The British government must be honest about its policies towards prisoners in the war on terror, says Louise Christian
Torture: time for transparency
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CATEGORY: News and features
Singapore: censorship city
Ben Bland is the latest journalist to be barred from working in Singapore. Here, he explains the city state’s stranglehold on free expression
Philippines: slaughter of reporters
The Ampatuan massacre has taken a heavy toll on community journalism, as authorities race against time and the elements in evidence gathering.
Romel Regalado Bagares, Executive Director, Center for International Law (CenterLaw), reports
Kazakhstan: privacy bill threatens journalists
Kazakhstan’s parliament passed a new privacy bill on 19 November which threatens the ability of journalists to carry out investigative work. The bill forbids the publication of information relating to private lives, including those of public...
Journalists released in Somalia after 15 months captivity
Canadian journalist Amanda Lindhout and Australian photographer Nigel Brennan have been released after being held captive by militants for 15 months. Reports state that the pair were freed after a ransom of $1m was paid. The two journalists were...
Defamation decriminalised in the Maldives
A bill has been passed in the Maldives parliament that abolishes five articles from the Penal Code that provided for criminal defamation. Read more here
UN calls for release of Gambian journalist
The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has called on the Gambian government to release journalist Chief Ebrimah Manneh, citing his arrest and detention as being without legal justification and in breach of international law. Manneh was a young...
Azerbaijan: donkey bloggers punished
The imprisonment of two online activists shows the battle for democracy is increasingly fought online, says
Vugar Gojayev
Egypt: graphic novel author and publisher fined
Author Magdi El Shafai and his publisher Mohamed El Sahrqawi were fined 5,000 Egyptian pounds for the publication of graphic novel Metro. The court ruling, on 21 November, deemed the two men guilty of “making and publishing something that was...
Singapore: magazine ordered to pay damages to prime minister
The Far Eastern Economic Review (FEER), which is due to close next month, was ordered to pay Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew a total of S$405,000 (US$290,000) in damages and costs for defamation. The journal’s...