Bahraini authorities have blocked access to the website of the Bahrain Justice and Development Movement, a London-based group consisting mainly of Bahraini exiles that denounces human rights violations in the country and advocates democratic...
Tunisia: Radio station attacked
Radio Gafsa, a radio station located in the southern Tunisian city of Gafsa, was attacked by a group of 20 men on 2 August. They reportedly ransacked the premises and terrified employees.
Palestine: Satirical TV show censored
The Palestinian attorney general has ordered a nightly satirical television show to be axed, following complaints from public servants and officials that they were being ridiculed. Watan ala Water (Country on a String) has become popular for its...
Burma: State newspapers drop slogans attacking BBC, VOA
In what has been seen to signal a further softening of the military government's stance, three Burmese state newspapers on Wednesday dropped half-page slogans accusing the BBC and the Voice of America (VOA) of "sowing hatred among the people". The...
Poland: Metal singer cleared over Bible-ripping performance
A Polish judge has found a death metal singer not guilty of offending religious feeling, ruling that his act of ripping up a Bible during a show was a form of artistic expression. Adam Darski, who goes by the stage name Nergal and is the frontman...
India: Right to information activist murdered
Shehla Masood, a freedom of information activist and blogger, was murdered yesterday in the city of Bhopal. The 39-year-old was shot in the neck as she got into a car in front of her home. Over the past two years, Masood had been publicly pushing...
Syria: Attacks on journalists continue
Members of security forces attacked the Damascus home of the family of Moussa Al-Omar, a journalist based in London on 11 August. A host for Al-Hiwar TV, Al-Omar has interviewed many Syrian dissidents on his programme. Also on the same day, Myriam...
Belarus: Released political prisoner claimed he was tortured
Vladimir Yaromenok (Владимир Еременок, Уладзімер Яроменак), a Belarusian political prisoner released on 13 August following President Alexander Lukashenko's pardoning of nine individuals convicted for the December 2010 protests in Minsk has said he...
Kazakhstan: Imprisoned journalist’s parole request rejected
Imprisoned journalist Ramazan Esergepov’s request for release on parole was rejected for the fourth time yesterday by an appeal commission in Taraz prison, southern Kazakhstan, although under Kazakh law a prisoner can be freed conditionally after...
China: Magazine editor suspended
Zhao Lingmin, one of the top editors at Window on the South, a Guangzhou-based news and current affairs magazine, has been suspended from her duties. In a letter to colleagues, Zhao wrote that an article called “China Has Risen, We Must Say Goodbye...
Ecuador: Journalist accused of libel faces 10 million USD fine
Ecuadorian journalist Peter Tavra Franco, who was sentenced to six months in prison for libel on 19 July, now faces a 10 million USD fine. The charges were presented by siblings Milton and Mónica Carrera, after Tavra published a story in the...
Vanuatu: Minister increasing pressure on broadcaster
Vanuatu's Minister of Ni-Vanuatu business, Pastor Don Ken, reportedly visited the newsroom of the state-owned Vanuatu Broadcasting and Television Corporation demanding that a story covering his arrest and jailing on the eve of Vanuatu Independence...