Imprisoned

A three-year jail sentence and a fine of 6 million Somaliland shillings (around 1,000 dollars) has been imposed by a court in Hargeisa, the capital of the breakaway northwestern territory of Somaliland, on Mohamud Abdi Jama, the editor of the independent newspaper Waheen, for allegedly libelling local officials. “This sentence (on Sunday) has all the hallmarks of summary and punitive justice,”...

A sentence of five years in prison followed by two years of house arrest has been passed by a Sana'a court specialising in terrorism cases passed on Ilah Haydar Shae, a reporter employed by the Saba news agency, for allegedly collaborating with Al-Qaeda, according to Paris-based press freedom group Reporters sans Frontières (RSF). “The Yemeni authorities have used the pretext of combating...

The former editorial manager and concessionaire of the Kurdish newspaper Azadiya Welat, Emine Demir, received a prison sentence of 138 years on charges of "spreading propaganda for the PKK", the militant Kurdistan Workers Party. The sentence is based on articles Demir accepted for publication in the paper, according to IPS Communication Foundation (BIANET). The 24-year-old journalist was convicted...

Makhmadyusuf Ismoilov, a newspaper reporter who has been detained arbitrarily by prosecutors in Khujand, in the northern Tajikistan province of Sughd, is being held since November 23, according to Paris-based press freedom group Reporters sans Frontières (RSF). Ismoilov was arrested at the behest of the regional prosecutor’s office one day after an article he wrote about its alleged corrupt and...

Sithu Zeya, a 21-year-old Burmese photographer who was arrested on April 16 for taking photos of the damage caused by a bomb in a Rangoon park, has been sentenced to eight years in prison. His father, Maung Maung Zeya, a journalist and painter who was arrested a day later, is to be tried in January, Paris-based press freedom group Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has reported. Both worked for the...

Robert Shemahamba, director of Radio-Télévision Communautaire Mitumba (RTCM) and correspondent for the Syfia Grands Lacs news agency, has been arbitrarily detained since Dececmber 17 in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), according to Paris-based press freedom group Reporters sans Frontières (RSF). The journalist is being held in a cell at the National Intelligence Agency (ANR) in Uvira, Sud...

A 15-year jail sentence has been slapped by a court in Tiraspol, the capital of the breakaway region of Transnistria, on journalist Ernest Vardanean on charges of high treason and spying for Moldova, Paris-based press freedom group Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has reported. The court specified that Vardanean should be subjected to a “severe regime” while serving his sentence, issued under...

Radio Kapisa director Hojatullah Mujadadi is being subjected to prolonged detention by the Afghan intelligence agency known as the National Directorate of Security (NDS). Saturday, Mujadadi completed his third month of being held at NDS headquarters in Kabul, where he has not been allowed to see a lawyer, according to Paris-based press freedom group Reporters sans Frontières (RSF). The NDS and...

Makhmadyusuf Ismoilov, a reporter with the Dushanbe-based independent weekly Nuri Zindagi has been imprison in northern Tajikistan, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). Ismoilov was arrested in Sogd region on November 23, but the regional press first reported on the case on Monday. Ismoilov is currently being held in a pretrial facility in the city of Khujand, according to the...

Iranian authorities have arrested three journalists from the daily Sharq, bringing the number of the newspaper's incarcerated staffers to seven in less than a week, according to news reports. In other developments, veteran journalist Mashallah Shamsolvaezin, has been sentenced to 16 months in prison, the BBC reported, and blogger Hossein Derakhshan was returned to jail after being temporarily...