News

The two American women journalists who were arrested at the border between North Korea and China on March 17 have been transferred by the North Korean authorities to Pyongyang for questioning, according to Reporters sans Frontières (RSF). The detention of Euna Lee (who is of Korean descent) and Laura Ling (who is of Chinese descent) was confirmed by the North Korean press on March 21. The fact...

A grenade attack was carried out on the headquarters of the Tamil daily newspaper Uthayan in the northern Sri Lankan city of Jaffna at about 11 p.m. Monday night. The grenade exploded in the patio of the building, causing considerable damage and injuring a police guard. “This was yet another attempt to stop distribution of Uthayan and comes less than a month after the arrest of N Vithyatharan, the...

Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has expressed its concern after five newspapers in Madagascar stopped publishing and several journalists were threatened and physically assaulted during the political upheaval of the past few weeks. The media has become the prisoner of a hostile climate for press freedom since the start of the power struggle between the president, Marc Ravalomanana, and the ousted...

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ ) has condemned the timing of the Senegalese government's announcement that private broadcasters faced closure for nonpayment of licenses fees made on March 22, which was also local elections day in the country. "It is extraordinary for the goverment to make a statement directly threatening the closure of certain private media on the most important...

Mauritanian writer and journalist Abou Abbass Ould Braham, the editor of the news website Taqadoumy, was released on March 18 after being held for three days in the Mauritanian capital and that the website was allowed to reopen 24 hours after the Nouakchott prosecutor’s office ordered its closure, Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has reported. “The closure of a website and the arrest of one of its...

A Bujumbura court has acquitted Jean-Claude Kavumbagu, the editor of the Net Press news website, of defaming President Pierre Nkurunziza, Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has reported. He had been held since September 11 last in pre-trial detention in Mpimba central prison as a result of a complaint brought by the government secretary-general. The complaint was prompted by a report claiming that...

Local newspaper editor Mohamed Abdi Guled was released on bail on March 20 by a court in Hargeisa, the capital of the northern breakaway territory of Somaliland. The editor of the Hargeisa-based weekly Yool, Guled had to pay bail of 1 million Somaliland shillings (530 euros), Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has reported. A court in Hargeisa had sentenced Mohamed Abdi Guled to five months in prison...

Three-month bans have been imposed on two opposition party newspapers in Malaysia— Suara Keadilan of the Keadilan party and Harakah of the Islamic party PAS—just days ahead of Najib Razak’s expected installation as Malaysia’s new prime minister on March 28. The two newspapers were notified of the bans in fax messages that gave no reason, Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has reported. “There is...

A judge has ordered the release of French freelance photographer Jean-Paul Ney, who has been held in custody for 15 months in connection with an alleged “plot” to undermine Cote d’Ivoire's peace process, according to Reporters sans Frontières (RSF). Ney, who spoke by phone from Maca prison in the capital Abidjan to the worldwide press freedom organisation’s secretary-general, Jean-François...

Qatari authorities have hardened their stand towards the Doha Centre for Media Freedom. Hajar Smouni, head of research at the Centre and a former member of the Paris-based Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) staff, was prevented from leaving Qatar Tuesday. “The Doha Centre has for months been struggling to keep its independence and is under pressure from the Qatari authorities,” RSF secretary-general...