Index on Censorship » press censorship

Uzbekistan: Journalists fined and detained for press censorship protest

Sarah Cox — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 13:51:04 +0000

Uzbek journalists, Malohat Eshonqulova and Saodat Omonova, have been detained and fined 2.94 million soms (around £1000) for holding an unauthorized protest on Monday morning. The two women, who have now begun a hunger strike, held up placards in front of the presidential palace in Tashkent which read “Dear Islam Karimov, please grant us an audience”. The pair were arrested after around four hours of protesting on 27 June, a day officially marked by Uzbekistan as the “Day of Media Workers“. Eshonqulova and Omonova were fired from state television channel Yoshlar last December, three days after they staged protests against media censorship and are still fighting a court battle to appeal their dismissal.

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Somalia: Two radio stations silenced in twenty-four hours

Sarah Cox — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 10:29:02 +0000

Members of the Sufi group, Ahlu Sunna Waljama (ASWJ), shut down Radio Dhusamareb of central Somalia on Wednesday evening. Seven masked intruders forced staff to evacuate the building and the station’s editor was arrested and taken into custody. He has now been released without charge. Less than 24 hours before the attack, Al Shabaab militants silenced the Voice of Hiran radio station in the town of Beletweyne.

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Malawi: Tabloid banned for not registering

William Clowes — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 17:44:31 +0000

Authorities in Malawi have banned a weekly tabloid newspaper for not registering. The ruling comes a year after The Weekend Times published its first edition. The newspaper, renowned for its sensationalist reporting on scandalous stories about politicians and celebrities, is published by Blantyre Newspapers Ltd, a company owned by the family of former dictator Kamuzu Banda. Three months ago, President Bingu we Mutharika threatened to shut down newspapers deemed to have lied that one million Malawians will need food aid.

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Russia: Police raid opposition magazine

Intern — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 12:46:10 +0000

Armed police raided the offices of opposition magazine the New Times on 2 September. The magazine’s editor Yevgenia Albats was repeatedly asked to hand over interview recordings that were used in a report on alleged abuses of power by OMON riot police. The report, which cited police sources making accusations about their superiors, prompted the force to launch a libel case in February. Albats gave police an interview transcript, but withheld any information concerning the identities of sources. OMON police are frequently deployed to break up demonstrations, and were involved in detaining 100 protesters at Strategy 31′s rally in Moscow on 31 August. Concerns for press freedom have also been raised in Belarus this week, when the country’s oldest independent newspaper said that it faces closure due to interference from the government. The editor of Babruiski Kurier, Anatol Sanatsenka, said that the publication is in a difficult financial situation after authorities banned any advertising in the newspaper. He added that local officials told him that Babruiski Kurier “does not write about the right things”.

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Ukrainian journalists targeted and attacked

Intern — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 13:18:20 +0000

Journalists from television channel TVi have written an open letter to Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, demanding that he intervene to stop the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) pressuring journalists. SBU has demanded that TVi present them with documents regarding a tender, the deal angered rival companies affiliated with the SBU’s director, Valeriy Khoroshkovskiy, whose wife runs one of TVi’s competitors. Journalists expressed concerns that SBU is turning into “a structure which backs personal and business interests of the head of the SBU, Valeriy Khoroshkovskiy, and members of his family”. And in a seperate incident on Tuesday, Ukrainian police intimidated journalists and camermen at the newspaper Ekspres. The paper’s director was arrested in Livy on charges of tax evasion. Journalists who came to the police station to cover the story claim they were handled brutally by police. The paper had published an investigative report on corruption among lawmakers, triggering protests that disrupted traffic on a busy highway near Lviv. The attack is the fourth such incident involving journalists since the inauguration of President Viktor Yanukovych to the presidency in February.

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Further escalation in Sri Lankan press crackdown

Intern — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 12:30:36 +0000

Following our report on the Sri Lankan press crackdown, the office of the president has issued a statement on Tuesday denying the existence of the leaked government “hit-list” that contained 35 journalists, lawyers and activists. One of the top targets on the list, J. C. Weliamuna, the chairperson of Transparency International Sri Lanka, faces imminent arrest this week according to the Asian Human Rights Commission.

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Gambian journalists jailed for defamation

Index on Censorship — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 10:39:28 +0000

Six journalists in Gambia have been jailed for two years each after being found guilty of criticising the country’s president. The journalists from the newspaper Foroyaa and weekly publication The Point were convicted of sedition and defamation for comments critical of President Yahya Jammeh. Read more here

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Philippines: Radio commentator shot dead

Index on Censorship — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 13:16:20 +0000

Filipino radio journalist Godofredo Linao was shot near the offices of Radyo Natin by two unidentified men. The men fired four shots at Linao as he was about to board his motorcycle, killing him on the spot. The motive for the attack is unclear. Linao also worked as a political spokesman and may have been targeted for his political broadcasts. Linao is the fourth journalist to die in the Philippines in the past two months. Read more here

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US and family concern for jailed reporters

Index on Censorship — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 14:28:19 +0000

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the government was “pursuing every possible approach” over the two US journalists held in North Korea as their families have pleaded with the authorities there to set the pair free. Read more here

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Magazine seized in Senegal

Index on Censorship — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 15:00:26 +0000

Monthly magazine L’Essentiel has been suspended for disturbing public order, after the cover page reportedly insulted the President. Read more here

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