02 Nov 11 | Azerbaijan News, Europe and Central Asia, Index Arts, minipost
The editor-in-chief of an independent daily paper in Azerbaijan has been imprisoned. Avaz Zeynally, from newspaper Khural, was arrested in Baku on Friday on charges of bribery and extortion.
The charges follow a complaint filed by Gyuler Akhmedova, a member of parliament who alleged that Zeynally had tried to extort 10,000 manat (7,935 GBP) from her in August. Zeynally denies all charges, saying Akhmedova had offered him money in exchange for his paper’s loyalty to authorities. On Saturday, a court determined that Zeynally should be detained for three months. If convicted, he could face 12 years in prison.
24 Oct 11 | Africa, Index Index, minipost
A Mauritian journalist has been jailed for contempt of court. Dharmanand Dooharika, who works for weekly newspaper Samedi Plus, was sentenced to three months in prison following the paper’s coverage of a fraud case in August. Dooharika was found guilty of publicly scandalising the Supreme Court and bringing the administration of justice into disrepute. Dooharika was taken ill following the ruling, and sent to hospital under police guard. Goindamal Saminata Chetty, head of the firm Contact Press which owns Samedi Plus, was fined 300,000 rupees.
30 Sep 11 | 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 11 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost
The lengthy prison sentences of two journalists have been upheld in Bahrain. Journalistic bloggers Abduljalil Alsingace and Ali Abdel Imam were sentenced in June on a series of charges related to “plotting to topple” the regime, along with 19 other people. The court upheld the life sentence for Alsingace and the 15 year sentence to Abdel Imam. Additionally in Bahrain, granting of ID passes to journalists from daily newspaper Al-Wasat was delayed, preventing the journalists from covering the government’s by-elections on Saturday. The passes would allow journalists to enter and report from polling stations.
