2005-2014

Russian freelance journalist Alexandr Podrabinek has gradually re-emerged in recent days after being forced into hiding by a hate campaign orchestrated by “patriotic” youth groups such as Nashi (Ours) but he is now the target of several lawsuits and Nashi is even suing foreign newspapers over their coverage of the case, Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has reported. “This affair has progressed from...

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has expressed concern that the prosecution of Jean Bosco Gasasira, editor-in-chief of the Rwandan bimonthly Umuvugizi, on criminal defamation charges has been politicised and the outcome predetermined. The case stems from complaints filed by a government prosecutor and a physician who say they were defamed by coverage claiming they were involved in a...

Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF) has called on the civilian and military authorities in Bangladesh to draw the appropriate conclusions from the case of FM Masum, a journalist employed by the English-language daily The New Age, who was arrested and tortured by an elite crime and counter-terrorist force, the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), on October 22 in Dhaka. Masum told Paris-based RSF from his...

Saudi Arabia King Abdallah has issued a royal decree quashing the sentence of 60 lashes that a court in Jeddah passed last week on journalist Rozanna al-Yami. Responsibility for the Yami case has at the same time been transferred from the courts to the culture and information ministry, Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has reported quoting culture and information ministry spokesman Abdul Rahman al...

A judge in the western Saudi Arabia city of Jeddah has passed a sentence of 60 lashes on journalist Rozanna al-Yami because she worked for the Lebanese Broadcast Corporation (LBC), a satellite TV station that shocked conservative Saudis last July by broadcasting an interview with a Saudi man talking openly about his sex life, Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has reported. The judge dismissed...

A court in the southern city of Taraz has upheld independent newspaper owner and editor Ramazan Esergepov’s three-year jail term and two-year publishing ban, Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has reported. The sentence was confirmed at a secret hearing on October 22 which, like his original trial, was marked by irregularities. Except for the first 15 minutes, the appeal hearing was conducted behind...

The European Court of Human Rights Friday rejected by six votes to one Russian journalist Grigory Pasko’s complaint accusing his government of violating his freedom of expression under articles 7 and 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights by sentencing him to four years in prison on a spying charge, Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has reported. “We share Pasko’s disappointment as we have...

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called on Kyrgyz authorities to make public the findings of their investigation into the murder of Alisher Saipov, the editor of the Uzbek-language newspaper Siyosat, who was shot in Osh two years ago. Continued impunity in the killing, which occurred in early evening in the city’s downtown district, has fostered fear among his colleagues and...

The International Association of Sports Newspapers (IASN) has launched a new website, www.press-iasn.org, to highlight its work in the promotion of the interests and freedom of the sports press. The website, conceived for media executives, sponsors, and the sports press audience at large, highlights the role of the Association in the international sport community and illustrates, through IASN’s...

Zimbabwean intelligence agents recently mistreated two journalists working for Arab satellite TV station al-Jazeera, Paris-based Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF) has reported. Cameraman Austin Gundani was physically assaulted and then held for three hours, with his reporter colleague Haru Mutasa, at the presidency where they had arrived on October 20 to cover a cabinet meeting from which Prime...