A fast track court in Udaipur on Wednesday sentenced a guest house owner to life imprisonment for rape of a 40-year-old British journalist last December and fined him Rs25,000 while also convicting him for house-trespass to commit an offence punishable with life in prison, the Hindu has reported. Parbat Singh, owner of Pardesi Guest House in Ambamata area of Udaipur, criminally assaulted the...
The Malaysian government Thursday lifted the ban on publication of a prominent Tamil daily in the face of fierce criticism by Opposition leaders and pressure from media activists, the Press Trust of India (PTI) has reported. The country's Home Ministry had suspended the publication permit of "Makkal Osai" or People's voice last week on the grounds that the paper had flouted publication guidelines...
A prosecutor dropped two-year-old charges against freelance journalist Sydney Saize in restive Zimbabwe on Tuesday, while a magistrate denied bail to freelancer Frank Chikowore, who has been detained for more than a week. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) Wednesday called for Chikowore’s immediate release. Mutare prosecutor Malvern Musarurwa declined to pursue charges against Saize, who...
Police in Somalia have released five journalists and allowed their radio station to resume broadcasting, Agence France-Presse (AFP0 has repored quoting its staff. The Radio Voice Peace journalists were released overnight hours after they were detained for the station's coverage of an attack on Wednesday night by Islamist insurgents in Mogadishu's KM4 neighbourhood. The station reported that the...
A young Afghan journalist, sentenced to death in January for spreading feminist criticism of Islam, has been granted an appeal, according to one of the international organizations monitoring his case, Bloomberg News has reported. Sayed Parwez Kambakhsh, 23, was transferred on March 28 from prison in the remote province of Balkh, in northern Afghanistan, to capital Kabul, according to Jean...
A court in Zimbabwe on Wednesday acquitted a US journalist and a British freelancer of covering the country's March 29 elections without accreditation, saying the state had failed to prove the offence and ordered them to be released, news agencies have reported. Magistrate Gloria Takundwa said the state's evidence against New York Times correspondent Barry Bearak and Britain's Stephen Bevan, a...
The US military released Associated Press (AP) photographer Bilal Hussein on Wednesday after holding him for more than two years without filing formal charges. Hussein, 36, was handed over to AP colleagues at a checkpoint in Baghdad. He was taken to the site aboard a prisoner bus and left US custody wearing a traditional Iraqi robe. He was smiling and appeared in good health. "I want to thank all...
Two South African satellite engineers, held in Zimbabwe on several charges, including violating the country’s draconian media accreditation laws, were acquitted Monday. New York Times reporter Barry Bearak and British freelancer Stephen Bevan are due to appear in court on Wednesday in a similar case. “We welcome the acquittal of our colleagues Sipho Moses Maseko and Abdulla Ismail Gaibee,” said...
The United States military said Monday that it would release Associated Press photographer Bilal Hussein who has been jailed in Iraq without trial for two years on accusations of terrorism and kidnapping. The US military initially said it had more than enough evidence to hold him under a UN mandate, but on Monday, Maj Gen Douglas Stone, deputy commanding general for detainee operations, signed the...
Associated Press photographer Bilal Hussein began his third year in US military detention Saturday with the bulk of accusations against him dropped by Iraqi judges and press freedom groups renewing calls for his release. But the Pentagon said Hussein will be held until it reviews the Iraqi amnesty ruling and also said it reserves the option to ignore the decision and keep Hussein in custody. A...
