2 Dec 2009 | Index Index, minipost, News and features
The editor of Sri Lankan newspaper Udayan based in Jaffna has said he will lodge a complaint with authorities after receiving another threatening letter. The letter said “You may have to face danger. Completely stop publishing anything in the nature of boosting the terrorists or that gives the impression that the terrorists are still active.” Udayan has been threatened in the past. In 2006 one of their printing warehouses was burnt down and editorial offices fired at. The editor E Saravanabavan told the Sunday Leader that Udayan would continue to publish, albeit cautiously and doubted that an investigation would yield positive results. Read more here
2 Dec 2009 | Index Index, minipost, News and features
Indonesia’s censorship board has banned an Australian-made film about the alleged murder five journalists by Indonesian troops during the 1975 invasion of East Timor. The ruling came just hours before a planned premiere screening of Balibo was due to take place forcing organisers to cancel. Jakarta maintains they were killed accidentally in cross-fire however in 2007 an Australian coroner concluded that the journalists had been executed. A sixth Australian journalist was killed in Dili shortly afterwards while investigating the deaths. Read more here
1 Dec 2009 | Index Index, minipost, News and features
A member of a powerful clan has been charged after the massacre of at least 57 people including journalists and politicians last week. Andal Ampatuan Jr, a mayor from lawless Maguindanao province, surrendered last week and has denied involvement. The government announced that the entire police force of his home province could be replaced because of its possible complicity in the killings. Those killed were trying to file nomination papers for a candidate challenging Mr Ampatuan in next year’s gubernatorial elections. Read more here
1 Dec 2009 | Index Index, minipost, News and features
Friends and colleagues have called for an investigation into the death of a Russian TV journalist, Olga Kotovskaya who plunged from the 14th storey of a building one day after winning a major legal case. She was a prominent journalist on Kaskad regional TV channel which broadcasts in the western enclave of Kaliningrad. The channel had a reputation for objective news reporting, live broadcasts, and studio guests who were sometimes critical of regional leaders. The death was originally considered to be suicide however Solomon Ginzburg a deputy in Kaliningrad’s regional parliament told the Guardian: “I have no doubt at all that this was a political killing.” Read more here
