Pressure is mounting on Egypt President Hosni Mubarak to implement the promise he made two years ago to initiate legislations to decriminalise press offences. ON A PROMISORY NOTE: Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, right, shakes hand with Israeli Labour Party leader Amir Peretz during their meeting in Cairo February 22. The same day, freedom of expression organisations at the general meeting of the
One year after Elmar Huseynov, the founder and editor of the opposition weekly Monitor, was killed at the entrance of his apartment building in Azerbaijan capital Baku, there has been no headway in the investigation. SILENCED: Elmar Huseynov, founder and editor of independent weekly Monitor, attending the 1st OSCE South Caucasus Media Conference, October 2004. Huseynov, 38, was gunned down on
A prominent correspondent for Russia's NTV television channel, Ilya Zimin, was killed Sunday in Moscow, the channel's press secretary said, according to RIA Novosti news agency. "We confirm that he tragically died," Maria Bezborodova said. She said no details of Zimin's death were immediately available. KILLED FOR EXPOSES: NTV News Editor Tatyana Mitkova said she did not rule out the possibility
September 17, 2005: Politiken, a Danish newspaper, runs an article under the headline "Deep fear of criticism of Islam" detailing the difficulty encountered by the writer K�re Bluitgen, who had difficulties finding an illustrator for his children's book on the life of Mohammed. September 30: Jyllands-Posten, one of Denmark's bestselling daily newspapers, publishes 12 cartoons of the prophet to
A Turkish appeals court on Friday last overturned a lower court's decision to convict Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink for insulting the country's national identity in a series of articles, and ordered a new trial, the Associated Press (AP) had reported. VINDICATED ON APPEAL: Hrant Dink, a Turkish citizen and editor of the bilingual Armenian-Turkish newspaper Agos, was convicted and given a
The Philippines police raided the premises of a newspaper critical of President Gloria Arroyo Saturday following her declaration of a state of emergency to quash a coup plot, the Associated Press (AP) has reported. Arroyo set off an uproar with her decree Friday as Filipinos celebrated the 20th anniversary of dictator Ferdinand Marcos' ouster in a "people power" revolt, and even some supporters
The editor and the chairman of a magazine which published a cartoon of prophet Mohammed were Thursday remanded to judicial custody till March 3 in New Delhi. The editor of Senior India magazine Alok Tomar, who was arrested Wednesday night under IPC sections dealing with hurting religious sentiments and attempt to breach communal harmony, was remanded to 14-day judicial custody by local court. UP
Crying blood is in. At least pretty much in Uttar Pradesh where two virtually unknown Shariat courts have joined the issue with a minister of the state in calling for the death of the Danish cartoonists who drew caricatures of prophet Mohammed. BUSH FIRE: Protestors burn an effigy of US President George W Bush in Lucknow February 19. Thousands of protesters participated in the rally. Shia and
A minister in the Uttar Pradesh government has announced a bounty of Rs 51 crore (about $11.5 million) to anyone who beheads the Danish cartoonists "who dared to make the caricature of the Prophet". The Minister of State for Haj and Minorities Welfare, Hazi Yakoob Qureshi, also Friday told a 25,000-strong crowd of protestors in Meerut, that the assassin would get gold equivalent to his weight
The trial of two men charged with killing Forbes editor Paul Klebnikov has been postponed again – this time following a bomb alert, news agency RIA Novosti reported. "The hearings adjourned after a bailiff announced a bomb threat," defence attorney, Ruslan Koblev, said. He said the alert came when Public Attorney Dmitry Shokhin began presenting the charges. The trial has been postponed to
