Asia

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has condemned the Colombo high court’s indictment of journalist JS Tissainayagam Monday on terrorism charges for articles he published in 2006. Sri Lanka’s Terrorist Investigation Division arrested Tissainayagam, the editor of news website OutreachSL, and five of his colleagues within a few days in March 2008. Three of the group were released later that...

Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has called for more police to investigate the killings of five journalists in the Philippines since the beginning of 2008, including the latest victim, former radio presenter Rolando Anjo Julia, in the central province of Camarines Sur. "Until the motives for these crimes have been discovered and their authors punished, people will continue to doubt the ability of...

On the eve of Indonesia's Independence Day, the country's Constitutional Court has dealt a serious blow to Indonesia's press freedom with a decision upholding the constitutionality of criminal defamation, the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) has said. The August 15 court decision effectively dismisses a petition filed by journalist Risang Bima Wijaya and columnist Bersihar Lubis, who were...

Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has condemned the murder of Mohammad Azim Leghari of the newspaper Halchal and the Sindh-language television station Dharti TV, who was gunned down in Dadu City, in the southern province of Sindh, while covering story of a young couple trying to "marry for love." The couple was the target of fierce criticism from conservative clans, who could have been responsible...

The Committee to Protect Journalists' website, www.cpj.org, is blocked in the Main Press Centre and at least one other Olympic press venue, according to a number of foreign journalists there. CPJ is calling on the Chinese authorities to provide the free Internet access they promised foreign reporters when they were awarded the Games. “We call on China and the International Olympic Committee to...

A prominent Iranian journalist of Arab ethnicity has been sentenced to five years in jail, according to ADN Kronos International (AKI). Yousuf Ben Azizi, was found guilty of 'subversive activities' after he published several articles three years ago after protests in the city of Ahwaz and other southern Iranian cities inhabited by Arabs. "My client was found guilty of subversive activities with...

Filipino radio commentator Dennis Cuesta, who was shot at near his office on August 4, succumbed to his injuries at a General Santos City hospital on Saturday, New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has reported. Local press freedom groups told CPJ that they believe his murder was related to his work. Cuesta's colleague Mel Coronel told the Associated Press that the journalist never...

The trial of a Bangladeshi editor arrested for advocating ties with Israel began in Dhaka on Wednesday, the Jerusalem Post has reported. Salahuddin Shoaib Choudhury, editor of the Weekly Blitz, an English-language newspaper published in the Bangladeshi capital, is facing a series of charges that include sedition. If convicted, he could be sentenced to death. Details from the Post: In November 2003...

Filipino radio broadcaster Martin Roxas was shot dead on August 7 by a gunman riding pillion on a motorcycle in Roxas City, according to the Centre for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR). The province is approximately 411 km southeast of Manila. Roxas, programme director of dyKR-Radio Mindanao Network (RMN) in Roxas City, was shot in the neck. Roxas was himself on a motorcycle. He was...

Reporters covering the aftermath of Monday's attack on a border police outpost in Kashgar have been detained, beaten, and harassed, according to international news reports. Japan's Kyodo News Agency reported Wednesday that police in Kashgar dragged Masami Kawakita, a photographer from the Chunichi Shimbun newspaper's Tokyo headquarters, and Shinji Katsuta, a reporter for Nippon Television Network...