Harassed

Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has called on Mexico's federal justice and defence ministries to investigate a June 4 incident in the northern city of Ciudad Juárez in which soldiers beat several journalists including photographer José Luis González of El Diario, a regional newspaper that suffered a great deal in 2008. In a separate development, one of El Diario’s bureaux has just had to close...

Journalist Noorajan Bahir of independent radio Killid was released from a military base near the eastern town of Khost shortly before noon (local time) on June 4, two days after he was arrested by coalition forces and members of the Afghan military. The 28-year-old journalist, who is married, has worked for the independent radio station since 2004. "I was interrogated by American soldiers...

Awudu Mahama, a parliamentary reporter, and photographer Emmanuel Kubi, both of the Daily Guide, an Accra-based, privately-owned newspaper, were reportedly detained on 2 June 2009 at the headquarters of the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) for allegedly loitering around the security zone, the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) has reported. MFWA's correspondent reported that the two...

Moise Sidibe, a reporter with L'Indépendant, a privately-owned weekly newspaper, was picked up by the military, together with three of his family members, on May 27, the Media Foundation for West Africa (MWFA) has reported. They are in detention at the Alpha Yaya camp in Conakry, the capital of Guinea. MFWA's correspondent reported that the Red Berets forcibly took the reporter from his house...

The opening of two government investigations into private television network Teleamazonas and threats of legal action by Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa against critical media outlets are an attempt by the government to stifle dissent, the Committee to Protect Journalists has said. During his weekly radio address on Saturday, President Correa said that he would resort to legal action to "finish...

US-led coalition forces have arrested Noorajan Bahir, of radio Killid in Khost, eastern Afghanistan, along with his two brothers, Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has reported. Bahir was arrested on Tuesday by coalition forces and members of the Afghan military and is now reportedly being held in the NATO base at Bagh-e-Sara. “It is essential and urgent that coalition forces’ officials provide...

Authorities in Malawi should immediately release three journalists arrested today in a police raid on an opposition radio station, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has demanded. The country is holding general elections between Wednesday and Thursday. The 4 a.m. raid targetted Joy Radio, a station owned by former president and opposition leader Bakili Muluzi, in the commercial city of...

Writer and journalist Michel Kilo, who was released from Adra prison in Damascus at midnight on May 14 on completing a three-year sentence, was immediately taken to the Damascus headquarters of the intelligence services and has been held there ever since, undergoing interrogation, Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has reported. His family has told Paris-based RSF its concern is compounded by the...

Sri Lankan authorities have arrested three Tamil doctors - Thangamuttu Sathiyamorthi, Thurairaja Varatharajan and V. Sunmugarajah - for providing the news media with information about the humanitarian situation in Vanni, Paris-based Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has reported. “The government will be held responsible if the army’s military victory is accompanied by such criminal acts of revenge...

The situation in the Swat Valley has turned alarming with the Pakistani armed forces stepping up their operations against the Taliban there. Newspapers had already stopped publishing after the military imposed a curfew. Now journalists are fleeing to safer areas. The Khyber Union of Journalists has now urged the government to allow the media access to Mingora, the largest city in the valley. At a...