Harassed

Two foreign reporters were arrested Thursday by Namibian police for filming the annual clubbing to death of small seal pups for their fur along the coast, Agence France-Presse (AFP) has reported. British investigative journalist Jim Wilckens and South African cameraman Bart Smithers were arrested by police whilst documenting the controversial Namibian seal cull. Details: [ Link] "The two have been...

Police officers have led organised attacks against Alaa Al Gamel, a reporter for weekly Sout Al Ouma, the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) has reported. Security forces repeatedly stormed his house in Giza between June 30 and July 11. Between July 10 and 11, they broke into his house six times. Moreover, the perpetrators spread rumors in Alaa's neighbourhood that the journalist...

Eight photographers and cameramen have been arrested in a recent crackdown in Iran, according to Paris-based Reporters sans Frontières (RSF). Following the expulsion of almost all foreign reporters, seven photographers have been jailed since June 12. They include Mehdi Zabouli (arrested on June 20), Tohid Bighi (July 11), Majid Saidi (July 11), Satyar Emami (July 11), Marjan Abdolahian (July 11)...

Zambian journalist Chansa Kabwela has been arrested on bogus charges of circulating obscene materials, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has reported. Kabwela, news editor for the Post, was arrested on Monday for circulating two photographs of a woman giving birth without medical aid outside the University Teaching Hospital, which was involved in a health care worker strike at the time...

The six journalists who were returned to Banjul’s Mile Two prison on July were 3 released again July 7 morning on bail of 400,000 dalassi (10,800 euros). The court did not immediately demand payment of the bail but it asked fellow-journalists to act as guarantors. All six have been told to report to the Banjul high court again at 9 a.m. on July 8. “We hope they are being released for good this...

Several journalists have been harassed in Madagascar in recent weeks, a website was mysteriously blocked and a radio journalist was held for two weeks after being the victim of a heavy-handed arrest. “We are alarmed by the current climate of mistrust towards journalists,” Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) said. “The political tension does not justify the often shocking methods used by the police and...

Journalists in Malaysia are being restricted from covering the parliament proceedings by seemingly sudden and unannounced tightening of security rules, the Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) has reported. As the parliament is first and foremost a public institution, restricting journalists from its proceedings is tantamount to restricting the public's right to know, CIJ feels. Online news...

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has called on the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and the Hamas government in the Gaza strip to release Palestinian journalists who have been arbitrarily detained by their respective security forces. "We condemn this latest crackdown against journalists in Palestine," said Paco Audije, IFJ Deputy General Secretary. "Our colleagues must not...

The privately-owned Ecuadorian TV station Teleamazonas has just been told it is being fined 40 dollars for “broadcasting unverified information.” The notification came just a few weeks after it was fined 20 dollars on June 3 for “broadcasting a bullfight outside permitted viewing times.” The station, which is owned by banker Fidel Egas, could be shut down for 90 days if it receives a third...

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called on the government of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh to end censorship of independent newspapers and to identify and prosecute those who assaulted Al-Jazeera journalists on two occasions in the south of the country. Yemen's popular daily, Al-Ayyam, the weeklies Al-Nida and Al-Watani, as well as five other independent newspapers, were banned...