Ethiopian authorities are hunting down journalists, civil society activists and opposition leaders in a bid to clamp down on government critics following public protests that left more than 40 dead at the hands of security forces, report the Ethiopian Free Press Journalists' Association (EFJA), the International Press Institute (IPI), Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) and the Committee to Protect
Armed policemen and intelligence personnel besieged the offices of Monitor Publications Ltd in Ugandan capital Kampala on Thursday night marking the culmination of a weeklong witch hunt of independent Daily Monitor newspaper. The raid is beng seen as President Yoweri Museveni's efforts to neutralise support for imprisoned opposition leader Kizza Besigye. RUN FOR COVER: A Ugandan journalist runs
A court in Yemen's capital Sanaa has imposed a fine of one million Yemeni rial on opposition newspaper Al-Thowri and banned two of its journalists from writing for six months. The court on Saturday said the newspaper will have to issue an apology on the last page for three successive editions to two government officials based on defamation charges. FREEDOM OF THE PREZ: President Ali Abdullah Saleh
A Swedish journalist who spent four years in an Eritrean prison for demanding press freedom in the east African country was unexpectedly released Saturday. Dawit Isaak was "feeling really well" after leaving prison, said Leif Obrink, the leader of a Swedish organisation that had fought for the journalist's release. Sofia Beharane, second right, and her three children Yoran, left, Betlehem, second
Ukranian parliament has overwhelmingly approved a bill prohibiting state authorities from carrying out inspections of media groups during the forthcoming parliamentary election campaign, report agencies. RED RIDING HOODS: Reporters dressed in red overcoats hang a dummy made from Ukrainian newspapers during a protest near the parliament in Kiev November 17, 2005. Leading reporters staged a rally to
Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan boycotted a planned press conference with his Danish counterpart on Tuesday in protest over the presence of a journalist he said was linked to Kurdish separatist guerrillas, according to a Reuters report. Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen stands next to an empty lectern Tuesday November 15, 2005 during what was to be a joint press conference with
Fifty-one journalists have been killed so far this year and more than 500 arrested, making 2005 a dark year, the World Association of Newspapers said Monday in its annual review of press freedom worldwide. North Koreans read a newspaper at the Yonggwang underground station – which means glory station – in the North Korean capital Pyongyang October 17, 2005. Little or no information on the
The World Association of Newspapers (WAN) has called on the summit meeting of the Islamic Conference in December to drop from its agenda an item concerning caricatures of Mohammed that were published in a Danish newspaper. NOT THAT FUNNY: Muslim religious leaders in Denmark, who saw the cartoons as an insult to Islam and the prophet called on the conservative daily to withdraw the cartoons and to
A prominent media organisation has warned of tougher times ahead for free expression in Zambia. The editor of the country's only privately-owned newspaper was recently arrested for criticising Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa. Fred M'membe (c): Levy's reaction to Dr Kenneth Kaunda's humble advice makes us question this man's suitability for president and his capacity to think and reason in a more
An independent journalist in Uzbekistan was ambushed and assaulted on Monday last by a group of unidentified men, the latest attack in a worsening environment for government critics since the May 13 massacre in Andizhan, a city in eastern Uzbekistan, Human Rights Watch has said. Alexei Volosevich, a 38-year-old reporter for the pro-opposition website fergana.ru stands covered with paint in front
