Posts Tagged ‘media freedom’
September 21st, 2010
Two independent radio stations were
attacked by Islamist militia in Mogadishu on 19 September. Radio Horn Afrik was vandalised and looted by
Al-Shabaab, while Global Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) was taken over by
Hizbul Islam, who are now using the station to broadcast their own propaganda. Journalists at Horn Afrik were driven from the building by armed men. Cassettes and CDs were then destroyed.
According to the transitional government in Mogadishu, five radio stations in the city have now been attacked or forcibly taken over by Islamist rebels.
September 13th, 2010
Two documentary-makers were
arrested and detained after filming at Donald Trump’s golf resort near Aberdeen. Anthony Baxter and Richard Phinney were investigating complaints about building works on the site when Trump’s organisation accused them of entering offices and filming without permission. The two men were arrested for breach of the peace and held for four hours. Their camera equipment was retained by police for five days. Baxter and Phinney deny the allegations.
This is not the first time critics of the golf course have been given a hostile reception. On 31 August, long-standing opponent of the resort, Councillor Debra Storr, was
ousted from the area committee debating Trump’s planning applications. A leading councillor
lost his job in 2007 after voting against the original plans.
August 6th, 2010
The Azerbaijan Press Council have
published a blacklist of 77 newspapers. They accuse the newspapers of racketeering and publishing articles affecting people’s honour. The blacklist, which is available
online, lists the founder and editor-in-chief of each publication. Last year, a similar list in the Eurasian state blacklisted 95 publications.
July 28th, 2010
Three journalists who were
arrested after they published an official government document on corruption were due to be released yesterday. The editor, managing editor and publisher of the Nouveau Courrier d’Abidjan were
acquitted of charges relating to theft of official documents but charged with a lesser offence and fined five million CFA francs (7,500 euros).
July 19th, 2010
Earlier today British author Alan Shadrake was
arrested in Singapore for alleged criminal defamation and contempt of court .The state run Media Development Authority filed a complaint against Shadrake’s book, which examines the death penalty in Singapore, accusing it of questioning the impartiality of the judiciary. Last year Singapore
ejected British journalist Ben Bland and
charged the Wall Street Journal with contempt of court . Last week the authorities
banned a film containing a speech made by an ex political prisoner.
July 16th, 2010
The SPP (Paraguayan Union of Journalists) has condemned
the recent actions of politicians in the city of Cuidad del Este. Last week Juan Pío Balbuena had his programme cancelled on Radio Corpus after the owner of the station made a ‘business deal’ with local politician Javier Zacarías Irún, in which he agreed not to criticise Zacarías’s political group. Zacarías’ wife, Sandra Mcleod, is mayor of Ciudad del Este and was recently accused of attempting to bribe another Radio Corpus journalist to favour her party on air. He refused and was later forced to resign.
April 14th, 2010
On 12 April, a court
dropped all the charges against the former commissioners of the National Telecommunications Commission (CONATEL), accused of the
closure of two media during the political crisis of 2009. The Human Rights special prosecutor had accused them of the crime of abuse of authority, for ordering the closing of
Channel 36 and Radio Globo, in the context of the
political crisis created after the coup d’état against Manuel Zelaya.
April 7th, 2010
Large-scale
riots have broken out in Bishkek, the capital of
Kyrgyzstan, over what human rights groups claim are increasingly repressive policies of the president, Kurmanbek Bakiyev. One
government minister has been killed, and the
deputy prime minister has been taken hostage in a series of protests which started when a group of protestors
stormed government offices in the town of of Talas on Tuesday. Since he took office in 2005, Bakiyev has cracked down on opposition parties and the independent media. Last Wednesday, a court suspended the newspaper
Forum, on the basis that an article contained “appeals to forcibly overthrow the constitutional order”. On Thursday, financial police raided the Bishkek headquarters of the independent Web-based television outlet Stan TV, confiscating all computer equipment. The
clampdown follows suspensions of two other newspapers Achyk Sayasat and Nazar on 18 March. All thee had reported on a March opposition convention, at which representatives demanded President Bakiyev dismiss his relatives from government positions, and that the government lower electricity and heating costs.
