Follow-up

The prosecution in the Shivani Bhatnagar murder case has claimed before a Delhi court that the deceased journalist intended to expose prime accused RK Sharma of leaking classified documents to her in violation of the Official Secrets Act (OSA), according to the Indian Express. Arguing before Additional Sessions Judge Rajender Kumar Shastri, Special Public Prosecutor SK Saxena said Shivani, who, at...

The prosecution in journalist Shivani Bhatnagar murder case on Monday told a city court that the deceased was a “personal friend” of key accused and former IPS officer R K Sharma, says a Press Trust of India (PTI) report in the Times of India. Special Public Prosecutor S K Saxena, in his arguments before Additional Sessions Judge Rajender Kumar Shastri, said Sharma had made a “false...

Two Turkish policemen went on trial Friday for their role in a scandal which saw security forces pose for pictures with the suspected murderer of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, the official Anatolia news agency reported. The trial in the northern city of Samsun is the first time that members of the security forces have been brought before a court over the January 19 murder, which the

A Chinese researcher for the New York Times who was arrested on charges of revealing state secrets and later convicted of fraud was released Saturday after serving a three-year prison sentence. On Saturday morning, Zhao Yan was greeted by family members and friends as he left a Beijing detention centre. He hugged his sister, daughter and others but said nothing to reporters. He later issued a...

Chinese journalist Zhao Yan may be released on September 15 when he completes a three-year prison sentence for alleged fraud. Despite the many appeals for his release in the past, his sentence was never reduced and he was never granted early release. “After serving his three-year sentence in full, first in a state security centre and then a prison, Zhao should have all his rights restored...

A Tunis criminal court has dismissed a libel case against the editor of an online newspaper after the plaintiff decided to withdraw his complaint, delayed reports have said. Charges of defamation had been leveled against Omar Mestiri, the editor of the online newspaper Kalima, by Tunisian lawyer Mohammed Baccar that could have led to his imprisonment for up to three years. The suit was a result of...

A court in Russia’s west-central republic of Tatarstan has convicted five members of a criminal gang in the 2000 murder of Novaya Gazeta journalist Igor Domnikov, the newspaper reported Thursday. The convictions are the first involving a journalist murdered for his or her work since 2000, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). During that time, CPJ found, 14 journalists have been...

The conviction and subsequent sentencing of the mastermind behind the murder of Paraguayan journalist Samuel Román is being seen as an out and out victory of justice in the battle for violent conspiracies against journalists in the country. The 450-mile-long Paraguay-Brazil border is known as a hotbed of corruption, smuggling and organised crime. After deliberating for more than 12 hours, a jury...

Ten suspects have been arrested in the October 2006 assassination in Moscow of investigative reporter Anna Politkovskaya. Russian Prosecutor-General Yuri Chaika told reporters Monday that the detained suspects include current and former police and Federal Security Service (FSB) officers, along with members of a criminal gang that “specialises in contract killings” and is led by a Chechen crime...

Sudanese cameraman Sami al-Haj, a Guantanamo detainee since June 2002, has suffered a sharp deterioration in his health and is said to be fearing for his survival. Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) voiced “deep concern” about al-Haj, whose lawyer, Clive Stafford Smith said yesterday after recovering his notes from US military censors that his client’s health has worsened considerably in recent days...