(WiPC/IFEX) - On 3 May 2006, World Press Freedom Day, in Turkey trials continue against writers, journalists and publishers who have been charged with "denigration of Turkishness" under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code. International PEN is calling for an end to all trials against writers for the peaceful expression of their views, and for the repeal of Article 301 that is in direct...
SANA’A, May 3 – Editor-in-Chief of Al-Balagh weekly was arrested last Wednesday morning and thrown in the Criminal Investigation Bureau’s prison without any obvious charges. From the jail cell, Abdullah Al-Wazeer told the Yemen Times on Telephone: "security authorities summoned me to the Criminal Investigation Bureau and told me that I am detained and will be referred to prosecution for a criminal...
ALGIERS - Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has pardoned journalists sentenced to prison for defamation and insulting officials in the first such step since he took office seven years ago, his office said on Wednesday. The move, to mark World Press Freedom Day, covers reporters convicted of "gross insult to state officials, offending the president of the republic, injuring state institutions...
The "Danish cartoon crisis" was quietly revisited at a conference at the Christiansborg Palace -- the beautiful building that accommodates the Danish Parliament -- in Copenhagen over the weekend. The conference, organized by the Danish Free Press Society and Jyllands Posten, the paper that printed the controversial caricatures, has revealed, sadly, that not only in Turkey but even in "more...
Media NGO Reporters Without Borders has published a saddening report on the state of play for independent journalists around the world, with the finger also pointed at European countries. According to the Paris-based organisation, at least 63 journalists were killed worldwide in 2005, the highest total in ten years, and over 1,300 media workers were injured with 100 jailed. In the report, issued...
KUALA LUMPUR, May 3, 2006 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) Muslim heavyweight Malaysia has proposed setting up an international Islamic journalism center to counter mounting Islamophobia and coach non-Muslim journalists about Islam and Muslims, reported the official Bernama news agency. "This center can be set up along the lines of several international journalism institutes that are already in...
BAGHDAD, 3 May (IRIN) - The new government should "reaffirm its commitment to protect the right of journalists to go about their work, free from intimidation and threats," said UN Special Representative for Iraq Ashraf Qazi on Wednesday, on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day. Qazi, who called Iraq "a very risky environment for journalists", expressed his support for the Iraqi media "as it...
Suppression of press freedom in Africa has been widespread particularly in the last year. The continued detention of and relentless attacks on journalists by governments continues to be a problem in numerous African states. From Eritrea in the East of the continent to Sierra Leone in the West, Zimbabwe in the South and Egypt in the North, stories of imprisonment, harassment and even killings...
A Lebanese broadcaster who lost a hand and a leg in an attempt on her life received an annual press freedom award from the United Nations on Wednesday, with the organisation warning journalists were increasingly at risk. FAVOURITE: May Chidiac is a popular television presenter, whose news bulletins and Sunday programmes – Naharkoum Saïd and Bonjour – on LBC (Lebanese Broadcasting Corp.) are
To mark World Press Freedom Day, 3 May 2006, it was announced that a social cause will be listed directly on a major stock exchange for the very first time. Media Development Loan Fund, a New York non-profit organization providing low-cost financing to independent news media in emerging democracies, has teamed up with Swiss bank Vontobel Group and Zurich-based social investment specialists...
