Ethics and Freedom

The Swedish cartoonist who depicted Islam's prophet Mohammed with the body of a dog has gone into hiding following a death threat from Al-Qaeda in Iraq. Lars Vilks, who was whisked away by the police when he returned to Sweden from Germany on Sunday, said police have described the threats against him as "very serious." The leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, offered $100,000 over the...

A Chinese researcher for the New York Times who was arrested on charges of revealing state secrets and later convicted of fraud was released Saturday after serving a three-year prison sentence. On Saturday morning, Zhao Yan was greeted by family members and friends as he left a Beijing detention centre. He hugged his sister, daughter and others but said nothing to reporters. He later issued a...

A Cairo court has sentenced four independent editors to one-year jail terms for publishing “false information.” Editors Ibrahim Eissa of the daily Al-Dustour, Wael al-Abrashy of the weekly Sawt al-Umm, Adel Hammouda of the weekly Al-Fajr, and Abdel Halim Kandil, former editor of the weekly Al-Karama were convicted Thursday of “publishing false information likely to disturb public order” in a case...

A Cairo court has sentenced four independent editors to one-year jail terms for publishing “false information.” Editors Ibrahim Eissa of the daily Al-Dustour, Wael al-Abrashy of the weekly Sawt al-Umm, Adel Hammouda of the weekly Al-Fajr, and Abdel Halim Kandil, former editor of the weekly Al-Karama were convicted Thursday of “publishing false information likely to disturb public order” in a case...

Chinese journalist Zhao Yan may be released on September 15 when he completes a three-year prison sentence for alleged fraud. Despite the many appeals for his release in the past, his sentence was never reduced and he was never granted early release. “After serving his three-year sentence in full, first in a state security centre and then a prison, Zhao should have all his rights restored...

A newspaper editor will be go on trial over his paper's recent reports questioning the health of Egypt's 79-year-old president, Hosni Mubarak. Ibrahim Eissa, editor of the independent daily Al-Dustor, was questioned last week for printing the rumours and released without bail, but the general prosecutor decided Tuesday to send the case to trial, the MENA news agency reported. Eissa's trial on...

The World Association of Newspapers (WAN) has welcomed a last-minute agreement between an international coalition of news media and the International Rugby Board (IRB), and has called on sports events organisers to respect the rights of news organisations to freely cover sports and to eliminate all restrictions on legitimate press coverage. Argentina's fans celebrate during the group D Rugby World...

Sex, lies and videotape — the story had all the elements of a successful TV sting operation. There was a public-school teacher accused of forcing her students into prostitution. There was the innocent victim, and the astute and fearless reporter exposing the racket. When it aired, the story provoked predictable public outrage, and the accused teacher, Uma Khurana, was set upon by an enraged mob...

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday held the Editor, the Resident Editor, the Publisher and the cartoonist of English tabloid Mid-Day guilty in a contempt of court case for carrying a scandalous report and a cartoon of former Chief Justice of India Y.K. Sabharwal aimed at lowering the dignity of the Supreme Court in the eyes of the common man. A Division Bench comprising Justice R.S. Sodhi...

Indonesia's supreme court has ordered Time Asia to pay former President Suharto 1 billion rupees (106 million dollars) in damages for a 1999 cover story accusing him of corruption. A spokesman for the court said it concluded that the story in Time’s Asia edition had damaged the former dictator’s "reputation and honour." Time Asia’s Indonesian lawyer, Todung Mulya Lubis, Tuesday said he would try...