Legal Action

There has been an upsurge in cases being brought against journalists in Kuwait, despite the fact it was the first Gulf state to decriminalise press offences. "The 2006 press law reform profoundly transformed the emirate's media landscape. We urge the authorities to continue to strengthen the protection of the right to be informed and to inform the public," Paris-based Reporters sans Frontières...

The Moroccan government should allow the news media to report on human rights abuses committed during the reign of King Hassan II, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said after a court ordered an independent newspaper to stop publishing victim testimony given to a royal truth and reconciliation commission. Ali Anouzla, editor of Al-Jarida al-Oula, a newly established daily, was ordered to...

A 10-day prison sentence has been handed down to independent journalist Mazen Darwish, President of the Syrian Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression, according to the Paris-based Reporters sans Frontières (RSF). He was sentenced under Article 387 of the criminal code for "defamation and insulting state administrative bodies". The verdict will appear on his record for a period of three to...

The International Press Institute (IPI) has condemned the jailing of Mohammed Al-Mokaleh, one of the founding members of the Yemeni Journalist Syndicate, for laughing in a Yemeni court. On June 15, a Yemeni prosecutor accused Al-Mokaleh of "attacking and defaming the judicial system," for laughing out loud during the concluding moments of the trial of Abdelkarim Al-Khaiwani, former editor-in-chief...

Newspaper publisher John Woods was convicted in the Rarotonga High Court on two charges of contempt of court, reports Cook Island News. Fines amounting to approx. US$60 and court costs were imposed on Woods. The convictions were handed down against the 55-year-old Arorangi resident by Justice of the Peace John Kenning. Both charges relate to the breach of a gag order handed down by Justice...

A three-year jail sentence in absentia has been handed down to journalist Amal Eisa, formerly of the Qatari daily al-Sharq, for "defamation" on the basis of a complaint from the Hamad public hospital in Doha. "This extremely harsh penalty, even though partly linked to the absence of the journalist from the trial hearing, sends a dangerous signal to all journalists in the emirate," Paris-based...

Zimbabwean police have charged a street vendor for listening to a news programme on the Zimbabwe broadcast of the Voice of America, reports Zimonline news agency. Noel Tichawana was arrested in early June 2008 and will appear in court on July 15 to answer to charges of "committing criminal nuisance" after he was caught listening to the programme Studio 7, which broadcasts political, economic and...

Authorities at Heydar Aliyev International Airport barred a reporter whose life has been threatened from leaving the country today, the Baku-based Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety said. Agil Khalil, a reporter for the independent daily Azadlyg, tried to board a flight to France Thursday morning when he was stopped by a plainclothes agent at a passport checkpoint. Khalil did not receive...

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is disturbed by the closing of the alternative English-language biweekly the eXile in Moscow. The paper announced on its website last week that it was forced to shut down after nervous investors withdrew support in the wake of a politicised audit of its content. "Russian authorities are using politicized inspections and broadly worded extremism...

Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has described as "absurd" a conviction for "electoral propaganda" against the daily A Folha de São Paulo and the magazine Veja after they published interviews with a prospective candidate for municipal elections in São Paulo in the south-east of the country. The worldwide press freedom organisation said the verdict placed an unacceptable limit on press freedom and...