19 Apr 2012 | Middle East and North Africa
The fraud squad questions the publishing director of an e-magazine over an opinion piece which criticised a Tunisian financial institution.
The police accused Hamza Lakhoua from the French-speaking Espace Manager of “publishing false information” and “damaging the reputation of a financial institution, and that of the country”.
Lakhoua refused to reveal to Index on Censorship the name of the financial institution he criticised “to avoid more problems”. He said: “In my opinion piece I criticised the institution’s management policies”.
Lakhoua explained: “They are accusing me of damaging the reputation of Tunisia, because this institution has major transactions with other international institutions such as the World Bank”.
He also told Index that while interrogating him, the fraud squad did not adhere to the press code, tell him “electronic journalism is still not considered as journalism in Tunisia”.
If convicted Lakhoua could face a fine and a jail term.
19 Apr 2012 | Digital Freedom, Europe and Central Asia, Index Index, minipost
The European Parliament overwhelmingly voted in favour of a human rights resolution which calls for new rules to monitor internet censorship under autocratic regimes yesterday. The report’s author Labour MEP Richard Howit recommended an export ban on the technology that can be used to censor or block websites and monitor mobile communications. The reports calls for a coherent European Union policy on the implications technology can have on human rights. The MEP’s report also recommended the implementation of a “human rights tzar” in each of the 130 delegations of the union, who would be responsible for all issues relating to human rights.
19 Apr 2012 | Europe and Central Asia, Index Index, minipost
A radical Muslim group released a video threatening a number of German journalists last week. The Salafist group named journalists from newspapers Frankfurter Rundschau and Tagesspiegel in the video uploaded to YouTube on Thursday (12 April). The recording showed photographs of the journalists, detailed private information and threatened to reveal more if the media continued to publish “lies” about Frankfurt Salafist group DawaFFM. The group refers to itself as “The True Religion”, it has been widely criticised by press and politicians for its aim to have a copy of the Koran in “every household in Germany, Austria and Switzerland”,
19 Apr 2012 | Index Index, minipost
A cameraman has been shot and killed at the home of a couple whose wedding he was filming in Nigeria. Chuks Ogu, who had worked for privately-owned Independent Television, was shot on Saturday (14 April) when gunmen, believed to be hired assassins, stormed into the house of the newly-weds and opened fire. The motive for the attack is unclear, as nothing was stolen from the couple. It is also unclear whether Ogu was the actual target of the attack, as preliminary police reports suggest this was a case of mistaken identity. Ogu is the third journalist to be killed in Nigeria this year.
