10 Nov 2010 | Index Index, minipost
A Russian editor who was nearly killed in the attack two years ago, has been convicted of slander.
Mikhail Beketov, who is confined to a wheelchair and can barely speak, has been found guilty of insulting the local mayor by the court in Khimki. He has been instructed to compensate damages by paying 500 roubles (100 British pounds).
Beketov had been covering the plans to build the road through Khimki’s protected forest. Although the motorway works have been stopped, another journalist and an ecologist have been assaulted this month.
Oleg Kashin, a correspondent of Russia’s well-known paper Kommersant, has been badly beaten with an iron bar on Saturday. Two days earlier, Khimki opposition activist Konstantin Fetisov had his skull broken after being released from police, where he was questioned about the protest.
Mikhail Mikhailin, editor-in-chief of Kommersant said he is sure the attacks are connected to the articles written about the motorway. It has also been said that they carry the same signature.
Before Beketov endured brain damage and lost his right leg and four fingers in the attack in November 2008, his car was set on fire and his dog was killed. Nobody has been brought to court.
11 Oct 2010 | Index Index, minipost, News and features
Turkish journalist Ismail Saymez could be jailed for 79 years if convicted of charges related to newspaper articles he has written. He has been charged with “violating the secrecy of an investigation” for his reporting on the Ergenekon trials. He also faces charges of “insult” and “attempt to influence a fair trial.” According to The International Press Institute National Committee, Saymez stated, “I only do my job as a reporter, inform the public on the events that the public is interested in, and supply them with objective information. I do not try to influence in any way. They sue me with imprisonment of tens of years on every word my newspaper reports.”
Among the articles at issue are “What Prosecutor Cihaner was asked” of 18 February, “Assassination with a tick, coup of the tea vendors” of 12 February 2010, “Cihaner: I do not know Çiçek, I did not see him – Ciçek: I do not know anybody in Erzincan” of 20 February, “Did you meet Dursun Çiçek?” of 22 February, and “Love games in Ergenekon – The Ergenekon prosecutor also took the judge’s statement” published 8 June. These articles were published in the newspaper Radikal.
His first hearing is to take place on 28 January 2011.
17 Sep 2010 | Index Index, minipost
A radio news anchor and opposition political activist in Uganda’s central district Mukono was beaten to death with metal bars on 13 September. Dickson Ssentongo routinely read the 7 a.m. news bulletins for Prime Radio station in the Luganda language, but now becomes the second journalist to be killed in the country in three days. On Saturday, the journalist Paul Kiggundu was beaten to death by taxi-drivers. Both Kiggindu and Ssetongo died in hospital some hours after being attacked. No arrests have been made in either case.
13 Sep 2010 | Index Index, minipost
The editor of opposition newspaper Listok has been charged with defamation after calling the administration of the Altai republic a “nest of vipers”. He also referred to the governor of Altai as an “alcoholic”. If convicted, Sergei Mikhailov will face up to four years in prison and a fine of up to $14,000. Supporters of the journalist say the case is politically motivated, particularly since Mikhailov was elected to Altai’s legislature in March.
