The arrest of a prominent blogger and a journalist under Malaysia's draconian Internal Security Act (ISA) is being seen by free speech advocates as the start of a wider crackdown ahead of an anticipated opposition push to gain control of parliament. Malaysia's leading blogger, Raja Petra Kamaruddin, a staunch government critic on his website Malaysia Today, was the first to be taken into custody
Roza Malsagova, the editor of the Ingushetiya.ru website, Ingushetia’s only source of independent news and information, has just lost an ally in her struggle against the government’s determination to suppress all coverage of human rights abuses in this southern Russian republic, which adjoins Chechnya and which is contaminated by the region’s conflicts. Magomed Yevloyev, the site’s owner
Cases of assaults and threats against journalists and photographers in Malaysia used to come and go quietly. It has now become almost a tradition that mainstream print and broadcast media give minimal coverage to issues about the profession, leaving the true gravity of the problem hidden from the public. Since 2007, the Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ), based in capital Kuala Lumpur, has
The last three years have been incredibly dangerous for media working in Mexico. An international coalition of press freedom organisations' report "Press Freedom: Shadow of Impunity and Violence" highlights the range of risks that they face with attacks against journalists continuing to increase at alarming rates. "Mexico has been one of the most dangerous countries for journalists in recent years
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is dismayed by the failure of the Egyptian authorities to shed light on the disappearance of a prominent journalist, five years ago, in one of the most secure districts in Cairo. Reda Helal, a senior editor at Egypt's leading state-owned daily Al-Ahram, mysteriously vanished on August 11, 2003, on his way home from work in a heavily guarded area in the
In the first six months of 2008, a large number of Somali journalists and other media workers were subjected to various kinds of violence and oppression such as harassment, killing, professional punishment, beatings, threats, arrests, arbitrary detention, maltreatment and censorship. The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) recorded numerous cases of attacks against media professionals and
Authoritarian regimes around the world are dealing with troublesome citizen bloggers by arresting them, and they're doing it more often. "Last year, 2007, was a record year for blogger arrests, with three times as many as in 2006. Egypt, Iran and China are the most dangerous places to blog about political life, accounting for more than half of all arrests since blogging became big," says Phil
A new broadcast law signed by Kyrgyzstan President Kurmanbek Bakiyev may threaten the future of a large number of news media outlets. The law, signed on June 4, gives the president the power to appoint the executive director of state-run TV and radio KTR. It also makes use of official languages partly compulsory as well as in-house production of programmes by the media. The president has however
The first six months of 2008 have been marked inMorocco by an avalanche of trials and repressive judicial and administrative decisions. At the same time, promises by Prime Minister Abbas El Fassi’s government to reform the press law have still not materialised. No bill has yet been submitted to the chamber of deputies. Journalists were stunned when reporter Mostapha Hurmatallah of the weekly Al
For more than 40 years, the Mafia has been targeting journalists who try to expose the organisation's criminal activities, says an Italian media watchdog. In a new report, the Italian-based rights group Information Safety and Freedom (ISF) says that nine journalists have been murdered by the mafia since 1960, from Cosimo Cristina who was killed in Sicily in 1960 to Beppe Alfano in 1993. Many other
