Faisal Abbas Ghazala, the correspondent of the satellite TV station Kolsat was released on 21 December after more than a month in detention in Mosul. Accused of terrorism, Ghazala, 34, spent a total of 31 days detained in different locations. He was arrested by Kurdish security forces who stormed into his home in Mosul early in the morning of 19 November and dragged from his bed. He was held in

Journalist and human rights activist Emadoldin Baghi was rushed to hospital after suffering a double heart attack in Tehran’s Evin prison on 26 December and was returned to a general wing of the prison yesterday evening. Baghi was arrested on 14 October to serve a one-year sentence he was given in November 2004 for writing a book that accused the Iranian authorities of involvement in the murders

Going by the words of the State Council information office minister Cai Wu it can be speculated that the new rules for the foreign press that were introduced in January as part of the preparations for next August’s Beijing Olympics could remain in force after the games are over. Speaking at a news conference Cai said: “No document says that when this new regulation expires on 17 October next

Reporters Without Borders reiterates its call for the release of Diallo, his reporter Daouda Yacouba, and Niamey-based journalist Moussa Kaka. Moussa Kaka, director of privately-owned Radio Saraounia and Niger correspondent of both Radio France Internationale and Reporters Without Borders completed 100th day in detention and risks life imprisonment. Ibrahima Manzo Diallo, director of the bimonthly

On October 7, 2006, after a six-month trial, the three hired assassins who killed Marlene Garcia-Esperat, a Filipino newspaper columnist and radio commentator who probed government corruption, were sentenced to life imprisonment. Garcia-Esperat was gunned down in front of her children in the dining room of her home on March 24, 2005. She had received many threats and had requested police