State Persecution

The CIA leak trial and I Lewis Libby’s conviction has not been good news for US journalists. There is widespread apprehension that reporters and their editors must now more than ever balance their pursuit of news with an increased risk of landing in court. Journalist Matthew Cooper, right, and his attorney, Richard Sauber leave federal court in Washington, in this Jan. 31, 2007 file photo. Ten out...

Reporters Without Borders today condemned the mistreatment of Sudanese cameraman Sami Al-Haj of the pan-Arab TV station Al-Jazeera by the US authorities at the Guantanamo Bay detention centre after he began a hunger strike on 7 January on completing his fifth year in US custody without trial. “Al-Haj has been held by the Americans for five years without being charged, in disgraceful conditions and...

US soldiers destroyed images taken by Afghan journalists covering the aftermath of a suicide bomb attack and shooting in eastern Afghanistan Sunday. They were warned not to publish or air any images of US troops or a car where three Afghans were shot to death, the Associated Press (AP) reported. Afghan men shouts anti-American slogans after a car bomber attacked an American convoy in Barayekab in...

The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned by criminal defamation prosecutions of three Yemeni editors. Independent weekly Al-Deyar Editor-in-Chief Abed al-Mahthari was charged with defaming Watani Bank for Trade and Investment; Al-Shoura.net Editor Abdelkarim al-Khaiwani was charged with publishing false information about the Defense Ministry and defaming Armed Forces Moral Guidance...

An Egyptian appeals court on Tuesday overturned a one-year jail term on newspaper editor Ibrahim Issa, convicted of defaming President Hosni Mubarak, and substituted a fine of 22,500 Egyptian pounds ($3,950), according to news reports. Ibrahim Issa, editor-in-chief of the independent Al Dustour weekly newspaper, speaks to the media after an Egyptian appeal court overturned a prison sentence...

Israel Defence Forces (IDF) arrested a local television director and harassed several journalists during a military operation in the West Bank city of Nablus on Monday, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has reported. An Israeli soldier gestures towards the camera during an Israeli military operation in the West Bank City of Nablus February 26, 2007. Israeli forces continued...

Germany's Federal Constitutional Court has rapped the security services on the knuckles for searching the offices of a political magazine to identify who leaked a confidential police report. In what media are hailing as a significant reaffirmation of press freedom in Germany, the court ruled that the search had breached the constitution which enshrines the right of journalists to protect their...

The Andhra Pradesh government is now looking for scapegoats after its controversial gag media order came in for trenchant criticism from all quarters. YSR Reddy was quick to announce an “inquiry” into the incident by chief secretary J Harinarayana. Sources told the Indo-Asian News Service (IANS) that axe was likely to fall on a couple of officials in the general administration department by Monday...

The Russian police raided the offices of a British organisation that supports journalists in conflict zones on Wednesday as part of a probe into alleged financial irregularities. The Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) is a nongovernmental organisation which seeks to support objective journalism in some of the world's most hostile regions, from Iraq to the Caucasus and Afghanistan. IWPR...

US troops raided the offices of the Iraq Syndicate of Journalists in central Baghdad and arrested armed 10 guards, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has reported. IFJ condemned as “outrageous and inexcusable” the action of American soldiers who carried out an armed raid on the Baghdad offices of the journalists syndicate. Iraq Syndicate of Journalists chairman Shihab al-Timimi...