Iraq: TV presenter shot dead

September 7th, 2010

Iraqi television presenter, Riad al-Saray was shot today as he was leaving his home in Baghdad by unknown gunmen. He presented religious and political programmes on al-Iraqiya TV. Reporters Without Borders have called the attack a “targeted murder”.

Iran: Free speech lawyer arrested

September 7th, 2010

A free speech defender and lawyer who has represented imprisoned journalists, Nasrin Sotoudeh, was arrested on 5 September on charges of anti-government propaganda and conspiring against the regime after responding to a summons from a revolutionary court prosecutor’s office located inside Tehran’s Evin prison. She has defended political prisoners such as journalists Issa Saharkhiz and Mohammad Sadegh Kaboudvand.

Afghanistan: TV journalist stabbed to death

September 7th, 2010

Former TV presenter Sayed Hamid Noori was murderedat his home in Kabul on 5 September. He had been stabbed and his throat had been cut. The motives are unknown but he was an active member of the National Union of Afghan Journalists. Noori was a well-known TV anchor who went into politics and became the spokesman of Mohammad Yunus Qanooni, an opponent of President Hamid Karzai.

Malaysia: Editor and blogger charged for “indecent” online content

September 6th, 2010

Irwan Abdul Rahman, a Malaysian editor and blogger known as “Hassan Skodeng” was charged on 2 September 2010 with publishing false information on his satirical blog. He was accused of publishing online content deemed “obscene, indecent, false, menacing or offensive in character with malicious intent.” He pleaded not guilty and was later released after posting bail of RM4,000 (approx. US$1,285). Rahman’s blog article, “TNB to sue WWF over earth hour” posted in March this year claimed that the head of Malaysia’s main electricity firm, Tenaga Nasional, would allegedly sue the environmental group World Wildlife Fund “for urging people to switch off their lights for the annual Earth Hour initiative”. It was taken down two days after it was published.

Mexico and Colombia: Drug trafficking reporting targeted

September 3rd, 2010

In Mexico’s northeastern state of Sinaloa, the Noreste newspaper issued a statement saying that its facilities were the target of an armed attack on 1 September 2010. The attack took place after a reporter received a threatening phone call from unidentified members of an organised gang. They fired bullets at the Noreste building and placed a banner with a message accusing the federal government of protecting two men who have been accused of being drug-traffickers.

In Colombia, on 30 August 2010, journalist Marco Tulio Valencia, the editor of the El Norte newspaper in Mariquita in southern Colombia, was the target of an assassination attempt when an unidentified individual fired shots at him. Valencia’s newspaper has reported on small-scale drug trafficking networks in Mariquita and that he believes the assassination attempt and threats could be linked to those reports.

Indonesia: Journalist killed covering riot

August 31st, 2010

A journalist was killed on 21 August while covering clashes between two villages in one of Indonesia’s southern islands. Police watched the attack but did nothing to intervene. According to International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX), journalist Ridwan Salamun was hacked to death by angry villagers. A group of 70 journalists staged a demonstration to express their outrage over his death.

Pakistan: Reporter assaulted after covering mob murders

August 31st, 2010

A reporter for Dunya News was assaulted outside his residence on 29 August and has received death threats after he filmed two brothers being lynched by a mob in Sailkot earlier in the month. Hafiz Imran was reportedly pushed against a wall by unidentified men on motorcycles and sustained fractures to his shoulder. On 15 August he witnessed the brutal killing of two teenage brothers. The boys were beaten to death with sticks after being accused of robbery.  A number of police officers witnessed the killings but failed to intervene.

Togo: Judge bans newspaper

August 31st, 2010

A criminal court judge in Togo has moved to ban the distribution of Tribune d’Afrique, a bimonthly Benin newspaper, that had raised questions about the alleged involvement of a half-brother of President Faure Gnassingbé in drug trafficking. The ban was placed because of an article titled “Drug trafficking at top of the state, Togo in the network, Mey Gnassingbe fingered.” Togo-based editor Aurel Kedoté, reporter Cudjoe Amekudzi and chief executive officer Marlène de la Bardonnie have been fined and a  judge has ordered the newspaper to pay 60 million CFA francs. On 25 August, President Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé filed a separate defamation lawsuit against the Indépendant Express. The weekly newspaper published articles that the president has deemed insulting. President Gnassingbé demanded 100 million CFA (approx. US$200,000) in damages over the “enormous harm” to his reputation.