2005-2014

There has been a series of fresh threats and acts of intimidation against journalists in Yemen. The political class seems to have no qualms about using violence against journalists who write about corruption or embezzlement. Utterly illegal and arbitrary arrests are becoming commonplace, according to Paris-based press freedom group Reporters sans Frontières (RSF). “The situation is becoming more...

The department of public prosecution has brought new charges against Kurdish writer Mehmet Güler and publisher Ragip Zarakolu. This time they are to be prosecuted for a book about the political system that the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) would like to introduce, Paris-based press freedom group Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has reported. In a trial due to begin on September 30 before...

With just a week to go to a presidential election on 9 August, Rwandan authorities are openly flouting the rules of the democratic game. Press freedom violations, including the jailing of journalists, the closure of news media and the murder of a newspaper editor a month ago, have intensified in the run-up to the election. The government's latest repressive measure has been the suspension of some...

All four Mexican journalists abducted by drug traffickers last week are now free, ending an ordeal that drew international attention to pervasive anti-press violence in Mexico. Two reporters were brought to safety by federal police on Saturday, joining two colleagues who had been freed earlier. Javier Canales, a cameraman for the national media group Milenio, and Alejandro Hernández, a cameraman...

Three Uighur-language website managers were sentenced Friday to prison terms of three to 10 years after being found guilty under broad charges of “endangering state security.” The men had been jailed after ethnic rioting in July 2009 in Urumqi, capital of the far-western, predominantly Muslim, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. Nijat Azat, who managed the website Shabnam, was sentenced to a 10...

A measure signed into law on Thursday by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will expand the powers of security agents and contribute to a climate of fear among government critics, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has said. The law grants the Federal Security Service (FSB) authority to detain for up to 15 days anyone suspected of planning a crime against Russian security, local and...

A jailed Cambodian journalist whose Appeal Court hearing is scheduled for later this month said Monday that he had been asked to pay US$1,000 before court officials would tell him the exact date, the Phnom Penh Post has reported. Speaking from Prey Sar prison, freelance journalist Ros Sokhet said his lawyer, Sam Sokong, who was provided free of charge by the legal aid NGO Cambodian Defenders...

Journalists in Papua are on edge after a reporter was found dead, naked and handcuffed in a river in the Indonesian region’s south, Radio NEw Zealand International has reported. Australia-based human rights advocate, Nick Chesterfield, said the Merauke environmental journalist had been reporting on financial irregularities and alleged military corruption. He said Ardiansyah Matra’is had become...

A Kazakh journalist threw dung at the Almaty city court building on Monday to protest the court's rejection of her lawsuit against Prime Minister Karim Masimov and other politicians, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reported. Zhanna Baytelova had filed a case against Masimov, Senate speaker Qasymzhomart Toqaev, and lower house speaker Oral Mukhamedzhanov in the Zhetysu district court for what she termed...

Charles Atangana, a Cameroonian journalist who has been living in the UK since 2004, is facing deportation after losing his case for asylum. He believes he will be killed if he returns to Cameroon. UK's National Union of Journalists is trying to stop Glasgow-based Atangana from being deported to Cameroon where he is likely to face detention, torture or worse. The union has temporarily stopped the...