State Impunity

Supporters of President Hugo Chávez's government painted the façade of the Globovisón television station's headquarters with messages backing Chávez and with the logos of Venezuela's United Socialist Party (PSUV). The incident took place in Caracas on July 28, according to delayed reports by Instituto Prensa y Sociedad de Venezuela (IPYS-Venezuela) The individuals responsible for the graffiti...

Eliseu Felício de Souza, also known as “O Zeu,” a gang member who has been on the run for the past three years after being convicted for his role in the 2002 murder of TV Globo reporter Tim Lopes, is openly operating as drug dealer in a northern district of Rio de Janeiro, according to a new TV Globo report. He took advantage of a “semi-release” programme to escape. The report broadcast by TV...

A Russian police officer who got off with a two-year suspended sentence for killing journalist Magomed Yevloyev in 2008 was shot dead by unknown assailants in the Ingush city of Nazran on Wednesday, investigators said. Two men armed with automatic rifles shot Ibragim Yevloyev, 35, and his colleague Beslan Albogachiyev in a downtown cafe, killing Yevloyev and seriously injuring Albogachiyev, a...

If you’re a journalist trying to capture footage of political unrest in Thailand, be warned. Only a few have escaped unscathed from the hands of death while being among the fierce battles between security forces and protesters. Two journalists died and several others were injured during the country’s political unrest. New York-based press freedom group Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has

In Honduras, the political condition is so bad that criminals are able to kill journalists freely with no worries. In a matter of weeks, seven journalists have been murdered and the Honduran authorities have been tardy in their attempts in pursuing the killers. Spanning from the beginning of March till mid June, seven murders is a disconcerting count during such a short time in a country with a

A Venezuelan newspaper that takes a critical line against President Hugo Chavez's government says its office has been attacked with firebombs, the Associated Press has reported. Carlos Hernandez is executive director of Las Noticias de Cojedes. He said no one was injured when unknown people hurled two Molotov cocktails at the building early Tuesday. Hernandez told the local television channel...

A journalist of Lebanon’s Al-Akhbar newspaper was killed in clashes between the Israeli and Lebanese armies which erupted Tuesday, shattering several years of relative calm on the tense Israel-Lebanon border. The Lebanese news site NOW Lebanon named the journalist as Assaf Abu Rahal, according to the International Press Institute (IPI). Arab news reports also said Ali Chouayb, a journalist working...

There has been a series of fresh threats and acts of intimidation against journalists in Yemen. The political class seems to have no qualms about using violence against journalists who write about corruption or embezzlement. Utterly illegal and arbitrary arrests are becoming commonplace, according to Paris-based press freedom group Reporters sans Frontières (RSF). “The situation is becoming more...

A Madrid judge reissued arrest warrants Thursday for three US servicemen over the death of a Spanish journalist killed by American tank fire in Iraq in 2003. Judge Santiago Pedraz acted in response to a recent order from the Spanish Supreme Court that the case — twice shelved by a lower court — be reopened. Cameraman José Couso was one of two journalists killed when the US soldiers — members of a...

There has been an escalation of violence against journalists in Pakistan during the past few weeks with three murder attempts (two in Bajaur, in the Tribal Areas, and one in Hyderabad) and a severe beating in Hyderabad. The home of Din New TV reporter Imran Khan in Bajaur was the target of a Taliban grenade attack on July 7 that injured eight members of his family including his mother. Khan...