The World Association of Newspapers has welcomed the release from prison of Chinese journalist Li Changqing, the laureate of the 2008 WAN Golden Pen of Freedom, and called on Chinese authorities to release all imprisoned journalists before the Olympic Games in Beijing next summer. Li, who was jailed three years ago for alerting the public to an outbreak of dengue fever before the authorities had...
The World Association of Newspapers and World Editors have called on Chinese authorities to release journalist Hu Jia, who was arrested last month, apparently for participating in a European parliamentary hearing. In a lettter to Premier Wen Jiabao, the Paris-based WAN and the WEF said China should immediately release Mr Hu and all other jailed Chinese journalists under reforms it promised in its...
Press freedom in Pakistan requires the revocation of two anti-press freedom ordinances implemented by President Pervez Musharraf’s caretaker government since emergency rule was declared on November 3, 2007 and an independent journalist-designed code of ethics, according to a new report Emergency in Pakistan: Crisis Mission Rapid Assessment. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the...
An Afghanistan university student and journalist for daily newspaper Janan-e-Naw, Sayed Parvez Kambakhsh, faces the death penalty at his upcoming trial, according to the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). Parvez was detained on October 27, 2007, in the northern Afghan city of Mazhar-e-Sharif, accused of “insolence to the Islam” after he allegedly downloaded an article from a Farsi...
The World Association of Newspapers and World Editors Forum have asked China to honour its international obligations and release all jailed journalists before the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. In a letter to Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao asking for the immediate release of a journalist who has spent 12 years in prison, the Paris-based WAN and WEF referred to China’s promise to "follow...
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has called on Sri Lanka’s government and its President, Mahinda Rajapaksa, to take urgent action to protect the safety of journalists and uphold the rights of the media to report on issues of public interest. A serious deterioration in the press freedom environment and safety of journalists in Sri Lanka since January 2, when the government formally...
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has again called on the United States (US) to free Al-Jazeera cameraman Sami al-Haj who has been held at the Guantanamo Bay detention centre for five-and-a-half years. “Sami al-Haj has never been charged with a crime and the US Government has failed to produce any credible evidence against him,” said IFJ General Secretary Aidan White. “He should be...
The commander of the Sri Lankan army, Major-General Sarath Fonseka has labelled some journalists and sections of the media as “traitors”. In an interview published in the state-controlled Sinhala daily Dinamina on January 2, Foneska said the “treachery” of the media was the only obstacle hampering the military’s fight to defeat the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). “The biggest obstacle is...
Ten journalists in Sindh province who were reporting on events related to Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto’s death on December 27 have been arrested under anti-terrorism and riot laws, according to the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ). PFUJ reported that 34 cases were registered against journalists in the province’s interior since December 27. Of these, 19 journalists work for...
A journalist and a former journalist were killed in separate incidents on Mindanao island in December 2007, according to delayed reports received by the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). On December 24, Fernando Lintuan, a radio broadcaster for dxGO radio in Davao, was killed by gunmen while in his car after leaving work. About 10am, two men on a motorcycle opened fire on Lintuan at a...
