Threatened

Four hostages released last weekend by Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) said at a press conference recently that the leftist guerrilla group had declared the Colombian media a "military target," according to Colombian and international news reports. The statement stirred a heated debate among Colombian journalists over coverage of guerrilla groups, the Committee to Protect...

The confrontation between the government and the press in Kenya has escalated. Parliamentarians on December 16 launched a scathing attack on the media and vowed to ensure it is "tamed." One member after another tore into the media, apparently angered by the all-out campaign against a controversial Bill recently passed by Parliament that seeks to give the government power to control media content...

There has been a string of threats issued against journalists in Southeast Europe, rendered particularly ominous by violent attacks on journalists throughout 2008. Last week, Drago Hedl, a columnist for the Croatian Jutarnji List, received an SMS threatening to "massacre" him, just as a parliament member accused of war crimes was holding a press conference during which he singled out for criticism

Renewed death threats have been made against Drago Held, a journalist with daily Jutamji List, a specialist in the recent history of Croatia, and particularly war crimes during the civil war in ex-Yugoslavia (1991-1995). Drago Held, Paris-based Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) reported, was put under permanent police protection after receiving a voice message on his mobile phone on November 27...

Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has condemned the Swaziland attorney-general’s threatening statement that journalists who criticise the government could be arrested under a new anti-terrorism law that has just been used to crack down on opposition groups. “In a country already under King Mswati’s tight control, the government has clearly decided to step up the pressure and leave no room for any...

Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has expressed dismay at former Bulgarian interior minister Rumen Petkov's public insult of journalist Jurgen Roth and call for violence against him less than a month after Ognyan Stefanov, the editor of the news website Frognews, was seriously injured in a murder attempt. “We are outraged by Rumen Petkov’s irresponsible comments,” Paris-based RSF said. “His call for...

An editor of a local daily has moved a court seeking action against a Congress leader for allegedly threatening to burn him alive for publishing reports about unauthorised constructions in west Delhi, says a Press Trust of India report. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate PK Jain, after hearing his plea on Saturday last, fixed November 19 as the next date for hearing when the journalist will...

Repeated death threats have been made since May against Juan Parada, contributor to regional daily Río Negro and radio FM Patagonia, in Chos Malal, Neuquén province in the southwest, Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has reported. The threats appear linked to his exposure of corruption involving local officials at the courts and the municipal authority as well as police excesses. Parada also gave...

A top Saudi cleric has issued an edict saying writers who challenge or criticise religious sheikhs should be fired from their jobs, flogged, and jailed. This comes close on the heels of another top cleric calling for the death of owners of satellite TV stations that air “immoral” soap operas. Sheikh Abdallah Ben Jabreen, a former member of the Saudi Arabia’s Establishment of Fatwas, told Al-Majd...

The European Federation of Journalists has condemned the administrators of football in Romania for encouraging violent attacks on sports journalists. The Romanian Football Federation (FRF), led by president Mircea Sandu, a member of the Executive Committee of the European Football Federation UEFA, has encouraged some football professionals in Romania to act violently, including throwing stones and...