A Caracas court ordered the arrests of two people allegedly involved in the attacks last week that left 12 journalists hurt when they were demonstrating in favor of freedom of expression. All of the journalists who were handing out leaflets to motorists and pedestrians on a busy street in the capital are employees of the Cadena Capriles group, one of Venezuela’s biggest media companies. Read more here
Forty-three Azerbaijani music fans who voted for neighbouring Armenia in this year’s Eurovision song contest have been detained and questioned about their “ethnic pride”. Azerbaijan’s national security ministry has allegedly spoken to each of the 43 Azerbaijani who voted for Armenian duo Inga and Anush, singing Jan Jan, rather than AySel and Arash’s Azerbaijani entry. Read more here
The Taliban in Afghanistan has threatened to cut off voters’ fingers and attack polling stations in its bid to force Afghans to boycott the presidential elections. One of the so-called “night letters”, pinned up around villages in southern Afghanistan threatened that the Taliban would cut off the noses and ears of those who vote on Thursday. Fingers stained with ink, the sign of having cast a vote, will also be hacked off, the warning said. Read more here
A judge handed down a 31-year prison term to a police officer turned vigilante who abducted and tortured three journalists working for O Dia newspaper, a verdict the Brazilian newspaper described Thursday as “historic.” Former police inspector Odinei Fernandes da Silva, who led a paramilitary group that controlled the Rio de Janeiro slum of Batan, was found guilty of robbery, torture and criminal conspiracy. Read more here