Features

An Alexandria court convicted a Egyptian blogger on Thursday for insulting both Islam and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and sentenced him to four years in jail over his writings on the Internet, according to Reuters. Abdel Karim Nabil Suleiman, who was arrested on November 6, 2006, got three years for inciting hatred of Islam and one year for insulting the president. The judge dismissed the

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has urged Philippines President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to drop sedition charges against three journalists and instead focus on promoting a free and safe press by bringing to justice those responsible for the slaying of 50 journalists since 2001. These latest charges follow a spate of libel cases brought before the courts by the country’s First

The Mozambique Supreme Court has validated the pronouncement by the Maputo city Judicial Court that tried and sentenced six co-accused to heavy prison terms in January 2003 in the murder of investigative journalist Carlos Cardoso. Cardoso was gunned down on November 22, 2000, while investigating the 1996 embezzlement of US$14 million from the state-controlled Commercial Bank of Mozambique (BCM)

The transformation of two broadcasting institutions into private entities is being seen as a negative development in Moldova’s broadcasting landscape. Citizens of Moldova stand in line in front of the Romanian consulate building to receive an application form for a Romanian visa in Chisinau January 19, 2007. Fifteen years after independence, average monthly incomes in Moldova stand at $100

Press freedom organisations have strongly condemned the murder in Baidoa of presenter Ali Mohammed Omar of Radio Warsan on February 16, and deplored the “deteriorating security situation” in Somalia which it said was taking a toll on journalists. Omar was shot in the head on his way home. Somali Transitional Government troops patrol Mogadishu in January 2007 in the government officials'

A Venezuelan juvenile court has slapped a fine against an opposition daily for publishing a tongue-in-cheek newspaper editorial based on a dialogue between President Hugo Chávez and his 9-year-old daughter. The director of Tal Cual opposition newspaper, Teodoro Petkoff, right and comedian Laureano Marquez, centre, at a press conference in Caracas, Wednesday, February 14, 2007. Marquez, one of

The much-awaited hearings on the July 2004 murder of Forbes Russia Editor Paul Klebnikov have been put off until mid-March after two key suspects failed to appear in court Thursday, news agency RIA Novosti has reported. Paul Klebnikov's 2004 murder stoked international concern about freedom of speech in Russia, an issue pushed back into the spotlight by the killing last year of crusading Russian

Guyana’s leading daily, a vocal critic of the government headed by President Bharrat Jagdeo, is now suffering from a total boycott by state advertisers. “Governments must not allocate advertising to some news media as a reward, and withdraw it from others as a punishment - this is spelled out in the Chapultepec Declaration, which Guyanese President Bharrat Jagdeo himself signed,” Reporters

Egyptian human rights organisations have called upon the Supreme Council of Press (SCP) to comply with the law and not to hinder the publication of the newspaper Al-Badiel, which has met all provisions for release as set by the law. The legal 40-day period for the announcement of any SCP objection has passed with neither a response nor the approval of a licence for the newspaper. A journalist

UNESCO has launched a website dedicated to the World Press Freedom Day to be celebrated in Medellin, Colombia on May 3. The website provides regular news services, practical information, more detail on the conference, speakers and participants. This year’s event consists of a two-day conference on the theme “Press Freedom, Safety of Journalists and Impunity” and the award of the UNESCO