State Control

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has expressed deep concern over a decision of the High Court of Sindh to dismiss two petitions by the owners of GEO Television network challenging bans imposed on four of its news, sports and entertainment channels after emergency rule was decreed on November 3. After 19 days of hearings, the court agreed on December 4 with the government’s...

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has urged Somaliland authorities to withdraw their decision to expel 24 Somali journalists who fled the violence in Mogadishu over allegations that they are endangering the "security and stability” of the region. “Before this incident Somaliland has had a reputation as a place that would offer safety to journalists who are harassed and threatened...

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has condemned the initiation by authorities of a complaint to police in Islamabad against the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) and its subsidiary union, the Rawalpindi Islamabad Union of Journalists (RIUJ). According to PFUJ, an IFJ affiliate, a first information report (FIR) was filed against the two unions at Aabpara police station in...

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has condemned the actions of the Philippines police in detaining and arresting 17 journalists who were reporting on the takeover by rebel army soldiers of a hotel in Manila on November 29. The obstruction of journalists in the conduct of their work came as the Philippine National Police stormed the Peninsula Hotel to end a seven-hour stand-off with...

LAUSANNE, Switzerland: The International Olympic Committee said Friday it expects Chinese authorities to give the media full freedom to report on the Beijing Games, responding to complaints from a media rights group. The group, Reporters Without Borders, said the IOC has remained silent while China clamps down on reporters during preparations for the Aug. 8-24 Olympics. "It is becoming clearer and...

Reporters Without Borders has condemned the arrests of several dozen journalists to prevent them from covering a failed coup attempt at a Manila hotel where around 30 soldiers had demanded the ouster of President Gloria Arroyo on 29 November 2007. The journalists were taken, their hands bound, to the National Capital Region Police Office in Bicutan, south-east of the capital. Police said they had...

(RSF/IFEX) - New draconian restrictions on the coverage of fighting between government forces and rebels by the few media still operating in the capital are "unacceptable," RSF said on 28 November 2007. The restrictions were ordered on 26 November by Mogadishu mayor Mohamed Omar Habeb, a former warlord and governor of the central city of Jowhar who is also known by the nom de guerre of "Mohamed...

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF condemns the arrests of three foreign journalists and a Chinese camerawoman on 20 November 2007 in the northeastern province of Hebei and the central province of Hubei. "It is unacceptable that such practices are still taking place in China, despite the new regulations introduced in January for the Olympic Games," RSF said. Barbara Luthi, the Beijing correspondent of the Swiss...

The World Association of Newspapers (WAN) has called on all participants in next summer’s Beijing Olympics — the International Olympic Committee, athletes, sponsors and other partners — to "exert serious pressure" on China to hold the government to its promises of reform. A pedestrian walks past a banner promoting 2008 Olympic Games tickets in Beijing, April 2007. Massive demand caused the Beijing...

The now infamous saga highlights the difficulties for U.S. communications companies that do business with China. Just one week after a public shaming before Congress, Yahoo settled on Nov. 13 a civil lawsuit accusing the Sunnyvale, Calif., Internet power of cooperating with Chinese authorities in the jailing of journalist Shi Tao for a decade. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed. A reporter...