State Persecution

A three-year jail sentence has been imposed by a Damascus military court on writer and journalist Ali Al-Abdallah on a charge of “intending to harm Syria’s relations with another state” under article 278 of the criminal code. The court ruled that he would have to serve 18 months of the sentence, Paris-based press freedom group Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has reported. The charge was based on...

Four men have been arrested for the murder of an Al Jazeera journalist, and rebel officials claim evidence has emerged that Muammar Gaddafi's regime is sending undercover squads to carry out assassinations, the Independent has reported. The Independent was told that four men were caught in the city of Ajdabiya with evidence linking them to the death of Ali Hassan Al Jaber, who was killed near...

The jailed chief editor of the former newspaper "Gundalik Azerbaijan," Eynulla Fatullayev, has sent a letter to President Ilham Aliyev expressing hope that he will be released, RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service reports. Fatullayev's lawyer, Anar Qasimov, told RFE/RL the journalist asked Aliyev to intervene in the complicated situation around Fatullayev's case and "expressed hope he will be released as...

Two Comorian journalists charged on Monday with "publishing false news" in their coverage of the formal handover of power between President Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambi and President-elect Ikililou Dhoinine could face up to six months in prison if convicted, according to local journalists and news reports. In January, the European Union urged Comorian authorities to proceed with the handover of...

Security forces loyal to Ivorian ruler Laurent Gbagbo blocked distribution on Friday of pro-opposition newspapers reporting on the African Union's decision to confirm its recognition of rival Alassane Ouattara as president. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the obstruction and called on authorities to halt further censorship. Before dawn on Friday morning, agents loyal to Ggabgo...

Authorities in Yemen and Bahrain are continuing to obstruct news coverage of ongoing political unrest, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Monday as it called on the two government to allow journalists to work without reprisal. In Yemen, at least six international journalists were expelled since Saturday, according to news reports and CPJ interviews. In Bahrain, security forces and...

The secret sentencing of a Uighur website editor emerged this week, eight months after he was tried along with other journalists and dissidents charged in the 2009 unrest in northwestern Xinjiang, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has reported. A court in the far-western district of Aksu sentenced Tursunjan Hezim, who edited a well-known Uighur website, Bilik, to seven years in prison on...

Thousands of Turkish journalists took to the streets here on Sunday demanding the release of colleagues in prison and raising the issue of press freedom. Journalists supported by activists, intellectuals, and some opposition parties marched in central Istanbul, Agence France-Presse (AFP) has eported. Some carried banners that read "Freedom to journalists", "No to wire tappings," and "Justice right...

Unidentified gunmen killed Al-Jazeera cameraman Ali Hassan al-Jaber and wounded his colleague near the eastern rebel-held city of Benghazi in an ambush on Saturday, according to the Qatar-based satellite station. This is the first confirmed death reported in the Libyan conflict, New York-based press freedom group Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said. The Al-Jazeera crew was returning from...

Brazilian reporter Andrei Netto of the O Estado de São Paulo newspaper has been released after being held for eight days, according to Paris-based press freedom group Reporters sans Frontières (RSF). “We share the joy and relief of Netto’s family and friends, but the situation of journalists in Libya continues to be very worrying,” RSF said. “Foreign journalists who enter the country without...