Ethics and Freedom

A journalist’s claim that 11 of his close relatives were murdered in Iraq last weekend is false. Amman-based Iraqi journalist Dia al-Kawwaz had claimed on November 26 that 11 members of his immediate family were shot by gunmen the previous day in Baghdad. “We are obviously relieved to learn that the Kawwaz family is safe and sound but this journalist’s behaviour is unacceptable,” Reporters sans...

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has condemned a 29 November 2007 search at the home of journalist and blogger Zhai Minglei, who was due the following day to answer an official summons linked to an investigation into the "illegal publication" of the magazine "Minjian" (Civil Society). Zhai posted on his blog, Yaobao, nominated for the international Best of the Blogs (BoB) awards, an account...

(RSF/IFEX) - Mahjoub Ourwa, the chairman of the independent Arabic-language daily "Al-Sudani", and Noureddine Medani, the newspaper's editor, were released on 29 November 2007 after spending 11 days in Omdurman prison, located north of Khartoum. The two journalists had been detained on 18 November for refusing to pay court-ordered fines of 10,000 Sudanese pounds (approx. 3,500 euros) each for...

Nov. 26, 2007 · The U.S. military continues to refuse to release any evidence against an AP photojournalist, even as they plan to bring criminal charges against him. The military first took Bilal Hussein, a member of the AP’s 2005 Pulitzer Prize-winning photo team, into custody in April of 2006 when Hussein provided shelter for several strangers after hearing an explosion on a nearby street in...

NEW DELHI: A sting operation, showing how the lower judiciary could be exploited to obtain arrest warrants against anyone for a bribe, has boomeranged on the journalist with the Supreme Court adamant on his unconditional apology for bringing the entire judiciary to disrepute. A Bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justices R V Raveendran and J M Panchal was on Thursday unmoved and...

BAGHDAD (AP) — Bilal Hussein’s career as a photojournalist nearly ended soon after it began. Hussein, who had been working for The Associated Press for about three months, volunteered to stay in his native Fallujah as U.S. forces prepared to assault the city to drive out Sunni religious extremists. It was a decision not taken lightly. Once known as the “city of mosques,” Fallujah had become the...

The US military says it will recommend criminal charges against an Associated Press photographer detained in 2006 on suspicion of helping Iraqi insurgents. The Pentagon says additional evidence has come to light proving Bilal Hussein is a “terrorist media operative” who infiltrated the news agency. The case will be passed to Iraqi judges who will decide if he should be tried. AP says its own...

Attacks on freedom of expression riding on notorious laws are increasing in Bahrain. Recent incidents have prompted 26 International Freedom of Expression eXchange (IFEX) members and 21 other organisations, led by the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR), to urge the authorities to stop their latest clampdown on free expression. The organisations in their call to Bahraini government have...

Australia's proud international reputation for the strength of its democratic institutions and civil rights records received a blow with the latest findings of the 'Report of the Independent Audit into the State of Free Speech in Australia'. RSF focused on the anti-terrorism laws in Australia that “risk being abusively used against the press” such as phone-tapping without judicial supervision or...

The law is being bend, moulded and used to curtail the freedom to express. Legal hurdles have been placed in Mongolia for reporters and whistleblowers. The findings have been highlighted in Protecting Journalists’ Confidential Sources and Repealing the Criminal Defamation Legislation, brought out by Globe International. The 'UB Post', Mongolia´s independent weekly English newspaper in Ulaanbaatar...