Ethics and Freedom

Two Nigerien editors whose weekly newspapers reported on corruption charges involving the national human rights commission have been in police custody since Saturday, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has reported quoting local journalists and news reports. Abdoulaye Tiémogo of the Le Canard Dechainé and Ali Soumana of Le Courrier were being held at the main police station in the capital...

North Korea on Tuesday released two jailed American journalists after a visit from former US President Bill Clinton in the highest-level US contact with North Korea since Clinton was president nearly a decade ago, Reuters has reported. North Korea's KCNA news agency said North Korean leader Kim Jong-il had issued a special pardon to the two journalists, Euna Lee and Laura Ling of US media outlet...

Five journalists have been released in Iran, including one on Monday who had been held for a year. The other four were picked up in the crackdown following the June 12 elections, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has reported. Authorities released freelance journalist Massoud Kurdpour on Monday after he completed a one-year jail term in Mahabad Central Prison in northwestern Iran...

The Saudi Arabia offices of a Lebanon-based satellite station controlled by tycoon Prince Alwaleed bin Talal could face closure over a racy talk show featuring a man boasting about his sex life, Agence France-Presse (AFP) has reported. The local operations of the Saudi billionaire's broadcaster LBC could be shut down because of the "offensive nature" of the programme, Abdullah al-Othaim, a senior...

The Supreme Court has rejected a plea for putting curbs on the media and television channels from conducting sting operations. It held that any attempt to control and regulate the media from outside was likely to cause more harm than good, the Hindu has reported. A Bench consisting of Justices BN Agrawal, GS Singhvi and Aftab Alam, in its 175-page judgment in the RK Anand case, said: “It is not...

South African President Jacob Zuma accepted "very substantial damages" from Britain's Guardian newspaper over an article that wrongly suggested he was a rapist, Reuters repored quoting his lawyers on Thursday. The March article, headlined "Get used to a corrupt and chaotic South Africa. But don't write it off" also alleged Zuma was guilty of corruption and bribery arising out of his involvement in...

Three bloggers have been detained with charge in Egypt since last week, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). Islamist blogger Abdel Rahman Ayyash, who writes for Al-Ghareeb (The Stranger), was arrested at the Cairo airport on Tuesday on his return from Turkey where he attended a youth conference, according to multiple news reports. Muslim Brotherhood member Magdi Saad, who used...

Two detained Iranian photographers are said to have confessed sending pictures to the "enemy" following the country's disputed June 12 presidential elections, according to the official Iranian News Agency (IRNA). IRNA Wednesday reported that photographers Majid Saeedi and Satyar Emami have confessed to having ties with a movement seeking to topple the Iranian government. IRNA's statement said that...

Death threats have been made against the Al-Jazeera in Yemen. Murad Hashem, Al-Jazeera's bureau chief in Sana'a, told the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) that on Sunday morning an unknown caller contacted his office and left a threatening message with his secretary that said: "Tell the bureau chief that his death is imminent. By God, we will get to him [even] at his home," the caller said...

The government in the breakaway republic of Somaliland has launched a crackdown on the independent press as September presidential elections near. On July 13, Somaliland police arrested private Radio Horyaal Director Mohamed Osman and News Editor Ahmed Suleiman at the station, accusing them of inciting violence, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported. The two were remanded in custody...