The chief crime reporter for the Urdu-language daily Extra New was gunned down in Karachi on 2 April. Zaman Ali was the 14th Pakistani journalist to be killed in the last 13 months. Witnesses claimed that he was murdered shortly after attending a gathering of Benazir Bhutto supporters, his assailants have not been caught. Pakistan’s Crime Reporters Association condemned his murder, calling for greater protection for working journalists.
The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe has published a report revealing that there are currently 57 journalists imprisoned in Turkey. This is more than any other country. The figures in the report come from the findings of the Freedom for Journalists platform, which represents local and national media organisations in Turkey. The report also states that a further ten journalists are awaiting trial. The EU are planning a special conference in Brussels next month to discuss freedom of expression in Turkey.
A lawyer has been sentenced to seven years in prison and a further three years’ house arrest. Cu Huy Ha Vu’s trial lasted for one day, during it one of his lawyers was ejected and another three walking out in protest. The court convicted him of defaming Vietnam and producing propaganda against the state. Vu has called for an end to the country’s one-party system and has twice tried to sue the Vietnamese prime minister. He is the son of a famous Vietnamese poet who was a revolutionary leader in the Ho Chi Minh government.
Cuba has accused a Reuters journalist of collaborating with a US diplomat thought to be a CIA agent. The allegation was made by Cuban state television through a programme “dedicated to uncovering supposed plots against Cuba”.
Dissident Raul Capote claims that he witnessed a meeting between then Reuters bureau chief Anthony Boadle and Mark Sullivan, who was a diplomat in the US Interests Section in Havana. He was accused of being a CIA agent in the programme.