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Baghdad, Jul 7, (VOI)- The Iraqi Society for Defending Journalists' Rights said on Saturday an Iraqi journalist was killed in the clashes that erupted between security forces and fighters of the Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi army in the southern Iraqi city of Samawa during the last two days. "The society's office in Samawa was informed of the death of journalist Ali Watan who was working...

(CRN/IFEX) - CRNI is proud to announce the 2007 winner of the Courage in Editorial Cartooning Award: Jonathan Shapiro of Cape Town, South Africa. Every year, cartoonists around the world are threatened by terrorists, government officials or affiliated goon squads. For many, the experience is intimidating and traumatizing; for a few, it is one more reason to express truth to power. Two of Shapiro's...

Press freedom organisations have heaved a sigh of relief at the release early Wednesday morning local time of BBC correspondent Alan Johnston, who had been held captive for over four months in the Gaza Strip. In the same breath, all have called for global action to protect journalists working in hostile environments. Johnston was abducted while on his way home from his office in Gaza City on the...

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is shocked and distressed to hear of the loss of life in Islamabad, Pakistan, during the day-long confrontation between government forces and a radical religious group operating in and around the premises of the Lal Masjid on July 3. The IFJ extends its deepest condolences to the family of Javed Khan, a photojournalist who was killed after...

The freeing of Alan Johnston after a little over 16 weeks in captivity is a huge relief to his family, friends and BBC colleagues - and to the mass of people around the world who have identified with his plight. He was held for a far shorter period, and treated less cruelly, than two other journalist prisoners, Anthony Grey during the Chinese Cultural Revolution and John McCarthy during the...

An ebullient and relieved Alan Johnston, the BBC correspondent set free Wednesday after 114 days as a captive in the Gaza Strip, suggested the turning point that led to his release was Hamas' takeover of the strip. The armed Islamic movement is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union and Israel, whose right to exist it does not recognize. But Johnston said...

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has voiced its continuing concern about internet censorship in Thailand, after the recent ratification of new cyber crime legislation. According to IFJ sources, under the newly passed Computer-Related Offences Commission Act, the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (MICT) has been given the authority to apply for judicial review in...

Hundreds of people belonging to the Jain community along with a number of journalists staged a road blockade here Wednesday demanding immediate arrest of the culprits who had shot dead a journalist and his driver a day before. Pawan Jain, editor of evening newspaper Virdohi Dhara published from the neighbouring Vidisha town, and his driver Sardar Singh were shot dead near the city's posh J.K. Road...

Iran's leading reformist daily newspaper Hammihan (Compatriot) has been ordered closed, less than two months after it was allowed to resume publishing. Hammihan, banned in 2000 by the hardline Iranian judiciary after the newspaper called for improving Iranian ties with the United States, had resumed publishing in May this year, publisher Gholamhossein Karbaschi told the Associated Press (AP). A...

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) today condemned the adoption of the new Journalist Statute by the Portuguese Parliament on 21 June 2007, accusing lawmakers of threatening journalists’ rights to protect their sources by “recruiting journalists to do police work.” The law says that courts investigating offences such as threats to the security of the state and organized crime may order...