News

WASHINGTON, May 10 (UPI) -- Five journalists have been killed in recent days in Iraq, the most dangerous country in the world for news professionals according to a press freedom group. "The first few days of May have been exceptionally murderous for the Iraqi news media," Reporters Without Borders said in a Tuesday statement. "We can no longer find words to express our horror at the tragedies...

JOHANNESBURG, 10 May 2006 (IRIN) - The arrest of three journalists this week on criminal libel charges has been viewed by some commentators as yet another sign of the Malawi government's willingness to crack down on dissent. Robert Jamieson, owner of The Chronicle newspaper, its editor, Dickson Kashoti, and reporter Arnold Mlelemba were arrested on 8 May for allegedly defaming Malawi's Attorney...

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is concerned about a Costa Rican Supreme Court decision on 3 May 2006 rejecting a newspaper lawyer's petition for article 7 of the Press Law to be struck down as unconstitutional. The article provides for prison sentences for those who use the media to "defame" or "insult". "We call on the government to reconsider the Press Law and to begin a debate on...

(Brussels, May 9, 2006) - Politically motivated prosecutions of independent newsweeklies are rolling back press freedom in Morocco, Human Rights Watch said in a briefing paper released today. Today the Casablanca appeals court confirmed a fine and one-year suspended sentence against the director of al-Mash'al ("The Torch") weekly for "insulting" a foreign head of state. In the last year, the...

(APG/IFEX) - The APG has asked the attorney general's ministry (Ministerio Público) to file a special appeal of the court ruling which resulted in the release of two police (Policía National Civil) officers who assaulted and threatened two "Nuestro Diario" newspaper reporters. The assault had occurred on 31 August 2004, during a violent eviction of peasants, carried out by government security...

New York, May 9, 2006 - The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by attacks on radio stations in the Comoros in the run-up to May 14 federal elections in the Indian Ocean state. Unidentified assailants armed with machetes stormed two radio stations on the island of Grande Comore on May 5, forcing them off the air for 24 hours. The army shut down a radio station on the island of Mohéli...

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has voiced shock at the death of five journalists and media assistants in the space of a few days in Iraq. "The first few days of May have been exceptionally murderous for the Iraqi news media," the press freedom organisation said. "We can no longer find words to express our horror at the tragedies constantly suffered by the press in Iraq, where 93...

(New York, May 10, 2006) - Egyptian security officials arrested 11 more political reform activists, including an award-winning blogger, Alaa Ahmed Seif al-Islam, Human Rights Watch said today. This brings to more than 100 the number of people detained over the past two weeks for exercising their rights to freedom of assembly and expression. Approximately half of those arrested are members of the...

(FNJ/IFEX) - In a meeting on 9 May 2006, the Council of Ministers annulled three ordinances - including the controversial media ordinance - promulgated by the former royal government. Talking to reporters at the Prime Minister's official residence after the cabinet meeting, Minister for Land Reform and Management Prabhu Narayan Chaudhari said the government has decided to scrap or review all the...

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has welcomed the withdrawal of Shin Corp's defamation suit against media activist Supinya Klangnarong in Thailand, saying that it further highlights the futility of using outdated laws to curb press freedoms. Shin Corp filed a civil defamation case claiming 400 million baht (over US$10 million) in damages against Supinya and Thai Post editors after...