Uncategorised

9 October 2007

Newspaper suspended for refusing to publish ministry's version of event

(SEAPA/IFEX) - The Cambodian Ministry of Information has suspended for a month the "Khmer Amatak" newspaper for refusing to publish a correction the ministry requested over a controversial article in the newspaper. The article, published on 24 September 2007, said that two senior officials from the ruling Funcinpec party, Secretary General Nhiek Bun Chhay and Minister of State Serey Kosal, had...

More
9 October 2007

IAPA dismayed at early release of journalist's murderer

(IAPA/IFEX) - IAPA questions accumulated "points" leading to early release of Orlando Sierra murderer The organization calls on Colombian's president Uribe not to stigmatize journalists, citing the case of an El Nuevo Herald correspondent MIAMI, Florida (October 8, 2007) - The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) today expressed dissatisfaction at the Sept. 30 release from prison in Colombia of...

More
9 October 2007

Uganda: Gunmen pour acid on radio station transmitter

(CPJ/IFEX) - New York, October 9, 2007 - A private radio station in southwest Uganda was knocked off the air for several days after armed assailants poured acid on its transmitter last week in an attack believed to have been prompted by a program critical of the local government, according to local journalists and news reports. Life FM, one of two radio stations in the town of Fort Portal, 160...

More
9 October 2007

Colombian journalist forced to flee following Uribe's accusations

(CPJ/IFEX) - New York, October 9, 2007 - Colombian reporter Gonzalo Guillén has been forced to flee his home in Bogotá after receiving more than 20 death threats following comments made by President Álvaro Uribe Vélez, the journalist said today. The Committee to Protect Journalists called on Uribe today to personally ensure that Colombian authorities conduct a prompt investigation into these...

More
9 October 2007

Newspaper staff stops working out of fear, following killings and threats in Oaxaca

(CEPET/IFEX) - Mexico, 9 October 2007 - Three vendors of the newspaper "El Imparcial" of Oaxaca were killed on the afternoon of 8 October 2007 as they were driving in a media vehicle on the Istmo de Tehuantepec highway. Agustín López, Mateo Cortés Martínez and Flor Vásquez López were on their way to Salina Cruz in this southern area of Mexico when they were fired upon by men with high caliber...

More
9 October 2007

Mexico: The struggle against media monopolies, beyond official discourse

(CENCOS/IFEX) - Mexico, 9 October 2007 - Luis Téllez Kuenzler, secretary of communication and transportation, took care of the issue of media monopolies in one fell swoop by merely denying the existence of the problem. In doing so, he contradicted his - and then-president Felipe Calderón's - promises to address this issue when they come to power less than six years ago. He denied the existence of...

More
8 October 2007

Iran: One journalist released, four sentenced

Reporters Without Borders today welcomed the release of journalist Soheil Assefi, who spent more than two months in preventive detention in Tehran’s Evin jail, but stressed the poor state of press freedom in Iran where four other journalists have been given jail terms and a daily paper shut down. Assefi, a contributor to a number of publications and websites, was freed on 6 October 2007 after...

More
8 October 2007

Lanka: Government ministers assail independant media and defence reporter

Senior officials have threatened independent news media and investigative journalist Iqbal Athas in recent weeks, and the government is reportedly planning to increase restrictions on coverage of the security situation as fighting rages in the north, Reporters Without Borders said today. A foreign TV crew was prevented from working in the northern city of Jaffna at the end of last week. "Although...

More
8 October 2007

Japan mourns death in Yangon of video journalist

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan on Monday mourned the death of a video journalist who was fatally shot in Yangon during last month's bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protests. Hundreds of people, including scores of Myanmar nationals, gathered at a cemetery in central Tokyo, to join the memorial service for Japanese video journalist Kenji Nagai. Nagai, 50, was shot when the military opened fire on...

More
8 October 2007

Klebnikov probe helped solve Politkovskaya murder

MOSCOW, October 8 (RIA Novosti) - An investigation into the murder of U.S.-born journalist Paul Klebnikov in Moscow has helped solve the murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya, the chief investigator said in an interview Monday. Politkovskaya, who gained international recognition for her strong criticism of the Kremlin and claims of state-backed atrocities against civilians in Chechnya, was...

More