24 April 2007

BURMESE NEWS AGENCY REOPENS


Thanks largely to pressure from international press freedom organisations and Burma support groups, the Burmese news agency shut down by Indian authorities last week was allowed to reopen just two days later.

Mizzima News Agency, a leading source of independent news on Burma run by exiled Burmese journalists, credits the reopening to the solidarity shown by support and media advocacy groups, including members of the International Freedom of Expression eXchange (IFEX), such as the Southeast Asian Press Alliance, Committee to Protect Journalists and International Press Institute, as well as Burma News International and Burma Media Association. Many of the groups had written to the Indian Home Minister to demand the reopening.

Mizzima had originally been shut down by Indian authorities on the grounds that it was a commercial venture operating in a residential area. The Municipal Council of Delhi (MCD) recognised later that its activities were exclusively journalistic.

Around 50 of the agency's employees were demonstrating peacefully outside the MCD office when the decision to reopen the office was made known (see photo).

Read about members' actions around the closure and subsequent reopening on Mizzima's website: http://tinyurl.com/22muf5

(Photo courtesy of Mizzima News)

(24 April 2007)



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BURKINA FASO: NORBERT ZONGO HONOURED AT FREE EXPRESSION FESTIVAL 24 April 2007 INTERNATIONAL: CHANGEMAKERS' ENDING CORRUPTION COMPETITION 24 April 2007 INTERNATIONAL: SOUTHEAST ASIA MEDIA DEFENCE PROGRAMME 24 April 2007 INTERNATIONAL: 2006 MOST SAVAGE YEAR FOR JOURNALISTS, SAYS IPI 24 April 2007 SUDAN: NOT JUST A "LAND OF MASSACRES", RSF FINDS 24 April 2007 TURKEY: THREE SLAIN AT CHRISTIAN PUBLISHING HOUSE 24 April 2007 CHINA: HARSH SENTENCES IMPOSED ON UIGHUR DISSIDENTS 24 April 2007 SRI LANKA: TAMIL EDITOR KILLED IN HIS HOME 24 April 2007 NIGERIA: PRESIDENT IGNORES FREEDOM OF INFORMATION BILL AMID "CHARADE" ELECTIONS 24 April 2007 PHILIPPINES: JOURNALIST KILLED, ANOTHER WOUNDED IN SEPARATE SHOOTINGS 24 April 2007 MEXICO: IFEX MEMBERS CAMPAIGN AGAINST RULING POWERS; REPORTER MURDERED 24 April 2007

India

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Asia and Pacific

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