News

Journalists in Malaysia are being restricted from covering the parliament proceedings by seemingly sudden and unannounced tightening of security rules, the Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) has reported. As the parliament is first and foremost a public institution, restricting journalists from its proceedings is tantamount to restricting the public's right to know, CIJ feels. Online news...

Nearly four months after the death of Franco-Congolese journalist Bruno Jacquet Ossébi, the Committee to Protect Journalists has called for authorities in the Republic of Congo to publicly disclose a report that was prepared weeks ago on their investigation. A magistrate appointed in February to oversee an investigation into the cause of the fire that ravaged Ossébi's residence in Brazzaville...

Twentyfour journalists remain jailed in Iran, according to the latest CPJ research, while the government has instituted a broad and intrusive censorship regime. The government prevented a total of five national newspapers from publishing on Wednesday, according to local news reports. At least three of the papers said that representatives of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance had stopped...

Lese majeste charges were filed Tuesday by a private citizen against board members of the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand (FCCT), according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). Violations of lese majeste laws are a criminal offence in Thailand, punishable by three to 15 years in prison. The charges were filed by Laksana Kornsilpa, a translator and a sympathiser of the People's...

The group, which owns the Independent newspaper, has sold a 7.3 per cent stake in the media company, which will leave it with a 13.5 stake in the firm, says a MediaWeek report. It sold the stock on the Bombay and National Stock Exchanges. Excerpts: [ Link] The sale comes as IN&M bids to reach agreement with bondholders over a €200m bond, which, following an extension agreed last week, is due for...

Iranian authorities have released a number of employees of the reformist newspaper Kalemeh Sabz who had been held since June 23, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has reported. In recent days, the Iranian government has launched a campaign designed to malign the foreign press, blaming demonstrations that followed the contested June 12 presidential elections on foreign news media...

Honduran military personnel briefly detained seven journalists, temporarily shut down several local broadcasters, and intermittently blocked the broadcast signals of international news channels in the aftermath of the weekend coup that ousted President Manuel Zelaya, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has reported. On Monday, at least 10 soldiers armed with rifles detained seven...

As the US troops begin their withdrawal from Iraqi cities today, many questions remain about the persons still detained by the US forces. Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has reiterated its call for the release of Reuters photographer Ibrahim Jassam, who has been held since last September. “The US armed forces are now withdrawing from the main Iraqi cities after six years of occupation,” Paris...

A Filipino radio presenter, Jonathan Petalvero, was recently shot dead at a restaurant in Bayugan, in the southern province of Agusan del Sur, Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has reported. Petalvero hosted a programme that supported a local politician. “It is too soon to say whether this murder was linked to the victim’s work as a journalist, but the authorities must quickly assign enough...

Russian newspaper editor Vyacheslav Yaroshenko, who spent weeks in a coma after being attacked and beaten outside his home on April 29, succumbed to his injuries Monday in the southwestern city of Rostov-on-Don. He was 63. Yaroshenko, editor-in-chief of the Rostov-on-Don newspaper Korruptsiya i Prestupnost, was found unconscious with a head wound in the entrance of his apartment building early on...