Dissident journalist takes own life after year in exile

A dissident Cuban journalist who was released last year and forced into exile has committed suicide, report the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

Police assault journalists covering protests

Journalists covering anti-corruption protests as well as demonstrations against Pope Benedict's four-day visit to Madrid have been met with police violence, reports the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

PRESS FREEDOM GROUPS BACK JOURNALIST DRAGGED THROUGH COURTS

On World Press Freedom Day (3 May) in Colombia, the Coordinating Committee of Press Freedom Organizations (CCPFO) of nine press freedom groups unanimously approved a resolution supporting a Spanish journalist who has been the target of judicial harassment for more than a decade in Spain's courts.

SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS CONVICTION OF Al JAZEERA JOURNALIST

Spain's Supreme Court has upheld a lower-court ruling sentencing former Al Jazeera correspondent Tayseer Allouni to jail for collaborating with Al-Qaida, report the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF).

BASQUE NEWSPAPER SHUT DOWN

The only daily newspaper in Spain published in the Basque language has been shut down after being accused of supporting the armed separatist group Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA), eliciting calls of concern from the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ).

TERROR ATTACKS AGAINST MEDIA RENEWED

Three journalists have been the targets of attempted assassinations two weeks ago, sparking fears that terrorist attacks against the media in Spain's Basque country are starting up again, observe Reporters sans frontières (RSF) and the World Association of Newspapers (WAN).

CONFERENCE TO CONDEMN ETA VIOLENCE; NEWSPAPER SUFFERS ANOTHER ATTACK

The World Association of Newspapers (WAN) is convening a conference in Bilbao, Spain, this week to focus attention on the recent renewal of violence against journalists in the Basque region by the militant ETA group. Delegates from 22 countries will meet on 14 September 2001 to discuss and denounce ETA's campaign of terrorism, as well as discuss violence in other countries such as Northern Ireland, Algeria and Israel.

JOURNALISTS IN ETA'S LINE OF FIRE

A new report by Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF) documents the growing dangers faced by journalists in the Basque country of Spain. During its mission in the region from 31 May to 2 June, RSF met with journalists, unionists, media directors, leaders of the main political parties, and government officials. "Some fifty journalists and publication directors are under police escort in the Basque country and in Madrid. In total, nearly one hundred require official or private protection. Furthermore, a dozen information professionals have been 'exiled' from the Basque country to Madrid and certain media outlets are multiplying their security measures," says RSF. "In both the Basque country and elsewhere in Spain, media outlets and journalists who do not share the radical nationalist ideology are considered 'Basque traitors' or 'Spanish invaders' and are threatened by the armed independence organisation Euskadi ta Askatasuna (ETA)."