2005-2014

The Hamas-led government in Gaza should immediately halt a wave of censorship and harassment of Palestinian media outlets and journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has said. CPJ also called on the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority to end its longstanding obstruction of certain media outlets in the West Bank On Tuesday, for the second consecutive day, Hamas banned distribution in...

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has condemned Friday's vicious attack on Zurab Tsechoyev, editor of Mashr, a human rights website based in the volatile North Caucasus republic of Ingushetia. At least 50 armed, masked men in camouflage gear raided Tsechoyev's home, shoved him into an armoured personnel carrier, drove him to an unknown location, and interrogated and beat him for five...

A Panamanian judge has barred sports columnist Bienvenido Brown from leaving the country and ordered him to stand trial on criminal defamation charges filed in 2005. Eleventh Criminal Court Judge Josefina Sclopis issued the ruling on Friday against Brown, a columnist with the daily La Estrella de Panamá, the newspaper reported. The judge's decision stemmed from a criminal defamation suit against...

Kurdish freelance journalist Saman Rasoulpour was arrested on July 27 at his home in Mahabad, in Iran's predominantly Kurdish northwest, two days after some 200 Kurds staged a peaceful demonstration in Mahabad to demand the overturning of the death sentences imposed on journalists Adnan Hassanpour and Abdolvahed "Hiva" Botimar, and Kurdish teacher Farzad Kamangar. "We call on the authorities to...

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has expressed concern over the July 26 arrest of a Palestinian cameraman in Gaza by Hamas security services. Hamas security agents arrested Sawah Abu Seif, a cameraman with German broadcaster ARD TV, in his home in Tel al-Hawa in southwest Gaza following an explosion that Hamas blamed on Fatah, which killed six people in Gaza, according to local...

Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has called for the release of Mohammed Naseer Fayyaz, the host of the programme "Haqeeqat" (The Truth) on Afghanistan's privately-owned Ariana TV, who was arrested on July 28 by members of the Directorate for National Security (DNS) at the government's behest. "Harsh comments were made on the air about two ministers and the president but the government is making a...

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has expressede concern over the July 26 arrest of a Palestinian cameraman in Gaza by Hamas security services. Hamas security agents arrested Sawah Abu Seif, a cameraman with German broadcaster ARD TV in his home in Tel al-Hawa in southwest Gaza following an explosion that Hamas blamed on Fatah, which killed six people in Gaza, according to local...

There was a dramatic end to the Globecast Satellite trial on July 24 when Harare Magistrate Archie Wochiunga refused to place the South African company on further remand after the state applied for a postponement of the matter, according to the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA). Prosecutor Florence Ziyambi had applied to have the matter postponed arguing that her witness had failed to turn...

Moroccan reporter Mostapha Hurmatallah of the weekly Al Watan Al An has been freed on completing his prison sentence. He had been in Casablanca's Oukacha prison since February 19, when Morocco's highest court of appeal ordered him to go back to jail to serve the rest of a seven-month term. Hurmatullah was released on July 25. "We welcome Hurmatallah's release with joy, but we reiterate our firm...

The Indian Newspaper Society (INS) has asked its members to reduce use of newsprint by at least 20 per cent in their publications in order to meet the challenges of "extraordinary and uncalled for" rise in indigenous newsprint prices, the Press Trust of India (PTI) has reported. In an advisory to INS members, its President Bahubali Shah said the only way to curb the tendency towards cartelisation...