News

A senior journalist and noted industrialist of Aligarh was shot dead in front of his house here under the Banna Devi police station by unknown assailants on Monday night. City Superintendent of Police J.K. Shahi said Hari Om Aggarwal, a senior journalist with Punjab Kesri (Delhi), was shot dead as he was returning home from a friend's shop. The body has been sent for post mortem. Aggarwal’s...

DUBAI — Editors of leading Arabic and English newspapers in the UAE on Monday signed the Charter of Honour and Code of Ethics underlining their commitment to a responsible media which would ensure credibility, accuracy and unbiased nature of news content. The 26-article document which defines the rules and ethics of the journalistic profession, was drafted following the political leadership’s...

(IAPA/IFEX) - The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) has added its voice to a demand by the Peruvian Press Council that the South American country's judiciary and attorney general's office not allow the 2004 murder of journalist Antonio de la Torre to continue to go unpunished following the recent arrest of the alleged culprit. Moisés Julca Orrillo, accused of being one of those who allegedly...

(CMFR/IFEX) - A newspaper columnist critical of the Arroyo government has received a death threat via email warning her that her criticism of the regime may cost her life. Ellen Tordesillas, who writes for the daily newspaper "Malaya" and the daily tabloid "Abante", found the emailed death threat when she checked her inbox on 30 September 2007. The email was time-stamped 3:53 a.m. (local time) of...

ISTANBUL (AFP) — Turkish police withheld and destroyed evidence to cover up the killing of ethnic Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, a lawyer for his family claimed as the second hearing in the murder trial began here Monday. "Evidence and information is being hidden from prosecutors... A lot of evidence was destroyed and lost," Fethiye Cetin said in an interview with the Radikal newspaper. Several...

(BIANET/IFEX) - As the murder trial of journalist Hrant Dink continued on 1 October 2007, a recording of the suspect Erhan Tuncel speaking to police intelligence officer Muhittin Zenit has emerged, though the prosecution has yet to procure it. The recorded conversation, made public by Murat Utku, a reporter with the Dogan News Agency (DHA), was made one hour and 47 minutes after Dink's murder on...

(HRinfo/IFEX) - In an unprecedented scene familiar only to those who lived under extinct dictatorships, Ibrahim Essa's trial took place, the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information said, raising concerns about the pre-trial procedures that preceded his trial for allegedly publicizing false news about the president's health. Essa is the editor of the independent newspaper "Al-Dostur". On 1...

(FNJ/IFEX) - A Maoist-affiliated trade union prevented the printing of "Kantipur Daily" and "The Kathmandu Post" on 30 September 2007. Members of the All Nepal Communication, Printing and Publication Worker's Union entered the printing press of the publications located at Jadibuti, Kathmandu, during the day on 30 September 2007 and secretly damaged two machines used for printing. According to...

(MFWA/IFEX) - Lawyers of Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo are seeking exorbitant compensation for defamation from five journalists of two pro-opposition dailies which if granted by the court, could result in the newspapers getting bankrupt. The lawyers made the request on 26 September 2007 at the resumed trial of the journalists before a Plateau Magistrate's court in Abidjan. The Media Foundation...

(BIANET/IFEX) - Various journalists have become the target of aggressive insinuations and direct threats, including a death threat, due to their coverage of a controversial song and video clip considered to portray the murderers of journalist Hrant Dink as heroes. Nationalist singer Ismail Türüt recorded a song entitled "Plan, don't make a plan", composed by Arif Sirin. The song, which praises the...