Fourth Journalist Reported Released in Burma
Jan 5, 2005
An international media rights group says Burmese authorities have released a fourth journalist who had been jailed for allegedly threatening state security.
CPJ demands release of jailed journalists
Country/Topic: Eritrea
Date: 03 December 2001
Source: Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
Person(s): Ghebrehiwet Keleta, Zemenfes Haile, Fitzum Wedi Ale, Medhanie Haile,Yusuf Mohamed Ali, Mattewos Habteab, Temesken Ghebreyesus, Amanuel Asrat, Fesshaye Yohannes, Aaron Berhane, Said Abdelkader, Selamyinghes Beyene, Dawit Habtemichael, Seyoum Fsehaye
Target(s): editor(s) , journalist(s)
Type(s) of violation(s): arrested , imprisoned , missing
Urgency:
(CPJ/IFEX) - In a 3 December 2001 letter to Eritrean President Asayas Afewerki, CPJ stated that it is deeply troubled by the government's ongoing crackdown on the independent press in Eritrea.
According to CPJ's research, all the country's independent newspapers have now been shut down. Eleven journalists are currently jailed without charges, while the whereabouts of three others are unknown.
Eleven jailed journalists start new year in harsh prison conditions
Français: Début d'année difficile pour les 11 journalistes toujours détenus
Español: Difícil comienzo del año para los 11 periodistas que continúan detenidos
Country/Topic: Iran
Date: 13 January 2004
Source: Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
Person(s): Siamak Pourzand, Ali-Reza Jabari, Taghi Rahmani, Reza Alijani, Hoda Saber, Hassan Youssefi Eshkevari, Akbar Ganji, Iraj Jamshidi, Ali-Reza Ahmadi, Hossein Ghazian, Abbas Abdi
Target(s): journalist(s)
Type(s) of violation(s): arrested , imprisoned , sentenced
Urgency: Bulletin
(RSF/IFEX) - RSF has expressed indignation over the prison conditions of 11 Iranian journalists. Most of the detained are ill and in a very weakened state, both physically and psychologically. The organisation renewed its objections to the journalists' often-arbitrary detention and has called for their release.
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES:
Dubai prince pushes for Arab media reforms
Dubai's prince speaks out against regimes which clamp down on dissenting views
The Straits Times
Thursday, January 13, 2005
By John R. Bradley
The Arab media should actively promote reform in the Middle East and 'despotic regimes' should stop censoring alternative views to facilitate the process, Dubai's Crown Prince has said in a speech hailed as a potential blueprint for home-grown reforms in the Arab world.
US condemns Zim press laws
12/01/2005 10:18 - (SA)
Washington - The United States on Tuesday condemned new media laws in Zimbabwe that will see unlicensed journalists jailed for up to two years.
Mahoso Threatens to Close Paper
Financial Gazette (Harare)
January 13, 2005
Posted to the web January 13, 2005
Chris Muronzi
Harare
ZIMBABWE'S latest newspaper, the Weekly Times, is threatened with closure barely a week after hitting the streets as it comes face-to-face with the draconian Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA).
A Free Press
After Nasser’s iron fist and Sadat’s roundup of dissendent journalists, today’s media professionals enjoy a degree of freedom unprecendented since the Revolution. Here’s how it all went down.
By Manal el-Jesri
EGYPT HAS LIVED through 25 years of media ups and downs, from the time Sadat put a muzzle on most journalists, to the age of President Hosni Mubarak declaring himself the number-one champion of freedom of the press.
Ten jailed Iranian journalists start the New Year in harsh prison conditions
12/01/2004 Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders has expressed its indignation at the prison conditions of 10 Iranian journalists, most of them ill and in a very physically and psychologically weakened state. The international press freedom organisation renews its objections to their often-arbitrary detention and calls for their release.
UZBEKISTAN:
Focus on press freedom
17 Jan 2005 13:11:15 GMT
Source: IRIN
TASHKENT, 17 January (IRIN) - A new Uzbek media watchdog has urged international organisations promoting journalist's rights to pay more attention to the situation in this Central Asian republic where there is no independent press and freedom of speech is severely curtailed.
"Uzbekistan is becoming a dangerous place for journalists who dare to challenge the government," Yusuf Rasulov, head of the Association for the Protection of Journalist's Rights and Freedoms (APJRF), told IRIN in the capital, Tashkent.
The Media's New Cold War
Thirteen years after the end of the Soviet Union, the American press establishment seemed eager to turn Ukraine's protested presidential election on Nov. 21 into a new cold war with Russia. Still worse, its greatest enthusiasts were not the usual Russophobes but influential opinion-makers and publications reputed to be exemplars of balanced, moderate, even liberal, outlook.
Cameroon
Protest day to support jailed journalist
Journalists in Cameroon closed their papers for a 'Day without News' on 21 January in protest at the six month jail sentence handed down to Jules Koum Koum this month.
On 10 January, Koum Koum, editor of the privately owned newspaper Le Jeune Observateur, was sentenced to six months in prison with no parole for defamation in an article questioning the management of two insurance companies. Koum has been held in New Bell prison, in the country's business capital, Douala, since the sentence was handed down. "Imposing a prison sentence on a journalist for libel represents a clear step backwards for press freedom in Cameroon," said the Paris-based media rights group Reporters sans Frontières. "Far from being a crime, reporting that certain companies are not functioning properly falls under a journalist's duty to inform the public."
Journalists protest harassment
Tens of Yemeni journalists staged Monday a sit-in in front of the Presidential place to protest the continued detention of Abdulkareem al-Khaiwani, editor of al-Shoura Opposition Weekly.
IAPA calls for release of jailed independent journalists
Español: SIP pide excarcelación de periodistas independientes
Pays/Sujet: Cuba
Date: 19 mars 2004
Source: Inter American Press Association (IAPA)
Personne(s):
Cible(s): journaliste(s)
Type(s) d'infraction(s): agression , grève de la faim , emprisonnement , blessure
Niveau de priorité: Menace
(IAPA/IFEX) - The following is an 18 March 2004 IAPA press release:
IAPA calls on Cuba to free jailed independent journalists
MIAMI, Florida (March 18, 2004)
The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) today marked the first anniversary of the unleashing of a new wave of repression in Cuba that led to 75 political dissidents and independent journalists receiving stiff prison terms with a call for their immediate release from jail.
Iran goes on cyber crackdown of bloggers
Megan K. Stack
Los Angeles Times
Jan. 25, 2005 12:30 PM
TEHRAN, Iran - The criminal seems younger than his 25 years. He is the quiet type, shy and lanky, peering solemnly through octagonal glasses. He has no weapons, not in the traditional sense.
February/March 2005 Preview
Under Fire
Journalists have been barraged by a spate of subpoenas to identify confidential sources and court decisions ordering them to comply. Investigative reporting could suffer if more ensue. Can the media fight back? Does the public care?
Related reading:
Reporters Under Fire
By Rachel Smolkin
Rachel Smolkin is an AJR senior writer.
Time magazine reporter Matthew Cooper's 6-year-old son doesn't read the New York Times or watch C-SPAN, so as Christmas approached he remained blissfully ignorant that his father faced up to 18 months in jail for refusing to reveal his confidential sources.
Reporters sans Borders:
jailed Cuban journalist needs TB medicine
Associated Press
HAVANA - An independent journalist jailed in Cuba needs six months of treatment for tuberculosis, Reporters Without Borders said Tuesday.
Azerbaijan: Two journalists imprisoned
IFEX Communique, Toronto, 25.01.2005 -- The International Press Institute (IPI) and the Azerbaijan Journalists Confederation are calling on free expression advocates to write to authorities in Azerbaijan urging them to release two jailed journalists and express concern over attacks on the press.
Zouari on hunger strike again in protest against internal banishment
Abdallah Zouari, a journalist who wrote for the Islamist opposition newspaper Al-Farj, began a hunger strike on 23 January in protest against his banishment to the south-eastern town of Zarzis, 500 km from Tunis where his family lives.
He previously went on hunger strike in August 2003 in protest against his imprisonment for violating the banishment order, which was originally imposed in June 2002 when he was released from prison on completing a long sentence.
His second release from prison, where the 46-year-old journalist has spent a total of 11 years, was in September 2004.
White House Won't Contest Media Ownership Rules in Major Victory for Grassroots Media Activists
Grassroots media activists won a major victory Thursday when the Bush administration announced it would not seek to overturn a court ruling that has blocked the Federal Communications Commission from implementing sweepings regulations that would allow for greater media consolidation.
The Fallacy of Press Freedom in Sierra Leone
The Independent (Freetown)
ANALYSIS
January 27, 2005
Posted to the web January 27, 2005
Bailor Jalloh
Freetown
The Media, which has a vital role to play in shaping the society for sustainable development, should enjoy freedom as stated in sections 25 and 11 of the 1991 constitution of the Republic of Sierra Leone, and the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 19.
This seems to be dormant as journalists around the world- Sierra Leone in particular- always face pressure or suppression in the country. This scenario is a common phenomenon in Africa. A practical example is the case of Paul Kamara the managing Editor of 'For Di People' Newspaper. Mr. Kamara, was charged with the offence of "Seditious Libel" contrary to the Public Order Act of 1965. The case was between the State and Mr. Kamara according to the Judiciary. He was later jailed last year for 2 years by the presiding Judge and a recommended a six- month ban slammed on his paper.
Iran Attempts to Pull Plug on Web Dissidents
About 20 online journalists and bloggers have been jailed. Some say they were tortured and forced to publicly denounce their work.
By Megan K. Stack, Times Staff Writer
TEHRAN — The criminal seems younger than his 25 years. He is the quiet type, shy and lanky, peering solemnly through octagonal glasses. He has no weapons, not in the traditional sense.
