Posts Tagged ‘journalist detained’
May 15th, 2012
A
Rwandan community radio presenter is
being held in pre-trial detention for “minimising” the 1994 Tutsi genocide. Habarugira Epaphrodite was arrested last month after confusing the Kinyarwanda words for “victims” and “survivors” whilst reading a news report on ceremonies to mark the 18th anniversary of the genocide on 22 April. The error made it sound as though Epaphrodite condoned the genocide. The presenter was fired from the radio station the following day, and was arrested on 24 April. He has been held in prison since his arrest.
February 7th, 2012
Two journalists were shot by security services, and another detained whilst covering the political unrest in
Egypt over the weekend. Mahmoud al-Ghazali, Nile TV correspondent, was shot with pellets early on Saturday morning, whilst reporting on clashes between protesters and security forces. Al-Ghazali was shot in the eye, causing extensive damage. Online
journalist Salma Said was shot around 1am on Monday by security forces while she filmed clashes in central Cairo. The journalist was hit in the face, legs and stomach. Mohamed Rabee from independent newspaper
Al-Badil was forcibly detained by plain clothed officers yesterday, as he dictated a news story to his colleague via mobile phone.
January 17th, 2012
21 journalists
were detained by security forces in
Somalia over the weekend, following demonstrations against ongoing media crackdowns.
Police stormed the main headquarters of HornCable TV and two production studios of the television network, in the capital town Hargeisa on Saturday. The following day, at a peaceful protest organised by the journalists, the presidential guard attacked protesters, and arrested 18 staff members from HornCable TV. Police hunted down other journalists who took part in the protest and arrested them. All 21 detained journalists were released yesterday.
September 30th, 2011
Egyptian police
raided the offices of
Al Jazeera yesterday, for the second time in a month. Around 25 plain clothed police officers stormed the affiliate office, detaining journalist Mohamed Suleiman and roughing up other members of staff. The officers broke down the front door of the office, claiming they had a warrant, which they later failed to present. They also seized staff identification cards and confiscated office equipment. Suleiman was released a few hours after the raid. Police also raided the channel’s former office on
11 September, when they detained an engineer and shut down live broadcasts on the channel.
September 7th, 2011
A
Syrian journalist has been
arrested by security forces in Damascus. Amer Matar, from pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat was arrested on Saturday, though reasons for this are still unclear. Before his arrest, Matar emailed a friend a copy of his will, stating “I may not come back from Friday prayers.” Matar, who is also a political activist, called for peaceful anti-regime demonstrations via Facebook, much like journalist
Omar al-Assad who was
arrested in July. The condition and whereabouts of both journalists remain unknown. Meanwhile, the Syrian government recently announced a new media law, proclaiming freedom of speech as a fundamental principle.
August 31st, 2011
Elena Bondar, an Uzbekistani freelance journalist who was
briefly detained at Tashkent airport last week, has been notified that
she is to be prosecuted for not declaring the professional material that was seized from her at the time, and that it will be examined by a censorship committee. When interrogated again for three hours on 27 August, Bondar was told that she is to be prosecuted under articles of the customs law and the civil code for failing to declare the four USB flash drives, three CDs and two video cassettes that were taken from her when she landed in the Uzbek capital on 22 August. She is facing a possible fine on these charges.
August 2nd, 2011
The BBC’s Shaimaa Khalil has been
arrested in Egypt while reporting from Cairo. In her
most recent tweet, Khalil said she and those with her were “OK” and on the way to see district prosecutors. She had travelled to Tahrir Square after Egyptian security forces had
moved in to clear the area of protesters. In her
last tweet before her arrest, Khalil noted the atmosphere was “extremely tense” and that the area was surrounded by “military”, “riot police” and “armoured vehicles”.
