CATEGORY: Europe and Central Asia

Legislating in Haste

Legislating in Haste

Proponents of a ban on 'extreme pornography' are looking increasingly desperate in their attempts to push their plan through Parliament, writes Julian Petley Faced with a rising tide of opposition in the Lords, the government dropped yet more parts...

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Courting confusion

Courting confusion

Judges, lawyers and journalists all need to be clearer  on guidelines for reporting restrictions, writes Gill Phillips Twelve years ago Lord Justice Staughton reminded us that “The Latin maxim that justice must be done though the heavens fall...

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Azerbaijan: Journalist beaten

Agil Khalilov, a reporter for the Azerbaijani daily paper Azadlig, was beaten whilst filming an illegal land sale. The perpetrators of the attack --- allegedly including a local government representative and ministry official --- beat Khalilov...

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Serbia: broadcaster threatened

Independent Serbian broadcaster B92 has received emails and messages of death treats through its website forum. A video posted on YouTube portrayed two B92 presenters being shot dead. The perpetrators accused the radio station of being unpatriotic...

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Reporters sentenced to hard labour

A court in Baku, Azerbijan, has sentenced two journalists to hard labour following their conviction for libel. The charges related to articles they published in 2007 regarding alleged corruption in government circles. Avaz Zeynalli, the editor of...

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Agos journalists face charges

the owner of the Armenian-Turkish newspaper Agos, Serkis Seropyan, and its new editor, Aris Nalci, are facing prosecution over a 9 November article condemning sentences passed on their colleagues. The two were summoned by an Istanbul prosecutor and...

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MP courts Quran controversy

Dutch MP Geert Wilders has said he plans to release a film later this month that portrays the Quran as 'an inspiration for murder'. As the government expressed concern over repurcussions, Mr Wilders told a Ducth magazine: 'Now that everybody is...

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Anna Politkovskaya : 1958-2006

Just before my last trip to Chechnya in mid-September my colleagues at Novaya gazeta began receiving threats and were told to pass on the message: I shouldn’t go to Chechnya any more, they said, because if I did my life would be in danger. As...

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Global Witness beats gag attempt

NGO Global Witness struck a blow against an attempt to use privacy laws to stifle investigation yesterday, when a London court blocked an attempt to curb its exposure of possible corruption in the Republic of Congo. The London-based group had been...

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Extreme ignorance

While British newspapers were harrumphing about the Australian government banning Aboriginals from accessing pornography, they signally failed to notice that one of the 19 new offences announced in New Labour’s 54th criminal justice bill since it...

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