1 Dec 2009 | Index Index, minipost, News and features
A member of a powerful clan has been charged after the massacre of at least 57 people including journalists and politicians last week. Andal Ampatuan Jr, a mayor from lawless Maguindanao province, surrendered last week and has denied involvement. The government announced that the entire police force of his home province could be replaced because of its possible complicity in the killings. Those killed were trying to file nomination papers for a candidate challenging Mr Ampatuan in next year’s gubernatorial elections. Read more here
1 Dec 2009 | Index Index, minipost, News and features
Friends and colleagues have called for an investigation into the death of a Russian TV journalist, Olga Kotovskaya who plunged from the 14th storey of a building one day after winning a major legal case. She was a prominent journalist on Kaskad regional TV channel which broadcasts in the western enclave of Kaliningrad. The channel had a reputation for objective news reporting, live broadcasts, and studio guests who were sometimes critical of regional leaders. The death was originally considered to be suicide however Solomon Ginzburg a deputy in Kaliningrad’s regional parliament told the Guardian: “I have no doubt at all that this was a political killing.” Read more here
1 Dec 2009 | Middle East and North Africa, News and features, United Kingdom
The government’s control over what the Chilcot Inquiry can publish and the questions it can ask is providing a watered-down account of why Britain went to war and an easy ride for witnesses argues Chris Ames
(more…)
1 Dec 2009 | Index Index, minipost, News and features, United Kingdom
Justice Secretary Jack Straw is to establish a working group to examine England’s controversial libel laws. The group will consist of media lawyers, editors and experts. The government has also said it will respond to English Pen and Index on Censorship’s libel report, along with recommendations by the Culture Media and Sport Select Committee within two months of the publication of the Select Committee report.
The working group is expected to convene in January 2010.
