Harassed

The Zimbabwean government is cracking down on independent media with barely one month to go before presidential elections on March 29. Journalists have been arrested, summoned and ordered to reveal sources, charged with “publication of false news” and newspapers threatened with closure if they fail to comply, in an upsurge of harassment that seriously threatens press freedom ahead of polling,”...

Security guards at Domodedovo International Airport in Moscow continued to hold Natalya Morar and her husband Ilya Barabanov, both reporters with the independent newsweekly the New Times, for a second consecutive day, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has reported. Authorities have denied Morar access to her lawyer while pressuring her to buy a return ticket to her native...

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today called on the authorities of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to release journalist Maurice Kayombo, who has been held for two weeks on charges of “blackmail and disparaging an official,” after the secretary-general of the mining ministry filed a complaint against him. “We condemn this detention, which is being used to intimidate...

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today called on Chadian authorities to end a wave of media repression, which started in November 2006 in the wake of violent conflict in the eastern part of the country and has most recently been seen in the detention and intimidation of media executives. Lazare Djekourninga Kaoutar, the director of FM Liberté radio station, is charged with...

Ten journalists in Sindh province who were reporting on events related to Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto’s death on December 27 have been arrested under anti-terrorism and riot laws, according to the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ). PFUJ reported that 34 cases were registered against journalists in the province’s interior since December 27. Of these, 19 journalists work for...

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has condemned the detention of a newspaper editor in Chad, who was held illegally by authorities for four days in connection with an article he wrote accusing the President of ethnic cleansing, and called on authorities to drop charges against him alleging he has incited “tribal hate.” “The government has brought charges against our colleague to...

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has called on Israeli authorities to abandon plans to prosecute journalists who visited Lebanon and Syria, countries with which Israel has no formal relations, in the course of their work. “At a time when key players in the region are talking peace it is grotesque that journalists should be facing prosecution for doing their job,” said Aidan White...

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has called for the release of L’enquêteur editor Ibrahim Souley and owner Soumana Maïga who were arrested in Niger after the Minister of Economy and Finance filed a libel complaint against the newspaper. “The press freedom violations in Niger are catastrophic. Four of our colleagues have been arrested on charges stemming from their work,” said...

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), the European regional group of the International Federation of Journalists, Tuesday called on the European Union to put in place procedures to protect journalists from unsubstantiated allegations of wrong-doing by Brussels officials. The call follows the European Court of Human Rights verdict last week that condemned the Belgian state for acting...

Reporters Without Borders has condemned the arrests of several dozen journalists to prevent them from covering a failed coup attempt at a Manila hotel where around 30 soldiers had demanded the ouster of President Gloria Arroyo on 29 November 2007. The journalists were taken, their hands bound, to the National Capital Region Police Office in Bicutan, south-east of the capital. Police said they had...