22 Sep 2011 | minipost, News
Index on Censorship is concerned by reports that news organisations are to hand over footage of August’s riots in England.
“Moves such as this force journalists to become the eyes and ears of the state, said John Kampfner, Chief Executive of Index on Censorship. “During the riots, we saw several incidents of photographers and broadcasters being attacked. The implication that any footage taken by them will be handed over to authorities will only serve to endanger on-the-ground media workers further in the future.”
“Already this week we have seen widespread outrage at attempts to make Guardian journalist Amelia Hill hand over journalistic materials. The Metropolitan Police Service is showing a worrying disregard for the principle of a free media.”
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22 Sep 2011 | Index Index, minipost
Ugandan writer Vincent Nzaramba was arrested from his home on 17 September, after penning a book critical of President Yoweri Museveni. According to eyewitnesses, two police vehicles were waiting at Nzaramba’s home, and after searching his home for two hours and confiscating 106 copies of the controversial book, he was taken to the Rapid Response Unit (RRU) headquarters. Geoffrey Wokulira Ssebaggala, programme coordinator for Human Rights Network for Journalists-Uganda (HRNJ-Uganda), said that Nzaramba is being “illegally detained” by police forces, because he has refused to retract his calls for the removal of the Ugandan president.
22 Sep 2011 | Index Index, minipost
Ukranian journalists have gathered in Kharkiv to protest the closure of local television channels. The protesters, who gathered at the Mayor’s office on Monday, taped their mouths closed and brought a symbolic coffin which they said was filled with reports that were not aired as a result of the closures. The protesters believe that Kharkiv Mayor Hennady Kernes is responsible for giving the order leading to the station closures. Kernes rejected the charges and said the management at the Kharkiv TV channels who have criticized him should apologize for making “cynical” accusations.
22 Sep 2011 | Index Index, minipost
Two people jailed for making “alarmist” posts on Twitter were freed yesterday after four weeks in prison in Mexico. Maria de Jesus Bravo, a local journalist, and maths teacher Gilberto Martinez Vera, had the charges of terrorism and sabotage against them dropped, and they walked free from jail to cheering supporters. The pair sent out Twitter messages regarding an unconfirmed drug attack on a primary school last month, and were accused of terrifying frantic parents. The charges, which can carry prison sentences of up to 30 years imprisonment, were dropped following outrage from human rights activists and free speech advocates.
