30 Sep 2011 | Index Index, minipost
A Tajik journalist is facing 16 years in prison, following charges of defamation. Makhmadyusuf Ismoilov, a reporter for the independent weekly paper Nuri Zindagi, was arrested for defamation, insult, and incitement following an article in which he criticised government and law enforcement officials in the Asht district in the northern Sogd region of Tajikistan. During his hearing yesterday, prosecutors asked the court to sentence the journalist to 16 years imprisonment, while Ismiolov’s lawyer claimed investigators had failed to prove he was guilty, and called for his release. The next court hearing in the case is scheduled for 3 October.
29 Sep 2011 | Index Index, minipost
A cartoonist is facing trial for a caricature in which he renounces God. Turkish cartoonist Bahadır Baruter created an image showing an imam and believers praying in a mosque, with one believer on his mobile phone, asking God to excuse him from the last part of the prayer to run errands. The Istanbul chief public prosecutor’s office charged Baruter with “insulting the religious values adopted by a part of the population” and requested that he be imprisoned for one year. The cartoon, which was published in the weekly Penguen magazine, included the words “There is no Allah, religion is a lie”, hidden in the image.
22 Sep 2011 | Index Index, minipost
Two people jailed for making “alarmist” posts on Twitter were freed yesterday after four weeks in prison in Mexico. Maria de Jesus Bravo, a local journalist, and maths teacher Gilberto Martinez Vera, had the charges of terrorism and sabotage against them dropped, and they walked free from jail to cheering supporters. The pair sent out Twitter messages regarding an unconfirmed drug attack on a primary school last month, and were accused of terrifying frantic parents. The charges, which can carry prison sentences of up to 30 years imprisonment, were dropped following outrage from human rights activists and free speech advocates.
21 Sep 2011 | Index Index, minipost
A journalist covering the house arrest of a blind Chinese Chen Guangcheng activist had her passport stolen and was forcibly removed from the activist’s villiage earlier today. Rachel Beitarie from Calcalist and Israel radio reported via Twitter that she had her passport stolen, and was taken to the suburbs of Linyi, Shandong province and abandoned whilst covering the story.
Chen Guangcheng served a 51 month prison sentence for disturbing public order following accusations that officials were forcing women to have abortions. He was released in September 2010, but has been under house arrest in Linyi since then.
