30 Mar 2010 | Index Index, minipost
Hürriyet newspaper journalist Nurettin Kurt and editorial manager Hasan Kılıç face between one and three years imprisonment for publishing photographs of Colonel E.Y.B. The photographs were taken during the ongoing investigation into the alleged plot to assassinate Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç. Kurt and Kılıç have been charged under Anti-Terror Laws for “identifying officials on anti-terrorist duties as targets of terror organizations”. The court has not yet stated which terror organisations Kurt and Kılıç supposedly identified as targeting the Colonel.
30 Mar 2010 | Index Index, minipost, Uncategorized
A prominent Chinese professor at the Beijing Film Academy, has been barred from leaving China to travel to America. Cui Weiping was due to give a lecture at Harvard, and attend a conference in Philadelphia. Although authorities at her university have not provided her with a reason for her travel restrictions, Cui has speculated that the refusal is due to posts she made on her blog, and Tweets she made in support of imprisoned writer and activist Liu Xiaobo. To help petition her banning, contact NEAR for more information.
30 Mar 2010 | Index Index, minipost
On 26 March, Bayardo Mairena and Manuel Juárez, were shot in their vehicle by unidentified gunmen, in Olancho, eastern Honduras. Both journalists were working on the news program “This is Olancho”. The double murder means that five journalists have been killed this month in Honduras, none of their killers have been arrested.
30 Mar 2010 | Index Index, minipost
On 28 March, Wilmer Azuaje was banned by Venezuela’s highest court from speaking to the media about criminal charges alleging he struck a police official. The measure is meant to protect the “reputation, integrity and honour of the victim.” Azuaje, former Deputy of the National Assembly and an outspoken opponent of President Hugo Chavez, was detained on 25 March after prosecutors accused him of insulting a public official and breaking a law that prohibits violence against women. The National Assembly, which is dominated by allies of Chavez, lifted Azuaje’s immunity as a lawmaker from prosecution Friday — a rare step usually reserved for crimes such as corruption. He was later released on 27 March.
