2005-2014

A bewspaper in the southern Russian city of Saratov is facing closure following the campaign launched against it by the United Russia party for “insulting” President Vladimir Putin in a cartoon on its front page. Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has called on the regional court of Saratov to act judiciously and avoid being manipulated when it rules on October 2 on a bid by the pro-Putin United

There is worldwide outrage at the apparently deliberate fatal shooting of Japanese cameraman Kenji Nagai by a Burmese soldier on Thursday. Video footage shown on Japan’s Fuji News Network has revealed that Nagai, who was filming near a group of demonstrators in Yangon, was pushed to the ground and shot at near point-blank range. The Japanese embassy in Burma said the bullet entered Nagai’s body...

The Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) decreed on Tuesday that journalists should not be jailed over their work, two days after two were jailed for libel, the state WAM news agency reported. Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashed al-Maktoum "has issued instructions ... not to imprison journalists for reasons related to their work," said the head of the National Media Council, Sheikh Abdullah bin

A detailed indictment used to charge leading journalist Moussa Kaka with “complicity in a conspiracy against state authority” is being seen as “inconsistent and absurd.” The manager of privately-owned Radio Saraouniya and correspondent of Radio France Internationale and Reporters sans Frontières (RSF), Kaka was arrested on 20 September. “The details of the case against him are

An unidentified man tried Monday to murder privately-owned Radio Shabelle’s acting manager, Jafar “Kukay” Mohammed, the latest target of a wave of political killings that seems to be aimed at demonstrating that the transitional federal government is unable to guarantee security in the Somali capital. Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) protested against the failure of federal and local

Egypt's prosecutor general has reversed a decision to send an outspoken tabloid newspaper editor who questioned President Hosni Mubarak's health to the country's emergency court of no appeal. A judiciary official said Friday that Al-Dustour editor Ibrahim Eissa will instead face a regular criminal court where appeals are possible on October 1. The official did not elaborate on the reasons why the...

The Zimbabwean intelligence service has compiled a blacklist of 15 journalists working for independent news media who are to be subjected to “strict surveillance” and other unspecified “measures” in the run-up to next year’s presidential and parliamentary elections. “The Zimbabwean government’s paranoia is accompanied by systematic repression,” Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) said

State-controlled Sri Lankan television station Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation (SLRC) has sent four of its journalists on compulsory leave after they submitted a letter stating that their professional rights had been disrespected and damaged. According to the Free Media Movement (FMM), SLRC Producers' Union Chairman Kanchana Marasinghe, Organiser Herbert Kumara Alagiyawanna, Athula Peiris and

Reporters Without Borders today condemned a wave of arrests of dissidents yesterday as a peaceful protest in support of political prisoners was being prepared in front of the Justice Ministry in the Havana. Among the around 30 people arrested and still being held are four journalists: free-lance Idania Yanes Contreras, Roberto de Jesús Guerra Pérez, correspondent for the websites Payolibre and...

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) applauds the efforts taken by coalitions to promote Freedom of Information (FOI) Laws in Africa and reaffirms its unflinching support and collaboration with the stakeholders involved in the process. Today as we commemorate the International Right to Know Day, the IFJ reiterate its support to the FOI coalitions in Africa and calls on its affiliates...