State Persecution

A woman journalist convicted of public indecency for wearing trousers outdoors was freed Tuesday, despite her own desire to serve a month in prison as protest against Sudan's draconian morality laws, the Associated Press (AP) has reported. The judge who convicted Lubna Hussein had imposed a $200 fine as her sentence, avoiding the maximum sentence of 40 lashes in an apparent attempt to put an end...

Vietnam has freed a detained blogger and a journalist who were critical of government policies towards China and involved in a plan to distribute anti-China T-shirts, the blogger and a lawyer said on Sunday, according to Reuters. The releases came ahead of a Sept 6-9 visit by Communist Party chief Nong Duc Manh to Australia and New Zealand, where he is sure to face protests and pressure over human...

At least four journalists have been physically attacked by security guards or police in the past eight days in China. Chinese, Hong Kong and foreign journalists have been the victims of violence and harassment, according to Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF). “The authorities will be hard put to rein in the disturbing rise in cases of violence against the press unless those responsible are dealt with...

Sayed Parvez Kambakhsh, the young Afghan journalist who was sentenced to death and then to 20 years in prison for downloading an article about the rights of women in Islam, was secretly pardoned and released several weeks ago and left the country for fear of reprisals. Kambakhsh’s lawyer confirmed to Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF) on Monday that his client was released several weeks ago after...

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called on Moroccan authorities to end an investigation of two journalists who were interrogated for 40 hours over an article about the health of the king. Authorities have repeatedly pressed them to reveal their sources, according to their lawyer. Editor Ali Anouzla and journalist Bochra Daou of the independent daily Al-Jarida al-Oula ‎were detained...

Iranian authorities arrested one journalist Tuesday while security forces summoned another 15 who were among the signatories of a recent petition demanding the release of detained journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported. Morteza Alviri, a journalist aligned with defeated presidential candidate Mahdi Karroubi, was arrested by judiciary agents at his home today, local press...

Six prominent Gambian journalists were released on Thursday after President Yahya Jammeh pardoned them. The six journalists—Gambian Press Union Vice President Sarata Jabbi-Dibba, Secretary-General Emil Touray, and Treasurer Pa Modou Faal; Pap Saine and Ebou Sawaneh, publisher and editor of the Point newspaper; and Sam Sarr, at right, editor of Foroyaa newspaper—were convicted on August 6 on six...

A US federal judge has ordered the Cuban government and the ruling Communist Party to pay $27.5 million in damages to the mother of a journalist jailed since a 2003 crackdown on dissent. US District Judge Alan S Gold on Wednesday ruled in the case of Omar Rodriguez Saludes, who is serving a 27-year sentence in Cuban prisons that the judge described as "deplorable and degrading" in his 13-page...

The editor of a prominent Catholic newspaper that demanded Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi answer questions about a sex scandal resigned Thursday, saying he and his family were hurt by an attack on his reputation from a Berlusconi family newspaper, the Associated Press (AP) has reported. The resignation highlighted Berlusconi's souring ties with the church, which objects to the Italian...

The Indian government has reportedly refused to issue a press visa to Hasnain Kazim, a German journalist of Indian origin, so that he can base himself in India as the German weekly Der Spiegel's correspondent. Indian diplomats have acknowledged verbally to German officials that the failure to approve the visa request he made five months ago is linked to the fact that his articles are regarded as...