Archives 2005-1014: Press Freedom
Blaise Compaore has just announced his resignation after 27 years as Burkina Faso’s president. He has given in to the massive demonstrations that have shaken the country for the past week and took violent turn Thursday last. On October 30, demonstrators protesting against a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow President Blaise Compaoré another term, stormed the state-owned national broadcaster, Radiodiffusion Télévision du Burkina (RTB). Programmes were interrupted in the morning... MORE
The Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) has condemned the proposed Telecommunications (Interceptions and Access) Amendment (Data Retention) Bill 2014 as an outrageous attack on press freedom that will have a chilling effect on journalists and their ability to work with sources to bring matters of public interest to light. Long before the current Bill, in August 2012, MEAA wrote in its submission to the Parliamentary inquiry into reforms to national security legislation: "Due to the... MORE
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its affiliate Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) have expressed concern over the detention of a senior journalist and blogger in tribal area of Waziristan, Pakistan on Monday October 28, 2014. According to reports, Shehryar Mehsud , a columnist at the Urdu daily Akhbar-e-Khyber, was arrested on the orders of the political administration of South Waziristan allegedly for exposing the 'corruption of political agents' in development... MORE
The International Press Institute (IPI) has welcomed two recent European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) decisions upholding the media's right to report on issues of public concern in the face of libel suits. In the first ruling, Erla Hlynsdóttir v. Iceland [No.2], published on October 21, the Court unanimously ruled that Iceland violated a journalist's right to free expression when a court there ordered her to pay ISK 400,000 (€2,600) in damages and costs to a woman accused of helping her... MORE
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has condemned an attack by Israeli police on photographers near Silwad in the West Bank on Sunday, October 26. According to reports, Israeli police fired rubber bullets at the photographers at close range while they were taking pictures of protests that followed the funeral of a Palestinian activist. Two journalists are said to have received minor injuries in the attack. One was a reporter from Associated Press who is said to have injured his... MORE
The Committee to Protect Journalists has expressed alarm that protesters stormed and looted the offices of Burkina Faso's national broadcaster Radiodiffusion Television du Burkina in the capital, Ouagadougou, Thursday. Thousands of demonstrators have taken to the streets to protest a constitutional amendment that would allow President Blaise Compaore to seek re-election next year, according to reports. "It is clear that the Burkina Faso public is out for change. But in critical times like these... MORE
The Committee to Protect Journalists has condemned Tuesday's raid by Argentine police on the offices of La Brújula 24 , a radio station and news website, in which the outlet's journalistic materials were confiscated. Police arrived at La Brújula 24's offices in the city of Bahía Blanca in Buenos Aires province Tuesday morning with a court order signed by federal Judge Santiago Ulpiano Martínez, one of the outlet's directors, Germán Sasso, told local reporters. Authorities were searching for... MORE
Iranian authorities have detained for almost a week a journalist affiliated with the semi-official Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA), a media outlet that has covered a series of acid attacks on women in the country, according to news reports. Four other staff members affiliated with the agency were arrested on Monday and have been released, the reports said. This month, more than half a dozen women have been attacked with acid, leading to protests in the cities of Isfahan and Tehran and... MORE
The National Intelligence and Security Services in Sudan arrested a journalist on Thursday last in Khartoum and has held him without charge since, according to news reports. Al-Nour Ahmed al-Nour is the Sudan correspondent for the pan-Arab London-based newspaper Al-Hayat and also works as a columnist for the Sudanese independent daily Al-Taghyeer. "Sudanese authorities must provide a reason for al-Nour Ahmed al-Nour's arrest or release him at once," said CPJ's Middle East and North Africa... MORE
Cameroonian journalists Felix Cyriaque Ebole Bola of the daily Mutations and Rodrigue Tongue of Le Messager, were charged following a October 28 military court hearing in Yaoundé with “non-denunciation” of facts potentially endangering state security. Baba Wamé, a former journalist and professor was accused of the same charges. “This charge prompts great concern for freedom of information in Cameroon,” said Cléa Kahn-Sriber, head of the Africa desk of Reporters Without Borders. “Journalists... MORE
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