Harassed

Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has called for the release of Mohammed Naseer Fayyaz, the host of the programme "Haqeeqat" (The Truth) on Afghanistan's privately-owned Ariana TV, who was arrested on July 28 by members of the Directorate for National Security (DNS) at the government's behest. "Harsh comments were made on the air about two ministers and the president but the government is making a...

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has expressed concern over the July 26 arrest of a Palestinian cameraman in Gaza by Hamas security services. Hamas security agents arrested Sawah Abu Seif, a cameraman with German broadcaster ARD TV, in his home in Tel al-Hawa in southwest Gaza following an explosion that Hamas blamed on Fatah, which killed six people in Gaza, according to local...

Kurdish freelance journalist Saman Rasoulpour was arrested on July 27 at his home in Mahabad, in Iran's predominantly Kurdish northwest, two days after some 200 Kurds staged a peaceful demonstration in Mahabad to demand the overturning of the death sentences imposed on journalists Adnan Hassanpour and Abdolvahed "Hiva" Botimar, and Kurdish teacher Farzad Kamangar. "We call on the authorities to...

Mexican President Felipe Calderón Hinojosa's government has ordered Forum magazine be denied government advertising contracts in retaliation for its critical stance, the magazine's director, Eduardo Ibarra Aguirre, has alleged. In a July 2008 editorial, Ibarra Aguirre said that members of the presidential press team have instructed all government agencies to not place announcements in Forum/...

Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has regretted the seizure of three privately-owned broadcast media outlets on July 8 - two Quito-based TV stations (Gamavisión and TC Televisión) and a radio station based in the western city of Guayaquil (Radio Sucre) - which resulted in a few changes to their programming but not in any interruption in their broadcasts. Regardless of the grounds for the state's...

A reporter for Hong Kong's Apple Daily newspaper was denied entry into Beijing this week, the paper's chief editor said on Thursday, according to a Reuters report. With just over a month to go before the start of the Beijing Olympics, the newspaper, known for its pro-democracy stance and critical Chinese reportage, said one of its senior reporters had been turned away at Beijing on July 1 and had...

A reporter of a Rangoon-based weekly journal, Ecovision, has been charged with "committing crimes against public tranquility" and "inciting hatred against the government," according to Mizzima News. Ma Eint Khaing Oo of Ecovision was produced before the Tamwe Township Court in Rangoon Division for the first time on June 24 and charged under Section 505(b) and 124(a) of the Criminal Code. Offences...

Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has called on the authorities not to execute the warrant for the arrest of Mohammad Javad Haghshenas, the editor of Etemad Melli, a daily newspaper that is the mouthpiece of the pro-reform party of the same name. The warrant was prompted by an article critical of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that was previously posted on a blog. "Repressive measures against...

Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has condemned the abusive behaviour by Israeli security agents towards Palestinian journalists moving around the Territories or returning from visits abroad. Paris-based RSF says it has recorded five incidents of wrongful arrest over a recent 10-day period. One journalist is still being held, while another needed hospital treatment after being subjected to brutality...

Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has condemned the arrest of seven Zimbabwean and foreign journalists on June 27 during the run-off presidential election that was a foregone conclusion. "In its negotiations with Robert Mugabe, the African Union should remind the outgoing head of state that journalism is not a crime," Paris-based RSF said. British freelance photographer Richard Judson and Zimbabwean...