Nationalists opposed to Turkey's engagement with Europe have sought out sympathetic public prosecutors across the country to file criminal complaints against journalists, writers, and academics who favour European Union (EU) membership, a new report by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has found. DEEMED INSOLENT: Turkish journalist Haluk Sahin, left, arrives to a courthouse for a trial in
Nearly four months after Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's government launched a crackdown on Ethiopia's press following post-electoral street protests, there has been an alarming deterioration in press freedom conditions. Self-censorship is rife, critical newspapers are shrinking in number and 14 journalists face charges that could bring the death penalty, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
A Thai criminal court has acquitted a press freedom activist who was sued for defamation by a telecommunications company that, until recently, was owned by the family of the Thai prime minister. VINDICATED: Thai media activist Supinya Klangnarong celebrates at the criminal court in Bangkok, Wednesday March 15, 2006. A Thai court cleared Supinya of criminal libel of the business empire founded by
The Uzbekistan government is tightening controls over local and foreign journalists working for foreign state-funded media. The cabinet approved regulations February 24 giving the Foreign Ministry wide discretion to issue formal warnings to foreign correspondents, revoke their accreditation and visas, and expel them. HEARTLESS ATTACK: Andijan residents carry back home their dead. According to the
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has warned of a dangerous escalation in the Yemen government's crackdown on the country's independent and opposition press–one that has grown bolder in exposing high-level corruption and tackling sensitive political issues. PULLED UP FOR BLASPHEMY: Mohammad al-Assadi (extreme right), editor-in-chief of the English daily Yemen Observer, stands in a
Despite pronouncements that the situation in the Philippines has "normalised" enough to warrant a lifting of a "state of emergency" declared by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo last month, media harassment "arrogantly continues" in the country, the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) has alleged. A RESOUNDING 'NO': Filipino journalists clench their fists in protest over Philippine President
The two journalists of the Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) being held incommunicado in Turkmenistan have been handed over a 15-day sentence, the radio has reported quoting Miklos Haraszti, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Representative on Freedom of the Media. HIS NEWS: OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Miklos Haraszti spoke to officials in
The three journalists abducted by Palestinian militants in the Gaza area have been released. Caroline Laurent of French women's weekly Elle, Alfred Yaghobzadeh of photo agency SIPA and Yong Tae-young of Korean public broadcaster KBS were kidnapped on Tuesday from a Gaza City hotel by an armed group linked to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) that claimed to belong to the
A Venezuelan judge on Wednesday sentenced a journalist critical of President Hugo Chavez to house arrest for defaming an army officer in a case her supporters denounced as political persecution, Reuters has reported. FIREBRAND COLUMNIST: Venezuelan columnist Ibeyise Pacheco speaks to supporters in front of a banner reading 'Freedom of Expression' before turning herself in, in response to a warrant
