7 Apr 2010 | Index Index, minipost, Uncategorized
The EU Special Representative in the region has condemned “increasing pressures” on media freedom in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Valentin Inzko said in a statement that he was worried by attempts to “curtail the ability of media to report freely, accurately, and fairly from all parts of the country.” Of particular concern are the “efforts led by elected officials to deny certain media access to information or to influence their editorial policies “prior to the country’s parliamentary elections scheduled for October. According to Borka Rudic, the head of a Bosnian journalist association, there have been 18 attacks on journalists in the last three months.
6 Apr 2010 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost, Uncategorized
CPJ’s latest monthly census reveals that as of April 1, about 35 journalists were imprisoned as a result of the Iranian government’s post-election media crackdown. Although 18 more journalists were temporarily released for the Iranian New Year they are expected to be returned to prison soon. Iran currently has the most incarcerated journalists in the world. To sign a petition to help release the journalists in Iran, click here.
31 Mar 2010 | Index Index, minipost, Uncategorized
Yesterday Chinese users of the Google.cn search engine faced problems accessing results for normal terms such as “dog” or “home”. Although Google has redirected traffic to its uncensored servers in Hong Kong, internet users in mainland China still face the Great Firewall, which bans access to sites containing sensitive information. The glitch was caused by Google’s new coding which incorporated “gs_rfai” into certain search terms. The letters “RFA” was mistaken to be an acronym for Radio Free Asia, a site banned by the Great Firewall.
30 Mar 2010 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost, Uncategorized
In past month many Iranian journalists and bloggers have been released on bail by authorities before the start of the Iranian New Year. Those currently on bail include Sasan Aghaei, Ali Moazemi, Kivan Farzin, Behrangh Tonkaboni, Arvin Sedaghat Kish, Hamid Mafi, Ehsan Mehrabi, Naimeh Dostar, Bahaman Ahamadi Amoee, Kivan Samimi Behbani and Saide Lylaz. However, several other journalists were denied bail or the right to visit during the festival period, including Masud Lavassani, Mehdi Mahmudian and Emadoldin Baghi. For more information about imprisoned journalists in Iran, please help support the campaign Our Society Will Be A Free Society.
