Russian journalist, Oleg Kashin, has won the right to speculate about the identity of two men who beat him with iron rods. Kashin spent five days in a coma after he was attacked outside his apartmenton 6 November last year. The Kremlin’s youth...
CATEGORY: News and features

Israeli radio station targeted by fake free speech campaign
Activists have attacked the Army Radio with a bizarre phone message scam, reports Daniella Peled

Sudanese government halts the printing presses
This year has seen the arrest of more than 30 journalists and a popular newspaper prevented from printing five times, reports Abdelgadir Mohamed Abdelgadir

Bahrain: Life sentences for exercising their right to free speech
Activists are accused of belonging to a secret network, but the court has failed to prove its existence or even its name, says Saeed al-Shehabi, chairman of the Bahrain Freedom Movement – and sentenced in absentia
Reaction from Maryam Alkhawaja whose father and uncle are among those convicted

‘Voluntary’ website blocking scheme threatens free expression
Leaked documents have revealed British government plans that could seriously affect web users. Peter Bradwell reports

Bahrain: Life imprisonments are a “hard blow to free expression”
Eight Bahraini activists and opposition leaders have been jailed for life and over a thousand activists remain in detention, reports human rights campaigner Maryam Alkhawaja whose father and uncle are among those convicted
Northern Ireland: Press Association photographer shot in the leg as Belfast violence erupts
Press Association photographer Niall Carson, who was covering violence in east Belfast was shot in the leg during a riot on Monday night. Stones, fireworks, petrol bombs and improvised missiles have been thrown between rival groups of masked...
Sri Lanka: Press freedom bill rejected
A bid for greater media freedom put forward by opposition parties in Sri Lanka has been rejected by the ruling party led by President Mahinda Rajapakse. The United People's Freedom Alliance, which enjoys a two-thirds majority, voted against the...
Belarus: Journalist faces four years in prison for “insulting the president”
Andrey Pochobut, a correspondent for the Polish newspaper GazetaWyborcza who stands accused of defamation and “insulting the president”, is facing a four-year prison sentence. The trial began yesterday in Leninski district court, Belarus, with...
Bahrani government to sue the Independent for libel
Bahrain's Information Affairs Authority today announced it has commissioned a UK-based legal firm to file a defamation case against the Independent newspaper. Nawaf Mohammed Al-Maawda, publications director-general said: "The Independent has...