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At least 81 journalists were killed in 2006 in 21 countries while doing their job or for expressing their opinion, the highest annual toll since 1994, when 103 died (half of them in the Rwanda genocide, about 20 in the Algerian civil war and a dozen in former Yugoslavia). 32 media assistants (fixers, drivers, translators, technicians, security staff) were also killed 2006 (only five in 2005). Iraq...

(RSF/IFEX) - As troops loyal to the transitional federal government took control of almost all of Somalia today, Reporters Without Borders and its partner organisation in Somalia, the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ), called on the government and all other parties to the conflict to respect the work of journalists. Making their appeal five days after the UN Security Council's unanimous...

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has condemned the three-month prison sentences passed by a court in eastern city of Jijel on 25 December 2006 on Omar Belhouchet, editor of the daily "El Watan", and Chawki Amari, one of his journalists, for "libelling" the local prefect in an article last June accusing him of corruption. They were also fined 1 million dinars (approx. 10,900 euros). "Algeria...

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has called on the Nigerian police to consider all possibilities in their investigation into the 22 December 2006 murder of Godwin Agbroko, the head of the editorial board of the privately-owned "This Day" newspaper, after his family expressed scepticism about a police claim that he was probably killed by robbers. "Nothing would be more harmful than a botched...

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has condemned the continuing detention of New TV reporter Firas Hatoum, cameraman Abdel-Azim Khayat and driver Mohammed Barbar, who were arrested on 19 December 2006 for entering the apartment of a key prosecution witness in the February 2005 murder of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. New TV is a satellite news station based in Beirut. "These three New TV...

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF condemns the detention of journalists Néstor Pasquín and Hugo Francischelli in Corral de Bustos, a town in Córdoba province in Argentina's north-central region. Both were detained for alleged instigation of violence, arson and minor injuries, for which they may face from 3 to 15 years' imprisonment. RSF is concerned because the journalists' detention appears to be a case of...

(ANEM/IFEX) - Belgrade, December 28, 2006 - The Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) strongly protests over the confiscation of broadcasting equipment belonging to Mladenovac-based RTV M Plus, an ANEM member station. While the Serbian Broadcast Agency (RRA) and Serbian Telecommunication Agency (RATEL) try to put into practice the decisions of the public competition for broadcast...

(CMFR/IFEX) - More than half of the 45 reporters, columnists, editors and publishers the First Gentleman, Jose Miguel Arroyo, has sued for libel are filing a civil class action suit against him today, December 28. Because the suit is being filed on behalf of the press, the journalists have been joined by other journalists and media and journalists' organizations, among them the Center for Media...

NUEVO LAREDO, Mexico - A bulletproof barrier covers the front entrance of El Manana, one of the largest newspapers in the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico. El Manana employees put up the barrier after three masked gunmen with grenades and assault rifles burst into the newspaper's reception area Feb. 6 and started shooting. As they fired, they shouted angrily against the paper's investigations into the...

New York, December 27, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned by the criminal convictions on Tuesday of two Sudanese journalists in connection with a column critical of government perks. A criminal court in the capital, Khartoum, ordered Zuhayr al-Sarraj, former columnist for the private daily Al-Sahafa, to pay a fine of 5 million Sudanese pounds (US$2,500) or spend one year...