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There has been a steady increase in criminal and civil defamation suits in Southern Africa which has created an environment where self-preservation through self-censorship has become common practice, says a new report. The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA), in its annual publication, "So this is Democracy? State of the Media in Southern Africa", says it however witnessed an overall

TEHERAN - Iran has arrested the editor of a student paper after the publication of material deemed insulting to Islam in four reformist papers at a prestigious Teheran university, press reports said on Saturday. “Ahmad Ghassaban the editor of Sahar (Dawn), a student paper in Amir Kabir University, was arrested on Thursday,” the reformist Etemad daily said. His arrest came after caricatures and...

(IFJ/IFEX) - The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today said that yesterday's horrific attack on private radio station Radio Dijla that killed two employees shows that the government is not protecting journalists and armed groups are able to attack media workers with impunity. On Thursday, gunmen attacked staff at the independent radio station in a predominantly Sunni area of Baghdad...

New York, May 4, 2007—Veteran Guatemalan radio producer Mario Rolando López Sánchez was gunned down outside his home in Guatemala City yesterday. The Committee to Protect Journalists is investigating whether López’ murder is related to his professional work. López, producer of the political debate program “Cosas y Casos de la Vida Nacional” and various social programs on national privately-owned...

(CERIGUA/IFEX) - World Press Freedom Day, celebrated on 3 May, is being celebrated this year in unpromising circumstances. The year 2006 was described as one of the worst ones for the profession of journalism. Acts of aggression against journalists occurred on a massive scale. Dozens of journalists and other information professionals were murdered, both in countries at war, such as Iraq, and...

(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) - ARTICLE 19 is deeply concerned by the Jordanian government's recent violations of freedom of expression. In a matter of two weeks, the Jordanian authorities carried out two acts of prior censorship which violate its constitution and its international obligations. On April 30, the Jordanian authorities unlawfully stopped the release of al-Majd bi-weekly publication. Earlier that...

SOUTHERN LUZON, Philippines (Reuters) - The reporter's morning routine is the same as everyone else's except for one subtle difference, he scans his fellow commuters for would-be assassins. "When I get on public transport I look around to see if any of the passengers have suspicious bulges," said the journalist, who declined to be named. The correspondent of a Philippine national newspaper fears...

New York, May 4, 2007—A court in Azerbaijan jailed two independent journalists today over an article that said Islam was hampering economic and political progress. The Committee to Protect Journalists, which this week named Azerbaijan as one of the top 10 countries where press freedom has deteriorated, condemned the conviction. Reporter Rafiq Tagi and editor Samir Sadagatoglu of the independent...

(IAPA/IFEX) - MIAMI, Florida (May 4, 2007) - The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) today welcomed recent court decisions in the Dominican Republic in the cases of journalists Juan Andújar, Narciso González and Orlando Martínez, murdered (or disappeared) in 2004, 1994 and 1975, respectively. "We are delighted that the justice system in the Dominican Republic is on the right path, in that it...

New York, May 4, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists is troubled by a claim that a television journalist was threatened by an elite police force commander after reporting on a police raid on the home of a political activist. ` Jahangir Alam Akash, a reporter for CSB News, said he was threatened over the telephone after reporting on the raid on the house of Benjir Ahmed, in the northwestern...