Features

The working condition of journalists in Azerbaijan is changing for the worse, where they are being targeted by the State to set an example against free expression. The country, ironically, scooped up a Freedom of Expression prize this year, given jointly by the Norwegian Freedom of Expression Foundation (Fritt Ord) and German ZEIT Foundation. RSF has said, “If President Ilham Aliev wants to

Many Moroccan journalists are facing continued persecution by the State which is having an adverse impact on the country’s free press. Any hope of the monarch’s intervention in safeguarding the freedom of the press has also dimmed as journalists investigate the role of the royal family in running the country. This picture taken in Casablanca in May 2007 shows 'El Watan' weekly's editor

Malaysia has banned the mainstream media from reporting on an explosive issue concerning the very nature of the country's constitution that points to the problematic relationship between law and religion. Following the Internal Security Ministry's directive on July 19, several journalists and editors have already retracted some commentaries on the topic scheduled for publishing that day, according

Compliance with international standards of freedom of expression is still a long way away in Tajikistan, ARTICLE 19 hass revealed in a new report. A decade since the end of the civil war, Tajikistan is still recovering economically and psychologically. Emomali Rakhmonov speaks to the public in Dushanbe, capital of Tajikistan, November 6, 2006. The last presidential elections took place in November

Paraguayan journalist Enrique Galeano has resurfaced 17 months after he went missing on February 4, 2006 in the central department of Concepción, where he lived and worked. The Paraguayan press reported on Monday that Galeano resurfaced in the Brazilian city of São Paulo, where he went into hiding after being threatened by gangsters. He is now in Uruguay, where he has requested political asylum

Salvadorian President Elías Antonio Saca’s has pledged to intervene personally in the case of journalist María Haydee Chicas arrested and held for alleged “terrorist acts.” Saca's promise comes in wake of the appeal made by the El Salvador Association of Journalists (APES) and civil society organisations. Rosalia Nunez, left, and Elizabeth Torres, members of the 'Journalists United for

The upper house of the Russian parliament Wednesday approved a package of amendments that would expand the definition of extremism to include public discussion of such activity, and give law enforcement officials broad authority to suspend media outlets that do not comply with the new restrictions, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has reported. The package, proposed by deputies from the

An editorial critical of Gabon President Omar Bongo, Africa's longest-serving head of state, has led authorities in capital Libreville to arrest a publisher and suspend his newspaper. Africa Union Commission Chairman Alpha Oumar Konare (left) talks with Gabon's President Omar Bongo at the 9th African Union Summit in Accra July 1, 2007. (Reuters/Luc Gnago) Guy-Christian Mavioga, director of the

Iran's Supreme Court has concluded a hearing to determine whether a fresh investigation into the prison death of an Iranian-Canadian photojournalist in 2003 should be held. Lawyer Shirin Ebadi, a former Nobel peace prize winner, represented the family of Zahra Kazemi, arguing there were irregularities in the initial investigation and the death was a homicide and not an accident as originally ruled

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has vowed to protect journalists in the Philippines, but their death toll has risen to 53 under her administration. While the country’s press remains one of the freest and most vibrant communities of journalists in Southeast Asia, its members — particularly those outside Metro Manila and other major urban centers — have been targets of violence for years