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Alerts - 2008 - April-June

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Kenya

Despite arrest of suspect in photojournalist's murder, questions about the killing remain unanswered

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 26 June 2008 CPJ press release:

Senegal

Two sports journalists beaten by police

(MFWA/IFEX) - On 21 June 2008, two sports journalists were brutally beaten by Senegalese police at Leopold Sedar Senghor Stadium in Dakar.

Nepal

Kantipur television station journalist assaulted, injured, over footage taken in 2006

(FNJ/IFEX) - Khagendra Bhandari, a reporter for Kantipur television station, was recently beaten by Deepak Karki, a local resident of Banepa, in Kavre, a district near Kathmandu.

Zimbabwe

Two freelance journalists arrested while covering presidential run-off elections

(MISA/IFEX) - Freelance journalists Frank Chikowore and Edgar Mwandiambira were arrested the morning of 27 June 2008 while covering election proceedings at Mhofu Primary school in the Harare suburb of Highfield at the opening of the presidential election run-off voting.

Sri Lanka

State-controlled newspaper publishes dangerous allegations against Sri Lanka Press Institute

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

Mexico

Journalist gunned down in Chihuahua state amid wave of violent crime

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF is shocked by a wave of violence in the northern state of Chihuahua that has cost the life of Candelario Pérez Pérez, a 32-year-old journalist who worked as an editor on his father's crime magazine, "Sucesos". Pérez was gunned down in the border town of Ciudad Juárez on 23 June 2008. The motive for the murder is not yet known.

Indonesia

AJI denounces South Sulawesi police chief's harassment and intimidation of the local press

(AJI/IFEX) - The following is a 24 June 2008 AJI press release:

Mexico

Two journalists assaulted by military during operations in Oaxaca

(ARTICLE 19/CENCOS/IFEX) - At dawn on 21 June 2008, journalists Omar Gasga and Antonio García were assaulted when they followed a military and police convoy to cover the convoys' information-gathering operations in Santa María Huatulco, Oaxaca state, southeast Mexico.

The Gambia

Former "Daily Observer" manager dismissed, imprisoned despite court's initial dismissal of sedition charges

(MFWA/IFEX) - On 23 June 2008, a Banjul Magistrate court presided over by Buba Jawo dismissed a case of sedition preferred against Dida Halake, former managing editor and managing director of the pro-government "Daily Observer" newspaper, who was recently detained.

Turkmenistan

RFE/RL journalist tortured, forced into psychiatric hospital; another RFE/RL correspondent under house arrest

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 26 June 2008 CPJ press release:

The Gambia

MFWA urges ECOWAS leaders to pressure President Jammeh to respect court order to release journalist

(MFWA/IFEX) - The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) is asking the heads of state of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), meeting for the 34th Ordinary Summit in Abuja, particularly its current chairman, President Blaisé Compoare, to ensure that the government of President Yahya Jammeh of The Gambia releases detained Gambian journalist, Chief Ebrima Manneh, unconditionally.

Ukraine

European parliamentarians call for justice for slain journalist Georgiy Gongadze

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is a 24 June 2008 IFJ media release:

South Korea

Harassment campaign targets three main newspapers, seeks to influence editorial policies

(IPI/IFEX) - The following is an IPI letter to South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak:

Mexico

Journalist threatened with murder after critical reporting on municipal programme official in Chiapas

(ARTICLE 19/CENCOS/IFEX) - Rafael Velasco Salas, deputy director of the bimonthly publication "Zona Norte" and correspondent in Chiapas for the Oaxaca-based newspaper "Noticias, Voz e Imagen", was assaulted and threatened with murder by Humberto Cernuda Hernández, brother of Josefa Cernuda - the president of the Family Services Unit (Desarrollo Integral de la Familia, DIF) of the city of Pichucalco in the state of Chiapas, southeastern Mexico, on 22 June 2008.

Bahrain

Activist arrested for writing political article, displaying banner

(BCHR/IFEX) - BCHR expresses its worry concerning the recent arrest of Abdullah Hassan Bu-Hassan, member of the Democratic National Action Society (WA'AD), after he expressed opinions concerning political decisions in the Kingdom of Bahrain, and also gave his opinion on a report issued by an ex-governmental consultant that revealed a reported government conspiracy to implement discriminatory policies. Bu-Hassan expressed his opinions in an article in "The Democrat", an official periodic publication of WA'AD. He had also recently displayed a political banner in his car.

Egypt

Journalist brutally assaulted by police, faces trumped-up charges

(ANHRI/IFEX) - Three rights organisations - ANHRI, the Arab Council for the Support of a Fair Trial and the Hisham Mubarak Law Center - submitted a petition to a deputy minister on 21 June 2008, demanding an investigation into the brutal assault of journalist Kamal Murad of "Al-Fajr" newspaper by three police officers on 17 June. The police officers, who are from Rahmanya Centre in Buhaira Governate in the Delta region, badly beat Murad, verbally insulted him and seized his private notes and mobile memory card. This assault and seizure followed Murad's exposure of an influence peddling case involving a local trader and his two police officer sons.

Somalia

Radio station director detained overnight by Puntland soldiers over interview with Somaliland commander

(NUSOJ/IFEX) - The following is a 25 June 2008 NUSOJ press release:

Pakistan

Law on journalists' working conditions supports press freedom, should not be repealed despite newspaper owners' demands, says IFJ

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is a 24 June 2008 IFJ media release:

Cuba

RSF urges action on behalf of Ricardo González Alfonso, other imprisoned journalists after EU sanctions lifted

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF is appealing to Raúl Castro's government to make a gesture in favour of the organisation's correspondent, Ricardo González Alfonso, and other imprisoned journalists in return for the European Union's (EU) 23 June 2008 decision to lift the political sanctions it had imposed on Cuba. The Cuban government had made the lifting of the sanctions a condition of restoring normal relations with the EU.

Iran

Government threatens to ban Association of Iranian Journalists

(RSF/IFEX) - Systematic harassment of the Association of Iranian Journalists by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government took a new turn on 24 June 2008 when Labour Minister Mohammad Jahromi threatened to dissolve the organisation.

India

Following arrest of journalists, IFJ calls on authorities in Andhra Pradesh state "not to allow laws against hate speech to be used as an instrument for silencing critical voices in the press"

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is a 25 June 2008 IFJ media release:

Paraguay

Two journalists assaulted by police while trying to cover demonstration against homelessness

(SPP/IFEX) - The SPP condemns the cowardly assault on "La Nación" newspaper journalists Gerardo Benítez and Ismael Villalba by members of the national police force.

Mexico

Recent assault on journalist another in a series of unsolved cases of attacks on media personnel in Nayarit state

(ARTICLE 19/CENCOS/IFEX) - ARTICLE 19 and CENCOS condemn the recent attack on Luis Guardado Negrete, sub-director of the "Noticias de Bahía" regional newspaper. They also express their concern about the general climate of impunity that prevails in cases involving violations of the right to free expression in the Bahía de Banderas municipality of Nayarit state, in western Mexico.

Azerbaijan

Editor, secretary of defunct minority newspaper given heavy prison sentences on treason charges

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

International

ANHRI condemns Arab information ministers' continuing efforts to restrict satellite broadcasting, electronic media

(ANHRI/IFEX) - ANHRI condemns the efforts of the ministerial council of Arab information ministers, held in the headquarters of the Arab League on 20 and 21 June 2008, to further restrict satellite television broadcasting.

Iraq / United States

Journalist arrested by US and Iraqi soldiers in Tikrit

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders condemns the arrest of journalist Ahmed Al-Majoun in a raid by US and Iraqi soldiers on his home in Tikrit (180 km north of Baghdad) early on 24 June 2008. His son was also arrested. Majoun heads a journalists union based in Salah El Din, the province of which Tikrit is the capital. No reason has been given for their arrests.

Colombia

Barranquilla city councillors threaten to initiate criminal proceedings against journalist

(FLIP/IFEX) - After attacking him verbally, the majority of city councillors in Barranquilla, the capital of Atlántico department, approved a motion to initiate criminal proceedings against journalist Ernesto McCausland Sojo for having published comments criticising the city council. On 20 June 2008, the "El Heraldo" daily published a column by McCausland entitled "The Angels and the Carnival". In the article, the journalist expressed his concern that the city's councillors were using the traditional Barranquilla carnival for their own political gains.

Peru

Cajamarca mayor denies information to media outlets critical of his administration

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 19 June 2008, Cajamarca mayor Marco La Torre Sánchez announced that he would not answer any questions posed by television station Canal 25 Line journalist Aleida Dávila so long as she continues criticizing his administration. He made the declaration during a press conference, after the journalist asked about the reason for an official trip to Cusco planned by the mayor and his advisors. The incident took place in the Cajamarca region of northern Peru.

Iraq / United States

US Defence Department releases report confirming American soldiers' responsibility in fatal shooting of Reuters journalist

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders welcomes the transparency of a US Defence Department report released on 16 June 2008 confirming that US soldiers were responsible for the fatal shooting of Reuters soundman Waleed Khaled in Baghdad on 28 August 2005. The press freedom organisation shares the report's view that the US military's rules of engagement need to be harmonised with the procedures followed by the media in dangerous situations.

Malaysia

Government measures seek to restrict media access to Parliament

(SEAPA/IFEX) - Media advocates in Malaysia are calling on the government to explain the new limitations recently placed on journalists' access to Parliament. In a statement issued on 25 June 2008, the Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ), SEAPA's Alerts partner in Kuala Lumpur, said it is "deeply concerned about the ban imposed by the Parliament on journalists in the Parliament lobby."

Nepal

Journalists threatened or attacked in four separate incidents in Biratnagar, Kathmandu, Panchthar and Morang

(FNJ/IFEX) - The FNJ expresses serious concerns about the various incidents of media rights violation in different parts of the country that have recently occurred.

Sri Lanka

Police officials harass independent news website recently labeled by government as "treacherous"; its editor continually threatened

(FMM/IFEX) - The following is a 24 June 2008 FMM press release:

Iran

Kurdish journalist sentenced to 11 years in prison; Tehran daily closed for criticising President Ahmadinejad

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders firmly condemns the 11-year prison sentence imposed on Kurdish journalist Mohammad Sadegh Kabovand on 22 June 2008 for "activity against national security." The organisation has also learned that the daily "Tehran Emrooz" was closed on 21 June, a few days after running several articles criticising President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's economic record while mayor of Tehran.

China

Foreign media curbed as Olympic torch relay moves through Tibet and Xinjiang

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has accused China of breaking its promises to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) by preventing foreign journalists from freely covering the journey of the Olympic flame through Xinjiang and Tibet.

Brazil

Another newspaper fined for content relating to municipal elections; ARTICLE 19 calls on state courts to review decisions restricting access to information

(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) - The following is a 24 June 2008 ARTICLE 19 press release:

Bangladesh

ARTICLE 19 and partners welcome government's decision to approve Right to Information Ordinance 2008

(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) - The following is a 23 June 2008 ARTICLE 19 press release:

International

Private news agencies condemn increasing government interference in media

(IPI/IFEX) - The following is an abridged 17 June 2008 IPI press release:

Syria

Independent journalist sentenced to prison for defamation

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has condemned a 10-day prison sentence handed down on 23 June 2008 to independent journalist Mazen Darwish, President of the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression.

Bolivia

Cameraman assaulted by opponents of national government; army officer, others detained for TV station bombing in Tarija

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 18 June 2008, Ernesto Rogríguez, a cameraman for Boliviana Television Canal 7, was beaten and harassed by a group of youths who oppose the government of President Evo Morales. The incident took place as the cameraman prepared to cover a visit by the president to the department of Tarija a few days prior to the holding of a public referendum there on a possible autonomy statute for the region.

Democratic Republic of Congo

Journalist's health worsens while in "illegal" detention

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 20 June 2008 CPJ letter to Congolese Justice and Human Rights Minister Symphorien Mutombo Bakafua Nsenda:

Angola

One journalist sentenced for allegedly defaming former justice minister, another on trial for allegedly defaming first lady

(MISA/IFEX) - On 23 June 2008, the Angolan journalist Felisberto da Grâça Campos was sentenced by an Angolan court to six months in prison for allegedly defaming former justice minister Paulo Tjipilika. The journalist was sentenced on charges of defamation, libel, and abuse of the press.

Burma

Magazine journalist covering plight of cyclone victims held in police detention

(Mizzima/IFEX) - A woman journalist covering the plight of Cyclone Nargis victims seeking aid from international NGOs in Rangoon has been detained by for over two weeks, according to her publication.

International

RSF urges EU to adopt measures to protect refugee journalists

(RSF/IFEX) - The following is an abridged 19 June 2008 RSF press release:

Yemen

Critical journalist jailed for laughing in court during editor's trial

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

Ecuador

Outspoken radio journalist killed following threats, previous murder attempt, in Guayaquil

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF hopes that the 23 June 2008 murder of Radio Sucre deputy news director Raúl Rodríguez, which took place in the western city of Guayaquil, will be quickly solved. The motive has yet to be established, but Rodríguez, 64, had been the target of attacks in the past.

Azerbaijan

Newspaper reporter allegedly threatened with violence by energy official following critical report

(IRFS/IFEX) - Rahib Hashimov, the regional correspondent of "Baku Zaman" newspaper for southern Azerbaijan, informed IRFS that he was recently threatened by the deputy chief of the Regional Energy Sale Department (RESD) in Lankaran, Malakram Mirzayev.

Fiji

Police prohibit broadcast of television programme, seize master tape

(PINA/IFEX) - A regular Fiji Television programme was pulled off the air on the evening of 22 June 2008, on allegations that it contained "inflammatory" comments, reports the "Fiji Sun".

Singapore

Blogger now charged with "sedition"; judge hearing the case is in conflict of interest

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has repeated a call for charges to be dropped against US lawyer, Gopalan Nair, who appeared before a court in Singapore on 12 June 2008 and again on 16 June, after he was accused by judges Belinda Ang Saw Ean and Lai Siew Chiu of "insulting a public servant", for which he faces one year in prison.

Burma

South Korean journalist deported, her photographs confiscated, following visit to opposition party office

(Mizzima/ SEAPA/IFEX) - A South Korean journalist was deported from Burma by the ruling military junta on 22 June 2008 for visiting the office of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD). Ms. Lee Yu Kyong, a freelance journalist from South Korea, was deported to Thailand.

Mexico

Newspaper director brutally attacked in Nayarit following article on sexual assault

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 23 June 2008 CPJ press release:

Niger

Journalist Moussa Kaka denied provisional release

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders deplores the Niamey public prosecutor's decision to file an immediate appeal against an investigating judge's 23 June 2008 decision to allow detained journalist Moussa Kaka to be released provisionally. The appeal blocked the release of Kaka, who continues to be held in a Niamey prison.

Algeria / Tunisia

OLPEC's secretary-general turned back at Algerian border

(OLPEC/IFEX) - The following is a 24 June 2008 OLPEC press release:

Bolivia

Two media outlets bombed in Tarija and Potosí amid political tensions; reporters assaulted by striking miners

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF condemns the bomb attacks perpetrated against the privately-owned television station Canal 4-Unitel in Yacuiba, Tarija department, southern Bolivia, and against the radio station Radio Kollasuyo in Potosí, in the department of the same name in the country's southwest.

Nepal

Journalist manhandled by transport officials at Lahan

(FNJ/IFEX) - Ganesh Sah, a local correspondent of Sagarmatha Television station, was manhandled by the officials of the Sagarmatha Zonal Transport Management Office (SZTMO) at Lahan, Siraha, an eastern region of Nepal, on 21 June 2008.

New Zealand

Newspaper publisher charged with contempt of court for reporting on trial

(PINA/IFEX) - Newspaper publisher John Woods was convicted in the Rarotonga High Court on two charges of contempt of court, reports Cook Island News. Fines amounting to approx. US$60 and court costs were imposed on Woods.

Qatar

Journalist sentenced in absentia to three years' imprisonment for article critical of public hospital

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF condemns the three-year jail sentence in absentia handed down to journalist Amal Eisa, formerly of the Qatari daily "al-Sharq", for "defamation" on the basis of a complaint from the Hamad public hospital in Doha.

Brazil

Shots fired at Manaus daily after stories about another Amazonas city's corruption links

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF is very concerned about the safety of the staff of the Manaus-based "Diário de Amazonas" after shots were fired on its headquarters on 21 June 2008. The police seem to think the culprits were disgruntled former employees but RSF notes that the newspaper had just covered several corruption cases allegedly implicating the government of Coari, a city 360 kilometres west of Manaus.

The Gambia

"Foroyaa" newspaper reporter detained overnight while investigating journalist's arrest; editorial independence of "Daily Observer" undermined

(MFWA/IFEX) - Saikou Ceesay, a reporter with the Banjul-based opposition "Foroyaa" newspaper, was arrested on 15 June 2008 and detained overnight in the Kotu police station in Kombo province, about 11 kilometres southwest of Banjul, the capital of The Gambia.

Vietnam

IPA urges authorities to improve freedom to publish conditions

(IPA/IFEX) - The following is a 20 June 2008 IPA press release:

Mexico

Chihuahua journalist alerted to murder plot, subjected to weeks of military harassment following critical reporting, seeks asylum in US

(ARTICLE 19/CENCOS/IFEX) - Journalist Emilio Gutiérrez Soto, whose residence was searched by military personnel in May 2008 and who has subsequently been harassed by members of the Army, has sought asylum in the United States, fearing for his life and that of his son.

Ghana

Police arrest, briefly detain journalist over allegedly "false reports"

(MFWA/IFEX) - On 10 June 2008, Edmond Gyebi, a Northern Regional correspondent for "The Chronicle", an independent Accra-based daily newspaper, was arrested and briefly detained in the office of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Ghana Police over a live report he made on a radio station.

Serbia

Television reporter, cameraman threatened against covering illegal construction story

(ANEM/IFEX) - The following is a 20 June 2008 ANEM press release:

Zimbabwe

Street vendor arrested, faces possible imprisonment for listening to critical radio programme; newspaper copies seized

(MISA/IFEX) - Zimbabwean police have charged a street vendor for listening to a news programme on the Zimbabwe broadcast of the Voice of America, reports Zimonline news agency.

Nigeria

Political editor, deputy editor and marketing manager detained as harassment campaign against "Leadership" newspaper continues

(MRA/IFEX) - On 20 June 2008, Mallam Saidu Sarki Usman, the political editor of the private daily newspaper "Leadership", based in Abuja, Nigeria's Federal Capital Territory, was ordered to be remanded into prison custody. The order was issued by a Chief Magistrate Court presided over by Alhaji Salihu Attahiru in Minna, Niger State, North-central Nigeria. Usman is accused of allegedly publishing an "injurious falsehood" against Alhaji Isa Mohammed, a former senator representing Niger South constituency.

China

Dissident writer Chen Daojun charged for "inciting splittism", not for "subversion"

(WiPC/IFEX) - WiPC is seriously concerned about the charges of "inciting splittism" brought against dissident writer and journalist Chen Daojun, who was detained on 9 May 2008 near the city of Chengdu, Sichuan province. International PEN calls for his immediate and unconditional release if he continues to be held in violation of Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which China is a signatory.

Jordan

Public prosecutor files charges against Danish cartoonist, 10 Danish newspaper editors over prophet cartoons

(IPI/IFEX) - The following is a 20 June 2008 IPI letter to the Jordanian justice minister:

Indonesia

Human rights lawyer who championed free expression disbarred over questionable charges

(SEAPA/IFEX) - The Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) is deeply troubled and dismayed by the disbarment in Indonesia of prominent human rights lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis, and calls on the Indonesian bar association to favourably consider an appeal filed to lift the revocation of Mr. Lubis' license.

Armenia

European Court rules in favour of embattled television station

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 19 June 2008 CPJ press release:

Mexico

Journalists assaulted by police, one injured, while covering demonstration in Nuevo León

(ARTICLE 19/CENCOS/IFEX) - Local police assaulted journalists covering a demonstration by members of the community demanding greater safety in the San Antonio neighbourhood of the city of Benito Juárez, in Nuevo León state, northern Mexico. The assaults took place in the early hours of 18 June 2008.

Azerbaijan

Journalist Agil Khalil barred from leaving country

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 19 June 2008 CPJ press release:

Venezuela

Radio programme cancelled after host criticises mayor's administration

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 2 June 2008, the directors of Planeta 98.7 radio station suspended the "Vallenatos y algo más" news and entertainment programme after its host, Yon Espinel, criticised the poor condition of the streets in the town of Sabaneta, municipality of Alberto Arvelo Torrealba, Barinas state, in southeastern Venezuela. The journalist said that the programme's suspension was due to pressure exerted by Mayor Aníbal Chávez. On his programme, Espinel also stated that he disagreed with the use of the city's educational institutions to carry out the United Socialist Party of Venezuela's internal elections.

Colombia

Journalist freed four months after abduction by guerrilla group

(FLIP/IFEX) - On 19 June 2008, at about 5:15 p.m. (local time), journalist Mario Alberto Puello was freed from captivity by members of the National Liberation Army (Ejercito de Liberación Nacional, ELN) guerrilla group. ELN members handed Puello, who was abducted on 17 February in La Guajira department, over to International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) personnel.

Peru / Gender

Journalist threatened and harassed by regional president and his supporters

(IPYS/IFEX) - Journalist Gudelia Gálvez Tafur, a reporter and host for Panamericana Televisión's regional news programme "24 Horas", reports that since the end of May 2008 she has received threats and been harassed by Áncash's regional president, César Álvarez Aguilar, and his supporters. The incidents took place in the city of Huaraz, in northwestern Perú.

Morocco

Court orders newspaper to stop publishing testimony about repression under King Hassan II

(RSF/IFEX) - On 19 June 2008, a Rabat court ordered the Arabic-language daily "Al Jarida Al Oula" to stop publishing hitherto unpublished testimony about repression under the late King Hassan II, which senior officials gave to an official truth commission called the Equity and Reconciliation Panel (IER).

Zimbabwe

Satirical plays banned; police torture production manager, assault actor

(WiPC/IFEX) - The Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN (WiPC) strongly protests attacks against the cast and crew of the satirical play "The Crocodile of Zambezi" and its banning by police in Bulawayo in May 2008. According to the WiPC's sources, production manager Lionel Nkosi was tortured and threatened with death, and actor Aleck Zulu was beaten by police. The WiPC believes that the attacks against these individuals, in the context of the targeting and banning of other critical plays, indicate a generalised threat to the entire company of "The Crocodile of Zambezi", particularly the authors. It is deeply concerned for the safety of playwrights and all others associated with such plays in Zimbabwe, and calls on the authorities to respect their right to freedom of expression and to cease attacks against them.

Malawi

Journalist removed from media tour of China on instructions of Malawi information ministry

(MISA/IFEX) - The Chinese Embassy in Malawi has removed Wisdom Chimgwede, Zodiak Broadcasting Station (ZBS) editor, from the list of journalists travelling to China on a media tour it sponsored after receiving instructions from Malawi's Ministry of Information and Civic Education. The visit is slated to begin on 21 June 2008. The ministry had earlier on accused the journalist of writing negatively about the government.

Pakistan

Local TV station in Punjab attacked; journalist assaulted and seriously injured

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders firmly condemns an attack on 17 June 2008 on Kook TV, a local station based in Multan, in the east-central province of Punjab, by about 60 people who stormed into its offices, assaulted one of its journalists, seriously injuring him, and inflicted about 1 million rupees (approx. 10,000 euros) in damage to equipment.

Russia

English-language paper closes as investors withdraw support in wake of state harassment

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 19 June 2008 CPJ press release:

Brazil

Daily and magazine convicted for "electoral propaganda" after interviewing prospective São Paulo mayoral candidate

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders considers as "absurd" a conviction for "electoral propaganda" against the daily "A Folha de São Paulo" and the magazine "Veja" after they published interviews with a prospective candidate for municipal elections in São Paulo in the south-east of the country.

Burma

"Continued repression in Burma is a stain on the world's conscience," says ARTICLE 19

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

International / Palestine

Palestinian cartoonist awarded CRNI's 2008 Courage in Editorial Cartooning Award

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

Bolivia

Trial of alleged killers of journalist Carlos Quispe opens, four city councillors among the accused

(RSF/IFEX) - On 18 June 2008, the trial of the alleged killers of Carlos Quispe Quispe, a journalist on Radio Municipal Pucarani opened. The journalist died in Pucarani, in La Paz department, western Bolivia on 29 March after being beaten up by opponents of the mayor.

Peru

Two newspaper journalists in Ayacucho receive death threats over reporting

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 18 June 2008, the newspaper "Jornada" received an anonymous e-mail message accusing it of serving as a loudspeaker for the national government and of not presenting information according to the "people's interests". The message also conveyed a death threat against journalists Rocío Paredes and Walter Condorpusa, and accused them of not reporting in the interests of "the party" - understood in the region as referring to the terrorist group Sendero Luminoso. The incident took place in Huamanga, in the Ayacucho region, southeastern Peru.

Canada

Court allows police to use seized newspaper photographs

(CJFE/IFEX) - The following is an 18 June 2008 CJFE press release:

Papua New Guinea

Politician denounces gagging of debate in Parliament, prime minister's threats against media

(PINA/IFEX) - Political leaders have no right to muzzle the media or gag debate in Parliament, Papua New Guinea's Madang Governor Sir Arnold Amet told the governance symposium at Divine Word University in Madang, reports "The National".

Zimbabwe

MISA concerned about media coverage of presidential elections

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

Zimbabwe

Trial of privately-owned newspaper, editor and opposition leader postponed, reporting conditions relaxed

(MISA/IFEX) - The joint trial of independent newspaper, "The Standard", its editor Davison Maruziva, and Professor Arthur Mutambara, leader of a faction of opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has been postponed to 10 July 2008. "The Standard" newspaper, Maruziva and Mutambara stand charged under Section 31 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act following the publication of an opinion piece by Mutambara in the weekly newspaper. The postponement was made on 17 June by the magistrate's court in Harare.

Peru

Journalist assaulted by former police instructor following article exposing improper hiring

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 16 June 2008, Marco Antonio Díaz Ruiz, editor of the daily newspaper "Pro&Contra", was assaulted in the street by Carlos Inuma Figueroa. The journalist had recently written an article about alleged improprieties in the hiring of Inuma Figueroa as a teacher in the national police academy. The incident occurred in Iquitos, in the Loreto region of northeastern Peru.

Turkey

Publisher of controversial history book convicted on one charge, acquitted on another

(BIANET/IFEX) - On 17 June 2008, the Istanbul 2nd Court of First Instance ruled on the case of Ragip Zarakolu, the owner of Belge Publishing. Zarakolu was on trial for "denigrating the State and the Republic" and "insulting Atatürk's memory", for publishing George Jerjian's book, entitled "History Will Set Us Free".

Sweden

Controversial bill passed allowing all international e-mails and phone calls to be monitored

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

Peru

Journalist detained, injured, threatened with intelligence surveillance by Army officers

(AMARC/IFEX) - Genaro Alvarado Tuesta, 18, a journalist with La Voz de la Selva radio station, was assaulted and illegally detained on 16 June 2008 by Peruvian Army officers while he was conducting an interview with Freddy Huayunga Vela, a soldier wounded in a confrontation with members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, FARC) guerrilla group, at the Santa Rosa military hospital where the latter was recovering. The incident occurred at 6:00 a.m. (local time), when the reporter went to the hospital to interview Huayunga Vela about the confrontation at a guard post with the Colombian guerrillas.

Russia

Three charged in murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya; suspected shooter and mastermind still at large

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is an 18 June 2008 CPJ press release:

Thailand

Explosive devices lobbed at critical newspaper's offices

(SEAPA/TJA/IFEX) - The TJA, a member of SEAPA, and Thai Broadcast Journalists Association (TBJA) condemn the attack with explosive devices perpetrated against "The Manager Daily" newspaper, calling the incident a "reckless act aimed at threatening the work of the media."

International / United States

New York-based political blog honoured with 2008 IPI Free Media Pioneer Award

(IPI/IFEX) - The following is an 18 June 2008 IPI press release:

Kazakhstan

Promised reforms on libel, media registration unlikely due to media law working group's inactivity, limited mandate, warns Freedom House

(Freedom House/IFEX) - The following is an abridged version of a 12 June 2008 Freedom House press release:

United States

"Pakistan Times USA" editor receives death threats, newspaper copies seized following publication of religious sect's advertisement

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

Iraq / International / Somalia

Record number of journalists forced into exile in last 12 months, according to CPJ survey; Iraq and Somalia hardest hit

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

Philippines

Abducted journalists and university professor released

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

Mexico

Guanajuato state government accused of discriminating against two newspapers for their critical stance

(IAPA/IFEX) - The following is a 16 June 2008 IAPA press release:

Azerbaijan

IRFS chairman harassed while in hospital, presumably by government agents posing as doctors

(IRFS/IFEX) - IRFS Chairman Emin Huseynov was hospitalised after being beaten by officers of the Nasimi Region Police Department #22 on 14 June 2008. On 17 June, he was transferred to a regular hospital room from the Centralized Emergency Medical Assistance Hospital. According to Mehman Aliyev, director of the "Turan" information agency, Huseynov underwent a CT scan at the Nasradin Tusi Scientific Research Institution.

Peru

Áncash superior court acquits another suspect of journalist's murder despite evidence of guilt

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 13 June 2008, the First Criminal Bench of the Superior Court of Justice in Áncash acquitted Moisés Julca Orrillo, accused of murdering journalist Antonio de la Torre Echeandía on 14 February 2004. According to the Bench's ruling, there is evidence of guilt but no conclusive proof against Julca Orrillo, therefore the presumption of his innocence had to prevail. The hearing took place in a prison in Huaraz, the capital of the Áncash region, in northwestern Peru. The Bench is composed of Judges Betty Ticono, César Maya and Edgardo Ames Herrera.

Thailand

Proposed new broadcasting law regressive, waters down prior commitments to community broadcasters, warns AMARC

(AMARC/IFEX) - On 10 June 2008, the Cabinet approved for submission to Parliament a draft bill titled "Independent Organisation for Broadcasting and Telecommunications Bill". The draft bill is intended to replace the provisions of the Allocation of Telecommunications and Broadcasting Frequencies Act 2000. AMARC considers the draft Bill to be regressive in several key respects. In particular, AMARC is concerned that:

Bermuda

Government's retaliatory withdrawal of advertising contracts, abrupt cancellation of subsidy, costs "Royal Gazette" $825,000

(WAN/IFEX) - The following is a 16 June 2008 WAN letter to Bermudan Premier Ewart Brown:

Burma

Military authorities renew interrogations of detained blogger

(Mizzima/IFEX) - The Burmese military junta authorities are once again questioning blogger Ko Nay Phone Latt, who has been in custody for about five months.

Brazil

Prime suspect in journalists' torture case surrenders to police

(RSF/IFEX) - Odnei Fernando da Silva, the civilian police inspector who is accused of heading the militia that kidnapped and tortured two "O Dia" journalists and their driver in Rio de Janeiro's Batan favela on 14 May 2008, surrendered to the authorities on 16 June.

Liberia

Two journalists detained briefly for taking photographs

(CEMESP/IFEX) - Two Liberian journalists working for the "New Democrat" newspaper were arrested and detained for several hours on 16 June 2008 by officers of the Liberia National Police in Monrovia.

International

IPI General Assembly resolutions highlight urgent press freedom issues worldwide

(IPI/IFEX) - The following is an abridged 16 June 2008 IPI press release:

Pakistan

"Who killed my father?" journalist Hayatullah Khan's daughter asks on second anniversary of his murder

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders calls on the Pakistani federal government and information minister Sherry Rehman in particular to publish the results of the investigations into the death of Hayatullah Khan, a reporter in Pakistan's northeastern Tribal Areas, whose body was found 16 June 2006, six months after his still unexplained abduction.

Morocco

Photographer questioned by police over photograph of demonstration; government council tries to block publication of human rights interviews

(RSF/IFEX) - What is left of press freedom in Morocco? The first six months of 2008 have been marked by an avalanche of trials and repressive judicial and administrative decisions. At the same time, promises by Prime Minister Abbas El Fassi's government to reform the press law have still not materialised. No bill has yet been submitted to the chamber of deputies.

Mexico

President endorses federalisation of crimes against freedom of expression; CPJ makes five recommendations

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is an abridged 9 June 2008 CPJ press release:

Zimbabwe

Journalist acquitted of publishing falsehoods, his two colleagues still face charges

(MISA/IFEX) - On 11 June 2008, Kwekwe journalist Blessed Mhlanga was acquitted on charges of contravening Section 80 (1)(a)(2) of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA), which prohibits the publication of falsehoods. However, his colleagues Wycliff Nyarota and James Muonwa are facing trial.

Sri Lanka

Media self-censorship promoted by defence ministry's proposed guidelines for reporting on military matters

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

Mexico

"Three killings, no justice" finds CPJ report on impunity in cases of three murdered journalists

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is an abridged version of a 7 June 2008 CPJ special report:

Zimbabwe

IFJ fears imminent raid on journalists' union ahead of upcoming presidential elections

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is a 16 June 2008 IFJ media release:

Russia

Moscow court orders closure of critical North Caucasus news website for alleged "extremism"

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 17 June 2008 CPJ press release:

Kyrgyzstan

Police raid newspaper, confiscate computers, seal newsroom, following publication of critical letter

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 17 June 2008 CPJ press release:

Swaziland

Traditional governor urges harsh punishment of critical journalists; MISA study finds widespread self-censorship due to constant threats by King and his advisors

(MISA/IFEX) - Traditional authorities in Swaziland continue to harass and intimidate the media, particularly in instances when the Swazi monarchy faces criticism.

Tibet (China)

CAPSULE REPORT: Information blackout intensifies in run-up to Olympic torch relay through Lhasa

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

Venezuela

RCTV anchor found dead in Caracas

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 16 June 2008 CPJ press release:

Mexico

Female journalist threatened after reporting on alleged misconduct of Tlaxcala state government

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

Peru

Police raid literary event, injure poet following protest petition

(WiPC/IFEX) - International PEN's Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC) is concerned by reports of an assault on the poet Juan Cristóbal during a police raid on a literary event at El Averno cultural centre in Lima on 23 May 2008. As a result of a beating by police and a subsequent tear gas attack, Cristóbal suffered a severe asthma attack and injuries to his abdomen, ribs and nose. This was the third police raid on the cultural centre in recent months and there are fears that the aim of this latest attack may have been to identify writers and artists who had signed a petition calling for the release of Melissa Patiño, a young Peruvian poet who was jailed on terrorism charges from February to May 2008. This incident is illustrative of a wave of attacks on writers and journalists in Peru. Cristóbal is a member of Peruvian PEN and its Writers in Prison Committee.

Algeria

AFP bureau chief and Reuters correspondent have their accreditation withdrawn following alleged "defamation"; court fines "Liberté" publisher, editor and cartoonist

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has condemned the Algerian government's inability to tolerate criticism after the communication ministry stripped the Agence France-Presse bureau chief and the Reuters correspondent in Algiers of their accreditation on 10 June 2008, and a court fined the daily "Liberté"'s publisher and editor and one of its cartoonists for defamation on 16 June.

China

String of attacks on media; cyber-dissident charged with illegally obtaining state secrets

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is a 16 June 2008 IFJ media release:

Israel

Preliminary army investigation into journalist's death reportedly concludes that "soldiers did no wrong"

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders called on European Commissioner for external relations, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, to raise the problem of risks to journalists covering fighting in the Palestinian territories at the Israel-EU Association Council meeting in Luxemburg on 16 June 2008.

Morocco

Al-Jazeera Rabat bureau chief charged with publishing false information, his press accreditation cancelled

(RSF/IFEX) - A charge of publishing false information, that was brought against Al-Jazeera Rabat bureau chief Hassan Rachidi on 13 June 2008, quickly followed by the immediate withdrawal of his press accreditation without waiting for him to be tried, were condemned by Reporters Without Borders as "excessive."

Iraq

Journalist murdered outside his home in Mosul

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders strongly condemned the murder of Iraqi journalist Mohiddin Abdulhamid al-Nakib, gunned down outside his home in the northern city of Mosul, 370 kms north of Baghdad, on 17 June 2008.

Mauritania

Publisher of Arabic-language weekly charged with "libel and insult"

(RSF/IFEX) - Mohamed Nema Oumar, the publisher of the privately-owned, Arabic-language weekly "Al-Houriya", was released on the evening of 13 June 2008 after being held for 30 hours in a police station in the Nouakchott district of Tevragh Zeina.

Nepal

Report into journalist's 2004 death identifies suspects, calls for government action

(FNJ/IFEX) - On 15 June 2008, FNJ's Dailekh chapter released a report on its investigation into the 10 August 2004 killing of journalist Dekendra Raj Thapa. Dekendra Raj Thapa was a resident of Narayan municipality, Naya Bazaar, Dailekh, a member of FNJ's Dailekh chapter, a district correspondent for Radio Nepal and a district advisor for the organisation Human Rights and Peace Society (HURPES).

Zimbabwe

Three media organisation employees released from detention, await court summons

(MISA/IFEX) - On 11 June 2008, three Media Monitoring Project of Zimbabwe (MMPZ) employees were released from detention without charges being laid. Abel Chikomo, Maureen Kademaunga and Abel Kaingidza were arrested and detained for three nights by Binga Police in Zimbabwe's Matabeleland North province before their release.

Thailand

Minister attempts to ban broadcasts of private television station following coverage of protests

(SEAPA/IFEX) - Thailand's interior minister is under fire for moving to pull a private television channel off of cable networks nationwide. Cable operators, opposition senators, and free expression advocates are calling a directive by Interior Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung - which media reports say threatens cable operators with imprisonment unless they pull the plug on cable channel ASTV - illegal and unconstitutional.

Colombia

Journalist assaulted in Bogotá, threatened with murder, obliged to cease distributing magazine in Honda

(IFJ/IFEX) - On 14 June 2008, at 2:20 p.m. (local time) in the national capital, Bogotá, journalist Pedro Antonio Cárdenas was stopped by two men travelling on a motorcycle. After pointing a revolver at him, they threw him to the ground and beat him, ordering him to stop circulating his magazine in the city of Honda, in Tolima department. The incident took place downtown, half a block from a mobile police station, immediately after the government-appointed bodyguards who have been protecting him for several months left him temporarily.

Burma

Journalist in detention in Rangoon amid clampdown on cyclone coverage

(SEAPA/IFEX) - Burmese authorities have arrested a journalist in Magway, and are holding him in Rangoon in what observers say is part of a continuing effort to stifle news and information coming out of Burma's cyclone-ravaged provinces. SEAPA Alerts partner Mizzima News says journalist Zaw Thet Htwe, the former editor-in-chief of "First Eleven Sports Journal", was arrested by the Special Branch police at his mother's residence in Magway township, central Burma, on 13 June 2008. Mizzima says Zaw Thet Htew has been transferred to Rangoon; he is being detained in an interrogation camp in the former Burmese capital.

Azerbaijan

IRFS chairman assaulted, injured by police while monitoring event commemorating Che Guevara's birthday

(IRFS/IFEX) - On 14 June 2008, in the "Alaturka" Cafe, an event organized by the "Che Guevera Fan Club" to mark the 80th birthday of Che Guevera and attended by a representative of the Cuban embassy was raided by police. Out of the approximately 25 people present, 20 were detained by police and taken to Nasimi District Police Department #22. Among those detained were IRFS Chairman Emin Huseynov and IRFS researchers Rasim Aliyev and Mirrehim Hasanov. The three had gone to conduct monitoring of the event.

Sri Lanka

Leading investigative journalist receives death threat

(FMM/IFEX) - The following is a 14 June 2008 FMM press release:

China

Two associates of missing blogger detained; one questioned about colleague's activities at quake site and released, the other still incommunicado

(PEN/IFEX) - The following is a joint press release by PEN American Center and PEN Canada:

Afghanistan

President Karzai urged to promise action on four urgent freedom of expression problems as he seeks international aid

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is an 11 June 2008 CPJ letter to President Hamid Karzai:

Moldova

Youths questioned by prosecutor's office over opinions expressed on web forums

(IJC/IFEX) - The following is a joint press release by IJC and other media organisations:

Uzbekistan

Independent journalist arrested on allegations of drug possession

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

Russia

Journalists call for new investigation into 1998 murder of newspaper editor

(GDF/IFEX) - Larissa Yudina, editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Sovetskaya Kalmykia Segodnya" (SKS), was killed in Elista, capital of the Republic of Kalmykia, on 7 June 1998.

Palestine

RSF calls for closed media outlets to be allowed to resume operating amid peace moves between Hamas and Fatah

(RSF/IFEX) - The following is a 10 June 2008 RSF press release:

Uruguay / Argentina

Inter-American court ruling on Argentine defamation case double-edged, warns IAPA; Uruguayan journalist convicted for truthful reporting

(IAPA/IFEX) - The following is a 4 June 2008 IAPA press release:

Burma

Youths arrested for protesting Aung San Suu Kyi's continuing confinement released

(Mizzima/IFEX) - Fifteen youth members of the opposition political party, the National League for Democracy, arrested for marching to party leader Aung San Suu Kyi's residence, were released from police investigation camps after two weeks in detention.

Burma

Authorities seize cameras to prevent circulation of cyclone images, heighten surveillance of media personnel

(Mizzima/IFEX) - Angered by film footage and photographs depicting the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis which have appeared in media outside of Burma, the junta is now undertaking to seize all still photography and video cameras being used by small-scale professionals, and even those that are privately owned by households. In particular, authorities have targeted small-scale, private documentary film makers and the proprietors of photography studios in cyclone-hit Kungyankone, in Rangoon Division. In their new campaign, the authorities are not arresting the users of this equipment, but simply seizing the equipment itself. At least ten businesses have been affected so far.

China

Cyber-dissident Huang Qi abducted, retired university professor arrested; foreign journalists harassed

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders is worried about the kidnapping of leading cyber-dissident Huang Qi, the founder of the human rights website 64Tianwang ( http://www.64tianwang.com ). He and two other activists were forced to get into a car by three unidentified men at around 7 p.m. (local time) on 10 June 2008 in Chengdu, the capital of the earthquake-hit province of Sichuan.

Egypt

Police forcefully prevent public expression of anti-extremism opinions by cultural workers

(ANHRI/IFEX) - On 11 June 2008, police forces intervened to prevent the staging of a cultural event calling for patriotic unity and rejecting extremism. The gathering was organized by poets and intellectuals, and was to be held in Cairo's Talaat Harb Square. The police forces prevented the participants from reaching the square, threatening them with violence if they were to persist with their intentions.

Afghanistan

Woman journalist receives death threats over reporting

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

Sri Lanka

State broadcasting official publicly issues dire warnings against two journalists

(FMM/IFEX) - The following is a 12 June 2008 joint media release by FMM and four other organisations:

Venezuela

Business daily accuses five bankers of being behind its vice-president's murder

(RSF/IFEX) - The management of the "Reporte de la Economía" daily has accused a network of five bankers of being behind the murder of its vice-president, Pierre Fould Gerges, who was gunned down in Caracas on 2 June 2008.

Malawi

Former minister warns media not to report on allegations of his misconduct while in office

(MISA/IFEX) - On 10 June 2008, former Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Bazuka Mhango, who is also a Member of Parliament, warned the media not to report on allegations levelled against him by fellow parliamentarian Ibrahim Matola.

Pakistan

Two popular GEO TV talk shows taken off-air at UAE government's request, due to Pakistani political concerns

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

Kosovo (Serbia)

Media crew assaulted by security officer

(IPI/IFEX) - The following is an 11 June 2008 press release by the South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), an IPI affiliate:

Sri Lanka

Officials harass local press during EU delegation visit

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders condemns the pressure that the government reportedly put on the owners and editors of several independent dailies, including "The Nation" and "The Daily Mirror", to dissuade them from publishing critical or embarrassing articles during a visit by a European Commission trade delegation from 9 to 11 June 2008.

Syria

Writer arrested, held incommunicado; blogger given three-year sentence; rights activists on trial, harassed

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

Azerbaijan

IRFS chairman released after being detained for over two hours

(IRFS/IFEX) - On 12 June 2008 at about noon (local time), IRFS Chairman Emin Huseynov was detained in front of Azerbaijan's Presidential Administration building while observing, filming and photographing a picket.

Bahrain

CAPSULE REPORT: Despite advances, journalists still face possible jail terms under prevailing laws, warns IFJ

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is a chapter from IFJ's "Breaking the Chains 2007/2008" report on press freedom across the Arab world and Iran:

Libya

Eleven demonstration organisers sentenced to six to 25 years in prison

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

Azerbaijan

IRFS chairman arrested while filming demonstration in front of presidential administration building

(IRFS/IFEX) - On 12 June 2008, at approximately 12:00 noon (local time), IRFS Chairman Emin Huseynov was detained in front of Azerbaijan's Presidential Administration building while filming a picket. According to another IRFS employee who was present at the scene, several people in civilian clothes approached Huseynov. One of them said, "Citizen, can I speak to you for a moment?" Then, after a couple of seconds, Huseynov was led by the men into the Presidential Administration building.

The Gambia

Regional court orders release of journalist missing since July 2006 arrest

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders welcomes a regional court ruling ordering Gambia to release Chief Ebrima Manneh, a reporter who was arrested by the National Intelligence Agency on 7 July 2006 and has been missing ever since. The ruling, issued on 5 June 2008 by the Community Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), is the first of its kind concerning a journalist.

Uganda

Sexual rights activists detained briefly, face charges; government determined to enforce silence around sexuality and HIV/AIDS, says Human Rights Watch

(HRW/IFEX) - The following is an 11 June 2008 Human Rights Watch press release:

Chile

Concerned over detention of documentary filmmaker on hold-up charges, RSF asks, "Is the Mapuche issue a taboo subject?"

(RSF/IFEX) - The following is a 6 June 2008 RSF letter to Chilean President Michelle Bachelet:

Azerbaijan

Prison authorities confiscate book manuscript written by imprisoned editor

(IRFS/IFEX) - Prison authorities have seized the 300-page manuscript of a book "Azadlig" newspaper editor-in-chief Ganimat Zahid was trying to write while in Bayil prison #1, where he remains a prisoner. The public relations coordinator of the Justice Ministry's Penitentiary Service, Mehman Sadigov, claims the confiscation is legal.

Iran

Two journalists sentenced to suspended jail terms for "publicity" against government, a third released

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders condemns the suspended prison sentences that have been passed on journalists Said Matinpour and Yaghoub Salaki Nia in separate cases. Matinpour's jail term was eight years. Nia's was one year. In each case, the sentences were handed down in closed door hearings without their lawyers being present. They both plan to appeal.

International

IFJ report outlines regional press freedom situation as campaign launched to "break the chains" confining media

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is a 30 May 2008 IFJ press release:

Sri Lanka

Journalist's detention extended for 90 days, still held without charge

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

Zimbabwe

Government imposes punitive duty on imported publications in move to curb "hostile foreign newspapers"

(MISA/IFEX) - In yet another move that will worsen the flow of - and lack of access to - information in Zimbabwe, the government has slapped an import duty on all newspapers, magazines and periodicals coming into the country. On 8 June 2008, the state-owned "Herald" newspaper reported that all "foreign newspapers sold in Zimbabwe will now have to pay import duty, as the government moves to protect Zimbabwean media space". The newspaper went on to say that this move is meant to curb the entry into the country of what it called "hostile foreign newspapers".

China

Disturbing new regulations imposed prior to Olympic Games, efforts to control media increased in Sichuan

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders is alarmed by the introduction of new rules aimed at reinforcing controls over Chinese "fixers" working for foreign journalists and over all foreigners visiting China during the Olympic Games. The organisation also condemns an increase in police controls of foreign journalists trying to cover protests by parents whose children were killed when schools collapsed in the Sichuan earthquake.

Zimbabwe

Thirteen members of group promoting freedom of expression detained

(MISA/IFEX) - On 8 June 2008, Binga Police, in Zimbabwe's Matabelel and North province, arrested and detained Abel Chikomo, Maureen Kademaunga and Abel Kaingidza who are employed by the Media Monitoring Project of Zimbabwe (MMPZ) and accused them of holding a public meeting without police clearance.

Democratic Republic of Congo

Journalist, his assistant transferred to Kinshasa jail following several months of secret detention

(JED/IFEX) - The following is an abridged translation of a 9 June 2008 JED press release:

Malawi

Radio station harassed by regulatory body, state broadcasters threatened with denial of funding over political content

(MISA/IFEX) - The Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA) has summoned Joy Radio Limited, owned by former President Bakili Muluzi, and the state broadcasters Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) and Television Malawi (TVM) for breaching the Broadcasting Services Code of Conduct.

Sri Lanka

FMM condemns suppression of political protest by ruling party politicians, fears new round of human rights violations

(FMM/IFEX) - The following is a 10 June 2008 FMM press release:

Burma

Authorities restrict satellite dish sales to limit information flow on cyclone damage

(Mizzima/IFEX) - Shops selling satellite dish antennas are being raided and searched by local authorities in Rangoon. The shop owners are being made to sign a pledge not to sell satellite equipment to unlicensed customers and equipment has been confiscated from some shops.

Mexico

Editor threatened in Tabasco after human head found in front of newspaper's offices

(CEPET/IFEX) - On 9 June 2008, a note was found threatening the editor of the "El Correo de Tabasco" newspaper in Villahermosa, capital of the state of Tabasco, according to information provided by the Associated Press, which cited an article published in the "El Nuevo Diario" newspaper of Nicaragua. The threatening note was found two days after a human head was left in front of the "El Correo de Tabasco" building.

Cambodia

Editor arrested, charged, radio station ordered to stop broadcasting in run-up to elections

(SEAPA/IFEX) - Cambodian rights and free expression advocates are anxious and concerned in the run- up to the general elections scheduled for late July 2008, sounding the alarm over recent attacks on the media that threaten the press and the open conduct of campaigns.

India / Nepal

Radio journalist assaulted by police officer; two journalists harassed, briefly detained by Indian border guards

(FNJ/IFEX) - At 4:30 a.m. (local time) on 8 June 2008, Deependra Kunwar, a news correspondent for the Communication Corner radio production company, was assaulted and seriously injured by police personnel in Anamnagar, a central area of the capital, Kathmandu.

Philippines

TV journalist, crew abducted

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 9 June 2008 CPJ press release:

International

RSF calls for rights issues to be part of criteria for assigning future Olympics

(RSF/IFEX) - The following is a 6 June 2008 RSF press release:

Chad

CPJ urges government to repeal repressive media law

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 6 June 2008 CPJ letter to Chadian Prime Minister Youssouf Saleh Abbas:

Spain

Basque newspaper office bombed, allegedly by ETA, no injuries

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is a 9 June 2008 IFJ press release:

Algeria

CAPSULE REPORT: Press freedom still fragile; IFJ urges decriminalisation of press offences, release from prison of media employees

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is an excerpt from a 29 May 2008 IFJ report:

Iraq / United States

AP cameraman held at US military base, material seized from his home

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF and its partner organisation, the Journalistic Freedom Observatory in Iraq (JFO), call for the release of Associated Press (AP) cameraman Ahmed Nouri, who has been held since 4 June 2008 at the US military base in Tikrit (180 km north of Baghdad).

Morocco

Politician alleges government behind cartoon protest

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 6 June 2008 CPJ press release:

Bolivia

Radical pro-government groups assault reporters in La Paz; journalist threatened in Sucre

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF hopes that no time will be lost in arresting Adolfo Cerrudo, the head of the Popular Civic Committee (Comité Cívico Popular), a radical pro-government group whose activists threatened and physically attacked journalists working for privately-owned TV stations on 4 June 2008 in La Paz.

Sri Lanka

Freelance journalist threatened with murder by ruling party politician in Matale district

(FMM/IFEX) - The following is a 9 June 2008 FMM press release:

Malawi

Official intimidates reporter seeking information on police action

(MISA/IFEX) - On 7 June 2008, Machinga District Commissioner (DC) Lawrence Makonokaya mistreated Zodiak Broadcasting Station (ZBS) correspondent Wyford Banda. The incident occurred when the latter sought the DC's comments on the arrest of people involved in a fight with the police over participation in the Malawi Housing and Population Census. It took place at around 6:00 p.m. (local time) at the Ntaja police station, situated in the southern district of Machinga.

Sri Lanka

Fourth Muslim journalist assaulted by ruling party supporters in Kathankudi, journalists threaten strike over police indifference to anti-media attacks

(FMM/IFEX) - The following is an 8 June 2008 FMM press release:

Egypt

Defamation case launched against blogger for reporting on environmental pollution is first of its kind

(ANHRI/IFEX) - According to ANHRI and the "Mosawah" Association for Human Rights, on 9 June 2008 the Azzohour Court of Port Said is expected to begin reviewing a unique case filed by Trust Chemicals Inc. against blogger Tamer Mabrouk. Tamer Mabrouk is the owner of "The Truth Blog", http://elhakika.blogspot.com

Yemen

Critical journalist given six-year prison sentence; ANHRI fears for his welfare

(ANHRI/IFEX) - ANHRI condemns the harsh sentence issued on 9 June 2008 by the Yemeni State Security Court against Abdel Karim Al Khaiwani, the former chief editor of the Yemeni newspaper "Al Shora" and the alShora.net website. Al Khaiwani was sentenced to six years in prison as one of 14 Yemenis accused in the case known as "The Second Cell of Sana'a". The Yemeni government has accused the defendants of supporting the militant Houthis opposition group.

Cuba

Independent journalist briefly detained, threatened with expulsion from Havana

(IAPA/IFEX) - The following is a 6 June 2008 IAPA press release:

China

Police hold freelance journalist incommunicado, raid his home; dissident writer released, another harassed

(PEN/PEN Canada/IFEX) - The following is a 6 June 2008 PEN American Center and PEN Canada joint press release:

Afghanistan

BBC journalist killed in southern Afghanistan

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF has expressed deep sadness at the murder of Abdul Samad Rohani, 25, a journalist working for the Pashtu service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).

Somalia

BBC journalist gunned down in Kismayo

(NUSOJ/IFEX) - NUSOJ condemns the shocking targeted assassination of its vice-president, Nasteh Dahir Farah, who was gunned down by two gunmen in Fanole, a neighbourhood in the southern part of Kismayo, on 7 June 2008 at around 7:00 p.m. (local time).

Zimbabwe

Opposition leader now among those charged over his article in "The Standard"

(MISA/IFEX) - The leader of a faction of the Zimbabwe opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Arthur Guseni Oliver Mutambara, appeared in court on 3 June 2008 charged with contempt of court and communicating falsehoods prejudicial to the state. Harare Provincial Magistrate Mishrod Guvamombe is presiding over the case.

China

CAPSULE REPORT: Government steps up checks on quake reporting

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

Afghanistan / Gender

Impunity in radio station director's murder opens way for new wave of violence against women journalists

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders is outraged by the failure to punish the murder of Zakia Zaki, the director of Sada-e-Solh (Peace Radio), exactly one year ago. Her husband tells the organisation there has been no progress in the official investigation, probably because of pressure from those who ordered her murder. Zaki was shot in her home in Jabalussaraj, in the northern province of Parwan, in the early hours of 6 June 2007.

Brazil

Fugitive police inspector named as leading suspect in "O Dia" torture case, another suspect arrested

(RSF/IFEX) - A man arrested on suspicion of being a member of a militia that kidnapped and tortured a reporter, photographer and driver of the "O Dia" newspaper in the Rio de Janeiro favela of Batan on 14 May 2008 was shown to the press on 4 June by members of a police unit known as the Delegation for Repression of Criminal Actions and Special Investigations (DRACO).

Indonesia

Journalist released after serving six-month prison term for defamation; AJI calls for an end to criminalisation of press offences

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

Colombia

Kidnapped journalist in ELN hands, according to captured guerrilla; press freedom organisations demand his release

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is a 5 June 2008 IFJ press release:

Thailand

Police official files two criminal complaints against BBC journalist for "insulting the monarchy"

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

Turkey

Three members of children's choir face charges of "making propaganda for a terrorist organisation" after singing Kurdish song in U.S. music festival

(Antenna-TR/IFEX) - Three children, members of the Diyarbakir Yenisehir Council Children's Choir, will stand trial for singing a march in Kurdish while performing in the U.S. The indictment, dated 3 April 2008, seeks the imprisonment of three children under the age of 18 for up to five years each.

India

Political activists attack editor's home in response to critical article

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

Philippines

Critical newspaper publisher convicted of libel, sentenced to jail, payment of heavy damages over airport contract coverage

(CMFR/IFEX) - The publisher of a daily newspaper critical of the Arroyo government was found guilty of libel on 5 June 2008 and sentenced to a minimum of six months to a maximum of two years in prison. She was also ordered to pay P5 million (approx. US$113,480) in moral damages and P33,732.25 (approx. US$765) in civil damages.

Cameroon

Two journalists face up to two years' imprisonment; director of radio station dismissed; several other journalists interrogated for reporting on corruption scandals

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is a 5 June 2008 IFJ media release:

Pakistan

Eight persons killed in embassy attack allegedly in reprisal for prophet cartoons

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders condemns the suicide bombing of the Danish embassy in Islamabad on 2 June 2008, which has been claimed by a branch of Al Qaeda in an online message purportedly posted by the terrorist organisation. The bombing, which killed eight people and wounded about 30 others, was a reprisal for the Mohammed cartoons published in Denmark, the message said.

Russia

Website editor cleared of libel charges over article criticising corruption at federal agency

(CJES/IFEX) - The criminal case against Andrei Dumler, the head of the information agency Baikal Media Consulting (BMK), has been thrown out of court. The journalist was charged with slandering the department of the Federal Service for the Enforcement of Punishments (UFSIN) for the Republic of Buryatia.

South Africa

Court ruling on disclosure of classified documents encourages and disappoints at the same time, says FXI

(FXI/IFEX) - The following is a 5 June 2008 FXI press release:

Peru

Journalists harassed, subject to death threats after reporting on corruption allegations against Cusco mayor

(IPYS/IFEX) - Since the final week of May 2008, several journalists have been receiving death threats and have been harassed and followed after reporting about a political crisis confronting the mayor of Cusco, Marina Sequeiros, involving allegations of nepotism, embezzlement and corruption. Cusco is located in southern Peru.

Nepal

FNJ representatives assaulted by student union president in Bhojpur

(FNJ/IFEX) - FNJ Bhojpur chapter president Sahiman Rai, vice-president Gyanendra Khadka, secretary Niroj Koirala and joint-secretary Action Khumbu were manhandled by Dhurba Raj Rai, president of the All Nepal Free Students' Union of Bhojpur Multiple Campus on 4 June 2008 on the premises of the FNJ office at Bhojpur, located in the eastern region of Nepal.

Burma

Celebrated comedian-actor arrested after criticising government response to cyclone crisis

(Mizzima/IFEX) - The prominent Burmese comedian, actor and director Zarganar, who has been playing an active role helping cyclone survivors, was arrested and taken from his residence by authorities on the evening of 4 June 2008, according to members of his family.

Cameroon

Journalist assaulted, injured by soccer star; other players seize equipment to prevent journalists from covering altercation

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 2 June 2008 CPJ press release:

International

Exclusion of NGOs from AIDS meeting impacts information flow, silences important voices, says Human Rights Watch

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

India

Two journalists named in police commissioner's sedition complaint against newspaper

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

China

Journalists and others warned against writing about Tiananmen Square anniversary, related website blocked

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is a 4 June 2008 IFJ media release:

Namibia

Newspaper barred from beauty pageant in retaliation for critical coverage

(MISA/IFEX) - MISA's Namibia chapter has noted with concern complaints by the "Informanté" newspaper that the organisers of the Miss Namibia beauty pageant have refused to grant "Informanté entry to the pageant for coverage.

Sri Lanka

FMM, independent media targets of slander campaign, incitement to violence by Defence Ministry

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

Zimbabwe

MISA denounces purging of journalists at state broadcaster for the purposes of "partisan political expediency"

(MISA/IFEX) - Eight Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporations (ZBC) employees have been summarily sent on paid vacation leave for two months, letters written to them by the Head of Human Resources Benania Shumba in early June 2008 indicate.

United States / Afghanistan

Editor assaulted by police; journalist still detained by US military without charges

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

Mexico

Missing journalist reappears without explaining his absence

(RSF/IFEX) - Journalist Jorge Carrasco Taracena, of the privately-owned national television channel Televisa, who was reported missing on 30 April 2008, turned up safe and sound on 26 May at the Lost and Missing Persons Attention Centre (Centro de Atención a Personas Extraviadas o Ausentes, CAPEA). His reappearance was announced on 30 May by the federal ministry responsible for CAPEA.

Azerbaijan

Supreme Court upholds editor's conviction

(IRFS/IFEX) - On 3 June 2008, a hearing was held in the Supreme Court under the chairmanship of Judge Muzzafar Agazadeh on the cassation complaint of Eynulla Fatullayev, editor-in-chief of "Gundalik Azerbayjan" and "Realny Azerbayjan" newspapers. The court upheld the decision of the Appellate Court. The journalist's mother, Gulshan Fatullayeva, informed IRFS about the ruling.

Zimbabwe

Reuters photographer sentenced for using satellite phone

(MISA/IFEX) - On 3 June 2008, Howard Nicholas Burditt, a photographer with Reuters news agency who was convicted on his own guilty plea of contravening Section 27(1) of the Broadcasting Services Act, was sentenced to pay a fine of ZWD $20 billion (approx. US$28).

Iran

Imprisoned journalist suffers stroke, denied adequate medical care as trial begins

(WiPC/IFEX) - WiPC is seriously concerned for the health of Iranian Kurdish journalist Mohammad Sadiq Kabudvand, who reportedly suffered a stroke in Evin prison on 19 May 2008 and has been denied access to adequate medical care. He has been held since 1 July 2007 on charges of "acting against national security". His trial reportedly began on 25 May 2008.

Zimbabwe

Media lawyer facing charges of "insulting the president" applies to have matter referred to Constitutional Court

(MISA/IFEX) - Media lawyer Harrison Nkomo, who is facing charges of insulting President Robert Mugabe, has applied to have the matter referred to the Constitutional Court. He is being charged under section 33 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act (the code).

Azerbaijan

Journalists harassed, restricted, information strictly controlled in Nakhchivan autonomous region during president's visit

(IRFS/IFEX) - From the moment President Ilham Aliyev commenced his visit to the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, the work of journalists in the region has been severely restricted.

Ghana

Journalist beaten by police for questioning their interference with press coverage of sporting event; photographer beaten after photographing attack

(MFWA/IFEX) - On 1 June 2008, Samuel Ebo Bartels, sports reporter for Citi FM, an Accra-based independent radio station, was violently attacked by a group of police officers deployed at the Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi, Ghana's second largest city. A photojournalist who took pictures of the attack was also beaten by the same police officers.

Algeria

Cartoonist, newspaper publisher and editor face possible prison sentences in defamation case over cartoon of former army chief

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

Peru

Radio journalist beaten by municipal employee following coverage critical of mayor

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 2 June 2008, the host of radio station Radio Uranio's programme "Hora Cero", journalist Darío Macedo Figueroa, was hit on the head by an employee of the municipality of Padre Abad, Jimmy Nelson Saldaña. The district's mayor, Tony Tang Gonzáles, has been criticized by Macedo and is in danger of being removed from office. The event took place in the main square of the town of Aguaytía, Ucayali region, southeastern Peru.

China

Press freedom activist manhandled, detained and threatened by Beijing police

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders strongly condemns the way police officers manhandled, detained and threatened writer and press freedom activist Liu Xiaobo on the evening of 4 June 2008 as he was leaving his Beijing home with his wife, Liu Xia, to go and have dinner at someone else's home.

Mexico

Previously-threatened director of weekly survives shooting attack in Veracruz

(CENCOS/IFEX) - On 30 May 2008, at approximately 10:00 p.m. (local time), an unknown assailant fired shots at Aristeo Abundis Hernández, director of the weekly "Semanario Frente y Vuelta" and correspondent for the "Diario de Tantoyuca" newspaper. The incident occurred in Pánuco municipality, Veracruz, in the eastern part of the country, near the Gulf of Mexico.

India

Daily facing "sedition" and "conspiracy" charges

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has condemned a case brought by police in Ahmedabad, capital of Gujarat state, western India, against the "Times of India" for "sedition" and "criminal conspiracy" - charges which amount to serious threats to state security.

Croatia

Journalist previously threatened over his writing brutally beaten, injured

(IPI/IFEX) - The following is a letter by the South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), an IPI affiliate, to Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader and Internal Affairs Minister Berislav Roncevic:

Iraq

Public TV cameraman injured seriously in Basra bombing

(RSF/IFEX) - Odai Sabri, a cameraman employed by public television station Al-Irakiya, was seriously injured on 3 June 2008 in the bombing of a musical instruments shop in the old part of Basra, 550 km south of Baghdad. He was rushed unconscious, with multiple injuries to the head and body, to a hospital where he underwent an operation to remove some of the bomb fragments.

International

WAN congress condemns UN Human Rights Council's stance on "protecting religious sensibilities"

(WAN/IFEX) - The following is a 3 June 2008 WAN press release:

Venezuela

Newspaper executive slain in Caracas, following dozens of death threats against daily's administrative staff

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 3 June 2008 CPJ press release:

Uzbekistan

Human rights activist Mutabar Tojibaeva released

(HRW/IFEX) - The following is a 2 June 2008 Human Rights Watch press release:

China

Tiananmen Square massacre still a taboo subject in press and online on 19th anniversary; IOC to meet in Athens on anniversary

(RSF/IFEX) - On the eve of the 19th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre of 4 June 1989, Reporters Without Borders calls for the release of the four journalists and cyber-dissidents who are in jail for taking a position on this taboo subject and condemns the relentless censorship about the massacre, in which at least 2,000 Chinese students and workers died.

International

Journalist denied entry to UN-sponsored summit; Zimbabwean president welcome despite press freedom record

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is a 3 June 2008 IFJ media release:

Zimbabwe

Journalist arrested at church

(MISA/IFEX) - Freelance journalist and writer Peter Godwin was on 25 May 2008 arrested at the Anglican Christ Church in the suburb of Borrowdale in Zimbabwe's capital Harare. Godwin, who was accused of taking pictures without seeking permission from the priest in charge of the parish, Reverend Harry Mambo Rinashe, recently consecrated Bishop of the controversial Anglican Province of Zimbabwe, was taken to Borrowdale Police Station.

Turkey

Conscientious objector Halil Savda sentenced to five months in prison for speaking in support of Israeli conscientious objectors

(BIANET/IFEX) - Halil Savda, a conscientious objector, who is already in jail for supporting other conscientious objectors, was sentenced on 2 June 2008 to five months in prison for supporting two Israeli conscientious objectors.

Chile

Journalists protest judge's restriction on coverage of fraud case as "illegal and arbitrary"

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 25 May 2008, a judge of Santiago's Seventh Tribunal, Cecilia Pastene, forbade journalists from revealing the identity or broadcasting photographs of a lawyer accused of defrauding a client of 1.08 billion pesos pesos (approx. US$ 2,230,000). Her ruling also called for the removal of journalists from the courtroom where the charges against the lawyer were read.

Mexico

Quintana Roo judge refuses to order arrests of Puebla state employees for violating journalist Lydia Cacho's rights, closes case

(CENCOS/IFEX) - A court in the southeastern state of Quintana Roo has closed the investigation into the case of journalist Lydia Cacho Ribeiro. The court rejected the request for arrest warrants to be served to public officials and former public servants of the state of Puebla, accused of involvement in the torture of the journalist.

Tunisia

Imprisoned journalist threatened with knife by fellow inmate

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders wrote to Tunisia's director-general of prisons and reeducation, Nabil Kalboussi, on 30 May 2008 expressing its concern for the physical safety of journalist Slim Boukhdir in Sfax prison (230 km south of Tunis), where he is serving a one-year sentence.

Zimbabwe

Three South African media workers sentenced to six months in prison, lawyers appealing sentences

(MISA/IFEX) - Three South African media workers were sentenced to six months in prison in Zimbabwe on 2 June 2008. The three were arrested on 23 May at a police roadblock in Mbalabala after being found in possession of broadcasting equipment with Britain's Sky News television station logos. Magistrate John Masimba delivered the sentence, which the defence lawyers say they will immediately challenge.

Sudan

Khartoum newspapers face censorship and intimidation by security forces

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders condemns the methods being used by the Sudanese government to censor Khartoum-based newspapers. In the latest case, early on 2 June 2008, members of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) - the political wing of the former rebel group in the south that is now part of a unity government - participated in a raid on the privately-owned Arabic-language daily "Ajras Al-Huriyya".

Lebanon

After three years, still no significant progress in journalist Samir Kassir's murder investigation

(RSF/IFEX) - On the third anniversary of Franco-Lebanese journalist Samir Kassir's murder on 2 June 2005 in Beirut, Reporters Without Borders and the Kassir family continue to be concerned about the slowness of both the French and Lebanese judicial authorities in this case, in which no suspect has been detained or charged.

Bolivia

Journalists again targets of violence, harassment during autonomy referendum in Beni department

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF condemns the 1 June 2008 attacks on journalists that took place during a referendum on autonomy in the northern department of Beni.

Afghanistan

Death row journalist's defence lawyer tells appeal hearing his client was tortured

(RSF/IFEX) - Sayed Perwiz Kambakhsh, a young journalist who has been under sentence of death since January 2008 on a blasphemy charge, was physically mistreated by the security services in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif to get him to confess, his lawyer, Mohamad Afzal Nuristani, told an appeal hearing on 1 June in Kabul.

Argentina

Journalist threatened, knocked out by police while covering eviction in Orán

(FOPEA /IFEX) - On 27 May 2008, in the city of Orán, Salta province, in northwestern Argentina, the journalist Samuel Huerga was warned to stop filming, then struck hard on the head while he was covering a confrontation between evicted local residents and police infantry (Infantería). The journalist and two witnesses say the assailant was a member of the group carrying out the eviction.

Brazil

Three journalists abducted and tortured by militia members

(RSF/IFEX) - The following is an RSF letter to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Justice Minister Tarso Genro and Rio de Janeiro State Governor Sérgio Cabral:

China / International

WAN's Golden Pen of Freedom awarded to Chinese journalist Li Chongqing

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

International

Danish cartoon crisis was manipulated by repressive governments, say journalists, defending their right to offend, shock and disturb audiences

(WAN/IFEX) - The following is a 1 June 2008 WAN press release:

Singapore

Lawyer in detention, charged, facing possible jail term for online comments about judge

(SEAPA/IFEX) - A Singaporean-US lawyer has been charged in a Singapore court for allegedly insulting a judge in emails and his blog, wire reports say.

Sudan

Journalist still detained in unknown location, at risk of torture

(WiPC/IFEX) - The Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN (WiPC) protests the two-week detention of Al-Ghali Yahya Shegifat, journalist and president of the Association of Darfur Journalists. Initially briefly detained and reportedly ill treated on 12 May 2008, Shegifat was re-arrested on 14 May, held incommunicado until 30 May and remains imprisoned. It is feared that he is at risk of further ill treatment. The WiPC is calling for his release.

India

Newspaper office raided by protestors following publication of article about castes

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders condemns the physical attacks that members of the Madiga Reservation Porata Samithi (MRPS), an organisation that defends a lower caste, staged on the headquarters of the Telugu-language daily "Andhra Jyothi" and its employees on the evening of 26 May 2008 in Hyderabad, the capital of the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, in protest against an article accusing certain caste organisations of corruption.

International

Press freedom under threat worldwide, says WAN report

(WAN/IFEX) - The following is a 31 May 2008 WAN press release:

China

Tibet still closed to foreign press despite "unprecedented" post-quake openness in Sichuan

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders welcomes the policy of transparency currently being applied to the foreign press in the areas hit by a terrible earthquake on 12 May 2008 and calls on the Chinese authorities to apply the same policy to the Tibetan regions, where the security forces continue to prevent travel by foreign journalists.

Nepal

Various publications in Kailali suspend operations following renewed violence against journalists by Maoist activists

(FNJ/IFEX) - Newspapers of Kailali, a far western region of Nepal, suspended operations indefinitely on 29 May 2008, accusing the state of failing to ensure the safety of journalists and other media workers.

Zimbabwe

Three foreign media workers convicted of possessing "illegal" broadcasting equipment, await sentencing

(MISA/IFEX) - Three alleged Sky News television personnel who were arrested on 23 May 2008 at a police roadblock in Mbalabala in Zimbabwe and found in possession of "illegal" broadcasting equipment with Sky News television logos, were convicted on 30 May by Matabeleland provincial magistrate John Masimba.

Zimbabwe

"Midlands Observer" editor threatened for alleged pro-opposition bias; journalist threatened for wearing free expression T-shirt

(MISA/IFEX) - The editor of the "Midlands Observer", Flata Kavinga, was threatened by a war veteran on 29 May 2008. The newspaper is based in Zimbabwe's city of Kwekwe in the Midlands province.

Nepal

Maoist party leader's warning to publishing house bodes ill for press freedom, says IFJ

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

China

Two journalists forced out of city of residence, their employment interrupted, over critical articles

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

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka Press Institute visited by armed military inquiring about directors, staff

(FMM/IFEX) - The following is a 30 May 2008 FMM press release:

Sri Lanka

Group storms journalist's house, warns him against reporting on defence and military matters

(FMM/IFEX) - The following is a 31 May 2008 FMM press release:

The Gambia

Opposition newspaper reporter threatened with abduction, violence, told to stop criticising government

(MFWA/IFEX) - On 20 and 21 May 2008, Fabakary B. Ceesay, a reporter with the opposition newspaper "Foroyaa", was threatened with abduction and violence by an anonymous caller.

Cuba

Journalist Normando Hernández González removed from hospital, returned to prison, held in complete isolation in life-threatening conditions

(PEN/IFEX) - The following is a PEN American Center press release:

Russia

Criminal charges against former director of media organisation dropped

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

Paraguay / Dominican Republic

ARTICLE 19 celebrates judicial decisions recognising access to public information as a fundamental human right

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

Burma

CPJ calls for lifting of media restrictions as more foreign journalists refused entry, deported

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a CPJ letter to Burmese Prime Minister Thein Sein:

Iran

Afghan journalist freed after 86 days in detention

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders welcomes the release of Afghan journalist Ali Mohaqiq Nasab, the editor of the monthly "Haqoq-e-Zan" (Women's Rights), on 29 May 2008, after being held for 86 days, in an intelligence ministry prison, in the holy city of Qom (150 km southwest of Tehran).

Zimbabwe

Freedom of expression guarantees required for valid run-off election, says ARTICLE 19

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

Colombia

Sarare Estéreo community radio station, its journalists and other employees threatened, apparently by paramilitary

(IFJ/IFEX) - When community radio station Sarare Estéreo's journalists arrived for work at dawn on 29 May 2008 in Saravena, Aracua department, they found a gigantic graffiti message on the station door, apparently from the national paramilitary group, Autodefensa Unidas de Colombia (AUC). This is only the most recent of a series of threatening messages, which began being sent as text messages to station journalists and other staff on 8 May, warning them "for your own good, don't meddle in things that aren't your business." Some staff members were sent such text messages up to three times. At least 14 journalists and media workers received the text-messaged threats.

Mauritania

Journalist detained briefly

(MFWA/IFEX) - On 27 May 2008, Errabi Ould Idoumou, journalist with Sahara Media, an independent Mauritanian media and communication agency, was arrested by the Gendarmerie and detained for thirty minutes at a Nouakchott court.

Bahrain

Editor and journalist of "Al-Ayam" newspaper sued by religious leader over article condemning extremism

(ANHRI/IFEX) - ANHRI condemns the persistence of Egyptian Islamist preacher Sheikh Wajdi Ghunaim in his continuous harassment of the Bahraini newspaper "Al-Ayam", and his prosecution of Eisa Al Shayji, the newspaper's editor-in-chief, and journalist-writer Saeed Al-Hamad. Ghunaim is suing the journalists for alleged slander before the Criminal Court.

Kenya

Photojournalist covering land dispute murdered, motive uncertain

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 29 May 2008 CPJ press release:

Croatia / Albania / Montenegro

Albanian, Croatian journalists threatened, violently assaulted; Montenegrin publisher, newspaper lose one exorbitant lawsuit, hit by another

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

Uganda

IFJ calls for government response to rumours of planned media crackdown

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is a 29 May 2008 IFJ media release:

Venezuela

Photographers threatened, their cameras stolen during demonstration

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 19 May 2008, Roger Valera, of "El Informador" newspaper, and Carlos Sánchez, of "La Prensa" newspaper, were threatened and had their cameras stolen. The incident occurred while they were covering a student demonstration at the Lisandro Alvarado University's Núcleo Obelisco, in the town of Barquisimeto, Lara state, central Venezuela.

Sierra Leone

Unity Radio exonerated by media regulatory body after being shut down by information minister

(MFWA/IFEX) - On 21 May 2008, the Independent Media Commission (IMC), Sierra Leone's media regulatory body, cleared Unity Radio, a station operated by the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP), of four allegations of misconduct.

Venezuela

IAPA condemns administration's plan to charge for official information, urges government to restore RCTV status as a broadcast channel

(IAPA/IFEX) - The following is a 28 May 2008 IAPA press release:

Burma

Extension of Aung San Suu Kyi's house arrest, limitations on her free expression "an abdication of international law", says ARTICLE 19

(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) - The following is a 27 May 2008 ARTICLE 19 press release:

Peru

Prosecutor threatens to sue journalist for trying to photograph him

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 20 May 2008, journalist Alfonso Delgado, editor of "Opción" newspaper, said that prosecutor Tito Sirlopú Garcés prevented him from practising his profession and threatened to sue him after the journalist tried to photograph him in a public place. The event took place in the town of Moyobamba, San Martín region, northeastern Peru.

Libya

Disappeared political prisoner Jum'a Boufayed released; his brother and others involved in planning 2007 demonstration still detained

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

Venezuela

Journalist detained for three weeks, reportedly beaten and mistreated

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 5 May 2008, Fabián Chacón, legal representative of journalist Leocenis García, stated that his client had been beaten and subjected to electrical shocks by officials of the Carabobo State Police (Policarabobo). García was detained on 3 May after he was accused of damaging some furniture in the reception area of "El Periódico" newspaper and carrying a gun without a permit.

Sri Lanka

Two senior journalists reprimanded, threatened over campaign protesting abduction of journalist Keith Noyahr

(FMM/IFEX) - The following is a 28 May 2008 open letter to Secretary of Defence Gotabhaya Rajapaksha from FMM and four other Sri Lankan media organisations:

Zimbabwe

Three foreign media workers reportedly employed by Sky News arrested, equipment seized; police hunting for other journalists

(MISA/IFEX) - Police in Esigodini in the province of Matabeleland in southern Zimbabwe have arrested three media workers reportedly employed by Sky News, a UK-based cable and satellite channel, which is among the foreign news organisations banned from reporting in Zimbabwe. The journalists were arrested on 23 May 2008. They were still in police custody five days later following an application on 28 May for further detention by police in Esigodini.

Democratic Republic of Congo

Journalist suspended for three months, programme cancelled over "inappropriate remarks"

(JED/IFEX) - On 23 May 2008, Eddy Abasiko Mango, a journalist with the Kisangani-based station of state-owned Radio Télévision Nationale Congolaise (RTNC), was suspended for three months by Bwande Bwanapuwa, the station's provincial manager, for hosting a programme where guests criticised the provincial governor.

Nepal

Commission formed to implement Right To Information Act

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

Philippines

Radio commentator still in prison despite being granted parole, paying bail

(CMFR/IFEX) - On 26 May 2008, a prison official refused to release a radio commentator jailed for libel in 2007, despite a court order calling for his release on parole.

China

Persecuted Tibetan online writer target of cyber-attacks

(PEN/IFEX) - The following is a PEN American Center press release:

Egypt

Government-shuttered company, its owner face continuing harassment over broadcasts of anti-government protests

(HRW/IFEX) - The following is a 24 May 2008 Human Rights Watch press release:

Zimbabwe

Pro-government war veterans force locals to remove satellite television receivers from their homes in Matabeleland South

(MISA/IFEX) - As reports of acts of lawlessness and politically-motivated violence continue to rock Zimbabwe, war veterans have reportedly ordered villagers in Matabeleland South to remove satellite television receivers from their homes.

Sri Lanka

Television journalist hacked to death in Jaffna

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

Nepal

Police open fire on individuals protesting assault on journalist, killing at least three

(CEHURDES/IFEX) - CEHURDES is concerned by the physical assault perpetrated on a journalist in Kailali, a district in the far-western region of the country, by militants of the Communist Party of Nepal (CPN-Maoist) on 27 May 2008, and is shocked by the subsequent fatal shooting by police of civilians protesting the incident the next day.

Montenegro

Critical journalist assaulted, injured in his home

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

Pakistan

Newspaper editor released on parole after nine years in prison on trumped-up charges

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF welcomes the release of Rehmat Shah Afridi, the editor of "The Frontier Post" and "Maidan" national dailies, after nine years in prison on trumped-up drug charges. He was freed on parole on 24 May 2008 on the orders of Punjab's interior ministry.

Democratic Republic of Congo

Privately-owned broadcaster target of defamation campaign

(JED/IFEX) - Since 24 May 2008, Radio Television Mwangaza (RTM), a privately-owned station broadcasting in Lubumbashi, capital of Katanga province (southeastern DR Congo), has been the target of a slander campaign organised by Honoré Kazadi Lukonde, alias Ngube Ngube, a reported supporter of Katanga Governor Moise Katumbi Chapwe.

Burma

Junta extends Aung San Suu Kyi's detention; youths pressing for her freedom arrested, their whereabouts unknown

(Mizzima/IFEX) - Defying demands of the international community and its own people to free pro-democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, on 27 May 2008 Burma's military rulers extended her house arrest, a government source said.

Ghana

Two journalists assaulted by security guards, allegedly at MP's prompting

(MFWA/IFEX) - On 25 May 2008, Joe Okyere, a regional correspondent of the state-owned "Daily Graphic" newspaper, and Philip Baidoo, a reporter of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), were physically assaulted by security guards, allegedly on the orders of Isaac Edumadze, Member of Parliament for Ajumako-Eyan-Essiam Constituency of the Central Region of Ghana.

Somalia

SBC journalist detained for 13 hours in Buhodle; Bossasso and Garowe journalists threatened over coverage

(NUSOJ/IFEX) - NUSOJ is profoundly concerned about the ongoing harassment and intimidation of journalists and media executives in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland in north-eastern Somalia.

Guinea

Newspaper suspended, its editor forbidden to work for other media outlets, for two months

(MFWA/IFEX) - On 19 May 2008, the National Communication Council (CNC), Guinea's media regulator, suspended "La Croisade", a privately-owned Conakry-based newspaper, for two months for publishing an alleged falsehood.

The Gambia

Former newspaper editor acquitted of criminal charges for publishing false information

(MFWA/IFEX) - On 19 May 2008, Mam Sait Ceesay, a former editor of the pro-government "Daily Observer" newspaper, who has been standing trial on two counts of publishing and broadcasting false information, was acquitted and discharged of the offences by the Banjul Magistrate court.

Iran

Trial against Kurdish journalist begins, lawyer condemns decision to hold it behind closed doors

(RSF/IFEX) - A Tehran revolutionary court's decision to hold Kurdish journalist Mohammad Sadegh Kabovand's trial behind closed doors under article 188 of the criminal code has been condemned by his lawyer, Masomeh Sotoudeh. The trial began on 25 May 2008.

Nepal

Two newspaper editors threatened, one assaulted, in Kailali over coverage critical of Maoist party and its youth wing

(FNJ/IFEX) - One newspaper editor was assaulted and another was threatened by Maoist activists annoyed by critical coverage, in separate incidents in Kailali, in far western Nepal.

Zimbabwe

Armed men intercept, burn media vehicle carrying newspapers, beat driver and assistant

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF condemns the continuing use of violence against the independent press after 60,000 copies of "The Zimbabwean On Sunday" newspaper were intercepted and torched on the evening of 24 May 2008, and a freelance reporter was attacked and beaten in the eastern city of Mutare.

Bangladesh

Newspaper reporter brutally beaten by guards for photographing prison

(RSF/IFEX) - "Daily Star" reporter Mirza Shakil, 34, was badly beaten by approximately a dozen guards at Tangail prison, located in the centre of the country, on 24 May 2008 when he took photos of the prison through the perimeter railings. The guards knocked Shakil to the ground and beat him with batons and iron bars, inflicting many injuries for which he was hospitalised and remained in observation for several days.

Venezuela

Newspaper photographer assaulted by municipal police officers while covering anti-corruption protest

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 19 May 2008, "Diario Hoy" photographer Víctor Querales Hugás was beaten by municipal police officers when he was taking pictures of a man who had chained himself to a post facing the town hall to protest against alleged corruption and the local administration's delay in solving a problem of his. The event took place in the city of Barquisimeto, the capital of the municipality of Iribarren, in Lara state in central Venezuela.

Peru

Journalists beaten by police to prevent them from reporting on prison shooting

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 22 May 2008, Radio Loreto's programme "Loreto en la Noticia" reporter Juan Carlos Rodríguez Pinchi and other journalists were beaten by a group of policemen when they sought admission to the Maynas prison to check on the state of the prisoners after a police shooting the previous night. The prison is in the city of Iquitos, Loreto region, northeastern Peru.

Afghanistan

Journalist on death row ill from prison conditions, stress; his appeal further delayed

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

Russia

Newspaper editor receives criminal conviction for "slander" over article critical of official

(CJES/IFEX) - Salimzhan Gaisin, deputy editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Saratovsky Reporter", has been found guilty of a crime under Article 129 of the Russian Criminal Code (for "Slander in the Mass Media").

Senegal

Third journalist handed criminal libel sentence in a week

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 22 May 2008 CPJ press release:

Sri Lanka

Political thugs attack television crew, damage vehicle and camera, severely beat driver

(FMM/IFEX) - The following is a 24 May 2008 FMM press release:

United States

Al-Jazeera cameraman's lawyer speaks about client's ordeal in Guantánamo

(RSF/IFEX) - Human rights lawyer Clive Stafford-Smith gave a candid interview on 19 May 2008 to Reporters Without Borders USA Director Lucie Morillon about his client, Al-Jazeera cameraman Sami Al-Haj. Al-Haj had spent six years detained in Guantanamo Bay before being released earlier in May. Smith arrived in the United States the week of 19 May to testify before Congress about Al-Haj's health condition and his future as a journalist after being released.

Argentina

Inter-American court urges government to void journalist's 1999 libel conviction, reform defamation laws

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 22 May 2008 CPJ press release:

Egypt

Interpreter still detained without charge; fears for his safety

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a CPJ letter to Egyptian Interior Minister Habib al-Adly:

China

Former academic detained, facing potential "subversion" charges for articles on authorities' earthquake response

(PEN American Center/PEN Canada/IFEX) - The following is a 22 May 2008 PEN American Center and PEN Canada joint press release:

Morocco

Spanish photographer beaten by police in Rabat while covering demonstration

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders condemns a physical attack by police auxiliaries on Rafael Marchante, a Spanish photographer employed by the British news agency Reuters, while he was covering a demonstration by jobless university graduates outside parliament in Rabat on 21 May 2008.

Mexico

Coahuila first state to classify killing of journalists for their work as comparable to aggravated homicide

(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) - The following is a 16 May 2008 ARTICLE 19 press release:

Pakistan

Journalist killed in border region after interviewing Taliban spokesman, his footage stolen

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 22 May 2008 CPJ press release:

Sri Lanka

Critical defence analyst, newspaper editor threatened, abducted, beaten, released

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

Iraq

Two journalists killed in separate incidents

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 22 May 2008 CPJ press release:

Yemen

International groups call for terrorism charges against threatened journalist to be dropped

(IFJ/IFEX) -The following is a 19 May 2008 IFJ media release:

Dominican Republic

Journalist's car fired upon amid post-electoral tensions

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF is concerned about the safety of television host Juan Bonilla Martínez, of the privately-owned station Mega Visión 43, whose car was fired upon in front of the television station in the northern city of Santiago de los Caballeros on 21 May 2008. RSF calls on the government to protect journalists better. The attack came five days after President Leonel Fernández was reelected amid political tensions.

Azerbaijan

Investigation into assaults on journalist closed without charges being laid

(IRFS/IFEX) - The criminal investigation into the alleged assaults against "Azadlig" newspaper journalist Agil Khalil has been closed without any charges being filed, according to a report by the Turan News Agency, citing information from the Chief Prosecutor's Office (CPO).

Taiwan

RSF calls for "balance in matters of news and information" in support of Taiwanese journalists

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders is exasperated by the UN's inability to resolve the problem of Taiwanese journalists who want to cover the annual World Health Assembly in Geneva. Their requests for accreditation were refused again this year on the sole grounds that they are Taiwanese.

Zimbabwe

Newspaper editor convicted of practicing journalism without accreditation

(MISA/IFEX) - Bright Chibvuri, the editor of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Union's bi-weekly newspaper "The Worker", has been convicted of contravening section 83(1) of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA), which criminalises practicing journalism without accreditation. Chibvuri is appealing to the High Court against both the conviction and the sentence.

Democratic Republic of Congo

JED welcomes acquittal of murdered journalist Serge Maheshe's two friends, deplores unfair trial

(JED/IFEX) - In a verdict made public on 21 May 2008, the Military Appeals Court in Bukavu (capital of South-Kivu province, eastern DR Congo) sentenced to death Freddy Bisimwa Matabaro and Mugisho Rwenzagabo, also known as Mastakila, the two alleged assassins of journalist Serge Maheshe, and discharged his two friends and eyewitnesses of the crime, Serge Muhima and Alain Mulimbi. A third person named Patient Bisimwa Sikitu, of whom there had been no previous mention, was also sentenced to death for "criminal association". As for the Congolese state, also prosecuted, it was cleared of any responsibility.

Singapore

Censors interfere with screening of critical film, seize disc

(SEAPA/IFEX) - Singapore authorities attempted to stop a private screening of a critical film on Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew on 17 May 2008, alleging that the screening violated the Films Act, according to news reports.

Nepal / Bhutan

Two Bhutani journalists threatened with death by political activists for covering student demonstration

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders condemns the death threats made in a refugee camp in eastern Nepal on 16 May 2008 by members of the Communist Party of Bhutan Marxist-Leninist Maoist (CPB-MLM) against journalists working for the Bhutan News Service ( BNS: http:// www.apfanews.com ), a website operated by the Association of Press Freedom Activists (APFA), a Bhutani exile organisation.

China

Weekly suspended, its editorial staff fired over earthquake coverage; government issues propaganda directives to media

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

Papua New Guinea

Journalist reporting on government scandal receives death threats

(PINA/IFEX) - PINA president Joseph Ealedona has condemned the use of death threats against journalists. His condemnation follows reports that a Papua New Guinea (PNG) journalist reporting on the Taiwan/PNG diplomatic cash scandal has been the target of death threats and has had to be moved to a safe location.

Venezuela

Ex-policeman gets 15-year prison sentence for 2006 murder of newspaper photographer Jorge Aguirre

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF welcomes the 15-year prison sentence that a Caracas court imposed on former policemen Boris Blanco Arcia on 19 May 2008, for the murder of newspaper photographer Jorge Aguirre of the "El Mundo" daily (part of the Cadena Capriles group), who was shot dead while covering a protest against violent crime on 5 April 2006.

United Kingdom / International

CAPSULE REPORT: "Libel tourism" a growing threat to free speech, say ARTICLE 19 and Freedom House

(ARTICLE 19/ Freedom House/IFEX) - The following is a 21 May 2008 joint press release by ARTICLE 19 and Freedom House:

China

Dissident writer Zhou Yuanzhi released from detention under heavy restrictions

(WiPC/IFEX) - WiPC welcomes the release of dissident writer and member of the Independent Chinese PEN Centre Zhou Yuanzhi on 15 May 2008. WiPC remains concerned that he remains under heavy restrictions, and reminds the Chinese authorities of their obligations to Article 19 of the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Chile

EFE photographer wounded by police while covering protest in Valparaíso

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 21 May 2008, EFE photojournalist Víctor Salas was wounded when a police officer struck him with a baton. Salas was covering the protests being staged by several civil society organizations in the vicinity of the National Congress in the city of Valparaíso (120 km from Santiago), the country's legislative headquarters, where President Michelle Bachelet was presenting her annual report to the country. The protests were broken up by police on horseback and in vehicles armed with water cannons.

Peru

Three journalists assaulted in separate incidents in Arequipa

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 14 May 2008, in two separate incidents in Arequipa region, three journalists were assaulted.

Saudi Arabia

Human rights activist arrested after criticising prison conditions; two others imprisoned for supporting demonstration

(HRW/IFEX) - The following is a 21 May 2008 Human Rights Watch press release:

Mexico

Special federal prosecutor's office takes on case of two murdered Oaxacan community radio journalists

(ARTICLE 19/CENCOS/IFEX) - The Office of the Special Prosecutor for Crimes Against Journalists (Fiscalía Especial para la Atención de Delitos cometidos contra Periodistas, FEADP) is looking into the killing of Teresa Bautista and Felícitas Martínez de San Juan Copala, two radio journalists from the Triqui indigenous community in Oaxaca. This welcome development inspires hope that impunity will not prevail in this case, unlike the way it has in the murders of so many other journalists in Mexico.

Russia

Armed oil company guards unlawfully detain television journalists documenting ecological damage

(GDF/IFEX) - On 14 May 2008, reporters for the news programme of a Chelyabinsk-based state television company and Channel ATV-12 were filming for a report on ecological problems near an oil pipeline in the Asha District, where a waste dump on oil-polluted snow had melted into a vast marsh, when they were approached and taken into custody by armed men, apparently security guards of the oil-transporting company UralSibNefteprovod.

Serbia

Political activists besiege television station in attempt to force broadcast of their leader's statement

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

Slovenia

IPI disappointed at passing of criminal code reforms extending criminal defamation liability

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

Sudan

Freelance reporter held incommunicado

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders is concerned about the detention of freelance journalist Al-Ghali Yahya Shegifat, who has been held incommunicado in an unknown location since 14 May 2008. Neither his family nor his lawyer has been able to contact him and the charges against him are unknown.

Burma

Censorship board prohibits coverage of damage, hunger; local journalists prevented from covering devastated village

(Mizzima/IFEX) - Private weeklies in Burma have been ordered by the Press Scrutiny and Registration Board not to run any story that depicts the destruction caused by the cyclone that pummelled the Rangoon and Irrawaddy deltas; rather, they have been told to cover only the reconstruction efforts by authorities, according to local journalists. Mizzima's sources spoke on condition of anonymity, for fear of reprisal from the junta. The secretive regime has often punished people who talk to foreign media with termination of employment or jail.

Afghanistan / Gender

Suspended female MP continues to face harassment, threats over outspoken criticism of warlords

(HRW/IFEX) - The following is a 20 May 2008 Human Rights Watch press release:

Colombia

Journalist repeatedly harassed by police officer in Neiva, prevented from reporting

(IFJ/IFEX) - On 18 May 2008, a police officer interfered with the journalistic work of Diógenes Cadena Castellanos, a correspondent for RCN Televisión television station in Huila. The incident took place in Neiva, located 326 km southwest of the national capital, Bogotá.

France

Craintes et propositions de RSF sur le projet de loi réglementant la protection du secret des sources des journalistes

Peru

Female editor of weekly in Arequipa receives death threat after publishing articles critical of former regional president

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 14 May 2008, journalist Mabel Cáceres, editor of the weekly "El Búho", received at her home an envelope with a death threat from an anonymous source. The incident took place in the Arequipa region of southern Peru. Cáceres is also a correspondent for IPYS in that region.

Cambodia

Newspaper's supplement on Burma seized by police, paper threatened with suspension

(SEAPA/IFEX) - A newspaper in Cambodia has had to stop publishing a pullout on Burma after authorities confiscated that section for two consecutive days, warning that a suspension would soon follow.

Sri Lanka

Detained journalists tortured, kept in inhumane conditions

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

Colombia

Journalist covering public hearing arbitrarily harassed, briefly detained by police

(FLIP/IFEX) - The photographic editor of the Barranquilla-based newspaper "El Heraldo", Jairo Buitrago, was mistreated and detained by police officers when he refused to surrender to them photographs that he had taken at a public legal hearing in the city's Civic Centre. Various individuals were witness to the incident.

Democratic Republic of Congo

Fair-trial standards violated in Maheshe murder trial, say human rights groups

(HRW/IFEX) - The following is a 20 May 2008 Human Rights Watch press release:

Côte d'Ivoire

Pro-government student group implicated in violations of freedom of expression and other human-rights abuses; Human Rights Watch calls for end to impunity

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

Zimbabwe

MISA files complaint about delays in issuing licence to radio station, problems related to broadcast laws

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

Philippines

Court indefinitely suspends case against suspected masterminds of journalist Marlene Esperat's 2005 murder

(CMFR/IFEX) - On 14 May 2008, the Cebu Court of Appeals issued a writ of preliminary injunction prohibiting the Cebu City Regional Trial Court (RTC) from proceeding with the case against the suspected masterminds in the 2005 murder of journalist Marlene Esperat. Cebu is a province approximately 562 km south of Manila.

Afghanistan

Journalist begins death penalty appeal

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 19 May 2008 CPJ press release:

Russia

IPI calls on new president to address "increasingly dangerous conditions" for media

(IPI/IFEX) - The following is a 19 May 2008 IPI letter to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev:

Sri Lanka

Defence ministry denies website's allegations of interference, threatens legal action against FMM

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

Mexico

Journalist assaulted by police, briefly detained for covering eviction action in Veracruz

(CEPET/IFEX) - On 18 May 2008, "Milenio Diario" newspaper reporter Víctor Manuel Báez Chino filed a complaint with the Office of the Special Prosecutor for Electoral Crimes, charged with handling complaints concerning journalists mistreated while fulfilling the duties of their profession - against two security officials, Arturo Paredes Guevara of the Veracruz-Boca del Río inter-municipal police, and Remigio Ortiz Olivares, head of the "B" sub-section of Public Security.

Sri Lanka

Journalist and editor assaulted in Kathankudi over coverage of provincial elections

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

Netherlands

Controversial cartoonist detained for two days, may face charges and risk of mob violence

(CRNI/IFEX) - Dutch police arrested a cartoonist whose pen name is Gregorius Nekschot. He was released after two days' detention, on14 May 2008, but may face charges based on a 2005 hate speech complaint filed by Abdul Jabbar van de Ven.

Afghanistan

Female journalist stabbed, continues to receive death threats

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders calls on the authorities to do everything possible to protect women journalists, several of whom have been attacked or threatened since the start of the year. One, Niloufar Habibi, has continued to receive death threats since leaving hospital after being stabbed on 15 May 2008 in the northwestern city of Herat and has to change residence every day.

Sudan

Newspaper closed indefinitely for allegedly publishing confidential military information

(RSF/IFEX) - Condemning the National Intelligence and Security Service's closure of the independent daily newspaper "Alwan" on 14 May 2008 for an indefinite period and the charge of "violating state security" brought against its editor, Hussein Khogali, Reporters Without Borders has called on the government to put a stop to the censorship of the privately-owned press that began in February.

Iran

Ailing journalist unable to pay bail, held for more than 10 months

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has voiced concern about the danger of continuing to detain journalist Mohammad Sadegh Kabovand after he suffered an attack of dizziness on 19 May 2008 in his cell in Tehran's Evin prison. He has been held since July 2007 and his family is unable to raise the money for his bail, set at 150 million toumen (approx. 145,000 euros).

Sri Lanka

Website alleges defence ministry monitoring and disrupting independent online news services

(FMM/IFEX) - The following is a 17 May 2008 FMM press release:

Zimbabwe

Journalist assaulted by unknown individuals in Mutare

(MISA/IFEX) - Freelance journalist Sydney Saize sustained a swollen lip after he was assaulted by unknown assailants in the eastern border town of Mutare on 16 May 2008 who accused him of being a sell-out.

Azerbaijan

Newspaper reporter receives threatening calls from government number following critical articles

(IRFS/IFEX) - "Azadlig" newspaper correspondent Seymur Haziyev informs IRFS that he received threatening telephone calls for several days in mid-May 2008.

Peru

Radio journalist assaulted, threatened by football player in Cusco

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 14 May 2008, journalist Sandro Salcedo Domínguez, director and host of Radio Santa Mónica's programme "Tribuna del Pueblo", was beaten and threatened with death by Néstor Candia Torres, a football player for the Cusco team Cienzano, over a comment the journalist made about a theft that took place at the club's headquarters in Cusco, southeastern Peru. Candia was alleged to have been involved in the theft.

Venezuela

Journalists shoved by police, prevented from covering eviction action in Caracas

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 8 May 2008, municipal police from the municipality of Libertador, in Caracas, roughly handled Ávila TV journalist Lormely Saldaña and camera operator Ralphy Aldaña. They also detained David Sivira, a security agent for the television station, who was accompanying the journalists as their assignment was considered risky. The incident took place when the journalists tried to cover the eviction by police of a group of tenants from a building in the capital's San Bernandino area

China

Freelance journalist He Yanjie given two-year sentence

(WAN/IFEX) - The following is a 19 May 2008 WAN letter to President Hu Jintao:

Zimbabwe

Head of state broadcaster fired for defying political orders

(MISA/IFEX) - Henry Muradzikwa, the chief executive officer of the state-controlled Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) was fired on 14 May 2008 for reportedly defying ministerial orders to deny the opposition political party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), favourable coverage in the run-up to the 29 March 2008 elections.

Brazil

Shooting attack on TV reporter in São Paulo suburb, police suspected

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders hopes the authorities will lose no time in solving a shooting attack on reporter Edson Ferraz of TV Diário (a station affiliated to the privately-owned Rede Globo network) on 15 May 2008 in Mogi das Cruzes, an outlying suburb of São Paulo, in which Ferraz was unhurt.

Senegal

Two journalists convicted of criminal defamation

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 15 May 2008 press release:

Guinea

Journalist detained, assaulted by police, continues to fear for his safety

(MFWA/IFEX) - Isaac Baldé, a correspondent of Familiar FM, a radio station based in Pita, a region located in the northeast of the country, 400km from the capital Conakry, was on 8 May 2008 arrested and detained by the police for allegedly undermining the authorities and tarnishing the reputation of the region.

Yemen

Court revokes ban on weekly but publishing houses reportedly ordered not to print newspaper

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

Kyrgyzstan

Broadcasting bill rolls back press freedom gains

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 15 May 2008 CPJ press release:

Moldova

Media organisations concerned over harassment of newspaper and journalists, discriminatory assignment of broadcasting licences

(IJC/IFEX) - The following is an abridged joint statement by IJC and other media organisations:

Iraq / United States

Military source claims US army deliberately targeted Baghdad media hotel in deadly 2003 attack

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is a 15 May 2008 IFJ media release:

Niger

Court rejects imprisoned journalist's petition, returning case to starting point

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders strongly condemns a 15 May 2008 decision by Niger's highest appeal court to reject a request to rule that the records of journalist Moussa Kaka's intercepted telephone calls cannot be used to prosecute him on charges of "complicity in a conspiracy against the authority of the state."

Sierra Leone

SLBS refutes claim Unity Radio station's antenna improperly installed; radio station's closure will limit pre-election free expression, says RSF

(RSF/IFEX) - On 14 May 2008, Reporters Without Borders wrote to information and communication minister Alhaji Ibrahim Ben Kargbo asking him to explain his 8 May decision to close Unity Radio 94.00 FM, a station operated by the opposition Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP), and urging him to reconsider.

El Salvador

Gang members sentenced to 35 years for critical journalist's murder; human rights defender questions failure to investigate motives

(PROBIDAD/IFEX) - On 12 May 2008, a San Salvador court convicted three youths - José Alfredo Hernández, José Luis Martínez Mejía and Héctor Adalberto Ortiz Mejía, all of whom are members of criminal street gangs - of aggravated homicide in the killing of journalist Salvador Sánchez Roque in September 2007. The investigation and trial failed to determine the motives for the crime.

Haiti / Spain / United States

Official investigation blames American troops for 2004 death of journalist Ricardo Ortega

(RSF/IFEX) - An official Haitian investigation has officially blamed the foreign interposition force present in Haiti after the ouster of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide on 29 February 2004 for the murder of Ricardo Ortega of the privately-owned Spanish TV channel Antena 3.

Uzbekistan

Imprisoned human rights defender to receive prestigious award; Human Rights Watch concerned for her health, ill-treatment

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

Brazil

Peaceful marches for legalisation of marijuana suppressed, various demonstrators detained over pamphlets, other written material

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

Iraq

Government orders closure of radio linked to Shiite leader Moqtada al-Sadr

(RSF/IFEX) - On 15 May 2008, Reporters Without Borders condemned the unwarranted closure of a privately-owned radio station linked to Shiite leader Moqtada al-Sadr as fierce clashes continued between the cleric's militia, the Mahdi Army, and the US and Iraqi armies.

Argentina

President's office launches public campaign to discredit media outlets over coverage of farm sector protests

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

Democratic Republic of Congo

Journalist receives death threats from leader of armed group

(JED/IFEX) - On 10 May 2008, Austere Malivika Yalala, a journalist with Radio Télévision Nationale Congolaise's (RTNC) local Butembo and correspondent for the South Africa-based Radio Canal Afrique, received a death threat. The caller, who introduced himself as Captain Ndaliko of the Congolese Party of Resistance (PARECO, an armed group based in eastern RD Congo), said: "I will kill you before the International Criminal Court arrests us."

Philippines

Trial begins in 2001 killing of journalist; widow testifies death threats preceded murder

(CMFR/IFEX) - The trial of the suspect in the 2001 killing of a radio journalist began 9 May 2008 in Cebu City, Cebu, with the journalist's widow stating under direct examination by the prosecution that her husband had received death threats in relation to his job as a journalist before he was killed. Cebu is a province approximately 562 km south of Manila.

Turkey / International

2008 IPA Freedom to Publish Prize awarded to persecuted publisher Ragip Zarakolu

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

Mexico

Magazine issue containing critical report on Sonora state governor purchased en masse to prevent public distribution

(ARTICLE 19/CENCOS/IFEX) - Distribution of the 27 April 2008 edition of the weekly magazine "Proceso" was deliberately impeded through the mass purchasing of copies, between 27 April and 1 May, before they reached the public. The issue bore on its cover a picture of Sonora state governor Eduardo Bours under the headline "Drug power in Sonora", and contained a report on governor's wealth, his abuse of power to benefit his family's businesses, and the possible involvement of these businesses in drug-trafficking and money laundering.

Nepal

Two journalists receive death threats from police officers over articles on smuggling

(FNJ/IFEX) - On 13 May 2008, Bindu Kumar Chauhan and Kanhai Yadav, journalists from Rupandehi, a western district of Nepal, were threatened with death by sub-inspector Dev Raj Aryal of a district police office and by mobile police officers of the same district.

Ethiopia

Editor and three others previously arrested over magazine story now out on bail; trial to proceed, charges remain unclear

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is a 13 May 2008 IFJ media release:

Azerbaijan

Appellate court upholds four-year prison sentence for editor in "politically ordered" decision, says IRFS

(IRFS/IFEX) - IRFS strongly condemns an appellate court's decision to uphold the Yasamal District Court verdict against "Azadlig" newspaper editor-in-chief Ganimat Zahid. This ruling was adopted on 13 May 2008, and stemmed from an appeal against Yasamal District Court Judge Subada Mammedova's 7 March decision to imprison Zahid for four years: for three-and-a-half years under article 127.2.3 of the Criminal Code ("causing minor damages through hooliganism") and for an additional six months under article 221 (for hooliganism).

Burma

Pro-democracy musician detained, reportedly very ill following torture, faces possible prison term

(WiPC/IFEX) - WiPC is gravely concerned for the well-being of leading Burmese musician Win Maw, who was arrested on 27 November 2007 and is said to be seriously ill as a result of torture in detention. International PEN seeks immediate assurances of Win Maw's well being and guarantees that he is receiving all necessary medical treatment. WiPC calls for his immediate and unconditional release, as well as of all those currently detained in Myanmar in violation of Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Vietnam

Thai journalist sentenced to nine months in prison on terrorism charges

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 13 May 2008 CPJ letter to Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet:

Syria

Journalist and writer Michel Kilo begins third year in prison

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders reiterates its call for the release of Syrian writer and journalist Michel Kilo, who is about to begin his third year in Adra prison, in Damascus. Arrested on 14 May 2006, Kilo was given a three-year jail term one year later for "weakening national sentiment." The authorities have until now refused to shorten his sentence.

Uzbekistan

Independent and opposition media continue to face "unrelenting repression" in shadow of 2005 Andijan massacre, says CPJ

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 13 May 2008 CPJ letter to Uzbek President Islam Karimov:

Uruguay

State bank punishes newspaper for critical article by withdrawing official advertising

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

Lebanon

Media outlets of Future Media network re-open five days after forced closure due to armed attacks

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

Peru

Journalist assaulted in Casma by head of parents' association following critical article

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 9 May 2008, journalist Antonio Azalde, editor of the newspaper "El Guerrero", informed IPYS that he had been physically assaulted by David Cuellar Morales, the president of the parents' association of the Inmaculada Concepción public school. The incident took place in the headquarters of the Educational Administration Unit in Casma, located in the Áncash region of northwestern Peru.

Vietnam

Two Vietnamese journalists under arrest; US colleague under house arrest

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has strongly condemned the 13 May 2008 arrest in Hanoi of two Vietnamese journalists, accused of "misuse of power". It also spoke out against the house arrest of US journalist of Vietnamese origin, Le Hong Thien, who was in the country to cover the Olympic torch relay.

South Africa

Closed-door sessions in inquiry into official's misconduct "may result in suppression of information of fundamental public importance," says FXI

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

Iraq

One journalist assaulted by soldiers, another beaten by security guard

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has condemned a growing number of physical attacks on Iraqi journalists while trying to do their job. It has recorded more than 20 such cases since the start of 2008.

Guinea

Officials interrupt controversial radio interview, seize tape

(MFWA/IFEX) - On 8 May 2008, the Director-General of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) in Guinea, Alfred Saury Guilarogui, and two of his officers stormed Nostalgie FM, a privately-owned radio station in Conakry and forcibly interrupted the station's broadcasting.

Lesotho

"Broadcast media under siege," says MISA as government hikes licencing fees, harasses radio station and plans restrictive legislative amendment

(MISA/IFEX) - The Lesotho Communications Authority (LCA) has slapped broadcasters with a seven-fold license fee hike. The LCA sent invoices to radio stations with new licence fees, with a shocking US$3000 annual fee, up from US$400. The move has shocked the broadcasters, especially private media outlets, which have, since 2005, suffered from economic difficulties owing to a move by the government to withdraw advertising.

Philippines

Two newspaper journalists threatened by armed municipal official in Alfonso Lista

(CMFR/IFEX) - Two provincial correspondents for a national broadsheet said they were indirectly threatened with harm by a local government official in Alfonso Lista, Ifugao, on 10 May 2008. Ifugao is a province located approximately 350 km northeast of Manila.

Russia

Museum director charged with "inciting religious hatred" over controversial art exhibition

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

Venezuela

Offices of corruption-exposing newspaper come under gunfire

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF urges regional authorities to step up security measures after the offices of the weekly newspaper "Dicho y Hecho", which has been exposing corruption, came under fire in Bejuma, a municipality located in Carabobo state of north-central Venezuela.

Turkey

YouTube blocked for third time in two months, Google Groups shut down due to defamation allegations by religious leader

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders is astonished that access to the video-sharing website YouTube has again been blocked in Turkey since 5 May 2008 as a result of court orders issued by Ankara magistrate courts on 24 and 30 April. The grounds for blocking the website were not given in either case.

Bolivia

PAT TV, Megavisión, Sittel television stations' journalists assaulted, Bolivia Unida station attacked during Santa Cruz autonomy referendum

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 4 May 2008, during a referendum vote held on a proposed autonomy statute for Santa Cruz department, several journalists were assualted in the department's capital, the city of Santa Cruz, and other nearby locations.

Palestine

Three journalists arrested, interrogated by intelligence services in West Bank

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders condemns the arrests of three Palestinian journalists by the Palestinian Authority's intelligence services in separate incidents in the West Bank. Two of the journalists, employed by news media affiliated to Hamas, the Islamist party that controls the Gaza Strip, have already been detained in the past.

China

Journalist Qi Chonghuai sentenced to four years

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 13 May 2008 CPJ press release:

Mexico / International

Journalist Lydia Cacho receives two international press freedom awards

(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) - The following is a 12 May 2008 ARTICLE 19 press release:

Colombia

Television journalists harassed, assaulted by anti-riot police squad members in Medellín

(IFJ/IFEX) - "Noticias Uno" television news programme cameraman Heddy Banoy Patiño, and its reporter, Fernando Cifuentes Higuita - former president of the Association of Journalists of Antioquia (Asociación de Periodistas de Antioquia, APA) - were the victims of two separate acts of aggression by members of the national police force's anti-riot squad (escuadrón antimotines de la Policía, ESMAD). They were mistreated while trying to cover the arrests of demonstrators on 1 and 4 May 2008, respectively, in the city of Medellín, capital of the department of Antioquia in central Colombia.

Mexico

Newspaper editor investigating drug-trafficking detained while on assignment in Guanajuato, beaten by police, faces charges

(CEPET/IFEX) - Jesús Lemus Barajas, editor of the La Piedad-based newspaper "El Tiempo", has been detained in Guanajuato state on charges of ties to drug-traffickers. Prior to being delivered to the Puentecilla prison in the city of Guanajuato, the journalist was held incommunicado for three days by Guanajuato state ministerial police, who beat him and seized his personal belongings. La Piedad is a city in Michoacán state, which borders Guanajuato state.

Russia

Authorities tightly controlling information on North Caucasus conflicts, shows ARTICLE 19 report

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

Russia

Politkovskaya's killer identified, charged, sought on an international warrant

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 12 May 2008 CPJ press release:

Iran

Suffering from heart problems, jailed journalist Emadoldin Baghi hospitalised

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has called for the definitive release of journalist and human rights activist Emadoldin Baghi who experienced heart trouble in his cell on 7 May 2008 at Tehran's Evin prison, after being returned there on 15 April following a temporary release for health reasons.

Azerbaijan

"My blood will be on their hands," says persecuted journalist as authorities refuse to let him travel outside the country

(IRFS/IFEX) - IRFS vehemently condemns the Republic of Azerbaijan's State Border Service and Chief Prosecutor's Office for their refusal to let "Azadlig" newspaper correspondent Agil Khalil leave the country. He was denied exit on three occasions on 10 and 11 May 2008. Such actions are illegal and a gross violation of Khalil's fundamental rights. He currently faces grave danger.

Saudi Arabia

Web critic facing possible prison sentence, death threats flees country; Turkish barber sentenced to death for "cursing name of God"

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

Burma

Local journalists free to travel but face other restrictions on cyclone coverage

(Mizzima/IFEX) - While journalists covering the impact of the deadly Cyclone Nargis, which hit Burma on 3 May 2008, face restrictions placed by the authorities, local reporters have more freedom to move around the country than their foreign counterparts.

Egypt

Opposition website blocked for users of government-controlled ISP as country hosts Africa's largest telecommunications conference

(HRinfo/IFEX) - On 12 May 2008, the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information reported that the website of the Egyptian Movement for Change ( http://harakamasria.org ), or Kefaya, has been blocked for those who have Internet access through the T-Data Company. T-Data, the country's largest Internet service provider, has been under direct government oversight since May 4.

Lebanon

Two Al-Jazeera cameramen injured by gunmen, radio station set on fire, two more publications suspend work, pro-free expression protesters harassed

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

Pakistan

Media outlets harassed; Supreme Court issues order restricting coverage of judges

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

Burundi

State TV employee killed; cameraman narrowly escapes death in separate attack

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders calls on the Burundian authorities to thoroughly investigate the 12 May 2008 murder of Cécile Ndikumana, an employee of the sales department of state-owned Radio Télévision Nationale du Burundi (RTNB), and the attempted murder of RTNB cameraman Hilaire Minani in a separate incident the same day.

China

Writer Chen Daojun detained in Chengdu; writer Li Jianhong obliged to agree to never return before being allowed to accept fellowship abroad

(PEN/PEN Canada/IFEX) - The following is a 12 May 2008 PEN American Center and PEN Canada joint press release:

International

AMARC launches "Declaration of Principles for Regulatory Frameworks on Community Radio Broadcasting"

(AMARC/IFEX) - The following is a 5 May 2008 AMARC press release:

Peru

One reporter wounded, two others also assaulted while covering arrest of alleged rapist

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 6 May 2008, América Televisión camera operator Fabricio Béjar Silva suffered a four centimeter-long cut in his left forearm inflicted by a man wielding a broken glass bottle. The assailant attacked the journalist in reprisal for covering the arrest of the alleged rapist of an English tourist. The event took place when police arrested the suspect in the area of Alto Misti, in the Miraflores district of the Arequipa region, in southwestern Peru.

Guatemala

"Prensa Libre" newspaper journalist murdered in Coatepeque following threats

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 12 May 2008 CPJ press release:

International / World Press Freedom Day

AMARC welcomes Maputo Declaration recognising community broadcasting's importance on 2008 World Press Freedom Day

(AMARC/IFEX) - The following is a 5 May 2008 AMARC press release:

France

EFJ "shocked" by President Sarkozy's accusation of media bias and censorship of his party

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is a 9 May 2008 media release from the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), an IFJ regional group:

Azerbaijan

APA news agency correspondent detained, assaulted by police while covering presidential visit to predecessor's grave

(IRFS/IFEX) - On 10 May 2008 at around 11:00 a.m. (local time), APA Information Agency special reporter Elbrus Seyfullayev was subjected to police pressure while government leaders led by President Ilham Aliyev were visiting the grave of ex-president Heydar Aliyev.

Egypt

Facebook activist beaten, threatened for expressing support for strike; authorities suppressing online advocacy

(HRW/IFEX) - The following is a 10 May 2008 Human Rights Watch press release:

China

Health of imprisoned human rights activist deteriorating, IFJ and HKJA submit petition demanding his release

(HKJA/IFJ/IFEX) - The following is an HKJA and IFJ joint release:

India

Photojournalist shot and killed while covering armed encounter between security forces and militants

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

Nepal

Female radio journalist roughed up, threatened with murder by Nepali Congress Party activists in Surkhet

(FNJ/IFEX) - Tila Bhandari, a news correspondent of Nepal FM 91.8 radio station, was manhandled and threatened by activists of the Nepali Congress Party (NC) on 10 May 2008 at Harre in the Surkhet district in mid-western Nepal.

Azerbaijan

Presidential decree seeks to stealthily reintroduce greater state control over media, says IRFS

(IRFS/IFEX) - IRFS condemns President Ilham Aliyev's 7 May 2008 decree, which, in a roundabout manner, has amended the Law on Mass Media, in part by re-introducing a component of it that was abolished years ago at the demand of international organizations.

Zimbabwe

Editor, media lawyer charged, released

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 9 May 2008 CPJ press release:

Sierra Leone

Opposition radio station shut down

(MFWA/IFEX) - On 8 May 2008, Unity Radio, a station run by Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP), was shut down on the orders of the Minister of Information and Communication, Alhaji Ibrahim Ben Kargbo.

Canada

Une journaliste menacée d'expulsion suite à la demande du maire d'une municipalité québécoise

(FPJQ/IFEX) - Ci-dessous, une lettre de la FPJQ adressée au Maire de la Municipalité de Notre-Dame-des-Pins. M. Viateur Boucher:

Nigeria

Legislators delay passage of Freedom of Information Bill

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is an 8 May 2008 IFJ media release:

Lebanon

At least three photographers and two reporters injured while covering conflict between Hezbollah and government; other photographers detained by police

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

Mexico

Mexico City Televisa crime reporter apparently abducted, now missing for 10 days

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF is very worried about the disappearance of Jorge Carrasco Taracena, a crime reporter for the privately-owned national television station Televisa, who went missing in Mexico City on 30 April 2008 amid an increase in violence related to drug trafficking.

Somalia

SBC broadcasting network director arrested by Puntland regional police

(NUSOJ/IFEX) - NUSOJ strongly condemns today's arrest of Director of Somali Broadcasting Corporation (SBC) Mowlid Haji Abdi by the police of Puntland Regional State in northeastern Somalia.

Lebanon

One newspaper, two TV stations, one radio station forced to stop operating following Hezbollah attacks

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders condemns Hezbollah's armed attacks and threats against four news media owned by the family of Saad Hariri, the head of Future Movement, the anti-Syrian majority party in the Lebanese parliament.

Malaysia

Blogger released on bail; online writer detained briefly, released on bail; opposition politician faces sedition complaint over comment

(SEAPA/IFEX) - SEAPA is concerned by a spate of sedition threats in Malaysia, where sedition is a criminal offence punishable with a jail term of up to three years, or a fine of up to RM5,000 (approx. US$1,566), or both.

Sri Lanka

Authorities attempt to prevent foreign media from covering elections in Eastern Province

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

Algeria

Government bans issue of French weekly for publishing article on Kabylie region

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders condemns the government's decision to ban distribution of the 4 May 2008 issue of the Paris-based news weekly "Jeune Afrique", which has an article on the Algerian region of Kabylie.

Zimbabwe

Newspaper editor arrested; Reuters photographer held for three days; detained media lawyer hospitalised

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is an 8 May 2008 CPJ press release:

Colombia

Public prosecutor prohibits broadcast of cosmetic surgery exposé, demands television station's files on case

(FLIP/IFEX) - On 25 April 2008, "Séptimo Día", a high-profile public affairs programme broadcast by Caracol national television network, received an order from Prosecutor 287, in Bogotá, not to broadcast a programme scheduled to run two days later, and was asked to turn over its investigative file on the subject of the feature. According to "Séptimo Día" general producer Francisco Bohórquez, that edition of the programme was going to feature an investigative report on a situation involving a beautician who had apparently performed surgical procedures, inappropriately and illegally. The main source for the feature was one of the beautician's former clients, who has had serious health problems as a consequence of the procedures and wanted to draw public attention to her experience.

Azerbaijan

Presidential chief of staff says RSF misrepresents media situation, journalists in jail for criminal activities

(RSF/IFEX) - On 7 May 2008, Presidential chief of staff Ramiz Mekhtiev made "unacceptable" comments at a conference organised in Baku by the ruling party Yeni Azerbaidjan on the subject of democracy and stability, Reporters Without Borders said.

Bahrain

"Al Ayyam" reporter, editor face charges over article on alleged corruption in ministry; IFJ backs proposed press law amendment

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

Equatorial Guinea

Spanish journalists denied visas to enter country to cover elections

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is a 7 May 2008 IFJ press release:

Australia

Newspaper raided, editor interrogated, documents seized following publication of corruption story

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders reiterates its call for the adoption of a law protecting the confidentiality of journalists' sources after police carried out a search of the headquarters of the "Sunday Times", a tabloid weekly based in Perth, Western Australia, on 30 April 2008.

South Africa

University of Witwatersrand students forbidden by administration to peacefully express solidarity with Palestinians

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

International

Parliamentarians uphold press freedom in vote on sports white paper, say media groups

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

China

Journalist under house arrest after 20 days in detention, materials seized

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders condemns a decision by the Chinese authorities to place a journalist known by the name of Naranbilig under house arrest for a year after holding him for 20 days in Inner Mongolia. It also condemns the 3 May 2008 arrest of writer Zhou Yuanzhi, who may now be charged with "inciting subversion of state authority" as many other Chinese intellectuals and dissidents have already been charged.

Burma

Exile media, undercover reporters keep information flowing despite tight restrictions, shows CPJ report

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 7 May 2008 CPJ press release:

Sierra Leone

Government threatens criminal prosecution of newspaper over articles critical of president

(MFWA/IFEX) - On 6 May 2008, the press secretary to State House, Sheka Tarawally, threatened "New Vision", an independent Freetown-based newspaper, with legal action if the newspaper failed to retract three articles it published accusing President Ernest Bai Koroma of being wasteful.

Azerbaijan

Persecuted "Azadlig" newspaper journalist survives murder and abduction attempts, goes into hiding

(IRFS/IFEX) - IRFS expresses serious concern over two new attacks against "Azadlig" newspaper correspondent Agil Khalil.

Tunisia

OLPEC celebrates World Press Freedom Day against backdrop of worsening free expression situation

(OLPEC/IFEX) - The following is a 3 May 2008 OLPEC press release:

Burma

Continuing restrictions on information flow costing thousands of lives in aftermath of cyclone, says ARTICLE 19

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

Zimbabwe

Arrest of human rights lawyer on politically-motivated charges raises fear of broader crackdown, says Human Rights Watch

(HRW/IFEX) - The following is a 7 May 2008 Human Rights Watch press release:

International

With 93 journalists killed, 2007 was another deadly year, says IPI report

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

Mexico

Reporters assaulted, threatened at gun point by federal police in Culiacán

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 7 May 2008 CPJ press release:

Malaysia

Blogger jailed, faces sedition charges over article implicating deputy prime minister in 2006 murder

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 7 May 2008 CPJ press release:

China

RSF target of attacks in press, Internet

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders is shocked by a press campaign being waged against the press freedom organisation in the Chinese media, particularly those closely linked to the government. This comes at a time when the organisation's website is also coming under an unprecedented level of cyber-strikes.

Zimbabwe

Freelance journalist Frank Chikowore released on bail, still faces charges

(MISA/IFEX) - On 2 May 2008, High Court Judge Justice Ben Hlatshwayo granted freelance journalist Frank Chikowore bail, together with co-accused, Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) director of information Luke Tamborinyoka, both charged with public violence.

Canada

Discontinuation of database signifies loss of "system to hold the government accountable," says CJFE

(CJFE/IFEX) - The following is a 6 May 2008 CJFE press release:

Morocco

Al-Jazeera bureau forced to stop broadcasting Maghreb news programme from Rabat

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders calls on the Moroccan authorities to reverse their decision to stop the pan-Arab satellite TV news station Al-Jazeera from broadcasting a daily news programme covering the Maghreb countries from its studios in the Moroccan capital Rabat.

Egypt

TV agency boss facing charges over food riots, harassed for links with al-Jazeera

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has voiced concern about legal action against Nader Gohar, owner of the Egyptian TV news agency Cairo News Company (CNC), who was charged on 5 May 2008 with unlicensed broadcasting of food riots in the north of the country on 6 April.

International / World Press Freedom Day

On World Press Freedom Day, RSF publishes investigation into violence faced by EU journalists

(RSF/IFEX) - The following is a 3 May 2008 RSF press release:

Peru

Persecuted journalist-in-hiding fears for his life, previously received death threats

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF is concerned about the plight of Paul Garay, editor of the weekly "Del Pueblo" and contributor to Radio Stereo 92.9 in Pucallpa, Ucayali department in eastern Peru, who was forced into hiding at the end of April 2008 following death threats and a kidnap attempt.

Nigeria

Police raid newspaper seeking arrest of 15 editors, detain deputy editor for six hours, over critical article

(MRA/IFEX) - On 6 May 2008, about a dozen armed, plain-clothed policemen from the Niger State Command (in north-central Nigeria) raided the head office of "Leadership" newspaper in Abuja, Nigeria's Federal Capital, and arrested the newspaper's deputy editor, Danladi Ndayebo, over a feature article published by the paper.

Uruguay / Bolivia / Cuba

Cuban website founder denied travel permit; Uruguayan journalist threatened; more Bolivian journalists mistreated

(IAPA/IFEX) - The following is a 6 May 2008 IAPA press release:

Liberia / World Press Freedom Day

New national free expression coalition launched on World Press Freedom Day

(CEMESP/IFEX) - The following is a 6 May 2008 CEMESP press release:

Sri Lanka

Journalist, press owners still detained without charge, need medical attention

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

China

Critical freelance writer detained on suspicion of "inciting subversion", his wife under house arrest

(PEN/PEN Canada/IFEX) - The following is a joint 6 May 2008 PEN Canada and PEN American Center press release:

Rwanda

Journalists expelled from World Press Freedom Day event; RSF concerned about increasing contempt shown by government for certain journalists

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders is deeply disturbed by the increasingly fraught climate for the press in Rwanda, in particular the expulsion of three newspaper editors from a 2 May 2008 ceremony marking World Press Freedom Day on the orders of the new information minister, Louise Mushikiwabo.

Nepal / World Press Freedom Day

IPI National Committee celebrates World Press Freedom Day

(IPI/IFEX) - The following is a 3 May 2008 press release of the IPI Nepal National Committee:

Thailand / World Press Freedom Day

On World Press Freedom Day, Thai media organisations urge greater respect for media freedom

(TJA/IFEX) - The following is a 3 May 2008 joint statement by TJA and other organisations:

Burma

Military government urged to issue press visas to foreign media, lift prior censorship in wake of cyclone

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders and the Burma Media Association call on the Burmese government to grant visas to foreign journalists who want to go and cover the aftermath of the cyclone that has devastated the south of the country and Rangoon. They also call for the lifting of prior censorship for the Burmese news media.

Peru

Journalist facing "resisting authority" charges for not turning original of videotape over to prosecutor

(IPYS/IFEX) - Judge Carlos Mendoza Banda, of Arequipa's Tenth Bench of the Criminal Court, southeastern Peru, has initiated proceedings against journalist Jymmy Salinas Salas, correspondent for America Televisón, for the crime of violence and resisting authority through disobedience.

Bolivia

Three journalists injured, TV station damaged by fire during Santa Cruz autonomy referendum

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF is alarmed by the number of attacks on the news media during a referendum held on 4 May 2008 in the eastern department of Santa Cruz on an autonomy proposal for the region. Three journalists were injured while a fire started by protesters damaged the installations of a TV station in the La Paz suburb of El Alto.

Pakistan

Taliban leader threatens newspapers that publish "offensive" photos

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders condemns the threats made by a Taliban religious leader in the northwestern Tribal Areas on 1 May against journalists who continue to publish "offensive" and "vulgar" photos of women. According to the "Daily Times", the warning was issued to journalists in Khar, in the Tribal Area of Bajaur, by Faqir Muhammad, the deputy commander of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which means the Pakistan Taliban Movement.

International / World Press Freedom Day

Press freedom losses outnumber gains two to one in 2007, reports Freedom House

(Freedom House/IFEX) - The following is a 29 April 2008 Freedom House press release:

Iraq

Despite image of freedom, attacks on journalists increasing in Iraqi Kurdistan, says CPJ report

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 5 May 2008 CPJ press release:

Bahrain

Media coverage of elections marred by self-censorship, political pressure, exclusion of voices and blocking of Internet, finds World Press Freedom Day report

(BCHR/IFEX) - The following is an abridged 3 May 2008 BCHR press release:

Somalia

Television journalist escapes assassination attempt, receives death threats

(NUSOJ/IFEX) - NUSOJ is outraged by the vicious attack by unidentified gunmen against female television journalist Bisharo Mohammed Waeys, which took place in Bossasso, Bari region, on 4 May 2008.

Malaysia

Government may abolish newspaper licencing system, says CPJ

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 2 May 2008 CPJ letter to Home Affairs Minister Dato Seri Syed Hamid Albar:

Morocco

Imprisoned journalist goes on hunger strike to mark World Press Freedom Day

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 2 May 2008 CPJ press release:

Mexico

Chiapas-based journalists assaulted in Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Tzimol and Huixtla

(CEPET/IFEX) - On the morning of 1 May 2008, Roberto Domínguez Cortés, a lawyer who writes a column for the newspaper "Cuarto Poder", was beaten with a tree branch by two unidentified individuals, who intercepted him near the Caña Hueca sports park in the city of Tuxtla Gutiérrez, in the state of Chiapas, southern Mexico, when he was exercising.

China

Deputy editor removed following publication of editorial about Tibet

(RSF/IFEX) - On 5 May 2008, the deputy editor of the daily "Nanfang Dushi Bao", Chang Ping, announced that he has been removed from his post because of his editorials about Tibet, especially two entitled "Universal Values" and "How to find the truth about Lhasa", that contrasts with the government's propaganda, according to the web site Boxun ( http://www.boxun.com ). He has been the target of a smear campaign on the Internet and in other newspapers for daring to say that events in Tibet show that the government has not solved the problem of minorities.

Ghana

Government minister denies he interrupted TV programme, uttered threats

(MFWA/IFEX) - On 2 May 2008, Ghana's Minister of Trade and Industry, Joe Baidoo-Ansah, denied storming the studios of Metropolitan Television (Metro TV), an Accra-based TV station, to interrupt a live broadcast.

Venezuela

Journalists mistreated in three different incidents in Caracas and Barquisimeto

(IPYS/IFEX) - Journalists in Caracas and Barquisimeto were mistreated in three separate recent incidents.

Ethiopia

Magazine issue seized, its editor and others imprisoned

(EFJA/IFEX) - In a move that is widely believed to have been deliberately chosen to coincide with World Press Freedom Day, the Ethiopian government struck against the private press on 3 May 2008. This development is part of a slide toward naked tyranny, following the brutal crackdown after the 2005 election.

The Gambia / Niger

On the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, MFWA urges governments to respect press freedom

(MFWA/IFEX) - The following is a 2 May 2008 MFWA press statement:

Iraq / Gender

Woman journalist shot dead outside her home in Mosul

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders is shocked by the murder of freelance journalist Sirwa Abdel Wahab on 4 May 2008 in Mosul, 400 km north of Baghdad. Her death brings to 212 the number of journalists and media assistants killed in Iraq since the start of the war in March 2003. Twenty-five of them have been killed in Mosul.

Indonesia / World Press Freedom Day

On World Press Freedom Day, AJI expresses deep concern over violence, legal actions against journalists

(AJI/IFEX) - The following is a 3 May 2008 AJI press release:

Colombia

Barrancabermeja ex-mayor turns himself in to answer charges of masterminding journalist's murder

(FLIP/IFEX) - On 30 April 2008, Julio César Ardila Torres - the former mayor of Barrancabermeja, a oil port city in the department of Santander - turned himself in to the authorities. He is accused by the Prosecutor General's Office (Fiscalía) of masterminding the April 2003 murder of journalist José Emeterio Rivas.

Sri Lanka

FMM outraged by "another vicious attack" on "Sunday Times" editor-defence correspondent by government

(FMM/IFEX) - The following is a 4 May 2008 FMM press release:

Sri Lanka

Defence secretary calls journalists "traitors," urges ban on independent media

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

Zimbabwe

Tenth journalist arrested since general elections

(RSF/IFEX) - On 1 May 2008, Reporters Without Borders condemned the arrest of freelance journalist Precious Shumba in a police raid on the Harare office of the international aid NGO ActionAid, where he works as a programmes officer. A reporter for "The Daily News" until it was forced to close, Shumba is the 10th journalist to be arrested since the general elections.

Guatemala / World Press Freedom Day

On World Press Freedom Day, APG calls for an end to abuse of journalists

(APG/IFEX) - The following is a 2 May 2008 APG press release:

Cambodia

Journalist covering land dispute beaten unconscious by police, detained

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

International / World Press Freedom Day

RSF issues updated list of "predators of press freedom"

(RSF/IFEX) - The following is an abridged 3 May 2008 RSF press release:

Chile

Two community radio journalists detained, assaulted by police while covering student demonstration

(AMARC/IFEX) - Two correspondents of the Santiago-based Radio Primero de Mayo radio station were arbitrarily detained by members of the Carabineros, a uniformed armed national police and gendarme body, while they were covering a demonstration by high-school students expressing their demands to the government of President Michelle Bachelet. The incident occurred on the morning of 24 April 2008.

Liberia

Radio station in Monrovia stormed by legislator, others, angered by coverage

(CEMESP/IFEX) - A member of the House of Representatives of Liberia led a number of unidentified individuals to storm the news department of Truth FM radio station in Monrovia on 1 May 2008, apparently in dissatisfaction over a report aired on the station.

Palestine / Israel

Independent, not military investigation needed into tank shelling that killed Reuters cameraman and three others in Gaza, says Human Rights Watch

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

Tunisia

Journalist Slim Boukhdir held in degrading conditions, denied medical care, starts hunger strike

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders is outraged by the degrading manner in which journalist Slim Boukhdir is being treated in Sfax prison (230 km south of Tunis), where he has decided to go on hunger strike again after catching scabies.

Sri Lanka / World Press Freedom Day

Situation "urgent" with free media under unprecedented siege, says FMM on World Press Freedom Day

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

Turkey

Recently-passed amendments to Article 301 "wholly insufficient," says ARTICLE 19

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

International / World Press Freedom Day

Despite gains, struggle continues against violence and impunity in press crimes, says IAPA on World Press Freedom Day

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

China / World Press Freedom Day

On World Press Freedom Day, WiPC calls for release of imprisoned writer Shi Tao

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

Fiji

Arrest, deportation of "Fiji Times" publisher aims to silence voices critical of interim government, says PINA

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

Pakistan / World Press Freedom Day

IFJ calls for greater protection of journalists in World Press Freedom Day message

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

United States

After six years without charges or trial, Al-Jazeera cameraman freed from Guantanamo

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 1 May 2008 CPJ press release:

International / World Press Freedom Day

On World Press Freedom Day, IPI calls for all governments to reject attempts to limit press freedom

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

Kashmir (India)

Apparent ban on Pakistani stations lifted; IFJ calls for clarification of broadcasting law

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is a 1 May 2008 IFJ media release:

Russia

Restrictive media law amendment moves forward in Duma

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 1 May 2008 CPJ press release:

Cambodia

Radio reporter investigating drug-trafficking receives anonymous death threats, flees country

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 1 May 2008 CPJ press release:

Paraguay

"ABC Color" journalists, editor cleared of defamation accusations stemming from coverage of highway contract irregularities

(SPP/IFEX) - On 30 April 2008 the SPP welcomed the court ruling absolving journalists Enrique Dávalos and Carlos Cáceres of defamation, calumny and injury to the former auditors of the Comptroller General's Office (Contraloría General de la República), alleged to have been caused by their articles investigating irregularities in the fulfillment of highway contracts.

International

Military and journalists at IAPA meeting call for closer relations

(IAPA/IFEX) - The following is an abridged 28 April 2008 IAPA press release:

Argentina

FOPEA calls for media reform, objects to president's "curt tone" and "indiscriminate criticisms" of press

(FOPEA /IFEX) - The following is an abridged version of a 22 April 2008 FOPEA letter to President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner:

Liberia

Three draft media laws advance through legislature; CEMESP urges their approval as World Press Freedom Day approaches

(CEMESP/IFEX) - On the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, CEMESP welcomes the introduction in the House of Representatives of three draft media laws, presented to that body on 17 April 2008 by a coalition of media and civil society organisations.

Burma

Foreign journalists likely to be barred from covering referendum, says information ministry source

(Mizzima/IFEX) - Burma's military junta's Ministry of Information has reportedly leaked that foreign journalists will not be permitted to cover the upcoming 10 May 2008 constitutional referendum.

Venezuela

Critical community radio station in Mérida suspects government sabotage behind transmitter damage

(IPYS/IFEX) - Since 22 April 2008, the community-based radio station Ecos 93.3 FM has not been able to broadcast due to damage to its transmitter. Station staff believe that the electricity outage that caused the damage to the transmitter was deliberate and in reprisal for the station's criticisms of the municipal council and administration of Mérida, a city in western Venezuela. The radio station is located in the Mérida neighborhood of Pueblo Nuevo.

China

Foreign journalists report death threats, continuing interference as Olympics approach

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 30 April 2008 CPJ press release:

Peru

Journalist goes into hiding after being followed and suffering an attempted kidnapping for denouncing alleged corruption by authorities

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 28 April 2008, journalist Paul Garay, director of the weekly magazine "El Pueblo", told IPYS that he had been kept under surveillance during the entire month of April and had been the target of a kidnapping attempt. The journalist went into hiding for security reasons on 25 April. The events took place in Pucallpa, Coronel Portillo province, eastern Peru.

International / World Press Freedom Day

IFJ calls for global solidarity to overcome threats to media

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is a 30 May 2008 IFJ media release:

Colombia

Threatened journalist relinquishes government-sponsored body guards engaging in intelligence activities against her

(FLIP/IFEX) - Claudia Julieta Duque, freelance journalist and a member of the human rights organisation Equipo Nizkor, has relinquished the protection scheme granted her by the national government, due to constant mismanagement of its operation and the fact that her government-provided bodyguards' behaviour exacerbated her sense of vulnerability.

Burma

Lack of free expression, access to information renders referendum process "a sham", says Human Rights Watch

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

Pakistan

Held for two years, Baloch journalist still fears for his life

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders calls on the federal government to order the military intelligence services to stop harassing Munir Mengal, one of the originators of a proposed Balochi-language satellite TV station to be called Baloch Voice. Freed in February 2008 after being held for two years, first by the military and then by the police, Mengal says he still fears for his life.

Ghana

Government minister interrupts TV broadcast, shouting threats, over inclusion of opposition spokesperson in programme

(MFWA/IFEX) - On 24 April 2008, Joe Baidoo Ansah, Ghana's Minister of Trade and Industry, interrupted a live-broadcast on Metropolitan Television (Metro TV), an Accra-based TV station, to register his displeasure about the inclusion of Nii Moi Thompson, an opposition spokesman, in the flagship programme "Good Evening Ghana".

Dominican Republic

IAPA urges judiciary to ensure "Muralla" journalist's disappearance, other crimes against journalists, do not go unpunished

(IAPA/IFEX) - The following is a 25 April 2008 IAPA press release:

Mexico

Photojournalist's coverage of public event involving Aguascalientes governor impeded by private guards

(CEPET/IFEX) - Private security guards from the company Omega, as well as a civilian who refused to identify himself, obliged photojournalist Juan Manuel Robledo Gamiño, a regular freelance contributor of material to "Proceso" weekly magazine and ProcesoFoto news agency, to stop taking photographs of Aguascalientes Governor Luis Armando Reynoso Femat, at a public event in the wee hours of 27 April 2008. They alleged that the orders to stop him came "from higher up." The incident took place inside the Víctor Sandoval theatre where a show involving Argentine musician Facundo Cabral, Emiliano Roque and the Los Correa musical group was taking place, as part of the San Marco national festival.

International / World Press Freedom Day

CPJ's Impunity Index ranks countries where killers of journalists go free

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

South Korea

IPI welcomes president's commitment to improved media environment

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

International / World Press Freedom Day

CAPSULE REPORT: From political coercion and violence to advertiser pressure, challenges continue to confront regional media, says IFJ report

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

Peru

Government-ordered investigation of NGO over public comments threatens free expression, says IPYS

(IPYS/IFEX) - The following is a 29 April 2008 IPYS declaration:

Vietnam

Dissident writer in psychiatric detention apparently without medical cause; WiPC calls for her release

(WiPC/IFEX) - WiPC is seriously concerned for the well-being of Bui Kim Thành, Internet writer, dissident and lawyer, who has reportedly been held in psychiatric detention since 6 March 2008, apparently without any medical basis. The WiPC fears that Bui Kim Thành may be held for her writings and activism, and if so, calls for her immediate and unconditional release in accordance with Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Vietnam is a signatory.

Tunisia

Critical NGO activists harassed; prosecution of newspaper continues, its editors go on hunger strike

(HRinfo/IFEX) - In light of recent repressive acts against critical activists and newspapers, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, during his visit to Tunisia, which commenced 29 April 2008, must not show any direct or indirect support for the Tunisian government's policies that put extreme pressure on legal activists, journalists and opponents, says HRinfo.

Kashmir (India)

Cable operators prohibited from carrying several Pakistani TV stations

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders calls on the federal government in New Delhi to explain why cable TV operators in the northwestern state of Jammu and Kashmir have been forbidden to carry several Pakistani TV channels. The organisation calls on the Indian authorities in charge of regulating the broadcast media to lift the ban and find a lasting solution that allows Kashmiris to watch the stations they want.

Hong Kong (China)

Freedom of expression activists denied entry to international conference

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

Uganda

Two other journalists arrested for "possessing seditious materials" and "publishing inflammatory materials"; photojournalist picked up during raid

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

Russia

Criminal libel case opened against website editor over article on corruption

(CJES/IFEX) - A criminal case has been opened against Andrei Dumler, the head of a Russian media outlet, who is charged with violating Article 129 of the Russian Criminal Code (which deals with libel). In November 2007, a report entitled "Money Vanishes at Noon" was published on the website of the information agency Baikal Media Consulting (BMK). The publication accuses the department of the Federal Service for the Enforcement of Punishments (UFSIN) of forgery, embezzlement, violations of the anti-monopoly legislation, and involvement with criminal structures.

Afghanistan

Australian journalist injured in suicide bomb attack, hospitalised

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

Burma

Junta reportedly planning to restrict Internet access during referendum

(Mizzima/IFEX) - The Burmese military junta is planning to block the flow of information from the country to the outside world by restricting Internet access during the referendum on 10 May 2008, according to a government source.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Journalists forcefully prohibited from covering event; independence of communications regulatory body threatened

(IPI/IFEX) - The following is a letter by the South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), an IPI affiliate, to the authorities of Bosnia-Herzegovina:

Russia

Newspaper website blocked over forum comment allegedly defamatory of regional official

(CJES/IFEX) - An Internet provider in Kirov region has blocked access to the website of the newspaper "Vyatsky Nablyudatel" at the request of the local law enforcement agencies. The decision was made over a comment posted on the paper's website, which law enforcement agencies found to be defamatory to a regional government official.

Iran

Journalist arrested; weekly suspended; daily in danger of losing licence

(RSF/IFEX) - On 28 April 2008, Iran's press surveillance commission ordered the conditional closure of reformist daily "Hambasteghi", following the arrest earlier in April of journalist Masud Rafai Taleghani, of the daily "Farhangh Ashati", and suspension a week later of the weekly "Paygam Borujerd", on a complaint from the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Orientation.

Nepal

BBC journalist prevented from working in Mount Everest area

(CEHURDES/IFEX) - CEHURDES, a Kathmandu-based freedom of expression monitoring group, expresses concern over the restrictions imposed by authorities on a journalist in the base camp area of Mount Everest.

Bahrain

Authorities threaten to use force to prevent conference

(BCHR/IFEX) - A high Bahraini security officer informed Karbabad Matam, an events venue in Manama, that it was not allowed to hold a public conference scheduled for 25 April 2008. The security officer stated that, if necessary, the Security Special Forces (SSF) would intervene by force to prevent the event from taking place. The organisers of the event told BCHR that these threats were made by the head of the Exhibition police station on 24 April.

Zimbabwe

Journalists plead not guilty to charges as trial gets underway

(MISA/IFEX) - The trial of three journalists employed by the weekly "Network Guardian" in the Midlands Zimbabwean town of Kwekwe who are charged with abuse of journalistic privileges in contravention of the repressive Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) kicked off on 24 April 2008 before Kwekwe Magistrate Oliver Mudzongachiso.

Uganda

Top journalist released from detention, his offices raided and materials seized

(Media Institute/IFEX) - Renowned Ugandan journalist Andrew Mwenda was freed on police bond late on 26 April 2008, after a thorough search by police of his newspaper offices. Mwenda was also ordered to report to police on 29 April.

Zimbabwe

Former ZBC official pleads not guilty to charges of facilitating unaccredited journalist's access to diamond mine fields; his trial postponed

(MISA/IFEX) - On 23 April 2008, the trial of the former Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) Manicaland bureau chief, Andrew Neshamba, who is accused of contravening the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act, was postponed to 2 June, because the trial magistrate was not feeling well.

Guatemala

Townspeople briefly hold journalist captive in Sacuy, beat two journalists in Patzicía

(CERIGUA/IFEX) - José Manuel Patzán, a reporter for the programme Patrullaje Informativo, on the Emisoras Unidas radio station, was held captive for a half-hour on 24 April 2008, by townspeople of Sacuy, in the municipality of San Juan Sacatepéquez, located 54 kilometres from the capital city. His captors held him as a bargaining chip, to demand the police hand over two individuals suspected of child abduction.

Gabon

Cameraman hospitalised following police beating for filming violence on protest organisers, film confiscated

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders condemns the beating which cameraman Claude Aba Mboula of privately-owned TV station Télé Africa received from police when he filmed police violence during a street protest against cost of living increases in Libreville on 25 April 2008.

Saudi Arabia

Blogger released from prison, his blog blocked by authorities

(HRinfo/IFEX) - On the morning of 26 April 2008, the Saudi government released the famous Saudi blogger Fouad Al-Farhan.

Iraq

Reporter gunned down in southern town

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders is saddened by the murder on 25 April 2008 of journalist Jassem Al-Battat, who was shot dead by gunmen in a market in Al-Qorna, a town 80 km north of the southern city of Basra. His death brings the number of journalists and media assistants killed in Iraq since March 2003 to 211.

Mexico

Radio station director threatened, followed, his house shot at in Oaxaca

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 25 April 2008 CPJ press release:

Uganda

Top political journalist arrested, whereabouts unknown, after criticising president on talk show

(Media Institute/IFEX) - Top political journalist Andrew Mwenda was arrested on the 26-27 April 2008 weekend by Ugandan security agents. Analysts say his arrest is in connection with comments he made on a popular talk show, Capital Gang, on 19 April.

Tonga

PINA voices concern over restrictions in national broadcaster's political programming in lead up to elections

(PINA/IFEX) - The following is a 23 April 2008 PINA press release:

Brazil

Murder of radio journalist in Alagoas still unsolved; IAPA calls for action

(IAPA/IFEX) - The following is a 23 April 2008 IAPA press release:

Venezuela

Valera journalist threatened following article about allegedly corrupt mayor; Barinas town councillors threaten to take over newspaper's headquarters

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 22 April 2008, "Diario de los Andes" newspaper journalist Javier Pirela received an anonymous telephone threat in connection with an article he published accusing Richard Cabrices of corruption. Cabrices is mayor of the San Rafael de Carvajal municipality. The anonymous caller referred to the article and told Pirela "his life was in danger." The incident occurred in the city of Valera, Trujillo state, in western Venezuela.

Canada

La police perquisitionne plusieurs médias pour obtenir des enregistrements de violences qui ont suivi un match de hockey à Montréal

(FPJQ/IFEX) - La Fédération professionnelle des journalistes du Québec (FPJQ) s'indigne des perquisitions que le Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SVPM) a menées le 24 avril 2008 dans les salles de nouvelles de plusieurs médias de Montréal: Radio-Canada, "La Presse", "The Gazette", CTV, "Le Journal de Montréal" et TVA-LCN. Le SPVM cherche à mettre la main sur toutes les images vidéos des désordres qui ont suivi la partie de hockey de lundi soir.

Somalia

Leading radio journalist freed after being held for eight hours without explanation

(RSF/IFEX) - Radio Shabelle news director Abdi Mohammed Ismail, who is also known "Abdi Uud," was released on 21 April 2008 after being held for eight hours by police in Mogadishu without being given any explanation. "They treated me well but did not ask me any questions while I was in custody," Ismail said after his release. "Perhaps it was the way I covered acts of violence that did not please some of them."

Azerbaijan

Journalist's vehicle set on fire, possibly in retaliation for critical reports

(IRFS/IFEX) - On the night of 24 April 2008, a vehicle belonging to military affairs journalist Uzeyir Jafarov was set on fire. Jafarov, who used to work for the now shuttered "Gundalik Azerbayjan" newspaper, informed IRFS about the incident, saying "it occurred in the yard of the building I live in, in Baku's micro-district #6. They lit a glass container filled with petrol under my vehicle's petrol tank." According to the journalist, the assailants' intent was to cause an explosion. However, by some luck the fire went out and an explosion was prevented. Nevertheless, the vehicle did sustain damages. The right rear tire and wheel well were burnt and the brake system is completely ruined.

Chechnya (Russia)

Canadian journalist harassed, press accreditation taken

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 24 April 2008 CPJ press release:

Tunisia

Journalist Taoufik Ben Brik's family threatened and harassed

(OLPEC/IFEX) - The following is a 24 April OLPEC press release:

Sri Lanka

Government bars photographers, censors news from war front

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

Eritrea

Journalist employed by state-owned radio station held since 2006

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has learned from local sources that Tura Kubaba, a journalist with the Kunama-language service of state-owned Radio Dimtsi Hafash ("Voice of the Masses"), has been detained in Eritrea since the second half of 2006 and disappeared in 2007 within the country's prison system.

Egypt

Woman detained for promoting general strike on Facebook, released; student briefly detained for urging release of Internet activists

(HRinfo/IFEX) - HRinfo welcomes the 23 April 2008 release of Internet activist Esraa Abdelfattah.

Russia

Pre-trial detention of editor Nikolai Andrushchenko extended by another two months

(WiPC/IFEX) - Nikolai Andrushchenko, co-founder and editor of the newspaper "Novy Peterburg", was initially sentenced to two months' pre-trial detention on charges of defamation and was due for release on 21 March 2008. However, it has been reported that his preliminary detention was prolonged by two more months. WiPC protests the extended detention as a violation of Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Nigeria

Newspaper editor allegedly targeted for assassination following exposé of government budget scam

(MRA/IFEX) - On 22 April 2008, the Sunday editor of the Lagos-based private "Daily Sun" newspaper, Ms. Funke Egbemode, allegedly received threats to her life from some unidentified members of Nigeria's House of Representatives for breaking a story of an alleged budget scam in the House and leading the "Sunday Sun" with it for two consecutive weeks

Azerbaijan

Defence ministry behind soldier's lawsuit against newspaper over article about bribe, says editor

(IRFS/IFEX) - The "Gundalik Baki" newspaper is facing a lawsuit filed by soldier Mursalov Fardi, who serves in the Defense Ministry Apartment Exploitation Service Unit. The soldier claims that a newspaper article entitled "Mehman Hajaliyev's Illegal Actions" contained libelous information about him. Fardi and his parents were reportedly concerned after reading the article and decided to file a lawsuit.

Zimbabwe

Detained freelancer Frank Chikowore denied bail and medical care; his lawyer insists he was not involved in 15 April strike and rioting

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 23 April 2008 CPJ press release:

Burma

Government launches aggressive censorship and harassment campaign in run-up to referendum on new constitution; rap singer arrested

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders and the Burma Media Association are outraged by the methods being used by the military government to prevent the media from freely covering the views and activities of the supporters of a No vote in a 10 May 2008 referendum on a new constitution.

Nicaragua

Newspaper editor and managing editor convicted of libel, fined

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

Tibet (China)

Radio stations jammed, websites hacked, media restrained as news blackout continues

(RSF/IFEX) - On 23 April 2008, Reporters Without Borders called for the foreign news media to be allowed back immediately into Tibet and nearby provinces with a Tibetan population, where the Chinese authorities have maintained a news blackout and have been conducting a massive propaganda campaign for the past six weeks.

The Gambia

Journalist's trial resumes; public barred from attending

(MFWA/IFEX) - The Kanifing Magistrate Court trying Fatou Jaw Manneh, a US-based Gambian journalist, for alleged sedition on 21 April 2008 restricted the general public from the trial by ruling that only Manneh's family members and two journalists were to be admitted to the court.

Liberia

Staff members of critical newspaper summoned to court for reporting judge's statement: "a calculated attempt to intimidate," says editor

(CEMESP/IFEX) - The editors and a reporter of "The Public Agenda", one of Liberia's best investigative newspapers, has been summoned by the First Judicial Circuit Criminal Court A for Montserrado county, to answer to charges of contempt of court over an article published in its pages.

Azerbaijan

Three imprisoned journalists awarded Hellman/Hammett Grants for courage

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

Peru

Journalist investigating Ucayali regional government's alleged corruption receives death threat

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 2 April 2008, journalist Smilzinia Mendoza Ramírez, director and conductor of Radio Pucallpa's programme "Conexiones", denounced that as she was walking down the street an unknown person pushed her, insulted her and threatened to kill her, without any apparent motive. The incident took place in the town of Pucallpa, Ucayali region, eastern Peru. The journalist told IPYS that this was the third act of aggression against her in a month. She believes that the threats may be related to her coverage of allegations about corruption in the administration of Ucayali's regional president, José Velásquez Portocarrero, which she has been reporting on since 2007.

Zimbabwe

Charges against journalist dropped for lack of evidence; MISA urges police to return his equipment

(MISA/IFEX) - Mutare public prosecutor Malvern Musarurwa has declined to prosecute freelance journalist Sydney Saize, whose trial on allegations of contravening the repressive Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) and Public Order and Security Act (POSA) was set to commence in the eastern border town on 22 April 2008.

Sri Lanka

IFJ concerned at police inaction as kidnap threat repeated against FMM employee

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is a 22 April 2008 IFJ media release:

International

European Parliament's decision not to publish audit report "shows contempt for transparency," says EFJ

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

Cameroon

One musician arrested, another sentenced to six months' imprisonment for criticising constitutional amendments

(MFWA/IFEX) - Two renowned musicians, Lapiro de Mbanga and Joe La Conscience have been arrested and detained by the authorities in Cameroon for singing songs in which they criticised the recent controversial constitutional amendments which allow the President unlimited terms of office.

Zimbabwe

MDC's information director arrested, charged; student journalist fined before release; MISA condemns discriminatory treatment of detained journalist

(MISA/IFEX) - Freelance journalist and registered media student of the University of Witwatersrand, Stanley Karombo, was arrested on 18 April 2008 at Gwanzura stadium in Harare's suburb of Highfield while taking notes during Zimbabwe's 28th independence celebrations.

Colombia

Community radio organizer, previously smeared by army, receives new paramilitary death threat

(AMARC/IFEX) - New death threats against social media communicators, religious leaders and members of social organisations in the Middle Magdalena (Magdalena Medio) region in the southern area of Bolívar department, have been denounced in a 21 April 2008 joint press release by several social, religious and human rights organisations.

Niger

Private radio station closed for broadcasting testimonies of soldiers' victims

(RSF/IFEX) - The following is an abridged translation of a 22 April 2008 RSF press release:

Democratic Republic of Congo

Journalist beaten by Angolan diplomat, arrested while unconscious

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 21 April 2008 CPJ press release:

Zimbabwe

Detained journalist Frank Chikowore charged, denied treatment; freelancer Stanley Karombo released after incommunicado detention

(WiPC/IFEX) - WiPC protests the continuing detention of freelance journalist and internet writer Frank Chikowore, who was charged with "public violence" on 21 April 2008, almost a week after his arrest. He has reportedly been denied medical treatment while in detention. The WiPC also remains seriously concerned about a number of other attacks against print journalists in Zimbabwe in the wake of the contested March 2008 elections. Freelancer Stanley Karombo was detained incommunicado for three days before being released on 21 April. Three foreign correspondents were also detained and put on trial this month. The WiPC fears that these journalists are being targeted for their reporting on the recent elections, in violation of their right to freedom of expression. It is calling on the authorities to substantiate the charges against Chikowore, and to allow him access to medical and legal assistance and bail provision, or alternatively to release him immediately and unconditionally.

Vietnam

Independent journalist and blogger Nguyen Hoang Hai arrested following death threats; independent journalist Truong Minh Duc sentenced to five years in prison

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has called for the release of all journalists and cyber-dissidents in Vietnam after a leading Vietnamese blogger was arrested on 19 April 2008 for taking part in protests against China. The Olympic torch is due to arrive on 29 April in Ho Chi Minh City, in southern Vietnam, after being borne through the streets of the North Korean capital of Pyongyang.

Mexico

Journalist to be compensated for death threats, man responsible also fined

(CEPET/IFEX) - On 21 April 2008, a federal judge fined Demetrio Pineda Ibarra, a former student of the Autonomous University of Champingo (Universidad Autónoma Chapingo) 36,400 pesos (approx. US$3450) and also ordered him to pay compensation equivalent to six months' minimum wage for sending death threats to journalist Dolores de la Rosa Sabre, known as Lolita de la Vega.

Chile

Police impede journalist from covering environmental protest, briefly detain him in Coyhaique

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 17 April 2008, a group of police officers detained journalist Patricio Segura outside the Public Works Ministerial Regional Secretariat (SEREMI), in the town of Coyhaique, southern Chile, when he was covering a protest against the minister of the interior, Edmundo Pérez Yoma, who was visiting the region. The reporter was accused of inciting people to disorder and was released two hours later.

Slovenia

IPI calls on Parliament to reject proposed extension of criminal defamation

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

Serbia / International

IPI and SEEMO criticise EC Liaison Office's comment on Kosovo newspaper's publication of information without prior institutional consent

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

Mexico

Mexico City's access to information law still flawed despite amendment, says ARTICLE 19

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

Peru

Journalist kicked, head-butted and threatened by Puno regional president's wife

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 11 April 2008, "La Republica" newspaper correspondent, Liubomir Fernández, was hit by Lilia Hancco Navarro, wife of Puno's regional president, Hernán Fuentes, during a march organized by Fuentes against the central government. Puno is located in southeastern Peru.

Azerbaijan

Journalist threatened, harassed for sending inquiry to Ministry of Agriculture office

(IRFS/IFEX) - On 21 April 2008, "Bizim Yol" newspaper correspondent Natig Adilov received a threat by telephone from an unidentified person, with regard to an inquiry he had submitted to a government office. He received a second threatening call regarding the same matter on 22 April.

Bahrain

Editor fined in defamation case

(BCHR/IFEX) - The Bahrain Centre for Human Rights is concerned by the use of the repressive and widely condemned Press Decree Code 47 (2002) against a local journalist and news editor.

Israel / Palestine

Evidence suggests Israeli tank crew may have targeted Reuters team; Ma'an news agency reporters also came under fire

(HRW/IFEX) - The following is a 19 April 2008 Human Rights Watch press release:

Mexico

"El Cinco" newspaper printer abducted, other employees threatened, issues prevented from being sold to the public

(CEPET/IFEX) - Early on 16 April 2008, armed men invaded the premises of "El Cinco" newspaper, based in Ciudad La Victoria, capital of Tamaulipas state, abducted the printer and threatened the other employees, in an effort to prevent the newspaper's distribution. The incident occurred only hours after individuals who had been presumed to be gang members robbed the two electricity meters in an effort to cut off power to the newspaper's facilities.

Somalia

Five radio station employees released, station back on the air

(RSF/IFEX) - Heavily-armed police raided the Mogadishu studios of privately-owned Radio Voice of Peace on the morning of 17 April 2008, arresting five employees who were finally released in the evening, Reporters Without Borders has learned from Omar Faruk Osman, the secretary general of its partner organisation in Somalia, the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ).

Democratic Republic of Congo

Observers of Serge Maheshe murder case receive death threats

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders is very worried about death threats that were sent anonymously by SMS message on 17 and 19 April 2008 to four independent observers who are monitoring the appeal hearings of four people convicted of the June 2007 murder of journalist Serge Maheshe in the eastern city Bukavu. The appeals are being heard by a Bukavu military court.

Peru

Radio journalist receives threats after reporting on alleged misconduct by Loreto regional government

(IPYS/IFEX) - Since 7 April 2008, journalist Mary Pérez Cora, of the radio station Radio La Voz de la Selva, has been repeatedly insulted and threatened by telephone while hosting that station's news programme.

Honduras

Telemaya journalist, camera operator receive death threats in La Entrada

(PROBIDAD/IFEX) - In the early hours of 18 April 2008, three masked and armed men entered the premises in La Entrada of Telemaya television station, tied and gagged a machine operator and a visitor, and left a death threat against journalist Carlos Chinchilla and his camera operator. La Entrada is located in Copán, a department in western Honduras. Telemaya is broadcast on Channel 12.

Mexico

Warrants issued for arrest of five public employees involved in illegitimate detention of journalist Lydia Cacho

(CENCOS/IFEX) - The Attorney General's Office has issued arrest warrants against five public employees involved in the illegitimate detention of journalist Lydia Cacho.

Nepal

Police target and arrest two journalists amid wave of human rights violations against Tibetans

(HRW/IFEX) - The following is a 20 April 2008 Human Rights Watch press release:

Somalia

Well-known journalist arrested in Mogadishu

(NUSOJ/IFEX) - The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) is disturbed by the arrest of a prominent and respected radio journalist, Abdi Mohammed Ismail, who works for the Mogadishu-based, privately-owned Shabelle Media Network.

Egypt

Raid of satellite communications supplier, confiscation of equipment part of campaign to undermine broadcasters, says HRinfo

(HRinfo/IFEX) - The Egyptian government has initiated a drastic move to thwart satellite channels. It recently raided one of the most important companies offering satellite equipment for rent and confiscated five sets of its broadcasting equipment. This action may have serious consequences on the live broadcasting capacities of several satellite channels such as Al Jazeera, Dubai, Qatar and French TV.

Zimbabwe

President of journalists' union brutally assaulted; freelance journalist abducted, whereabouts unknown

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

Nigeria

Film crew, assistant released from unjustified detention

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 17 April 2008 CPJ press release:

Tunisia

Four issues of weekly seized, libel actions brought against newspaper

(RSF/IFEX) - On 18 April 2008, Reporters Without Borders called on the Tunisian authorities to put a stop to the harassment of the staff of the weekly "Al-Maoukif", the mouthpiece of the opposition Progressive Democratic Party (PDP). The seizures of its latest issues and libel suits are threatening its survival. The organisation also wrote to French President Nicolas Sarkozy asking him to raise the issue of free expression during his 28-30 April visit to Tunis.

Peru

Two men convicted in radio journalist's murder

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

Iran

Weekly closed permanently, three of its journalists fined; another newspaper suspended; ban lifted on two publications

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders condemns the 11 April 2008 decision of a criminal court in Sanandaj, in Iran's northwestern Kurdish region, to close the Kurdish-language weekly "Rouji Ha Lat" for good on the grounds that it had received money from abroad. The court took the position that it broke the law by selling copies across the border in the Kurdish part of Iraq.

Venezuela

Woman journalist threatened by bodybuilder after revealing anti-doping test results

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 9 April 2008, athlete Henderson Ramírez made a threatening telephone call to journalist Mariela Escola, public relations director of the state of Mérida's Sports and Recreation Foundation, after she released information indicating he had engaged in doping during the 2007 Llanos National Sports Games, in which he won a gold medal in bodybuilding.

Bolivia

Two filmmakers abducted, abused and threatened by Santa Cruz landowners opposed to national government

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF condemns the abduction and mistreatment of two documentary filmmakers - Tanimbu Estremadoiro and her Argentine colleague Fernando Cola - by residents of Cuevo, in the eastern department of Santa Cruz, on 13 April 2008.

Zimbabwe

Detained freelance journalist, allegedly facing charges for "malicious damage to property," requires medical attention

(MISA/IFEX) - Detained freelance journalist Frank Chikowore's lawyer, Harrison Nkomo, has filed an urgent High Court application compelling the police to take Chikowore to hospital as he is complaining of abdominal and chest pains.

Sudan

Authorities agree to end censorship, following concerted campaign by journalists

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

China

Olympics "catastrophic" for journalists, says previously-imprisoned press freedom laureate

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

Sudan

Secret police seize copies of six newspapers

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders called on the Sudanese government on 17 April 2008 to lift its almost three-month censorship of the privately-owned press in Khartoum which has intensified in recent days with the seizure of six daily newspapers.

Turkey

Proposed penal code amendments will not protect free speech; Article 301 should be abolished, says Human Rights Watch

(HRW/IFEX) - The following is a 17 April 2008 Human Rights Watch press release:

Venezuela

Journalists warned of alleged plot by former police commander to attack them over critical coverage

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 15 April 2008, a person identifying himself as a member of the State of Lara's Police Armed Forces (Fuerzas Armadas Policiales, FAP) phoned "El Impulso" newspaper's press office in Caracas warning about an alleged plan for an attack on journalists Carmen Julia Viloria and Juan Bautista Salas by FAP personnel and former FAP commander Jesús Armando Rodríguez Figuera. "El Impulso" is published in the city of Barquisimeto, capital of the state of Lara.

Kuwait

New law overly restricts peaceful expression of dissent, says HRinfo

(HRinfo/IFEX) - On 15 April 2008, HRinfo stated that the new law issued by the Kuwaiti government days before, which infringes on the right to organize gatherings or peaceful protests, is overly restrictive. The Ministry of the Interior approved the law even though it contradicts a 2006 ruling by the Kuwaiti Constitutional Court upholding the right of Kuwaiti citizens to gather peacefully.

Colombia

"You'll be exterminated, one by one," paramilitary tell community radio leader, others, in southern Bolivar

(AMARC/IFEX) - AMARC-Latin America and the Caribbean (AMARC-ALC) joins the Network of Community Radio Stations of Magdalena Medio (Red de Emisoras Comunitarias del Magdalena Medio, AREDMAG) in strongly condemning the death threats issued by the paramilitary umbrella group Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC) against Fr. Rafael Gallego, an animator and representative of the community radio station Ecos de Tiquisio, and against other priests and members of social organisations of this region. Ecos de Tiquisio is based in the town of Tiquisio, in the southern area of the Bolivar department, in northern Colombia.

Malaysia

Tamil-language paper denied licence renewal, effectively banned

(SEAPA/IFEX) - Malaysian officials have rejected a Tamil-language newspaper's application for a publishing permit - an annual requirement for periodicals under the draconian Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA) - in effect, banning the daily that had existed since the early 1990s.

Sri Lanka

FMM staff member threatened with abduction; police take no action

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

Zambia

Journalist beaten by police, detained briefly, his photographs of forceful police action deleted

(MISA/IFEX) - On 17 April 2008, senior reporter Kaiko Namusa, from the state-owned newspaper "Times of Zambia", was assaulted and detained for over an hour at the Chipata Central Police station for taking pictures of police officers who were manhandling a cyclist for allegedly breaking traffic rules.

Malawi

Two journalists arrested, one beaten by police

(MISA/IFEX) - Journalist Maxwell Ng'ambi was arrested by police on suspicion that he intended to interview a former speaker of parliament and cabinet minister, Sam Mpasu, from prison without permission to do so.

Turkey / Gender

Government raids outspoken gay rights group in pattern of harassment

(HRW/IFEX) - The following is a 16 April 2008 Human Rights Watch press release:

Zimbabwe

Court releases two foreign journalists re-arrested for reporting without accreditation, drops charges

(MISA/IFEX) - Two foreign journalists who were re-arrested after their 7 April 2008 release on bail over charges of contravening the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) were released by Harare Magistrate Gloria Takundwa on 16 April.

Guatemala

Security agent uses excessive force to impede journalists from approaching president

(CERIGUA/IFEX) - On 15 April 2008, journalists Ricardo Quinto, of the newspaper "elPeriódico", Henry Morales, of Radio Sonora, and Jaime Montenegro, of Radio Punto, were assaulted by an agent of the state security services (Secretaria de Asuntos Administrativos y de Seguridad, SAAS). The incident occurred when the security agent used physical force to prevent the journalists from approaching President Álvaro Colom, which led to a scuffle and fisticuffs. It took place in the National Palace of Culture in the nation's capital.

Paraguay

Community radio stations bracing for possible military incursions following irresponsible accusations by President Duarte

(AMARC/IFEX) - AMARC-Paraguay and the Paraguayan Association for Community Communication (Asociación Paraguaya de Comunicación Comunitaria, COMUNICA) condemn the recent statements by Paraguayan President Nicanor Duarte, accusing "community radio stations" in the San Pedro department of acquiring explosives, allegedly in preparation for violent actions to take place on 20 April 2008, national elections day.

Iraq

IFJ urges Parliament to prioritise law to protect media workers

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

Zimbabwe

British journalist Jonathan Clayton fined and deported after spending one week in detention

(RSF/IFEX) - British journalist Jonathan Clayton, a correspondent for "The Times" of London, was deported to South Africa after being sentenced on 16 April 2008 by a court in Bulawayo to a 20 billion Zimbabwean dollar fine (approx. 150 euros) or six months in prison for making false statements to immigration officials when he arrived in Bulawayo on a flight from South Africa on 9 April.

Pakistan

RSF proposes 10 steps to improve press freedom following tabling of new bill

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

Brazil

UN urges Congressional approval of access to information law, calls for other free expression measures

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

United Kingdom / Thailand

Giant retail company's legal action against newspapers "harassment, pure and simple," says SEAPA

(SEAPA/IFEX) - Tesco Lotus, one of the biggest retailers in Thailand, has filed another defamation suit against a Thai columnist, following through on a trend that has got the country's journalists and media on edge.

Zimbabwe

British journalist Jonathan Clayton arrested as political crisis deepens

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders is deeply concerned about freelance journalist Frank Chikowore, who was arrested by police near his Harare home on 15 April 2008 and has since been held in an unknown location. The organisation also calls for the release of British journalist Jonathan Clayton, who was arrested at Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo international airport in Bulawayo on 9 April.

Guatemala

Journalists of critical radio station in Jutiapa receive death threat

(CERIGUA/IFEX) - On 31 March 2008, Radio Tamazulapa journalists Alberto Sandoval, Milton René Polanco and Leonel Humberto Díaz received an anonymous written death threat. The incident took place in Jutiapa, in Guatemala department, 168 kilometers from the capital city.

Nepal

Politician's nephew threatens to kill radio journalist over elections coverage in Janakpur

(FNJ/IFEX) - On 17 April 2008, Nimesh Karna, news coordinator of the radio station Janaki FM, which broadcasts from Janakpur, was threatened to be killed by the nephew of Bimalendra Nidhi, a Nepali Congress Candidate for Constituent Assembly (CA) election. The incident took place in Janakpur, a district headquarter of Dhanusha, a central region of Nepal.

Sri Lanka

FMM concerned for press freedom as state institutions, politicians and political parties mistreat media

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

Somalia

Armed police raid and shut down privately-owned radio station, arrest journalists and technician

(NUSOJ/IFEX) - NUSOJ condemns the closure of the privately-owned FM station Radio Voice of Peace in Mogadishu and the subsequent arrest of four of its journalists and a technician.

Pakistan

Tribal leader arrested in 2006 killing of cameraman

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 16 April 2008 CPJ press release:

China

Tibetan TV producer detained, whereabouts unknown

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 16 April 2008 CPJ press release:

Grenada

Two journalists accused of working with opposition harassed

(RSF/IFEX) - The following is an RSF letter to Prime Minister Keith Mitchell:

Palestine / Israel

Reuters cameraman killed, his assistant seriously injured in Gaza Strip by Israeli missile

(RSF/IFEX) - Fadel Shanaa, a Palestinian cameraman working for the British news agency Reuters, was killed on 16 April 2008 by a rocket fired during an Israeli military incursion into the Gaza Strip. His assistant Wafa Barbakh was seriously injured.

Liberia

Media working group presents draft media reform and access to information laws to legislature

(CEMESP/IFEX) - On 17 April 2008, the Liberia Media Law and Policy Reform Working Group, with support from the Partnership for Media and Conflict Prevention in Liberia, will submit three draft laws to the National Legislature of Liberia for consideration.

Egypt

Military court convicts 25 members of opposition group in "transparently political verdict", says Human Rights Watch

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

China

"Let's open door to dialogue," says IFJ, as safety fears cast shadow over media work

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

Mexico

Zacatecas journalist and his family threatened following critical reporting on state governor's top aides

(CEPET/IFEX) - At approximately 8:10 p.m. (local time) on 14 April 2008, the family of Zacatecas state-based journalist Martín Carcaño received a telephone call from a woman who said "watch your tongue; it's too loose," and "your family will be attacked."

Egypt

Police raid publishing house, seize copies of novel

(HRinfo/IFEX) - On 15 April 2008, a police force led by a colonel raided the Cairo-based Malameh publishing house, which is owned by blogger Muhammad Al Sharkawi, and confiscated copies of a novel entitled "Metro". The police officers advised one of the Malameh employees that Al Sharkawi and the novel's author should appear before the police bureau. HRinfo noted with concern that the police force which carried out the raid is affiliated with the discipline police.

Iraq / United States

US military releases AP photographer Bilal Hussein after 735 days in detention

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders hails the long-awaiting release on 16 April 2008 of Iraqi journalist Bilal Hussein, a photographer with the Associated Press news agency, who had been held by the US military in Iraq since 12 April 2006 on suspicion of terrorist links.

Mexico

"El Universal" journalist threatened by lawyer of recently detained drug cartel hitman over article on his arrest

(CENCOS/IFEX) - Journalist Silvia Otero, of the national newspaper "El Universal", received a threatening call from lawyer Omar Cerecedo, who is representing Daniel Pérez Rojas, alias "El Cachetes". Pérez Rojas is a former military officer and the former head bodyguard of drug cartel leader Osiel Cárdenas. He is also believed to have been one of the founders of the "Los Zetas" gang.

Somalia

NUSOJ denounces dismal safety situation for journalists, artists

(NUSOJ/IFEX) - The following is a joint statement by NUSOJ, the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Network and the Somali-Speaking Center of International PEN:

Mexico

Inordinate delays in resolution of PRI politician's lawsuit against journalists over book

(CENCOS/IFEX) - The lawsuit initiated by Gerardo Sosa Castelán, current federal congressman for the state of Hidalgo, against Alfredo Rivera Flores, Miguel Angel Granados Chapa and others, for alleged moral damages, has dragged on for three and a half years without even the stage involving submission of evidence being concluded.

China

Activist Hu Jia denied right to appeal prison sentence; wife concerned for his health

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

Slovakia

Controversial Press Act passes third reading; IPI asks president not to sign it into law

(IPI/IFEX) - The following is a 15 April 2008 IPI letter to President Ivan Gasparovic:

Guyana / Bermuda

Television station suspended, government advertising in daily resumed in Guyana; Bermudan government denies critical newspaper advertising contracts

(IAPA/IFEX) - The following is an abridged IAPA 15 April 2008 press release:

Russia

Authorities target NGOs as attacks on free speech continue

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

Zimbabwe

Withholding election results a violation of the right to know, says ARTICLE 19

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

Zimbabwe

Bulawayo woman arrested and released on bail; faces charges of practicing journalism without accreditation

(MISA/IFEX) - A 60-year old Bulawayo woman, Margaret Ann Kriel, was arrested in the city on 10 April 2008 on allegations of practicing journalism without accreditation in violation of the repressive Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA), as amended in 2007. She was not formally charged and released until 22 April on Z$100 million (approx. US$3,300) bail.

Zimbabwe

Court acquits South African media workers

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 14 April 2008 CPJ press release:

Morocco

Police beat four journalists covering protests

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders condemns police violence against a total of four journalists covering demonstrations. "Journalists must be able to work with complete safety, without having to fear police batons," the press freedom organisation said.

Iran

Journalist Emadoldin Baghi reincarcerated after heart treatment; human rights activist receives death threats

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders condemns the judicial decision to send journalist and human rights activist Emadoldin Baghi back to prison on 15 April 2008. He had been let out of prison to seek medical treatment on 18 January.

China / France

French Olympic committee capitulates to pressure from IOC and China to prohibit athletes from wearing "For a better world" badge

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders is dismayed by the decision of the French National Olympic and Sports Committee (CNOSF) to prohibit French athletes from wearing a badge saying "For a better world" during the Beijing Olympic Games.

Zimbabwe

Accredited journalist arrested, his house searched and materials seized

(MISA/IFEX) - On 15 April 2008, freelance journalist Frank Chikowore was arrested in Harare in unclear circumstances.

Afghanistan

Grenade attack on home of woman radio journalist

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

Nigeria

US documentary film crew and local assistant arrested by military, remain in detention

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 14 April 2008 CPJ press release:

Uruguay / Gender

Government urged to protect newspaper editor and her children who have been receiving threats

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF is concerned for the safety of Marlene Vaz, a journalist based in the northeastern town of Río Branco, and her family, who have been harassed as a result of her reporting the theft of a large consignment of sport shoes involving the Río Branco police in early 2006. The threats have stepped up in recent days as Vaz appeals against her five-month suspended prison sentence for allegedly libelling the police in the weekly she edits, the Río Branco-based "Opción Cero".

United States / China

IFJ concerned about possible funding cuts to Cantonese-language independent radio services, in view of China's severe restrictions on freedom of expression

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

Pakistan

Journalist shot dead in unstable province of Baluchistan, motive unknown

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

Guatemala

CERIGUA journalist covering corruption and crime receives threatening phone calls

(CERIGUA/IFEX) - On 11 and 12 April 2008, journalist José Pelicó Pérez, a reporter and editor for CERIGUA, received threatening telephone calls from an unidentified individual. The caller told Pelicó that he knew about the journalist's movements, and warned the journalist to "watch out".

Peru

Journalists assaulted by labour leaders while covering regional strike

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 10 April 2008, journalists Marbella Mamani, David Gonzáles and Enrique del Águila, of La Karibeña radio station, were assaulted by members of the General Confederation of Peruvian Workers (Confederación General de Trabajadores del Perú, CGTP). The incident occurred while the news team was covering a regional strike organised in support of a group of indigenous people who are detained in Andoas, Datém del Marañón province, Loreto region, in north eastern Peru.

Guatemala

Camera operator shot, journalist assaulted, robbed, while covering protest in San Juan Alotenango

(CERIGUA/IFEX) - On 9 April 2008, Telecentro 13 camera operator Eduardo García and María Teresa López Lima, a correspondent for "Prensa Libre" and the Emisoras Unidas radio station, were assaulted while covering a protest by an enraged mob. The incident occurred in the municipality of San Juan Alotenango, Sacatepéquez department, 45 kilometres from the capital. García was shot in the stomach and had to be taken to hospital.

Iraq

British journalist freed after being held hostage in Basra for two months

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders is relieved to learn that Richard Butler, a British journalist who was kidnapped in Basra (590 km south of Baghdad) on 10 February 2008, was rescued by Iraqi soldiers on 14 April. Butler was on assignment for the US TV network CBS News. His interpreter, who was kidnapped with him, was released by their captors three days later.

Yemen

Director of women's NGO receives death threats; comedian arrested

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

Nepal

Party militants assault, threaten to kill journalists over election coverage in Nuwakot

(FNJ/IFEX) - On 13 April 2008, Maoist party workers threatened to kill journalists of Nuwakot, a central district of Nepal, who were covering the Constituent Assembly elections.

Cuba

Provincial journalist detained and expelled from Havana

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

Zimbabwe

Two South Africans released on bail, plead not guilty at trial on spurious charges of misrepresenting themselves as accredited journalists

(MISA/IFEX) - The trial of Sipho Moses Maseko and Abdulla Ismail Gaibee, the two South Africans who were arrested in Harare on March 27, 2008 and charged for allegedly violating the repressive Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA), as well as the Electoral Act, began before Harare Magistrate Doris Shomwe on 10 April 2008.

Nepal

Television journalist threatened with murder by YCL cadres in Parbat district for negative coverage

(FNJ/IFEX) - Amrit Baskune, district correspondent of the Ujjwalo network and Nepal One television station, was threatened with murder by cadres of the Young Communist League (YCL), a Maoist-allied group, on 10 April 2008 at the Constituent Assembly election booth of Bikune, at the Jana Priya Primary School, Baranja VDC, Yarwan, in the Parbat district, a western region of Nepal.

Egypt

US photographer arrested, his interpreter still detained; several bloggers harassed

(RSF/IFEX) - Police arrested US freelance photographer James Buck and his Egyptian interpreter, Mohammed Saleh Ahmed Maree, on 10 April 2008 in Mahalla and took them to the nearest police station, where they were both detained.

China

Imprisoned dissident writer Yang Tongyan to receive 2008 PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award

(PEN/IFEX) - The following is a PEN American Center press release:

Azerbaijan

Persecuted journalist beaten during interrogation, remains defiant: "they cannot silence me"

(IRFS/IFEX) - The investigation into the 13 March 2008 stabbing of "Azadlig" newspaper employee Agil Khalil has turned against him. Using physical and psychological abuse, the Chief Prosecutor's Department to Investigate Serious Crimes took a statement from Khalil in which, under duress, he effectively slandered himself. Meanwhile, television channels under the control of the government have disseminated suspicious allegations against Khalil, apparently cooked up by the authorities.

United States

Nurse investigated for sedition over critical letter to editor to receive free expression award

(PEN/IFEX) - The following is a PEN American Center press release:

International

IPI condemns ongoing refusal to accredit Taiwanese journalists as "a serious violation of press freedom"

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

Pakistan

New government initiates moves to sweep away media restrictions

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

Kyrgyzstan

Investigation into editor's murder shut down again

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 10 April 2008 CPJ press release:

Indonesia

New Internet law threatens free expression

(SEAPA/IFEX) - SEAPA is concerned by the passing of the Electronic Information and Transaction Law in Indonesia on 25 March 2008, which has been criticised by the Press Council as falling short of international trends and standards.

Argentina

President slams cartoon as "quasi-mafioso message"; FOPEA worried by government participation in media observatory

(FOPEA /IFEX) - Amid intense political and social debate over a conflict between the government and elected representatives from the rural sector, the President has re-launched an Observatory on Discrimination in the Media, composed of government bodies and the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Buenos Aires. The initiative was taken just after a bitter confrontation between the government and rural sectors, in which the media, both public sector and private, became one of the battlegrounds.

Democratic Republic of Congo

Newspaper editor's assistant also detained

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders and Journaliste en Danger (JED), its partner organisation in Democratic Republic of Congo, wrote on 10 April 2008, to Congolese interior minister Denis Kalume Numbi asking him to intervene in the case of newspaper editor Nsimba Embete Ponte and his assistant, Davin Ntondo Nzovuangu, who are being held incommunicado.

Croatia

News magazine director escapes assassination attempt

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

Pakistan

Journalists assaulted, their equipment destroyed, media vehicles burned during disturbances in Karachi

(PPF/IFEX) - Five journalists, including a female cameraperson, were attacked and their cameras were destroyed while they attempted to cover the incidents of violence that erupted on 9 April 2008 in Karachi, Pakistan's largest city. According to press reports, masked men attacked journalists who were covering the violence in different parts of the city. The vehicles of at least two reporters were also set on fire during the disturbances.

Peru

Sports journalists barred from football game by club owner Congressman José Mallqui following critical coverage

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 9 April 2008, a group of sports journalists were forbidden to enter the Rosas Pampa stadium in the city of Huaraz, northwestern Peru, where they were due to cover the opening match of a professional football championship.

China

Imprisoned Internet writer and activist Zhu Yufu receives tougher sentence after retrial

(PEN/IFEX) - The following is a PEN American Center press release:

Iran

One student activist missing, three others abused, at risk of torture, following detentions believed to be for expressing dissent

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

Paraguay

Radio journalist critical of drug-trafficking seriously wounded, his wife killed, in shooting attack

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF is very worried by a shooting attack that took place on 8 April 2008 in Curuguaty (300 km north-east of Asunción) in which political activist and radio commentator Alfredo Tomás Avalos was seriously injured by a gunshot to the head and his Brazilian wife, Silvana Rodrígues, was killed. The organisation fears the Paraguayan media is in danger due to the tension surrounding the 20 April elections to choose a successor to President Nicanor Duarte.

Nepal

CEHURDES condemns YCL attack on "Sindhu Prabaha" weekly, threats of future retaliation for coverage

(CEHURDES/IFEX) - CEHURDES condemns the seizure of copies of a newspaper and threats issued to the editorial team of "Sindhu Prabaha", a weekly Nepali-language newspaper, published in the Sindhupalchok district, central Nepal.

Israel

Seven employees placed under house arrest, material seized following police raid on radio station

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders condemns the 7 April 2008 raid on the Jerusalem studios of the pro-peace radio station RAM FM, in which Israeli police closed the studios, arrested seven employees and seized its transmitter on the grounds that it was disrupting communication between aircraft and the Ben Gurion airport control tower. After being held overnight, the employees were placed under house arrest.

Pakistan

Political interference suspected in two-hour suspension of two television news channels

(PPF/IFEX) - The broadcasting of two television news channels, Geo TV and ARY TV, was suspended for over two hours on 7 April 2008 in Karachi, Pakistan's largest city, and in other cities in the province of Sindh.

Argentina

IAPA concerned over plans for governmental "media observatory"

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

Haiti

Three reporters injured while covering mass protests in capital

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 9 April 2008 CPJ press release:

Iraq / United States

Legal proceedings against AP photographer dropped, CPJ urges his release

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 9 April 2008 CPJ press release:

Panama

Television cameraman and photographer killed while covering gang conflict

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

Ecuador

Prosecutors say newspaper editor's murder not linked to his work

(RSF/IFEX) - Investigators are again working on the assumption that the motive for newspaper editor Carlos Navarrete's murder was robbery. This was the initial theory but it was then ruled out because nothing was taken from his apartment in the western city of Guayaquil where his body was found on 24 February 2008 with multiple stab wounds.

Russia

Suspect in correspondent's murder acquitted in Tula

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is an 8 April 2008 CPJ press release:

Nepal

Journalist threatened over news coverage

(FNJ/IFEX) - Bishnu Chaulagain, chief editor of "Kavre Post" daily, was threatened by Nepal Communist Party-United Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) cadre Rurdra Baniya on 8 April 2008 in Kavre, a neighbouring district of Kathmandu.

Peru

Newspaper editor's telephone tapped; police detain reporters for more than four hours

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 6 April 2008, "El Comercio" newspaper announced that the phone of journalist and political editor Juan Paredes Castro had been tapped through the use of a device installed 400 meters away from his house.

Nepal

Authorities step up media crackdown as country prepares for elections

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

Russia

Journalist who contested outcome of State Duma elections beaten

(CJES/IFEX) - Grigory Belonuchkin, a parliamentary reporter with the publishing center Panorama, was beaten up in the city of Dolgoprudny, in the Moscow region, during the early hours of 2 April 2008.

Bulgaria

Organised crime writer shot and killed in Sofia

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is an 8 April 2008 CPJ press release:

The Gambia

Two journalists banned from covering court proceedings

(MFWA/IFEX) - Yai Dibba and Abdoulie Njokey, both journalists with "The Point", an independent Banjul-based newspaper, were on 27 March 2008 banned from covering proceedings in the Brikama Magistrates Court.

Indonesia

Government blocks YouTube, file-sharing sites to stop viewing of anti-Islam film

(SEAPA/IFEX) - Major Internet service providers in Indonesia have reportedly blocked several file-sharing websites in adherence to a government order prohibiting people from viewing online a controversial short film that paints a demonic image of Islam.

Mexico / Gender

Two female indigenous radio station broadcasters murdered in ambush of crew in Oaxaca

(ARTICLE 19/CENCOS/IFEX) - Two announcers of La Voz que Rompe el Silencio community radio station, which is based in San Juan Copala, Oaxaca state, in southeast Mexico, were shot dead when traveling on the highway connecting Joya del Mamey to Putla de Guerrero, two settlements in Oaxaca. Dead are Felicitas Martínez Sánchez, 21, and Teresa Bautista Merino, 24. Four other people were wounded.

Philippines

Publisher shot dead; motive uncertain

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

The Gambia

District tribunal president bans media coverage of proceedings

(MFWA/IFEX) - Dembo Santang Bojang, President of Kombo Central District Tribunal in the Western Region of The Gambia, on 8 April 2008 warned journalists in the region to stop covering its proceedings or risk going to jail.

Turkey

Court suspends two pro-Kurdish websites indefinitely

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has criticised a Turkish court's indefinite suspension of two pro-Kurdish websites and called for an explanation from the authorities, as the law requires.

Uruguay

Gun attack on Tacuarembó radio journalist's daughter; perpetrators swiftly convicted, imprisoned

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

Iran

Four newspapers suspended by authorities for "failing to publish regularly"

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders condemns the arbitrary suspension of four newspapers on 6 April 2008 for "failing to publish regularly." It brings the number of newspapers banned by the Commission for Press Authorisation and Surveillance since the start of the year to 17.

Zimbabwe

"New York Times" reporter released on bail pending trial for reporting without accreditation

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 7 April 2008 CPJ press release:

Iraq / United States

IFJ calls on authorities to end "shameful silence" over journalists killed during Iraq war

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

Zambia

Court dismisses air force commander's request to caution editor over articles on corruption case

(MISA/IFEX) - An independent Zambian newspaper, "The Post", was recently released from accusations of interference in a court case involving former Zambia Army defence chiefs who are being tried on allegations of corruption.

Mexico

Four men, including former police chief, convicted of photographer's 2004 murder; mastermind still unidentified

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 7 April 2008 CPJ press release:

Nepal

Young Communist League members threaten TV journalist in Manthali, seize newspapers and printing equipment in Chautara

(FNJ/IFEX) - Nabaraj Pathik, district correspondent for Nepal One television station, was threatened by members of the Young Communist League (YCL), allied to the Communist Party of Nepal - Maoist (CPN-M), on 7 April 2008 in Manthali, the district headquarters of Ramechhap, an eastern region of Nepal.

Iraq / United States

Five years after deadly Palestine Hotel and Al-Jazeera strikes, unanswered questions linger, says CPJ

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 7 April 2008 CPJ press release:

Yemen

Government cancels licence of independent weekly

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 7 April 2008 CPJ press release:

United States

Editor of New York-based South Asian weekly threatened over beauty pageant references, columns by "non-Muslim" writer

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 7 April 2008 CPJ press release:

Peru

Journalists beaten by demonstrators opposing Yanacocha mining company activities in Cajamarca region

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 3 April 2008, several journalists were beaten while covering a protest against the Yanacocha mining company in Porcón Bajo, Cajamarca region, northern Peru.

Azerbaijan

Recently assaulted journalist target of dangerous smear campaign; IRFS suspects silencing of newspaper intended

(IRFS/IFEX) - On 7 April 2008, "Azadlig" newspaper correspondent Agil Khalil became the target of a nationwide negative public relations campaign that is likely to endanger his life. This development appears to be the continuation of a series of attacks on the journalist related to his work.

Guatemala

Three journalists beaten by Guatemala City traffic police while covering eviction of street vendors

(CERIGUA/IFEX) - On 4 April 2008, three journalists covering the eviction of street vendors from around the Roosevelt Hospital were beaten by several members of Guatemala City's transit police (Policía Municipal de Tránsito, PMT), in an attempt to prevent them from taking photographs or video footage of the police assaulting a child. The journalists affected were Mario Morales, Óscar Benavente and Danilo de Jesús Ramírez Miranda.

Nepal / China

Chinese authorities put pressure on Nepalese government to prevent pro-Tibet demonstrations

(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) - The following is a 5 April 2008 ARTICLE 19 press release:

Malaysia

Local free expression group calls for end to restrictive media laws, improved ethical standards and competition among media outlets

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

Nepal

One journalist assaulted, another briefly abducted, by Maoists in western region

(FNJ/IFEX) - Maya Adhikari, a correspondent of Adhikhola FM, broadcasting from Parbat, and Sayapatri FM of Baglung, was abducted by cadres of the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (CPN-Maoist) on 5 April 2008 at Vorle VDC in Parbat, a western region of Nepal.

Liberia

Newspaper threatened with lawsuit over alleged defamation

(CEMESP/IFEX) - "The National Chronicle", one of Liberia's daily newspapers, has been threatened with a lawsuit by a member of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf's inner circle.

Bangladesh

Critical journalist arrested without warrant, detained on spurious robbery complaint

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

Turkey

ECHR orders compensation for Izmir human rights activist convicted over statement on US military involvement in Afghanistan

(BIANET/IFEX) - The following is an abridged version of a 27 March 2008 BIANET statement:

Bolivia

Journalist dies of injuries inflicted during violent attack on radio station in Pucarani

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

Mexico

Puebla authorities hinder launch of new book by persecuted writer Lydia Cacho

(CENCOS/IFEX) - Authorities of the state of Puebla are attempting to hinder the public launch of a new book, entitled "Memorias de una infamia" (memoirs of a scandal), by Lydia Cacho. The book is to be launched on 5 April 2008 in the state capital.

Senegal

Several more journalists attacked, equipment destroyed by police following demonstration coverage

(MFWA/IFEX) - On 30 March 2008, a group of journalists covering a demonstration sparked off by the sharp increase in prices of goods and services across Senegal were physically attacked by the Mobile Intervention Group (GMI) of the Senegalese police force.

Turkey

Kurdish newspaper's editor jailed while awaiting possible trial on charges over articles

(BIANET/IFEX) - Vedat Kursun, editor of the Kurdish newspaper "Azadiya Welat", has been in police custody since 5 February 2008, accused of "continuously spreading PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) propaganda."

Romania

Journalist detained briefly, questioned by police for covering arrest of protestors

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

Macedonia

Journalists receive anonymous death threats over reporting on country's name debate

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

Colombia

Journalists assaulted and threatened with murder during disturbances in Sincelejo

(FLIP/IFEX) - On 2 April 2008, several journalists were assaulted and threatened during disturbances in the city of Sincelejo, the capital of Sucre department, in northern Colombia. A reporter narrowly escaped being killed on the spot, while others had guns pointed at them.

Guatemala

Protestors detain, assault and threaten journalists in San Juan Sacatepéquez

(CERIGUA/IFEX) - On 28 March 2008, a group of journalists from television station Canal Siete's news programme "Notisiete" and Telecentro 13 television station were assaulted and threatened with being set aflame by protestors blocking traffic on a highway. The incident took place in San Andrés Ocaña, in the municipality of San Juan Sacatepéquez, 54 kilometres from the nation's capital.

India

Journalist murdered in Assam; motive to be determined

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

Zimbabwe

Police raid hotel, arrest "New York Times" reporter and other foreign journalists

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 3 April 2008 CPJ press release:

Kazakhstan

Office of frequently harassed opposition newspaper fired upon, pelted with stones

(Adil Soz/IFEX) - The editorial office of the "Taszhargan" newspaper was fired upon and pelted with stones on the night of 31 March 2008. When its employees showed up for work the next morning, they found the windows shattered by two gunshots and stones, and a bullet embedded in a wall.

Philippines

Journalist threatened with death following report about mining threat to forest

(CMFR/IFEX) - A Palawan-based journalist was threatened with death on 3 April 2008 after he wrote that a mining company was blocking plans to declare a forest in Brooke's Point, Palawan, as a protected area. Palawan is an island southwest of Manila.

Tunisia

Appeals court upholds journalist Slim Boukhdir's one-year sentence

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders is outraged that the country's highest court of appeal in Tunis on 3 April 2008 upheld journalist Slim Boukhdir's one-year prison sentence on a charge of "insulting behaviour towards an official in the exercise of his duty." He has no further possibility of appeal.

Guatemala

President Colom signs Chapultepec Declaration; government agrees to pass access to public information law

(IAPA/IFEX) - The following is a 2 April 2008 IAPA press release:

Egypt

Dropping of television channel disproves authorities' claim that media would not suffer under Arab region's satellite broadcasting charter, says HRinfo

(HRinfo/IFEX) - HRinfo condemns the banning of the Al Hiwar channel on the Nile Sat satellite by the state-owned Nile Sat administration. The channel was banned without any explanation on 1 April 2008. The action coincides with the implementation of the new "Principles for Organizing Satellite Radio and TV Broadcasting in the Arab Region" approved by Arab information ministers in February.

Bangladesh

Further improvements needed in draft Right to Information Law, says ARTICLE 19

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

Paraguay

Journalist alleges his pending dismissal orchestrated by politician, following threat

(SPP/IFEX) - The SPP condemns the effort by the Concepción-based newspaper "ABC Color" to dismiss, without just cause, its reporter, Telmo Ibáñez. The attempted firing is apparently based on the effort of a politician, believed to be involved in acts of corruption, to frame the journalist. The politician in question had previously threatened Ibáñez that he would "bring him down" as a journalist.

Morocco

Journalists' union leader assaulted, sustains head injuries

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

Bolivia

Protestors destroy radio station's broadcasting equipment in anger over coverage of municipal dispute

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 27 March 2008, residents of Pucarani, near La Paz, set fire to the municipal radio station's equipment and felled its broadcasting aerial, after bursting violently into the institution's headquarters and hauling the equipment out to the town's main square.

Senegal

Police assault reporter, raid TV station, confiscate footage coverage of protest

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

Egypt

Three satellite television stations' broadcasts blocked by state-run Nilesat satellite, two allegedly at request of US

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

Tunisia

Comedian released after two months' imprisonment for imitating President Ben Ali

(OLPEC/IFEX) - The following is an abridged version of a 2 April 2008 OLPEC press release:

Nigeria

Journalist brutally beaten by police while seeking entry to event

(MRA/IFEX) - On 31 March 2008, Mr. David Amusa, correspondent of the independent daily "National Mirror" in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, in the Niger-delta area, was severely beaten by a detachment of about 20 policemen while on assignment to cover the announcement of a local council election conducted on 29 March.

Haiti

Eight years after journalist Jean Dominique's murder, RSF baffled by failure to render justice

(RSF/IFEX) - On 2 April 2008, the eve of the eighth anniversary of radio Haïti Inter director Jean Dominique's murder, RSF said it was baffled by the failure to render justice in this case, especially as the existence of a clear political and judicial will to combat impunity in the past two years has resulted in convictions in two other cases of journalists' murders.

China

Human rights activist Hu Jia sentenced to three and a half years in prison, one year's denial of political rights

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

Peru

Prosecutor threatens to sue "La Primera" newspaper editor over article on child custody case

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 28 March 2008, Robin Hood Ipanaque Hidalgo, editor of the newspaper "La Primera de Huaraz", was threatened with a lawsuit by prosecutor Juana Liduvina Cabrera Espinoza after the newspaper published an article quoting a woman's complaint that the prosecutor had acted against the woman's best interests during the court case concerning the custody of her underage child. Cabrera Espinoza is the prosecutor for the Mixed Provincial Prosecutor's Office (Fiscalía Provincial Mixta) in Pomobamba, Ancash region, northwestern Peru.

Pakistan

Self-regulatory body should replace PEMRA, say media groups following government promise to abolish restrictive media law

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is a 31 March 2008 IFJ media release:

India

Sri Lankan film director assaulted by filmmakers' group in Madurai

(FMM/IFEX) - On 25 March 2008, a Sri Lankan film director, Thushara Peiris, was assaulted and injured in Kalaignar Karunanidhi Nagar, a suburb of the city of Madurai, by a group of individuals who identified themselves as members of the Tamil Nadu Film Directors' Association. Peiris was in Madurai to work on a Tamil-language copy of his film "Prabhakaran", which has not yet been released. According to the film's producer, Saman Thanthirige, the assailants said the film was unfair to Tamils; one of the assailants also warned they would not allow other films to enter the Indian film market. Thanthirige told FMM that Peiris was injured in the attack. Thanthirige added that in view of the fact that the film has not been publicly screened yet, he doubted that the assailants were Tamil Tigers or their supporters.

Afghanistan

Authorities launch new offensive against privately-owned TV stations for broadcasting "anti-Islamic" images

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders is shocked by a campaign being waged by the ministry of information and culture, the lower house of parliament and the Council of Ulemas against privately-owned TV stations, especially Tolo TV, for broadcasting footage of men and women dancing together.

Mexico

Municipal official threatens journalist in Veracruz over election coverage

(CEPET/IFEX) - On 28 March 2008, Alfieri Belli González, director of the municipal sanitation department (Limpia Pública) in Misantla, Veracruz, Gulf of Mexico, threatened journalist Valentín Campos, who works for "Diario Misantla" newspaper and the online publication "Notiespacio". Campos recently reported that the 16 March elections for the leadership of the leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution (Partido de la Revolución Democrática, PRD) were plagued with irregularities. Belli González, who was drunk when he confronted the journalist, was upset over the report and suggestions that he had committed fraud in connection with the elections.

Nepal

Reporters assaulted by MPRF activists in Inaruwa; "Drishti" newspaper editor facing contempt of court charges

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

Philippines

Journalist's would-be murderer sentenced to prison

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is a 1 April 2008 IFJ press release:

Sri Lanka

Media union files petition to prevent political interference and intimidation of journalists working with media outlets belonging to government-owned ANCL

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

Turkey

Photo-sharing site blocked, YouTube unblocked; RSF condemns threats to Web 2.0

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders condemns a military decision to block access to the Indymedia Istanbul ( http://istanbul.indymedia.org ) news website. The site has been inaccessible from within Turkey since 21 March 2008. A message was posted saying it was blocked on the orders of a military court attached to general staff headquarters.

Russia

Editor of independent weekly stabbed in Kaliningrad

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 1 April 2008 CPJ press release:

The Gambia

Journalists barred from covering president's opening of Parliament

(MFWA/IFEX) - On 28 March 2008, a group of journalists working with privately-owned Banjul-based newspapers were barred from covering President Yahya Jammeh's annual opening of The Gambia's Parliament.

Iraq

Al-Sumariya TV journalist arrested

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has called for the release of Ahmed Mahmud Hassan, of al-Sumariya satellite television, who has been held since 30 March 2008. The Iraqi authorities have not given any reason for his arrest.

Pakistan

Newly-elected government to revoke draconian amendments to electronic media ordinance, expand access to information

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

Mauritania

Journalist released after being detained for a week

(MFWA/IFEX) - Mohamed Salem Ould Mohamed, a reporter with "Assiraj", an Arabic-language newspaper, was released on 31 March 2008 by the Mauritanian Criminal Investigations Department (CID) after being held incommunicado since his arrest on 25 March.

Colombia

Paramilitary death threats against radio journalist in Manaure

(FLIP/IFEX) - On 11 March 2007, a pamphlet apparently written by the "Black Eagles Special Forces" ("Fuerzas Especiales Águilas Negras") paramilitary group was circulated in the town of Manaure, La Guajira department. In it, journalist Kenneth Rivadeneira - a correspondent for the Riohacha-based radio station Radio Delfín - and eight other people from the region, including politicians, businessmen and indigenous people from the Wayúu community, were declared military targets.

Zimbabwe

Two South African journalists arrested while covering election press conference, charged

(MISA/IFEX) - On 27 March 2008, two South Africans were arrested in Harare and charged with violating the repressive Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA).

Maldives

Police arrest "Minivan Daily" photographer

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders calls on the police in the capital Malé to explain exactly why they arrested "Minivan Daily" photographer Ibrahim Jauhuree on 30 March 2008 for allegedly "harassing a police officer." He is reportedly still being held in Malé. His arrest comes two weeks after he told colleagues and superiors that a police officer had threatened to arrest him if he did not hand over a video of parliamentarian Ahmed Shafeeq being beaten by police in 2006.