State Control

Former journalist Jestina Mukoko, who was abducted by Zimbabwean security agents three months ago, has been released from prison. Mukoko was recently taken to a clinic in Harare, where she was treated for high blood pressure and injuries that doctors said were consistent with torture. “Mukoko was unjustly held for three months in very disturbing conditions,” Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) said....

Brazil's Federal Supreme Court (STF) has made a "preliminary" decision to extend a suspension of 22 clauses—including 20 articles—of the draconian February 9, 1967 press law. The clauses at issue that allow prison sentences for offences of "defamation", "denigration" and "insult", were suspended for the first time for a period of six months, by the country's highest jurisdiction on February 27...

The preliminary results of an Afro Barometer Survey indicate that a majority of people in Botswana support press freedom and critical speech, according to the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA). The survey, conducted by the Department of Political and Administration Studies, Sociology and Statistics at the University of Botswana reveals that "Batswana overwhelmingly showed their support for...

The Sudanese embassy in Cairo is said to have launched an extensive media campaign in Egyptian and Arab mass media in the wake of the release and distribution of the documentary Darfur Destroyed. The documentary, which was created by Aegis Trust and released on February 10, featured credible and documented testimonies and confessions of perpetrators of war crimes committed in Darfur, particularly

The Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA) has temporarily closed Mzimba Community Radio Station, based in the northern part of the country, on grounds that the station did not comply with the regulatory body's rules and regulations as stipulated in the Communications Act, the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) has reported. Details behind the community radio station's closure...

The Zambian Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Services (MIBS) has with immediate effect stopped issuing broadcasting licenses to new applicants, saying it is working towards the establishment of the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) that will soon take over the licensing function of all broadcasters in the country, the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) has reported. MISA...

China should open Tibetan areas to independent monitors and journalists as a means of diffusing ethnic tensions and preventing violence on the eve of a string of politically sensitive anniversaries, Human Rights Watch has demanded. One year after the largest Tibetan protests for more than two decades, the presence of such observers would serve as an incentive for good behavior for crowds, which...

Newly appointed Media, Information and Publicity Deputy Minister Jameson Timba has promised to restore media freedom in Zimbabwe by immediately allowing closed publications to reopen and freeing the airwaves in accordance with Article 19 of the Global Political Agreement (GPA), which states that the government shall ensure the immediate processing by the appropriate authorities of all applications...

The new media law in Belarus contains several provisions that further deteriorate the media situation in the country. In particular, the law provides for regulation of online media by a governmental decree and re-registration of all the media outlets; it simplifies the procedure of closing down a media outlet and­ decreases the level of security of journalists and editorial boards, according to

The Sudanese government is censoring the media and cracking down on human rights activists and journalists who speak out on human rights and justice. Harassment, repression and censorship has worsened in the last year, particularly since the International Criminal Court's (ICC) request for an arrest warrant for President Omar al-Bashir in July 2008. A 21-page report by Human Rights Watch (HRW),