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Ukraine \ Une - Europe - 1 \ Une - Générale - 3
Ukraine – Clandestine recordings ruled out as evidence against ex-President Kuchma
Reporters Without Borders regrets that the constitutional court has taken an “irrevocable decision” not to admit clandestine recordings of former President Leonid Kuchma as evidence that he ordered journalist Georgy Gongadze’s murder in 2000. In a ruling on 20 October, the court rejected the recordings as evidence at the request of the Ukrainian intelligence services on the grounds that they were made “illegally” by Kuchma’s then bodyguard, Mykola Melnychenko. Kuchma, who was president from 1994 (…)
internet \ Saudi Arabia \ Une - Internet - 1 \ Une - Moyen Orient - 2
Saudi Arabia – Three online television journalists freed
Reporters Without Borders hails yesterday’s release of three Web TV journalists – Firas Baqna, Khalid Al-Rasheed and Hussam Al-Darwish – who were held arbitrarily for two weeks, without being charged and without any reason being given, in what was clearly an attempt to intimidate them and get them to censor themselves. Three online television journalists held by Saudi police 20/10/2011 Reporters Without Borders condemns the arrest of Firas Baqna, Khalid al-Rasheed and Hussam al-Darwish, (…)
Mauritius – Newspaper editor freed pending outcome of appeal
Dharmanand Dooharika, the editor of the weekly Samedi Plus, was released today from Beau-Bassin prison pending the outcome of his appeal against the three-month jail sentence for contempt of court that he received on 17 October. 21.10.2011 – Journalist jailed and media outlets fined for contempt of court Press freedom in Mauritius has suffered a serious setback with the announcement on 17 October that a journalist has been sentenced to three months’ imprisonment and two news organizations (…)
peru \ Une - Amériques - 2 \ Une - Générale - 2
Peru – Journalist Paul Garay Ramírez freed: a step towards decriminalization
Reporters Without Borders welcomes the news that the Lima Supreme Court has dismissed charges against radio and TV journalist Paul Garay Ramírez of defaming prosecutor Agustín López Cruz, for which he was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment. Judge Hugo Príncipe Trujillo ruled that the recording used in evidence was of no value since the voice of the journalist could not be identified. The judge also annulled a fine of 20,000 nuevos soles (7,400 dollars) in civil damages levied against the (…)
Iran – Press freedom violations recounted in real time (from 1st January 2011)
30.10.2011-Three journalists freed on bail pending trial Reporters Without Borders has learned that three journalists – Mehdi Afsharnik, Ali Akrami and Mohammad Hidari – were released on bail on 29 October pending trial. After being arrested at their homes on 5 October, they were held in isolation in Tehran’s Evin prison without any explanation being given for their detention. Three other journalists who were arrested in the past few months – Amir Mehdi Alamehzadeh of the news agency ILNA, (…)
Iraq – New wave of abuses and intimidation against journalists
Reporters Without Borders strongly condemns the persecution by the Iraqi authorities of the radio station Al-Sada, the only independent broadcaster in the province of Al-Qadisiya, Ahmed Al-Qasier, founder and manager of the station, recently told the press freedom organization that the station had come under severe pressure. Three days ago, the provincial council decided to close the station, in the provincial capital Diwaniyya south of Baghdad, on the grounds that its programmes (…)
Americas \ Une - Amériques - 1 \ Une - Générale - 2
Americas – Judicial and legislative progress, but more access to information needed in former Operation Condor countries
Many journalists were among the victims of the military dictatorships in six South American countries (Argentine, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay) which formed a repressive alliance known as Operation Condor with US backing in the 1970s. While hailing the judicial and legislative advances that have taken place in some of these countries this week, Reporters Without Borders calls for more access to information about this period. In this regard, the announced creation of a joint (…)
internet \ Russia \ Une - Europe - 2 \ Une - Internet - 1
Russia – Government eager to use Net surveillance software currently in test phase
Reporters Without Borders condemns plans by Roskomnadzor, Russia’s federal supervisory agency for communications, information technology and mass media, to use search software to track down “extremist” content on the Internet. The agency is currently testing the software and intends to start using it in December. When Roskomnadzor’s software, using very vague criteria, decides that a website has “extremist” content, the site will be given three days to remove it. If it fails to comply, it will (…)
Australia – Spurious media access to immigration detention centres
In the wake of a Sri Lankan refugee’s death at Villawood Immigration Detention Centre in Sydney on 25 October, Reporters Without Borders strongly condemns the immigration minister’s draconian new rules for media access to such centres as an abusive restriction on news and information that is tantamount to censoring coverage of a matter of great public interest. The Sri Lankan refugee was the seventh detainee to die at one of these centres this year. “If these rules are applied, they would (…)
Helping journalists \ Sudan \ Une - Générale - 1
Sudan – Detained Eritrean journalist faces possible forced repatriation from Sudan
Reporters Without Borders expresses its profound concern after the arrest on 24 October of the Eritrean journalist Jamal Osman Hamad in Khartoum and calls on the Sudanese authorities to release him. In the light of warmer relations between the governments of Eritrea and Sudan, the press freedom organization is also concerned about the fate of Eritrean journalists and human rights campaigners who have taken refuge in Sudan. “The situation faced by Jamal Osman Hamad is extremely worrying,” (…)
China \ internet \ Une - Asie - 1 \ Une - Internet - 1
China – Respect for free speech continues to deteriorate in China
China’s restrictions on Internet use, which affect bloggers, journalists, activists and many others, have led the US ambassador to the World Trade Organization to complain about China’s “national firewall” and website blocking on the grounds that they violate WTO rules by making it harder for companies outside China to offer “services to Chinese customers.” The complaint, the text of which was released on 19 October, was rejected the next day by foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu. “We do not (…)
Philippines – Local broadcaster’s premises set on fire, attacks on media remain unpunished
Reporters Without Borders condemns the arson attack yesterday on the Catholic Church-owned radio station dzVT in San Jose, in Oriental Mindoro province on the Island of Luzon. Unidentified men set fire to the premises, destroying transmission equipment and causing damage estimated at 10 million pesos (230,000 dollars). “We are outraged by the violence directed against a growing number of media organizations in retaliation just for broadcasting or publishing commentaries locally,” the press (…)
Syria \ The arab revolt \ Une - Générale - 2 \ Une - Moyen Orient - 1
Syria – List of detained bloggers and journalists gets longer amid pro-regime rallies
Reporters Without Borders is worried about Hossein Ghoureir, a blogger who has been reported missing by his colleagues and who has probably been arrested. Aged 30 and the father of two children, he has organized and participated in many Palestinian solidarity campaigns. In his blog, he condemned the war in Lebanon in 2006 and campaigned against Israel’s occupation of the Golan Heights. Sounding the alarm about Ghoureir’s “disappearance,” online activists have called on the Syrian authorities (…)
Turkey \ Une - Europe - 1 \ Une - Générale - 1
Turkey – Journalists under pressure as government pursues military offensive against PKK
Pressure is mounting on journalists in eastern Turkey as the government intensifies its military offensive against the armed separatists of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), an offensive that is spilling over into neighbouring countries. As well as a spate of trials and cases of prolonged detention, journalists are now the target of government directives. Journalists who cover Kurdish issues critically continue to be accused of supporting the separatists by officials who cite the (…)
