Europe - Central Asia

The mayor of the Serbian city of Zajecar, Bosko Nicic has decided to prevent all directors of companies and public institutions in the city from making statements to the media without his prior consent, according to the South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO). Directors of companies and public institutions now feel that they must fear for their jobs if they do not comply with the directive...

The Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (IJAS/NUNS), the Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM), local Press and the the Independent Journalists' Association of Journalists of Vojvodina (IJAV/NDNV) have urged the government to ban the work and operations of extremist, fascist, neo-Nazi and racist groups in Serbia. The latest case of the beating of journalist Teofil Pancic...

The High Court in Nis, in a defamation case against Serbian daily newspaper Narodnih Novina journalist Dragana Kocic and editor-in-chief Timosenko Milosavljevic, has ruled in favour of the defendants. Together, the two had been sentenced by the Court of First Instance to pay a fine of 1,000,000 Serbian dinars (approx. 10,800 EUR) for publishing an article using quotes from official documents - an...

A Russian police officer who got off with a two-year suspended sentence for killing journalist Magomed Yevloyev in 2008 was shot dead by unknown assailants in the Ingush city of Nazran on Wednesday, investigators said. Two men armed with automatic rifles shot Ibragim Yevloyev, 35, and his colleague Beslan Albogachiyev in a downtown cafe, killing Yevloyev and seriously injuring Albogachiyev, a...

Social media is becoming more influential by the day. If the May elections in the UK were anything to go by, social media has been an influencing factor for those aged between 18 and 24. A recent study by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism shows that politics has caught on with the youth with social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter becoming important in communicating

The police prevented the staff of the opposition newspaper Azadlig from entering its premises Monday at the behest of Agbey Askerov, the head of the state-owned publishing house Azerbaijan, which prints the newspaper, according to Paris-based press freedom group Reporters sans Frontières (RSF). Askerov is demanding immediate repayment of a debt of 15,000 manats (15,000 euros), which he says dates...

The department of public prosecution has brought new charges against Kurdish writer Mehmet Güler and publisher Ragip Zarakolu. This time they are to be prosecuted for a book about the political system that the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) would like to introduce, Paris-based press freedom group Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has reported. In a trial due to begin on September 30 before...

A measure signed into law on Thursday by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will expand the powers of security agents and contribute to a climate of fear among government critics, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has said. The law grants the Federal Security Service (FSB) authority to detain for up to 15 days anyone suspected of planning a crime against Russian security, local and...

A Kazakh journalist threw dung at the Almaty city court building on Monday to protest the court's rejection of her lawsuit against Prime Minister Karim Masimov and other politicians, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reported. Zhanna Baytelova had filed a case against Masimov, Senate speaker Qasymzhomart Toqaev, and lower house speaker Oral Mukhamedzhanov in the Zhetysu district court for what she termed...

A former Kurdish editor who has been held since January 30, 2009 and sentenced to a total of 166 years in prison with 30-odd cases, has been awarded a Journalists Association of Turkey press freedom prize. on 24 July. Vedat Kursun is former editor of Kurdish-language daily Azadiya Welat. Receiving the award on Kursun's behalf on July 24, his father said, “To Turkish and international public...