The right wing media in the USA is so grossly outside the bounds of professional reporting they are almost their own story.
January 16, 2016
By Sam Levine
Several Republican presidential candidates (click here) criticized the Obama administration's decision to swap seven Iranian prisoners for The Washington Post's reporter Jason Rezaian and three other Americans on Saturday.
Some of them, including Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), accused the administration of not pushing hard enough for the American prisoners' release when the United States negotiated a deal with Iran last year. A group of 21 senators, led by Rubio and Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), sent a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry last year to demand the prisoners' unconditional release. Kerry has said that he repeatedly pushed for the men's release during negotiations.
On Saturday, Republicans said that Obama should not have given up Iranian prisoners because it made the United States look weak and that the U.S. prisoners should have been released without condition....
The American people are being misinformed by the right wing media. The people released by Iran today were held for trial. That is not at all the same as hostages. Hostages are innocent people held because they mean something politically to another country.
The right wing defends their propaganda by stating the US Government is playing with semantics. I suppose everyone in the country are simpletons and can't sort out the facts.
Pope Francis did address the detention of a Christian on a national stage, a joint session of the US Congress.
September 24, 2015
By Jay Sekulow
Saturday (click here) marks the third anniversary of American Pastor Saeed Abedini’s imprisonment in Iran because of his Christian faith. During the last three years, there have been extensive efforts made to secure his freedom.
But now – in the days ahead – represents perhaps the most unique and important opportunity to raise Pastor Saeed’s plight on a global stage.
As part of his visit to America, Pope Francis – a champion of religious liberty and often a voice for suffering Christians – addresses a joint session of Congress and meets with the United Nations General Assembly.
Pastor Saeed’s wife, Naghmeh, is attending the pope’s address to Congress as a guest of Rep. Robert Pittenger, R-N.C. There are news reports that President Obama may ask the Pope to intercede with Iranian officials on behalf of Pastor Saeed and the other Americans imprisoned in Iran.
Iran should act now because the world is watching. And there’s no better time for Iran to release Pastor Saeed – to make a statement to the world – a humanitarian gesture of goodwill....
What Americans don't appreciate about journalists jailed in other countries, including entertainers such as "Pussy Riot," is that they actually did break the law. Journalists are often viewed the equivalent of spies. Countries are very different about CIVIL LIBERTIES. The USA has an amendment to it's constitution providing for freedom of speech, that includes the press. That is not the case in other countries.
Investigative journalism is part of American life. We are appreciative of the truth telling and view it as a PROTECTION to life and to American values and freedom. Other countries see journalism as a form of treason.
When Americans travel they need to realize how influential they are simply by being American. That status is not always welcome by the government of the country they are visiting. It gets them in trouble.
Americans always hope to bring about reform when it comes to civil liberties and freedom. There isn't anything wrong with that, but, it does put them in harms way.
Americans should not tour a country expecting to be a mover and a shaker. Tourism is about appreciating the country, it's culture and natural areas. Americans need to walk softly while abroad. Their brevity in other countries can be dangerous to themselves.
There are some countries around the world that have a designated favored religion. That makes tourism all the much more worrisome. Other countries are allowed to have an official religion.
Where the interface of other countries meet up with Americans is a sensitive front and should be respected as such. To keep in mind, the judicial systems of other countries do not always bring the justice Americans are used to. Bringing Americans home when arrested or detained is not unusual. I am happy this is such a great day for the people returning and their families.
No one speaking about the Iranians given clemency today are speaking in context of their legal status, in the USA or in Iran.
When wagging peace, it has costs and today we have witnessed clemency of people in the USA that have broken sanctions. That is all part of building trust and policy between countries.
No all those jailed around the world are Americans.
"Journalists should not be jailed for reporting or commentating on events as they see them, even if they are deemed to work for politically aligned publications," said CPJ Africa Program Coordinator Sue Valentine. "Djibouti authorities must either explain why these journalists are detained or immediately release them."...
There is no doubt there are human rights in some of the prisons foreigners find themselves. But, that was exploited by Cheney in CIA Black sites. Enough already. If the USA is going to play the purist of countries, then earn it.
January 15, 2016
Jailed Turkish journalist Can Dündar (click here) has sent the Italian prime minister an open letter arguing the rapprochement between Turkey and the European Union over refugees should not overshadow violations of fundamental rights and freedoms in Turkey during the country’s EU accession process.
Daily Cumhuriyet editor-in-chief Dündar and Ankara bureau chief Erdem Gül were arrested on terrorism charges on Nov. 26 last year over a story on state-owned trucks purportedly carrying weapons to Syria that was published on daily Cumhuriyet in early 2014.
The trucks owned by the National Intelligence Agency (MİT), Turkey’s state intelligence agency, were stopped and searched in the southern province of Hatay in January 2014, which had been highlighted on the daily’s front page at the time. The story resulted in the imprisonment of the journalists over their reporting....
13 January 2016
By Roy Greenslade
Turkey’s main opposition party (click here) has spoken up on behalf of the 32 journalists held in the country’s prisons. The Republican People’s Party (CHP) also pointed out that 156 journalists were arrested in Turkey during 2015 while 484 legal actions were launched against journalists.
And more than 770 journalists were fired for reasons related to their work, said CHP’s deputy chair, Sezgin Tanrikulu. He said seven Turkish media companies came under investigation in 2015 and that the government is using anti-terrorism laws in order to stifle press freedom.
He was speaking after a rally in Ankara by Turkish journalists in which they demanded the release of jailed reporters and editors.
And on Monday an inquiry began into alleged “terrorist propaganda” by Beyazit Ozturk, a TV presenter who has run a popular show for 20 years.
His so-called “crime” was to allow a woman to say that “children are dying” under curfew in the city of Diyarbakir, which has a Kurdish majority. Ozturk apologised following social media pressure....
Journalists can hope to count on their Facebook followers to bring about their release. Whether that is a fact is anyone's guess. I am not aware of a journalist having been released because of Facebook.
13 January 2016
By AFP
Palestinian journalist (click here) detained by Hamas for over a week described on Wednesday his "torture" at the hands of the Islamist group.
Ayman al-Alul, a 44-year-old journalist with the Arab Now news agency, was detained by security services in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip on January 3 and released on Monday.
Alul, whose arrest had drawn protests from journalists and rights groups, said he was detained for comments made on his Facebook page where he has more than 30,000 followers....
Do releases in Iran incentivize other countries to carry out hostage taking? No more than before?
12 January 2016
Anjan Sundaram (click here) has authored a book - Bad News: Last Journalists in a Dictatorship - that is full of things about Rwanda and its leadership which not only bear very little resemblance to facts on the ground, but are outright fictions and distortions. Sam Gody Nshimiyimana who is one of the supposedly harassed Rwandan journalists frequently mentioned in the book as 'Moses' and who knows Sundaram and his wife very well refutes the many allegations in "Bad News"....
How is this dissuaded in the future?
I don't believe this will ever end. Journalists in the Free World are viewed frequently with esteem unless one is a Republican.
January 12, 2016
Can Dündar, (click here) the Cumhuriyet daily's imprisoned editor-in-chief, has accused the EU of remaining silent in the face of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's repressive policies in exchange for Turkey stopping Syrian refugees from crossing into Europe.
In an article published on Tuesday in French Le Monde, Dündar wrote that Erdoğan managed to secure 50 percent of the total vote in the Nov. 1, 2015 general election thanks to an intense propaganda campaign and an environment in which voters were deprived of the right to access information due to silenced media groups.
"The result has given Erdoğan the authority to wipe out what remains of free media. The EU prefers to turn a blind eye to his oppression in return for Turkey blocking the influx of Syrian refugees into its territory. I am currently observing the direction the EU is heading in from behind bars in my solitary confinement, and it is very dark," Dündar wrote.
Defining his article as a cry for press freedom emanating from a prison in the east of Europe, Dündar went on to say: "This piece is a call for help from hell, for media which was bottled up and thrown out to sea. It is a hand extended in solidarity to all colleagues in the world of journalism from a journalist who was arrested for reporting the news."...
But, for many countries, including USA allies the journalism industry is frowned on. This countries see it as a matter of maintaining order and civil peace. If I were the President of one billion people or more I'd worry, too.
January 16, 2016
By Sam Levine
Several Republican presidential candidates (click here) criticized the Obama administration's decision to swap seven Iranian prisoners for The Washington Post's reporter Jason Rezaian and three other Americans on Saturday.
Some of them, including Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), accused the administration of not pushing hard enough for the American prisoners' release when the United States negotiated a deal with Iran last year. A group of 21 senators, led by Rubio and Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), sent a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry last year to demand the prisoners' unconditional release. Kerry has said that he repeatedly pushed for the men's release during negotiations.
On Saturday, Republicans said that Obama should not have given up Iranian prisoners because it made the United States look weak and that the U.S. prisoners should have been released without condition....
The American people are being misinformed by the right wing media. The people released by Iran today were held for trial. That is not at all the same as hostages. Hostages are innocent people held because they mean something politically to another country.
The right wing defends their propaganda by stating the US Government is playing with semantics. I suppose everyone in the country are simpletons and can't sort out the facts.
Pope Francis did address the detention of a Christian on a national stage, a joint session of the US Congress.
September 24, 2015
By Jay Sekulow
Saturday (click here) marks the third anniversary of American Pastor Saeed Abedini’s imprisonment in Iran because of his Christian faith. During the last three years, there have been extensive efforts made to secure his freedom.
But now – in the days ahead – represents perhaps the most unique and important opportunity to raise Pastor Saeed’s plight on a global stage.
As part of his visit to America, Pope Francis – a champion of religious liberty and often a voice for suffering Christians – addresses a joint session of Congress and meets with the United Nations General Assembly.
Pastor Saeed’s wife, Naghmeh, is attending the pope’s address to Congress as a guest of Rep. Robert Pittenger, R-N.C. There are news reports that President Obama may ask the Pope to intercede with Iranian officials on behalf of Pastor Saeed and the other Americans imprisoned in Iran.
Iran should act now because the world is watching. And there’s no better time for Iran to release Pastor Saeed – to make a statement to the world – a humanitarian gesture of goodwill....
What Americans don't appreciate about journalists jailed in other countries, including entertainers such as "Pussy Riot," is that they actually did break the law. Journalists are often viewed the equivalent of spies. Countries are very different about CIVIL LIBERTIES. The USA has an amendment to it's constitution providing for freedom of speech, that includes the press. That is not the case in other countries.
Investigative journalism is part of American life. We are appreciative of the truth telling and view it as a PROTECTION to life and to American values and freedom. Other countries see journalism as a form of treason.
When Americans travel they need to realize how influential they are simply by being American. That status is not always welcome by the government of the country they are visiting. It gets them in trouble.
Americans always hope to bring about reform when it comes to civil liberties and freedom. There isn't anything wrong with that, but, it does put them in harms way.
Americans should not tour a country expecting to be a mover and a shaker. Tourism is about appreciating the country, it's culture and natural areas. Americans need to walk softly while abroad. Their brevity in other countries can be dangerous to themselves.
There are some countries around the world that have a designated favored religion. That makes tourism all the much more worrisome. Other countries are allowed to have an official religion.
Where the interface of other countries meet up with Americans is a sensitive front and should be respected as such. To keep in mind, the judicial systems of other countries do not always bring the justice Americans are used to. Bringing Americans home when arrested or detained is not unusual. I am happy this is such a great day for the people returning and their families.
No one speaking about the Iranians given clemency today are speaking in context of their legal status, in the USA or in Iran.
When wagging peace, it has costs and today we have witnessed clemency of people in the USA that have broken sanctions. That is all part of building trust and policy between countries.
No all those jailed around the world are Americans.
New York
January 15, 2016
Officials in Djibouti (click here) should immediately release two journalists arrested this week, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Police arrested Kadar Abdi Ibrahim on Thursday, and arrested Mohamed Ibrahim Waiss on Monday, but have yet to charge either, according to the Facebook page of a local publication.
Kadar Abdi Ibrahim, a writer and the co-director of the monthly Aurore (Dawn), was arrested at his home on Thursday, US-based Djiboutian scholar Abdourahman Waberi told CPJ. Aurore is
a publication of the country's opposition party, the Union Pour Le
Salut National (USN). Police arrested Ibrahim immediately after the
paper's most recent edition was published, Waberi said. January 15, 2016
Officials in Djibouti (click here) should immediately release two journalists arrested this week, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Police arrested Kadar Abdi Ibrahim on Thursday, and arrested Mohamed Ibrahim Waiss on Monday, but have yet to charge either, according to the Facebook page of a local publication.
"Journalists should not be jailed for reporting or commentating on events as they see them, even if they are deemed to work for politically aligned publications," said CPJ Africa Program Coordinator Sue Valentine. "Djibouti authorities must either explain why these journalists are detained or immediately release them."...
There is no doubt there are human rights in some of the prisons foreigners find themselves. But, that was exploited by Cheney in CIA Black sites. Enough already. If the USA is going to play the purist of countries, then earn it.
January 15, 2016
Jailed Turkish journalist Can Dündar (click here) has sent the Italian prime minister an open letter arguing the rapprochement between Turkey and the European Union over refugees should not overshadow violations of fundamental rights and freedoms in Turkey during the country’s EU accession process.
Daily Cumhuriyet editor-in-chief Dündar and Ankara bureau chief Erdem Gül were arrested on terrorism charges on Nov. 26 last year over a story on state-owned trucks purportedly carrying weapons to Syria that was published on daily Cumhuriyet in early 2014.
The trucks owned by the National Intelligence Agency (MİT), Turkey’s state intelligence agency, were stopped and searched in the southern province of Hatay in January 2014, which had been highlighted on the daily’s front page at the time. The story resulted in the imprisonment of the journalists over their reporting....
13 January 2016
By Roy Greenslade
Turkey’s main opposition party (click here) has spoken up on behalf of the 32 journalists held in the country’s prisons. The Republican People’s Party (CHP) also pointed out that 156 journalists were arrested in Turkey during 2015 while 484 legal actions were launched against journalists.
And more than 770 journalists were fired for reasons related to their work, said CHP’s deputy chair, Sezgin Tanrikulu. He said seven Turkish media companies came under investigation in 2015 and that the government is using anti-terrorism laws in order to stifle press freedom.
He was speaking after a rally in Ankara by Turkish journalists in which they demanded the release of jailed reporters and editors.
And on Monday an inquiry began into alleged “terrorist propaganda” by Beyazit Ozturk, a TV presenter who has run a popular show for 20 years.
His so-called “crime” was to allow a woman to say that “children are dying” under curfew in the city of Diyarbakir, which has a Kurdish majority. Ozturk apologised following social media pressure....
Journalists can hope to count on their Facebook followers to bring about their release. Whether that is a fact is anyone's guess. I am not aware of a journalist having been released because of Facebook.
13 January 2016
By AFP
Palestinian journalist (click here) detained by Hamas for over a week described on Wednesday his "torture" at the hands of the Islamist group.
Ayman al-Alul, a 44-year-old journalist with the Arab Now news agency, was detained by security services in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip on January 3 and released on Monday.
Alul, whose arrest had drawn protests from journalists and rights groups, said he was detained for comments made on his Facebook page where he has more than 30,000 followers....
Do releases in Iran incentivize other countries to carry out hostage taking? No more than before?
12 January 2016
Anjan Sundaram (click here) has authored a book - Bad News: Last Journalists in a Dictatorship - that is full of things about Rwanda and its leadership which not only bear very little resemblance to facts on the ground, but are outright fictions and distortions. Sam Gody Nshimiyimana who is one of the supposedly harassed Rwandan journalists frequently mentioned in the book as 'Moses' and who knows Sundaram and his wife very well refutes the many allegations in "Bad News"....
How is this dissuaded in the future?
I don't believe this will ever end. Journalists in the Free World are viewed frequently with esteem unless one is a Republican.
January 12, 2016
Can Dündar, (click here) the Cumhuriyet daily's imprisoned editor-in-chief, has accused the EU of remaining silent in the face of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's repressive policies in exchange for Turkey stopping Syrian refugees from crossing into Europe.
In an article published on Tuesday in French Le Monde, Dündar wrote that Erdoğan managed to secure 50 percent of the total vote in the Nov. 1, 2015 general election thanks to an intense propaganda campaign and an environment in which voters were deprived of the right to access information due to silenced media groups.
"The result has given Erdoğan the authority to wipe out what remains of free media. The EU prefers to turn a blind eye to his oppression in return for Turkey blocking the influx of Syrian refugees into its territory. I am currently observing the direction the EU is heading in from behind bars in my solitary confinement, and it is very dark," Dündar wrote.
Defining his article as a cry for press freedom emanating from a prison in the east of Europe, Dündar went on to say: "This piece is a call for help from hell, for media which was bottled up and thrown out to sea. It is a hand extended in solidarity to all colleagues in the world of journalism from a journalist who was arrested for reporting the news."...
But, for many countries, including USA allies the journalism industry is frowned on. This countries see it as a matter of maintaining order and civil peace. If I were the President of one billion people or more I'd worry, too.
