Channel 8, a critical TV station with the government, has been bought by a consortium created by presidents Daniel Ortega and Hugo Chávez. Details of the transaction had been kept secret, and Ortega's possible control of the channel raised concern...
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Russia police break up rally for peaceful protest
Russian police yesterday detained up to 100 protesters during a Moscow demonstration to preserve the right to peaceful protest. Protesters shouted "Shame!" and "Down with Putin!" as Moscow police in riot gear pushed them into buses. The detained,...
Sri Lankan government launches fresh press crack-down
The newly re-elected government of Mahinda Rajapaksa has been accused of orchestrating a fresh crackdown on the media after a series of websites were blocked and their offices closed. Journalists claim they have been harassed and assaulted, others...
Turkey: 15-year-old jailed for attending protest
A 15-year-old girl has been sentenced to jail for nearly eight years after having been arrested at a demonstration in support of the banned Kurdish group PPK. The girl has been convicted of 'terrorist' offences, including ‘crimes on behalf of an...
Iran executes two opposition supporters
Two men accused of plotting to overthrow the regime were hanged in Tehran yesterday. Reza Ali Zamani and Arash Rahmanipour, 19, were convicted of being ‘enemies of God’. The pair were the first to be put to death after more than 100 dissidents were...
Line up of libel reform working group announced
The full membership of the Justice Department's libel working group, which convenes tomorrow (28 January), has been announced. The working group will be chaired by Rowena Collins-Rice, Director-General, Democracy, Constitution and Law and Chief...
Zambia: Student leaders threatened at gunpoint by MP
A Zambian MP allegedly stormed a television studio and threatened student union leaders at gunpoint. It is claimed Chishimba Kambwili and fellow Patriotic Front (PF) sympathisers menaced University of Zambia Student’s Union leaders, Antonio Mwanza...
Venezuela orders RCTV removal from cable
Venezuela's media regulator has ordered that RCTV be removed from transmission by cable providers. RCTV's terrestrial licence was revoked in 2007, in an act seen by many as revenge for the station's support for a coup against President Hugo Chavez...
US lifts travel ban on Tariq Ramadan
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has lifted the travel ban on two prominent Muslim scholars, Tariq Ramadan and Adam Habib. The American Civil Liberties Union had been due to challenge Ramadan's ban in federal court yesterday. Jameel Jaffer,...
Zimbabwe: Journalist flees death threats
Journalist Stanley Kwenda has fled to South Africa after alleging that he received a death threat by telephone from a senior police officer, linked to a story he wrote in The Zimbabwean. The newspaper says that "‘impeccable sources" have supplied...