards and forced to delete his footage, while attempting to report on a fire.

France

Journalist to be investigated in Clearstream case

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF has expressed concern over the Public Prosecutor's Office's intention to investigate journalist Denis Robert for "possession of confidential material" in the Clearstream affair. The case has repeatedly made headlines since allegations of money laundering and fraud within the Luxemburg-based Clearstream Banking S.A first surfaced in 2002. The office announced its intention on 28 October 2006.

Bangladesh

Photographer arrested and tortured, 15 other journalists attacked while covering protests

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF has called for the immediate release of photographer Shafiqul Islam Shafiq of the Focus Bangla photo news agency, who has reportedly been tortured since his arrest by an elite Home Affairs Ministry unit on 28 October 2006 in Shikdari Bazar, in the northwestern Rajshahi region, on unfounded allegations of links with extremist movements.

Brazil

IAPA condemns police official's questioning of three journalists who reported on police corruption

(IAPA/IFEX) - The following is a 1 November 2006 IAPA press release:

Colombia

Pereira police demand journalist erase his photographs of police operation

(FLIP/IFEX) - Two officers of the police department in the western city of Pereira demanded that an "El Diario de Otún" journalist erase photographs he had taken of police evicting a street vendor from a public space.

Pakistan

PPI Islamabad bureau chief Mohammad Ismail murdered

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 1 November 2006 CPJ press release:

International

Al-Jazeera: a decade of paying the price for its outspokenness

(RSF/IFEX) - The following is an RSF press release:

China

Court decides not to hold any hearings when considering journalist Ching Cheong's appeal

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders is outraged by a Chinese court's decision not to hold any hearings when it considers Hong Kong-based journalist Ching Cheong's appeal against the five-year prison sentence and heavy fine he was given in August 2006 for alleged spying.

Nigeria

Information minister reprimands journalists, threatens sanctions over interviews with plane crash survivors

(MRA/IFEX) - On 30 October 2006, Minister of Information and National Orientation Frank Nweke reprimanded the Nigerian media over the coverage of the 29 October Aviation Development Company (ADC) plane crash in Abuja, describing the media as "callous and insensitive" for interviewing survivors from the crash. He threatened to sanction any media he deems "guilty" of this "offence".

Syria

Journalist Michel Kilo, lawyer Anwar Bunni and other political prisoners go on hunger strike

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has voiced deep concern about journalist and writer Michel Kilo, who began a hunger strike on 28 October 2006, along with lawyer Anwar Bunni and other political prisoners who were arrested in May after signing a joint statement calling for an improvement in relations with Lebanon.

Libya / Algeria

In Algeria, two journalists sentenced to six months in prison for defaming Libyan president

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders protested that a court in Algiers had acted to protect Algeria's diplomatic relations with Libya by sentencing two journalists to six months in prison and a fine equivalent to 220 euros after Libyan President Moammar Gadhafi sued them for libel.

Pakistan

Journalists barred from entering Bajaur district to cover controversial air strike

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has criticised the Pakistani army for barring journalists from entering the district of Bajaur, in the Tribal Areas north of Peshawar, where about 80 people were reportedly killed in an army air strike on 30 October 2006 on a madrasah (Islamic school) run by a pro-Taliban cleric.

Democratic Republic of Congo

Radio station ransacked on election day, another threatened

(JED/IFEX) - On 29 October 2006, the Bumba-based and privately-owned Radio Boboto, which is close to the People's Party for Reconstruction and Democracy (PPRD), was ransacked by unidentified persons. Bumba is a city located in the north of the Equator province.

Burundi

Journalist released after five months of incarceration

(JED/IFEX) - Journalist in Danger (JED) has welcomed the 30 October 2006 release of Aloys Kabura, a Kayanza-based correspondent for the Burundian Press Agency (Agence burundaise de presse, ABP). Kayanza is a province located in northern Burundi. The journalist spent five months in jail in the central prison of Ngozi.

Brazil

Soldiers assault photojournalists in army barracks

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 23 October 2003, nearly 20 soldiers of the Army Police in Campo Grande, western Brazil, assaulted photojournalists Adriano Hany, who works for the webpage Campo Grande News, and João Carlos Castro, of the newspaper "Folha do Povo". The photojournalists were investigating the death of a soldier in the barracks. After having been denied access, they both climbed one of the walls and from there attempted to photograph the base. The soldiers surrounded them and beat them before letting them go.

Argentina

Journalist, sued for defamation over book on crimes of dictatorship, awarded WPFC anti-censorship grant

(WPFC/IFEX) - The WPFC has given a Fund Against Censorship grant to Argentinean journalist and author Mariano Saravia, an investigative reporter who has been sued for civil defamation after writing a book naming former armed forces and police officers whom he alleges participated in assassinations, tortures and disappearances of people opposed to the former military dictatorship.

Chad

Police hold journalist in custody for reporting on child soldiers in conflict zones

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has called for the release of journalist Evariste Ngaralbaye, of the privately-owned weekly "Notre Temps", who has been detained by the national gendarmerie since 27 October 2006.

Peru

Increased government control over NGO funding threatens freedom of expression, says IPYS

(IPYS/IFEX) - The following is a 30 October 2006 IPYS press release:

Iraq

Body of abducted journalist Abdelmajid Isma'il Khalil discovered

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 30 October 2006 CPJ press release:

Iraq

Journalists fall victim to ethnic and sectarian violence; US troops carry out more unlawful arrests; TV station raided

(RSF/IFEX) - The murders of three more media workers has brought the number of journalists and media assistants killed since the start of the war in March 2003 to 126, Reporters Without Borders has said, condemning a new wave of violence and the fact that the authorities have not so far conducted investigations that could put an end to the prevailing impunity.

Zimbabwe

Activist, persecuted for outspokenness, receives highest recognition from Human Rights Watch

(HRW/IFEX) - The following is a 30 October 2006 Human Rights Watch press release:

Somalia

One journalist freed, two others arrested in continued harassment by authorities in Baidoa

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders welcomes the release of journalist Fahad Mohamed Abukar of Radio Warsan, but condemns the arrest of two other journalists from the same radio station, Abdulkadir Barre Moallim and Nur Barre, as well as brutality against freelance journalist Idle Moallim Omar in Bossasso, Puntland.

Saudi Arabia

Government gags women's rights activist, threatens her with job loss

(HRW/IFEX) - The following is a Human Rights Watch press release:

Mexico

Cameraman killed, photographer wounded in Oaxaca police shooting; four suspects identified

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF is deeply shocked at the death of US cameraman Brad Will, of the US news agency Indymedia, during a violent police attack on a demonstration by teachers in the southern state of Oaxaca on 27 October 2006. Photographer Osvaldo Ramírez, of the daily newspaper "Milenio", was shot in the leg but is in stable condition.

Nepal

CAPSULE REPORT: FNJ analyses media trends following restoration of democracy

(FNJ/IFEX) - The following is an abridged FNJ media release:

Mongolia

Journalists forcibly detained, one beaten and injured, camera broken by police during demonstration crackdown

(Globe International/IFEX) - On 27 October 2006, journalists G. Erdenebat and B. Khajidmaa and photographer Ya. Aranjinbaatar of the daily "Udriin sonin", as well as photojournalist Sh. Gerelsaikhan of "Ardiin erkh", were assaulted by police officers and detained for approximately two hours while covering a civil society demonstration.

Cambodia

University professor fired, in prison for book; three people jailed for leaflets criticising PM; UNTAC law should be abolished, says SEAPA

(SEAPA/IFEX) - Following recent criminal disinformation suits brought forward by high-ranking government officials, the Alliance for Freedom of Expression in Cambodia (AFEC) is demanding the abolition of Article 62 of the UNTAC (United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia) Penal Code, which concerns criminal disinformation.

France / Côte d'Ivoire

Demonstration held at Chocolate Exhibition in Paris draws attention to case of missing journalist Guy-André Kieffer

(RSF/IFEX) - The following is a 28 October 2006 RSF press release:

Pakistan

Missing newspaper journalist tortured during four-month detention by military intelligence, released; kidnapped television journalist still missing

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF says it is relieved by the release of Pakistani journalist Mehruddin Marri but "outraged by the torture inflicted on him by the army during his detention." Marri had been missing since his abduction on 27 June 2006 in the southern province of Sindh.

Iraq

Iraqi journalist and his wife shot to death in their Baghdad home

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is an IFJ media release:

Bahrain

Website blocked one month ahead of parliamentary elections

(RSF/IFEX) - The following is an abridged, translated version of an RSF alert:

Malaysia

Alarmed by near-monopoly control over Chinese-language press, groups call for reform of media laws

(SEAPA/IFEX) - A recent ownership change to a near-monopoly of the top four Chinese dailies in Malaysia has galvanised 47 diverse civil society organisations and opposition political parties to jointly demand a review of the laws to ensure media independence and plurality.

China

Hong Kong journalist beaten by guards inside People's Congress in Beijing

(RSF/IFEX) - Wung Huo, the Beijing correspondent of the Hong Kong-based "Oriental Daily" newspaper, was beaten by security guards in the Chinese Congress in Beijing on 26 October 2006 while covering an international beauty contest taking place inside the People's Congress.

Mexico

Journalist in Baja California followed after publishing articles on corruption and drug trafficking

(IPYS/IFEX) - During the morning of 25 October 2006, journalist Antonio Heraz, editor of the magazine "Lindero Norte" and correspondent for the daily newspaper "La Jornada", was followed for several minutes by a van with tinted windows. This took place when Heraz was driving to his children's school in the city of Mexicali, Baja California. The journalist believes that this harassment may be linked to the investigations on corruption and drug trafficking that he published recently in "Lindero Norte".

Nepal

Journalist threatened by Maoists for reporting on soldier's abduction

(FNJ/IFEX) - Dambar Singh Rai, president of FNJ - Khotang branch and a correspondent with "Kantipur Daily", was threatened by Maoists on 27 October 2006.

Peru

Police officer insults journalist, temporarily seizes his audio recorder

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 24 October 2006, Radio Laser radio station journalist Jaime Angulo filed a complaint about having been mistreated by several policemen at the headquarters of the Police Division in Pacasmayo, a town in northwestern Peru.

Nepal

Soldier harasses television reporter, seizes his camera

(FNJ/IFEX) - Sanjaya Santoshi Rai, vice president of FNJ and member of the Press Council of Nepal, was insulted and threatened with assault by a soldier of the Nepalese Army on 25 October 2006, in Dhankuta, in the eastern district of Nepal.

Brazil

Soldiers assault photojournalists in army barracks

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 23 October 2003, nearly 20 soldiers of the Army Police in Campo Grande, western Brazil, assaulted photojournalists Adriano Hany, who works for the webpage Campo Grande News, and João Carlos Castro, of the newspaper "Folha do Povo". The photojournalists were investigating the death of a soldier in the barracks. After having been denied access, they both climbed one of the walls and from there attempted to photograph the base. The soldiers surrounded them and beat them before letting them go.

Nepal

Political group's bomb plot against newspaper revealed

(CEHURDES/IFEX) - "Kantipur" daily - the country's largest circulation Nepali-language newspaper - reported on 26 October 2006 that a member of the political group Jantantrik Terai Mukti Morcha (JTMM), a splinter group of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoists), revealed that his group's president, Jai Krishna Goit, had planned to detonate a bomb at the newspaper's regional office, located in Biratnagar in eastern Nepal.

Democratic Republic of Congo

JED condemns detention and treatment of two journalists by police forces

(JED/IFEX) - Journalist in Distress (JED) has condemned the questioning and treatment of two international journalists, on 26 October 2006, at a Kinshasa penitentiary (Centre Pénitentiaire et de Rééducation de Kinshasa, CPRK) by elements of the national Congolese police. With just a few days to go before the second run-off of the presidential election, JED wants to remind the Congolese authorities of their obligation to guarantee the safety of journalists.

Sri Lanka

Paramilitary group burns 10,000 copies of Tamil-language daily newspaper

(FMM/IFEX) - The following is a 25 October 2006 FMM press release:

France / China

RSF alerts French president to sale of European surveillance equipment to Chinese police

(RSF/IFEX) - The following is an RSF press release:

Paraguay

Drug traffickers said to have murdered missing journalist, dumped his body in river

(RSF/IFEX) - Volunteer firemen searched the river Ypané in the central department of Concepción in vain for the body of missing journalist Enrique Galeano of Radio Azotey on 21 October 2006, after investigators decided it may have been dumped there by the drug traffickers who are suspected of killing him, the online newspaper "ABC Digital" reported.

International

UNDP disclosure policy gutted, says ARTICLE 19

(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) - The following is a 25 October 2006 ARTICLE 19 press release:

Morocco

Two Norwegian journalists turned back on arrival in El Aaiún

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF has accused the Moroccan authorities of "administrative manipulation" after two Norwegian journalists were turned back on their arrival at El Aaiún airport, in Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara, because they did not have press visas.

Mexico

Website editor goes missing in northern state

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF has voiced concern about the disappearance, since 8 October 2006, of Guevara Guevara Domínguez, the editor of the US-based weekly newspaper "Siglo 21"'s online version ( http://www.siglo21web.com ). He went missing in northern Mexico exactly three months after Rafael Ortiz Martínez of the local daily "Zócalo" disappeared on 8 July in Monclova, in the northern state of Coahuila (see IFEX alert of 11 July 2006).

Sri Lanka

Media mission makes final recommendations in solidarity with journalists reporting on conflict

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is a 25 October 2006 IFJ media release:

Iran

Government bans daily

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has said it was appalled by the Press Surveillance Commission's decision to ban the pro-reform newspaper "Rouzegar" ("Time"), which had just increased its print run and expressed a desire to cover political issues after being reinforced by an influx of journalists from the banned daily "Shargh".

Argentina

IAPA blasts Misiones provincial government's cancellation of advertising contracts with local newspaper

(IAPA/IFEX) - The following is a 24 October 2006 IAPA press release:

Brazil

Court fines radio station for ignoring its order to withdraw election commentary from Web page

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 19 October 2006, the Superior Electoral Tribunal (Tribunal Superior Electoral, TSE) of Brazil fined CBN radio station nearly US$10,000 for disseminating the comment of one of its columnists about an electoral debate, which presented one of the presidential candidates in an unfavorable light, something prohibited by law. [The court had earlier ordered the station to withdraw the commentary from its web page.]

Colombia

Suspicious broadcast failures during congressional debate on paramilitary-linked politicians

(FLIP/IFEX) - On 18 October 2006, in Sucre and Córdoba departments in northern Colombia, the broadcasting signal of Canal Institucional television channel was interrupted, just as a debate in the Congress about Congress members linked to paramilitary groups was beginning.

Sri Lanka

FMM decries air force's bombing of rebel radio station

(FMM/IFEX) - The following is a 19 October 2006 FMM press release:

International

Middle Eastern journalists experience bureaucratic hurdles seeking entry into Europe, request "fast-track" procedure

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is an IFJ media release:

Russia

Editor of Internet publication fined over article about Putin

(CJES/IFEX) - An Ivanovo magistrate has sentenced Vladimir Rakhmankov, editor-in-chief of the Internet publication Kursiv, to pay a fine of 20,000 rubles (approx. US$745) for publishing his article entitled "Putin as a Phallic Symbol of Russia" on the Kursiv website, Ekho Moskvy radio station has reported.

Azerbaijan

Authorities try to evict opposition newspaper

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has condemned the government's attempt to evict the opposition newspaper "Azadlig" from the offices it has occupied at 33 Khagani Street in Baku free of charge since 1992. Pro-government newspapers that have free premises are not being threatened with expulsion.

Russia

Journalist suffers concussion, fractured nose in beating by former public servant following critical articles

(CJES/IFEX) - Vasily Melnichenko, a journalist and human rights activist, was beaten in the village of Galkinskoye, in Sverdlovsk region, on 22 October 2006, by a former public servant whose illicit activities the journalist has criticised.

Ghana

Supporters of ruling party bar journalist from press conference; radio reporter summoned and questioned over story

(MFWA/IFEX) - On 19 October 2006, Emmanuel Opoku, a reporter with the "Daily Guide", a privately-owned daily, was prevented by a group of ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) supporters from covering a press conference in the Western Region. He was accused of biased reporting. The journalist alleged that he was manhandled and insulted by the supporters, numbering about 15.

Somalia

Baidoa-based government urged to release three journalists arrested by troops

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has called for the immediate release of three journalists working for privately-owned radio stations who were arrested on 24 October 2006 near the southern city of Baidoa by militias loyal to the transitional federal government after they filmed evidence of the presence of Ethiopian soldiers on Somali territory.

Palestine

Kidnapped Associated Press photographer freed

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 24 October CPJ press release:

Peru

Journalists investigating candidate's electoral campaign intimidated

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 23 October 2006, journalists Jorge Tello and Segundo Infante of the weekly newspaper "D-Bate", told IPYS that they have been threatened by members of Piura municipal council candidate José Aguilar's retinue since they published several articles about the financing of his campaign. The city of Piura is situated in northern Perú.

Colombia

Journalist murdered in Cali, perpetrators and motives unknown

(IPYS/IFEX) - On the night of 12 October 2006, journalist Francisco Bonilla Romero was shot in the face and killed after a tussle with two masked men. The authorities have still not determined the motives for the murder. The crime took place in Cali, a city in western Colombia.

China

Cyber-dissident gets three-year sentence on day French president arrives

(RSF/IFEX) - The three-year prison sentence imposed on cyber-dissident Li Jianping on 25 October 2006 as French President Jacques Chirac arrived on a three-day state visit to China was a "slap in the face" for French diplomacy, Reporters Without Borders said, reiterating its call to Chirac to intercede on behalf of the 63 journalists and cyber-dissidents imprisoned in China.

Colombia

Death threats and shooting force television journalist to leave Cartago; parcel-bomb injures two at radio station in same city

(FLIP/IFEX) - Otoniel Sánchez, a journalist with local television station CNC in Cartago, a city in Valle del Cauca department, was obliged to leave the region after unidentified assailants fired upon his residence on 19 October 2006.

Burkina Faso

Prosecutor refuses to reopen Zongo murder investigation

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has said it was stunned by the Burkina Faso public prosecutor's refusal to reopen the investigation into the 1998 murder of journalist Norbert Zongo and three companions on the grounds that the document the organisation gave him on 20 October 2006 did not constitute new evidence as defined by article 189 of the code of criminal procedure.

Malaysia

CAPSULE REPORT: SEAPA rebuts prime minister's claim of free press

(SEAPA/IFEX) - The Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) is more than a little bemused by Malaysia Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's recent claim that "the Malaysian press have freedom" and are "not tightly controlled".

Palestine

Associated Press photographer abducted in Gaza

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a CPJ press release:

Syria

Writer and journalist Michel Kilo remains jailed on trumped-up charges

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has accused Syria's judicial authorities of bringing new, trumped-up charges against detained writer and journalist Michel Kilo in order to keep him in prison and avoid having to execute the provisional release order issued by a judge on 19 October 2006.

China

Internet Society of China recommends ban on anonymous blogging

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF has voiced concern about a recommendation by the Internet Society of China, which is affiliated with the Information Ministry, that bloggers be required to register under their real names when creating a blog. The call came just weeks after authorities in the southwestern province of Chongqing announced that anyone posting "defamatory" videos on the Internet would be punished.

International

RSF releases 2006 World Press Freedom Index

(RSF/IFEX) - The following is an abridged RSF press release:

Sri Lanka

South Asian editors express solidarity with beleaguered media in Sri Lanka

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is an IFJ media release:

Vietnam

Two newspapers suspended, a third banned after publishing controversial articles

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF has condemned the government's one-month suspension of two Vietnamese newspapers after they ran articles about the poor quality of the new banknotes that were recently put in circulation. Six other newspapers and magazines have also been accused of publishing "false information" and face possible sanctions.

Sri Lanka

Media groups release "Weligama Declaration" on role of media in building national unity

(FMM/IFEX) - The following is an 18 October 2006 joint statement by FMM and several other organisations:

Peru

Protesters threaten journalists, force them to broadcast their demands on radio programme

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 18 October 2006, around 20 protesters, members of the Education Workers' Union of Perú (SUTEP), stormed into the premises of Master Mix radio station a few minutes before the broadcast of the programme "Actualidad Regional" and forced journalists Enma Gutiérrez and Pilar Solís to broadcast their demands live. The teachers warned them that the journalists would get hurt if they continued criticizing the protest marches that are taking place in the city of Huancavelica, southwestern Peru. The journalists decided to leave the town for a few days.

Sri Lanka

Air Force bombing of LTTE radio station leaves two injured; IFJ denounces attack

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is an IFJ media release:

Azerbaijan

Sentences against journalists Sahin Agabayli and Fikret Faramazoglu both upheld on appeal

(IPI/IFEX) - The following is a 20 October 2006 IPI press release:

Iraq / United States

CPJ appeals US government refusal to disclose information about 2003 bombings of television station, hotel housing journalists in Iraq

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 20 October 2006 CPJ press release:

Argentina

Proposals to distribute state advertising more fairly blocked in Congress

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF is concerned about the obstacles being encountered by three proposed federal laws that would regulate the allocation of state advertising to the media, which governments too often use to reward supporters and punish critics.

Sudan

Journalist Saad al-Din Hassan Abdallah arrested, detained, has laptop confiscated

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has condemned the Sudanese authorities' harassment of local and foreign journalists, which has been stepped up since the summer of 2006, barely one year after President Omar al-Bashir announced he was lifting the state of emergency.

Sudan

Le journaliste Saad al-Din Hassan Abdallah arrêté et détenu, son ordinateur portable confisqué

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters sans frontières condamne le harcèlement des autorités soudanaises à l'encontre des journalistes, locaux ou étrangers, qui s'est intensifié depuis l'été 2006, tout juste un an après l'annonce de la levée des lois d'exception par le président Omar el-Béchir.

Burkina Faso

RSF presents new evidence in Zongo murder case

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF has asked the Burkina Faso state prosecutor to reopen the investigation into the 1998 murder of journalist Norbert Zongo and three other persons, after providing him with new evidence implicating the president's brother, François Compaoré, and businessman Oumarou Kanazoé.

China

Court orders journalist freed but stops short of quashing his conviction

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF has hailed the news that Yang Xiaoqing, a journalist based in Longhui in the southern province of Hunan, has been released as a result of a court decision in the nearby city of Shaoyang, on 17 October 2006. Detained since 22 January, Yang had been serving a one-year sentence for alleged extortion.

Afghanistan

Italian photographer's kidnappers demand withdrawal of Italian troops, extend deadline

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a CPJ press release:

Colombia

"Demobilised" paramilitary group threatens to kill two journalists and their relatives

(IPYS/IFEX) - Since the beginning of October 2006, Radio Galeón radio station journalist Camilo Munive Aya and Vany Johan Sierra, a journalist who works for both "Hoy Diario del Magdalena" newspaper and Radio Fuego Estéreo radio station, have been receiving telephoned death threats from members of a demobilised paramilitary group calling itself "Las Águilas Negras". The callers have warned the two journalists to stop criticizing crime in Ciénaga, a city in Magdalena department in the country's north.

South Africa

Parliamentary committee chair criticises media conduct regarding draft law, suggests Constitution be amended to allow limiting of press freedom

(FXI/IFEX) - The following is a joint statement by FXI and MISA-South Africa:

Cuba

RSF publishes report on state control of the Internet

(RSF/IFEX) - The following is a 19 October 2006 RSF press release:

Azerbaijan

Two newspapers prevented from covering former police officer's trial

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has condemned a 16 October 2006 order banning reporters from two newspapers, "Olaylar" and "Azadlig", from attending the trial of former police officer Haji Mamedov and members of the gang he allegedly ran, which is accused of carrying out at least 10 murders and kidnappings. A total of 26 people have been arrested in the case, half of them policemen.

Turkmenistan

President Nyazov's "House of Free Creativity" called a crude provocation

(RSF/IFEX) - The following is a 19 October 2006 RSF press release:

International

IAPA urges governments to end discrimination in allocation of government advertising contracts

(IAPA/IFEX) - The following is a 13 October 2006 IAPA press release:

Australia

Parliament passes media ownership laws encouraging media concentration, threatening freedom of expression

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is an IFJ media release:

Canada

CJFE welcomes ruling against secrecy law used to justify police raid on journalist's home

(CJFE/IFEX) - The following is a 19 October 2006 CJFE press release:

Belarus

IFJ launches international campaign urging authorities to reopen murdered journalist's case

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is an IFJ media release:

Sri Lanka

Six ans d'impunité pour les assassins de Mayilvaganam Nimalarajan, journaliste tamoul de la BBC

(RSF/IFEX) - Le 19 octobre 2000, le journaliste tamoul Mayilvaganam Nimalarajan était assassiné à son domicile de Jaffna (nord du pays). Six ans après les faits, la police et certains juges ont délibérément saboté puis bloqué la procédure judiciaire qui mettait en cause des membres du parti tamoul gouvernemental EPDP.

Sri Lanka

Six years of impunity in murder of BBC journalist

(RSF/IFEX) - Police and some judges deliberately sabotaged and then blocked judicial steps against members of the pro-government EPDP party implicated in the murder in 2000 of Tamil journalist Mayilvaganam Nimalarajan at his home in Jaffna, northern Sri Lanka, said Reporters Without Borders.

Israel

Two Palestinian journalists assaulted by Israeli security personnel

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has condemned the detention of Reuters cameraman Imad Mohammad Bornat by the Israeli authorities over the past two weeks and his possible mistreatment at the time of his arrest on 6 October 2006 in the West Bank village of Bil'in. The organisation also condemned the severe beating, which Agence France Presse photographer Jaafar Ashtiyeh and two of his assistants received on 1 October at a checkpoint at Hawara, near the city of Nablus.

South Africa

CAPSULE REPORT: Media freedom declining, says FXI

(FXI/IFEX) - The following is an 18 October 2006 FXI press release:

Moldova

Journalists intimidated, threatened after publishing critical reports related to crime and corruption in legal system

(IPI/IFEX) - The following is a letter by the South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), an IPI affiliate, to Moldovan authorities:

Brazil

Judge orders radio station to pull journalist's comments from its web-page; courts impeding journalists' work during elections, says IAPA

(IAPA/IFEX) - The following is a 17 October 2006 IAPA press release:

China

New purge at "China Youth Daily"

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders is dismayed by a fresh purge launched by the Communist Party Youth League and the Propaganda Department within the management and editorial staff of "Zhongguo Qingnian Bao" ("China Youth Daily").

Russia

Independent newspaper warned by officials over photograph of president, following years of political pressure

(CJES/IFEX) - The radio station Ekho Moskvy has reported that the Oryol region's prosecutor's office has issued a warning to the newspaper "Orlovskiye Novosti" over a photograph it published of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Iran

Government bans outspoken students from attending university, requires others to refrain from activism

(HRW/IFEX) - The following is a Human Rights Watch press release:

Russia

Police attack peaceful demonstrators at memorial for slain journalist, temporarily detain one journalist

(HRW/IFEX) - The following is an 18 October 2006 Human Rights Watch press release:

Liberia

Journalist badly beaten by police while covering their abuse of detained rioters

(CEMESP/IFEX) - On 13 October 2006, a senior radio producer at a community radio station in Grand Gedeh County, southeastern Liberia, was badly beaten by four officers of the Liberia National Police on assignment with the county's police detachment.

Somalia

Mogadishu radio station shut down by Islamic Courts Council; journalists temporarily detained in Somaliland airport

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is an 18 October 2006 IFJ media release:

Iraq

Tikrit-based reporter released provisionally, banned from leaving country

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders voiced relief on learning that Tikrit-based journalist Kalshan Al-Bayati, who writes for the Arab-language daily "Al Hayat", was provisionally released on 17 October 2006 after being held illegally for a month by Iraqi security authorities. She is still being investigated in connection with her relations with armed groups.

Afghanistan

RSF launches campaign on behalf of kidnapped Italian photographer

(RSF/IFEX) - On 18 October 2006, Reporters Without Borders and the UK-based National Union of Journalists (NUJ) appealed for an active campaign, especially by Italian journalists, for the release of Italian freelance photographer Gabriele Torsello, who could be killed by the people holding him hostage in Afghanistan.

Iran

Six journalists arrested in one week

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has condemned the arrests of six journalists in one week and called for the release of all journalists detained in Iran.

Turkmenistan

President Nyazov asked to include two imprisoned journalists in independence anniversary pardon

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has appealed to President Separmurad Nyazov to include two journalists and human rights activists in the pardon he announced on 16 October 2006 for 10,000 prisoners. Held since June, Annakurban Amanklychev and Sapardurdy Khajiyev are now serving seven-year prison sentences.

Pakistan

Supreme Court judge dismisses charges against "The News" crime reporter

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has welcomed the findings of a police investigation submitted to Supreme Court Judge Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on 16 October 2006 clearing "The News" journalist Shakeel Anjum of any involvement in the murder of three arms traffickers. The judge, who had ordered the enquiry, dismissed all charges against Anjum.

Mexico

High damages against magazine, journalist for defaming first lady upheld in new ruling

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders condemns as "exorbitant" the damages of 144,000 euros, which journalist Olga Wornat and the weekly magazine "Proceso" were ordered, on 16 October 2006, to pay to President Vicente Fox's wife, Marta Sahagún.

Russia / International

IFJ demands European Union put pressure on Russia over media crisis, impunity in journalists' killings

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is a 17 October 2006 IFJ media release:

Russia / International

European court rejects case of murdered journalist Kholodov

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 17 October 2006 CPJ press release:

India

Youth Congress mob harasses television journalist for broadcasting story critical of leader

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is an IFJ media release:

Gabon

Journalist taken to prison three years after being sentenced

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders calls for the immediate release of Norbert Ngoua Mezui, founder-editor of the privately-owned weekly "Nku'u Le Message", and condemns the ploy which led to his arrest.

China

Two cyber-dissidents formally charged with subversion

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has reiterated its call for the release of two members of the independent writers' organisation PEN, Zhang Jianhong and Chen Shuqing, who have both been formally charged with "inciting subversion of state authority."

Sudan

Newspaper reporter freed after being held for more than two weeks

(RSF/IFEX) - Journalist Abu Obeida Abdallah of the privately-owned daily "Al-Rai al-Aam" was released on 15 October 2006. His newspaper said he was arrested on 29 September in connection with the murder of Mohamed Taha, the editor of the privately-owned daily "Al-Wifaq", at the beginning of the month.

North Korea

Pyongyang threatens independent radio stations run by exiles

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has condemned threats by North Korea's officials against the independent radio stations based in South Korea or the United States that broadcast programmes for the North Korean population.

Iraq

Second Al Irakiya journalist killed; cartoonist shot and wounded; kidnapped and tortured journalist Ali Karim released

(RSF/IFEX) - With a total of 48 journalists and media assistants killed in cold blood since the start of January, 2006 is already the deadliest year for the Iraqi press since the start of the war in March 2003, Reporters Without Borders said, condemning targeted violence against media.

Brazil

CPJ releases report on polarizing political influence on radio news and resulting violence against journalists in Northeast

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 17 October 2006 CPJ press release:

France

Persecuted Turkish writers oppose proposed law criminalising denial of Armenian genocide

(WiPC/IFEX) - WiPC is alarmed by the decision of the French parliament on 12 October 2006 to criminalise statements and writings that deny that there had been an Armenian genocide in Turkey at the turn of the last century. Under the proposed law, which now needs to be approved by the Senate and president, fines of one year's imprisonment and fines of up to 45,000 euros could be levied against those convicted.

Russia

ARTICLE 19 condemns silencing of critical voices on Chechnya as court closes NGO

(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) - The following is a 17 October 2006 ARTICLE 19 statement:

The Gambia

Newspaper journalist remains arbitrarily detained, 3 months after arrest

(MFWA/IFEX) - Chief Ebrima Manneh, a reporter of the "Daily Observer", a pro-government newspaper, is still languishing in the cells of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), four months after his arrest.

Iraq / United States

CPJ calls for US military to reopen investigation into journalist's death after UK court rules him unlawfully killed by US troops

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 13 October 2006 CPJ press release:

Azerbaijan

Threat to retransmission of BBC, Voice of America and Radio Liberty/Radio Free Europe programmes

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has called on the Azeri government not to implement a 13 October 2006 decision by the National Council for Television and Radio to stop local radio stations Antenn and ANS and the Azeri state radio from retransmitting BBC, Voice of America and Radio Liberty/Radio Free Europe programmes from 1 January 2007. The ban also affects Voice of America TV programmes.

Nepal

Maoists intimidate journalists; businessmen vandalise television station vehicle

(CEHURDES/IFEX) - CEHURDES condemns the recent harassment of media personnel by Maoist leaders, and an attack on media property by a group of businessmen.

Philippines

Arrest warrants issued for newspaper publisher, staff

(CMFR/IFEX) - Acting on libel suits filed by Jose Miguel Arroyo, husband of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, on 16 October 2006 a Manila court issued arrest warrants against the publisher and several of the staff members, including a former senator, of the national newspaper "Malaya".

Somalia

Newspaper critical of Islamic courts is publicly burned in Somaliland's second city

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has voiced concern that an angry crowd in Buro, the second largest city in the northern breakaway territory of Somaliland, burned more than a thousand copies of the independent daily "Haatuf" on 13 October 2006 on the grounds that it criticises the Mogadishu-based Islamic courts.

China

Cyber-dissident Guo Qizhen sentenced to four years' imprisonment for "subversion"

(WAN/IFEX) - The following is a WAN letter to Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao:

Peru

Mayor sues journalist for alleged defamation

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 12 July 2006, journalist Antonio Rojas Ramírez, of the newspaper "Ahora", was accused of defamation by Rider Padilla Sinarahua, mayor of the district of Lagunas, Alto Amazonas province, northeastern Peru. The mayor is asking for 80,000 nuevos soles (approx. US$ 25,000) in damages.

Iraq

Radio journalist murdered in Baghdad

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is an IFJ media release:

Yemen

Human rights defender scheduled to participate in conference arrested and detained

(CIHRS/IFEX) - The following is a 15 October 2006 joint statement by 30 human rights organisations, including CIHRS and EOHR:

Russia

News agency director killed in knife attack, IFJ calls for detailed probe

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is an IFJ media release:

Nepal

Maoist activists prevent journalists from covering peace talks at prime minister's residence

(CEHURDES/IFEX) - CEHURDES, a Kathmandu-based media rights monitoring agency, condemns the mistreatment by Maoist activists of journalists who had gathered in front of the prime minister's official residence to cover the news of crucial peace talks.

Palestine

Fatah-linked radio studios attacked and destroyed

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has strongly condemned an attack on the studios of a local radio station linked to Fatah in the Gaza Strip, in which its offices were wrecked, its sole transmitter destroyed and the building torched.

Yemen

French TV journalist held after arriving on refugee boat

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has voiced surprise that the Yemeni authorities have been holding French freelance TV producer and filmmaker Daniel Grandclément-Chaffy since 12 October 2006, on a charge of entering the country illegally, although he has a visa.

Sri Lanka

Editor of "The Sunday Observer" fired

(FMM/IFEX) - The following is a 14 October 2006 joint statement by five Sri Lankan human rights groups, including FMM:

Russia

Critical website on Chechnya shut down

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 13 October 2006 CPJ press release:

Malaysia

Outcry as political pressure forces retraction of economic report

(SEAPA/IFEX) - Free speech groups in Malaysia are protesting the verbal attacks from government leaders that have forced a research organisation to retract its report on current economic conditions in the country.

Afghanistan

Italian journalist kidnapped

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is an IFJ media release:

China

Government unblocks access to Wikipedia's English-language version

(RSF/IFEX) - The blocking of access to the online encyclopedia Wikipedia, put in place by the Chinese authorities in October 2005, was partially lifted on 10 October 2006, RSF reports. The English-language version is now entirely accessible, including sensitive content normally censored in China, but the Chinese-language version is still blocked.

France

Proposed law prohibiting denial of Armenian genocide violates free expression, says ARTICLE 19

(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) - The following is a 13 October 2006 ARTICLE 19 press release:

Honduras

Two journalists face defamation charges

(PROBIDAD/IFEX) - Journalists Julio Ernesto Alvarado and Francisco Romero have both been charged, separately, with defamation. Alvarado is the director of the Channel 13 HONDURED television news programme "Mi Nación", while Romero produces the public affairs programme "Hablemos de Noche" on Channel 45 (RCN). Both television stations broadcast out of the capital, Tegucigalpa.

France

National Assembly passes draft law criminalising the denial of Armenian genocide

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF strongly regrets the first reading passage of a law that would make it a crime punishable by prison sentence to deny the 1915 Armenian genocide. The organisation notes that memorial laws are part of the creation of an official historical truth - a practice typical of totalitarian regimes - and expressed the hope that senators, who are to examine the draft law shortly, will have the wisdom to reject it.

Democratic Republic of Congo

Gunmen sabotage relay transmitter of television station owned by presidential candidate

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF has condemned the 12 October 2006 destruction by unidentified gunmen of a transmitter in the southeastern province of Katanga which relayed the satellite broadcasts of Canal Congo Télévision (CCTV), a station owned by presidential candidate Jean-Pierre Bemba.

Philippines

Publisher, two columnists sued by city councillor for publishing photos of his assault on columnist, city prosecutor dismisses case

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is an IFJ media release:

Kazakhstan

New draft law increases criminal punishment for defamation

(Adil Soz/IFEX) - Adil Soz condemns the draft law submitted the week of 9 October 2006 to the Kazakh Parliament by the government, which is, in fact, aimed to increase criminal punishment for defamation.

Honduras

Jesuit-run radio station's reporter assaulted and threatened by municipal government official

(PROBIDAD/IFEX) - On 12 October 2006, radio station Radio Progreso - owned by Honduras's Jesuit Community, a Roman Catholic religious order - reported an assault on its journalist, José Antonio Peraza, by a municipal employee irritated because the reporter had asked, in an interview with town administrator Jorge Alemán, while attempting to interview him, about Alemán's inebriated state during a discussion of the municipal budget.

Tunisia

Culture Ministry's review board censors new play

(OLPEC/IFEX) - The following is an abridged version of a 10 October 2006 OLPEC press release:

Iraq / United States

IFJ challenges US over media deaths after UK court says shooting of journalist in Iraq was "unlawful killing"

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is an IFJ media release:

South Africa

Broadcasting corporation refuses to release full report on allegations of politically-motivated "blacklisting"

(FXI/IFEX) -The following is an FXI media statement:

Iraq

Two in critical condition, 11 dead, in deadliest attack on press since US-led invasion; brazenness of attack shows killers' lack of fear of authorities, says CPJ

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 12 October 2006 CPJ press release:

International

On its 25th anniversary, CPJ to honour four brave journalists

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is an 11 October 2006 CPJ press release:

The Gambia

Journalist released after 139 days in illegal detention

(MFWA/IFEX) - On 9 October 2006, a High Court in Banjul unconditionally released Malick Mboob, a journalist and former staff member of the "Daily Observer", a pro-government newspaper, after he was kept for 139 days in illegal detention for allegedly sending damaging information to an online US-based newspaper.

Turkey / International

Persecuted Turkish author Orhan Pamuk awarded Nobel Prize

(WiPC/IFEX) - The following is a 12 October 2006 WiPC press release:

International

Freedom House launches new web-based resource on press freedom

(Freedom House/IFEX) - The following is an 11 October 2006 Freedom House press release:

Honduras

Radio journalist assaulted by school teacher while covering meeting

(PROBIDAD/IFEX) - In the hamlet of El Amatillo in the township of La Virtud, Lempira, in western Honduras, rural correspondent Elder Martínez, of the Tegucigalpa-based radio station HRN, was attacked by a local teacher, Holmer Serrano Aguirre, in the presence of the departmental director of education, Teófilo Enamorado, while the reporter was covering a gathering of parents who object to the the teacher's behaviour and attitude.

Sri Lanka

Statement of international fact-finding and advocacy mission

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is an 11 October 2006 IFJ media release:

Egypt

Government censorship office seizes copies of book on religious extremism

(EOHR/IFEX) - The following is an 11 October 2006 EOHR press release:

Peru

Journalist and newspaper sued by penitentiary director for defamation

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 4 September 2006, journalist Hermes Rivera Guerrero and Chiclayo newspaper "El Correo" were sued for defamation and slander by Adolfo Riojas Gálvez, director of the "Bagua Grande" penitentiary, after they published, on 19 August, the testimony of a prisoner who accused Riojas of being responsible for the attack he suffered during a row inside the prison. The official is asking for 500,000 nuevos soles (approx. US$155,000) in damages. The town of Bagua Grande lies in the Utcubamba province in the Amazonas region, northeastern Peru.

Swaziland

Parliamentary committee accuses newspaper of defamation, demands apology

(MISA/IFEX) - On 5 October 2006, the "Times of Swaziland" newspaper was accused of having defamed Parliament and ordered to apologise.

Iraq

Eleven dead in attack on Shaabiya satellite television station in Baghdad; car bomb outside Al-Rafidain television station wounds five, kills two

(IPI/IFEX) - The following is an IPI press release:

Iraq

Journalist held without charge for three weeks by Iraqi forces

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is an 11 October 2006 CPJ press release:

Canada

CJFE condemns government targeting of reporter who exposed airport security breach

(CJFE/IFEX) - The following is an 11 October 2006 CJFE media release:

Peru

Television reporters shoved and hit during protest march

(IPYS/IFEX) - On the morning of 5 October 2006, Clarita Vásquez Maldonado and Perla Polo Salés - reporters for América TV television station's programme "Primera Edición Chiclayo" - were assaulted by two individuals presumed to be protesters when they were covering the protest march of council workers of the city of Chiclayo in northwestern Perú.

Iraq

Editor of private weekly kidnapped in Baghdad, ransom demanded

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is an 11 October 2006 CPJ press release:

Argentina

Radio programme pulled due to threats by provincial legislature's president to cancel government advertising contracts

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF is alarmed at the pulling of a political radio programme after the president of the Buenos Aires provincial Chamber of Representatives (Cámara de Diputados), Ismael Passaglia, threatened to cancel the station's government advertising contracts.

Venezuela

Journalist murdered in Sucre

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 7 October 2006, journalist Pedro Bastardo was killed by several shots to the head. The murderer got out of a car and fired upon the journalist while he was in a shop in the city of Cumaná, in the state of Sucre, in northeastern Venezuela. According to witnesses, the murderer argued with the victim before killing him. The motive for the crime is not known.

Algeria

RSF dismayed over authorities' growing use of bureaucratic pretexts to obstruct journalists' work

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has said it was dismayed at the Algerian authorities' growing use of bureaucratic pretexts to obstruct the work of Algerian journalists.

Vietnam

CORRECTION: WiPC seriously concerned over health of imprisoned writer Nguyen Vu Binh

(WiPC/IFEX) ? Please note, it was previously stated that Nguyen is being held at New Hoa Lo prison in Hanoi. WiPC clarifies that he is being held at Ba Sao forced labour camp, in Nam Hà province. As well, in the previous version of this alert, WiPC provided incorrect names for the officials listed in the "Appeals to" section. The correct names are given below. WiPC apologises for the error.

Venezuela

State television channel reporter and camera operator threatened, their vehicle attacked during protest

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 3 October 2006, state television channel "Venezolana de Televisión" journalist Álvaro Cañizales and his cameraman, César Zambrano, were threatened by a group of food processing company Albeca C.A. employees while the television team was covering the latter's protest march. This took place in the state of Carabobo, in north central Venezuela.

Iraq

Media assistant killed; radio presenter kidnapped; TV cameraman arrested

(RSF/IFEX) - The reports of the past few days of the murders of two media assistants, the kidnapping of a radio presenter and the arrest of a TV cameraman have been deplored by Reporters Without Borders.

Nepal

Politicians rebuff and insult journalists covering summit

(FNJ/IFEX) - Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ) urged political leaders to apologize for their display, on 8 October 2006, of disrespect toward media persons. The incident took place after the summit talks at the Prime Minister's official residence in Baluwatar.

Nigeria

Government drops sedition charges against journalist, continues proceedings against another

(MRA/IFEX) - On 10 October 2006, the Nigerian government withdrew the charges of sedition against Daar Communications Limited, owners of African Independent Television (AIT), and one of its assistant managers, Mr. Mike Gbenga Aruleba.

India

IFJ challenges government to respond to crisis in journalism that threatens pluralism and press freedom

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is an IFJ press release:

Somalia

Islamic courts try to impose draconian rules on Mogadishu media

(RSF/IFEX) - A list of 13 rules of conduct for the privately-owned media which the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) gave to journalists in Mogadishu on 8 October 2006 has been condemned as completely unacceptable by Reporters Without Borders.

Nigeria

Government urged to carry out full investigation into leading journalist's murder

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has called on the Nigerian authorities to redouble their efforts to identify those responsible for the murder of Omololu Falobi, the founder and executive director of Journalists Against AIDS (JAAIDS) and former features editor of the privately-owned daily "The Punch", who was gunned down on 5 October 2006 in Lagos.

Paraguay

Critical local newspaper's facilities, equipment and files destroyed in property dispute

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF is dismayed that all of the facilities and equipment of the local newspaper "El Espectador Luqueño" were destroyed when its editor, Miguel Espínola, and his wife, Vilma Ayala, were evicted from the building in Luque (10 km outside Asunción) in which they have lived and worked since 1989.

Uruguay

Journalist receives death threats from soldiers "nostalgic for the military dictatorship"

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF condemns death threats sent by e-mail the first week of October 2006 to freelance journalist Alfonso Lessa by a person calling himself a "soldier in active service" who took issue with what Lessa has said about the army. Lessa writes for the Montevideo-based daily "El País" and also works with Canal 12 television station.

Iraq

Body of kidnapped Iraqi journalist discovered in Baghdad morgue

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 10 October 2006 CPJ press release:

Russia

President Putin condemns Politkovskaya murder but questions her credibility; CPJ calls on him to take responsibility for investigation

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a CPJ press release:

Brazil

Television station accused of defamation; regional electoral tribunal orders its signal to be interrupted for 24 hours

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 30 September 2006, the Regional Electoral Tribunal of Amazonas ordered the signal of TV A Crítica television station to be cancelled for 24 hours. The Court accepted the request of political alliance "Por el bien de Amazonas" ("For the Good of Amazonas") to take the television station off the air because it broadcast accusations negatively affecting its candidates' reputation. Judge Encarnação das Graças Sampaio Salgado considered that TV A Crítica's accusations could interfere with the presidential elections. The station stopped transmitting the night of 30 September until the evening of 1 October, election day.

Paraguay

Journalists' union accuses government of covering up disappearance of journalist Enrique Galeano

(SPP/IFEX) - On 4 October 2006, the Union of Paraguayan Journalists (Sindicato de Periodistas del Paraguay, SPP) accused the government of political responsibility for the forced disappearance of journalist Enrique Galeano, "for ensuring this act continues in impunity."

Colombia

Communications ministry proposes monitoring of radio programme content

(IPYS/IFEX) - On the morning of 4 October 2006, the communications minister, María del Rosario Guerra, stated during an interview that, as part of the project to reform the National Television Commission, the possibility of setting up a body that would monitor the content of the programmes on the country's private and community-based radio stations is being analyzed. The project proposal will be presented to Congress shortly.

Vietnam

WiPC seriously concerned over health of imprisoned writer Nguyen Vu Binh

(WiPC/IFEX) - The Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC) of International PEN is seriously concerned for the health of writer Nguyen Vu Binh, who is said to require urgent medical treatment for an undiagnosed chronic gastrointestinal disease and high blood pressure.

Colombia

Recent illegal detention of indigenous radio journalists not unusual, says community leader

(FLIP/IFEX) - Two journalists with the indigenous radio station Nasa Yuwe Estéreo, Rubiel Lis Velasco and Griseldino Yafué Guetoto, were detained illegally by members of the intelligence police (Seccional de Inteligencia Judicial Investigativa de la Policía Nacional, SIJÍN) in the municipality of Caldono, located in the department of Caucas in Colombia's southwest.

Colombia

Unidentified individuals impede the distribution of newspaper issue reporting on corrupt politicians

(FLIP/IFEX) - On 3 October 2006, vendors of the newspaper "El Meridiano de Sucre", the main daily of the northern department of Sucre, were pressured by unidentified individuals to sell them all copies of an edition of the newspaper being sold in the departmental capital, Sincelejo.

China

Diplomats asked to intercede on behalf of detained cyber-dissident who is being mistreated

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has urged foreign diplomats based in Beijing to raise the case of cyber-dissident Yang Maodong with the Chinese authorities as he has been the victim of mistreatment since his arrest on 14 September 2006. Yang is better known by his pseudonym, Guo Feixiong.

Afghanistan

Authorities urged to lose no time in establishing who killed German journalists

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has called on the Afghan authorities to quickly identify those responsible for the murders of German freelance journalists Karen Fischer and Christian Struwe and to establish their motives. The Afghan authorities said they had identified six people they want to question.

Kazakhstan

Critical journalist brutally assaulted

(Adil Soz/IFEX) - On the evening on 2 October 2006, the former chief editor of the opposition newspaper "Alternativa", Albert Zhiger, was attacked by two unidentified men while on his way home, in Taraz, southern Kazakhstan. They knocked him to the ground and brutally beat him, causing him to bleed. They reportedly told him, as they beat him, that they had previously given him warnings.

Peru

Critical radio journalist accused of attempted murder and committing an offence against public peace

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 27 September 2006, Adrián Aguilar Reyes, director of radio station Radio Sideral's news programme "El Mirador", was summoned by the police to give his testimony after a complaint was filed against him for alleged offences against public peace, conspiracy to commit a crime and attempted murder. The complaint was filed by lawyer Vilma Melo Toro, an advisor to the Huaylas provincial administration. The event took place in the town of Caraz, Ancash region, northwestern Peru.

Tajikistan

Government orders blocking of various websites

(Adil Soz/IFEX) - The following is a 9 October 2006 statement by the National Association of Independent Mass Media of Tajikistan (NANSMIT), an Adil Soz partner:

South Africa

Lecturer faces disciplinary committee, possible dismissal, as free expression declines at university

(FXI/IFEX) - The following is a 9 October 2006 FXI press release:

Bangladesh

Controversial journalist attacked in office raid

(WiPC/IFEX) - The Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC) of International PEN is seriously concerned for the safety of journalist Salah Uddin Shoaib Chaudhury, who was reportedly attacked by a group of about 30 men at the offices of his newspaper, "Blitz", on 5 October 2006. His attackers are thought to have included leading members of the ruling Bangladesh National Party (BNP). Chaudhury was reportedly badly beaten in the attack, and around 400,000 Taka (approx. US$4,000) and several cell phones were taken from the "Blitz" office.

Kazakhstan

Substantial fines imposed on "Central Asia Monitor" upheld by city court

(Adil Soz/IFEX) - On 6 October 2006, the city court of Almaty upheld a decision by the district court, obliging "Central Asia Monitor" newspaper staff to pay significant fines. The newspaper's founder and publisher, Alem BG company, and journalist Sayat Musin were ordered to pay 1 million tenge (approx. US$7800) respectively, while its editor was ordered to pay 3 million tenge (approx. US$23,400) to Yerasyl Abylkasymov, a member of Majilis (the lower chamber of the Parliament).

Russia

Writer and journalist Anna Politkovskaya, long threatened over critical reporting on Chechnya conflict, shot to death

(WiPC/IFEX) -The following is a 7 October 2006 WiPC statement:

China

Authorities shut down Tibetan intellectual's blog

(HRW/IFEX) - The following is a 9 October 2006 HRW press release:

International

CAPSULE REPORT: Press facing serious setbacks in the hemisphere, IAPA concludes

(IAPA/IFEX) - The following is a 3 October 2006 IAPA press release:

Iraq

Driver for state-owned TV gunned down

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a CPJ press release:

Argentina

Journalist holed up in hotel, quits his profession and plans to emigrate, following attack in Entre Ríos

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF has expressed deep concern about death threats made against two journalists who voiced opposition to the government and a climate of fear which has also left another journalist targeted in a shooting holed up in a hotel for the past three months.

Guinea

Two journalists suspended indefinitely for neglecting to publish photograph of the president

(MFWA/IFEX) - On 4 October 2006, Ibrahima Sory Dieng, managing director, and Alhassane Souare, editor-in-chief of the state-owned newspaper "Horoya", were suspended indefinitely by the minister of information Aboubacar Sylla, for not publishing a photograph of President Lassana Conte of Guinea alongside his speech.

Philippines

Names of four more journalists included in court order for arrest of journalists for defamation

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is an IFJ media release:

Mexico

In Oaxaca, arson at Radio La Consentida, death threats against its journalist; APPO ends occupation of Radio Oro station

(IPYS/IFEX) - Early on the morning of 4 October 2006, unidentified persons stormed into the headquarters of Radio La Consentida and set fire to the transmission booths. They wrote death threats against journalist Romualdo Santiago on the walls. The attackers signed the threats with the initials of the Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca (Asamblea Popular del Pueblo de Oaxaca, APPO), a social organisation that, during the last three months, has seized several state-owned and private communications media to demand the removal from office of Oaxaca State Governor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz. The owner of the radio station, Congress member Humberto López-Lena Cruz, has dismissed the possibility that APPO is responsible for the attack and did not rule out the possibility that it was linked to his criticisms of Governor Ruiz Ortiz and of former governor José Murat. Oaxaca is situated in southern México.

Mongolia

Journalist assaulted by market vendor while investigating contraband

(Globe International/IFEX) - On 28 September 2006, T. Bayasgalan, reporter for the newspaper "7-Day Darkhan", was assaulted by a market vendor while he was investigating the alleged illegal traffic in pine nuts in the central market of Darkhan-Uul province, located 200 kilometers from the capital, Ulaanbaatar.

South Africa

Freedom of expression rights compromised under proposed by-law, says FXI

(FXI/IFEX) - The following is a 5 October 2006 FXI press release:

Syria

Freelance journalist and son freed after six months in prison

(RSF/IFEX) - Human rights activist and freelance journalist Ali Abdallah, 52, and his son, student Mohammad Abdallah, 22, were released on 4 October 2006 after completing a six-month sentence. They had been imprisoned for "criticising the state of emergency laws" in effect since 1963 and "insulting the president of the state security court," their lawyer, Khalil Maatouk, said. Ali Abdallah is an occasional contributor to the Lebanese newspapers "Assafir" and "An-Nahar", and to "Al-Khalij", a newspaper based in the United Arab Emirates.

Sudan

Speculation abounds over reason for journalist's ongoing detention; officials deny connection with his writing

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 5 October 2006 CPJ press release:

Philippines

Court convicts three men over journalist Marlene Esperat's murder

(CMFR/IFEX) - It was a welcome victory for Philippine press freedom on 6 October 2006, when a Cebu City court convicted three men for the murder of journalist Marlene Esperat, after a ten-month trial period.

Uzbekistan

Reporter sentenced to six years in prison despite witness reversal

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 5 October 2006 CPJ press release:

Honduras

Security company takes social organisation's journalists to court for alleged defamation

(PROBIDAD/IFEX) - Journalists Robert Marín García and Dina Meza, of the Association for a Fairer Society (Asociación por una Sociedad más Justa, ASJ), are being taken to court by Setech private security company for alleged crimes of defamation and slander, after making available to the public information about alleged violations of Setech's employees' labour rights and irregularities in the manner in which the company bid on and obtained government contracts.

United Arab Emirates

Human rights advocates harassed by authorities

(HRW/IFEX) - The following is a Human Rights Watch press release:

Zimbabwe

Police raid newspaper's office

(MISA/IFEX) - During the week of 3 October 2006, four detectives from the police's Law and Order section visited the Harare distribution offices of "The Zimbabwean", a weekly newspaper published in London, and demanded certain information from the proprietor before confiscating some documents.

International

Seventy-five journalists killed in 2006: the deadliest year on record for journalists, reports WAN

(WAN/IFEX) - The following is a WAN press release:

Cambodia

Freedom of expression climate deteriorates as government fails to deliver on promises to protect rights and increase transparency, says Human Rights Watch

(HRW/IFEX) - The following is a Human Rights Watch press release:

Venezuela

Unidentified individuals shoot at state-owned radio station vehicle travelling on a Caracas avenue

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 24 September 2006, a car belonging to the state-owned radio station Radio Nacional de Venezuela (RNV) was fired on by three individuals driving a van and a motorbike, as it cruised along a Caracas avenue. The two passengers of the radio station vehicle, both of them administrative employees, were not injured.

Turkey

World publishers urge authorities to repeal defamation laws and drop charges against publisher

(IPA/IFEX) - The following is a 4 October 2006 IPA press release:

Philippines

Journalists arrested, detained on criminal defamation charges

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 4 October 2006 CPJ press release:

Peru

Television station refusing to cover journalist's court costs; IPYS urges it "to defend its reporters"

(IPYS/IFEX) - The following is a 3 October 2006 IPYS press release:

Libya

"In Libya, you can criticise Allah but not Gaddafi", RSF reports

(RSF/IFEX) - On 4 October 2006, Reporters Without Borders published the full report of the fact-finding visit it made to Libya from 13 to 17 September.

Seychelles

Newspaper editor freed, charged with "unlawful assembly"

(RSF/IFEX) - Roger Mancienne, editor of the privately-owned weekly "Regar" and secretary-general of the opposition Seychelles National Party (SNP), told Reporters Without Borders he was released on the morning of 4 October 2006, after being held for nearly 24 hours in the central police barracks in Victoria.

Brazil

Newspaper office stormed by political henchmen on election day; at politician's request, judge orders suspension of publication, seizure of copies and closure of newspaper's website

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF condemns a dawn raid on the offices of the daily "Diário de Marilia" in Marilia city, São Paulo state, conducted on election day by militants backing the former mayor, Abelardo Camarinha, and his son Vinícius, a deputy in the São Paulo state assembly.

Syria

Pro-Kurdish website editor freed after six months in prison

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has welcomed the release on 1 October 2006 of writer and human rights advocate Mohammed Ghanem, who was arrested on 31 March because of the articles he had posted on his website, http://www.surion.org. He said he was often mistreated during his six months in detention.

International / Belgium

European court considers journalist's complaint of official mistreatment legitimate, but out of its jurisdiction

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is an IFJ media release:

Thailand

RSF appeals to prime minister to end Internet and radio censorship

(RSF/IFEX) - The following is an RSF open letter to interim Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont:

France

Commentator goes into hiding, his family now also receiving death threats over article on Prophet

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 3 October 2006 CPJ press release:

Azerbaijan

Three-year prison sentence for opposition journalist condemned as politically motivated

(RSF/IFEX) - Sakit Zahidov, a journalist with the opposition daily "Azadlig", was sentenced on 3 October 2006 to three years in prison at the end of a trial marked by irregularities. Zahidov said he will continue to denounce government corruption from his cell.

Peru

Superior court declares "revealing state secrets" charge against journalist to be groundless

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 2 October 2006, Lima's Second Tribunal declared the charge against journalist Mauricio Aguirre Corvalán, for the crime of revealing national security secrets to the detriment of the state, to be groundless. The tribunal ruled that no crime was committed and accepted the arguments presented by the defence.

Venezuela

Cameraman assaulted, news team's equipment damaged, videotape seized, during political march

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 30 September 2006, a team of reporters working for news channel Globovisión was assaulted, allegedly by supporters of President Hugo Chávez, during the march of presidential candidate for the opposition, Manuel Rosales, in the state of Trujillo, eastern Venezuela.

Tanzania

New law on access to information underway

(MISA/IFEX) - The government of Tanzania is planning to enact an omnibus media law that would guarantee access to information held by public institutions, said President Jakaya M. Kikwete on 2 October 2006.

Russia

Photojournalist remains in detention, under pressure to discredit colleagues, as government harassment of newspaper continues

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 3 October 2006 CPJ press release:

Canada

Journalist Kim Bolan awarded PEN Canada/Paul Kidd Courage Prize

(PEN Canada/IFEX) - The following is a 3 October 2006 PEN Canada press release:

Zambia

Opposition supporters demonstrate outside "The Post" newspaper over elections coverage

(MISA/IFEX) - On 30 September 2006, supporters of the opposition party Patriotic Front (PF) demonstrated outside the offices of the privately-owned newspaper "The Post" in Lusaka to protest a story which predicted that incumbent President Levy Mwanawasa and the ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) party would win the general elections held on 28 September.

Venezuela

Radio station forced off air for two days by regional employees' attack and equipment theft

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 22 September 2006, the premises of radio station "La Maripeña" were attacked by the head of security of the region of Sucre, state of Bolivar, in southern Venezuela, and by one of the mayor's bodyguards.

Colombia

Radio journalists from indigenous community jailed for eight days

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 26 September 2006, journalists Griseldino Yafue Guetoto and Rubiel Lis Velasco, of Radio Uxwall Nasa Yugue Stéreo radio station, were released from Lara Bonilla penitentiary, in the city of Santander de Quilichao, southwestern Colombia.

Colombia

"Medios Para la Paz" journalists declared "military targets" for third time

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 15 September 2006, the journalists' group "Medios Para la Paz" ("Media for Peace") and 28 NGOs received an e-mail in which they were informed that as of 22 September they would be considered "military targets by the Corporación Democrática Colombia Libre (Democratic Corporation Free Colombia) because of the work they do to inform the public. The nature and aims of the latter organization are unknown.

Azerbaijan

Editor receives one-year suspended sentence for defamation, another closes newspaper in response to official persecution; additional libel charges against imprisoned journalist dropped

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 2 October 2006 CPJ letter to Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev:

Sri Lanka

Journalist Sampath Lakmal's killers at large; police investigations fail to produce any suspects

(FMM/IFEX) - The following is a 2 October 2006 FMM press release:

Peru

Explosives detonated near home of journalist following death threats

(IPYS/IFEX) - During the early hours of 30 September 2006, a load of dynamite exploded in a house near that belonging to journalist Elías Navarro Palomino, a correspondent for the daily newspaper "La República". It seems that the assailants left the explosives in the nearby house by mistake. A note left at the site of the explosion, threatening the journalist and his family, leaves no doubts about the intended target. The blast caused no casualties but damaged the house's walls. The motives behind the attack are unknown. The event took place in the city of Ayacucho.

Burundi

Authorities question three journalists in continuing campaign of intimidation against radio stations

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 2 October 2006 CPJ press release:

United States

CPJ releases report on journalist held at Guantanamo for five years without charge

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is CPJ press release:

Sudan

"Al-Rai Al-Aam" journalist held by security forces

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has called on the Sudanese authorities to justify the secret detention of Abu Obeida Abdallah, a journalist from the independent daily "Al-Rai Al-Aam", arrested by security forces in Khartoum on 29 September 2006, without any official explanation.

China

Committee reviewing independence of public service broadcasting releases preliminary proposals

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is an IFJ media release:

Honduras

Harassment of social organisation and journalists intensifies

(PROBIDAD/IFEX) - Harassment of the Tegucigalpa-based Association for a Fairer Society (Asociación por una Sociedad más Justa (ASJ) have intensified. An on-line daily newspaper has published an anonymous paid article alleging that the organization has not been paying to the government social security system contributions it is obliged to make under the law for its employees.

Seychelles

Newspaper editor arrested, publisher injured when police disperse protest against state broadcast monopoly

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders condemned the violent dispersal of an opposition demonstration in the Seychelles capital of Victoria on 3 October 2006, to demand for an end to the state's monopoly of radio and TV broadcasting. Roger Mancienne, the editor of the opposition weekly "Regar", was arrested while Jean-François Ferrari, the newspaper's publisher, was injured.

Maldives

Writer and leading opposition politician Mohamed Nasheed freed from house arrest

(WiPC/IFEX) - The Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN welcomes the release of opposition politician and writer Mohamed Nasheed, who was freed from house arrest on 21 September 2006. It is expected that the charges against him of terrorism and sedition will be dropped soon.

Gabon

Privately-owned weekly suspended

(JED/IFEX) - Journalist in Distress (JED), an independent and non-partisan organization for the defense and promotion of freedom of expression, and member of the alert network of the Alerts Network of the Central African Media Organization (OMAC), is outraged by the National Council of Communications' (CNC) suspension of the Libreville-based, privately-owned weekly, "L'Echo du Nord". Libreville is the capital city of the Republic of Gabon.

Egypt

Journalists harassed, face defamation charges for exposing corruption

(HRinfo/IFEX) - HRinfo condemns the harassment directed against "Al-Ahram" newspaper reporter Ahmed Al-Najar, by the lawyers and partisans of the newspaper and its advertising official, Hassan Hamdi, during the hearing for the "insult" and defamation claim filed against Al-Najar, which took place at Dokki Misdemeanor Court on 2 October 2006. Dokki is a district of Cairo.

Brazil

Law restricting access to government archives should be amended, says RSF

(RSF/IFEX) - The following is a 30 September 2006 RSF letter to Brazil's presidential candidates:

Zimbabwe

State media body calls for investigation of journalists' union, journalist

(MISA/IFEX) - Zimbabwe's state-controlled Media and Information Commission (MIC) says the government should probe the leadership of the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ) for what it described as its "anti-government propaganda" activities.

Democratic Republic of Congo

Military court rejects requests of civil parties in Ngyke murder trial

(JED/IFEX) - During a 27 September 2006 hearing, the Kinshasa/Matete Military Court rejected all requests introduced by civil parties in the case of assassinated journalist Franck Ngyke and his wife, Hélène Mpaka.

Thailand

Popular political website shut down after its organisers hold protest

(SEAPA/IFEX) - The Council for Democratic Reform (CDR), which assumed control of Thailand following a recent military coup, has shut down a popular political website several hours after meeting with journalists and assuring them that the Thai media will be respected and protected by the interim charter.

Guatemala

Radio programme editor assaulted, his life threatened, in Quetzaltenango

(APG/IFEX) - APG condemns the threatening acts committed against David Leiva, who works for the radio news magazine programme "Sucesos", broadcast on radio station Stereo 100 in the city of Quetzaltenango. Leiva was assaulted by assailants who threatened to stab him to death in front of the station's headquarters on 25 September 2006.

Argentina

Two critical journalists receive death threats

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 29 September 2006 CPJ press release:

France

RSF condemns death threats against philosophy professor

(RSF/IFEX) - Death threats issued against French philosophy teacher Robert Redeker since he wrote an op-ed piece entitled, "What the free world should do in the face of Islamist intimidation" for the 19 September 2006 issue of "Le Figaro" have been condemned by RSF. The organisation also denounced a ban on the issue imposed by Egypt and Tunisia. The 52-year old teacher has had to stop teaching and is under police protection.

International

CAPSULE REPORT: IPI worried calls to prevent "defamation of religions" may encourage media persecution

(IPI/IFEX) - The following is a 29 September 2006 IPI press release: