16 Jul 2010 | Index Index, minipost
The SPP (Paraguayan Union of Journalists) has condemned the recent actions of politicians in the city of Cuidad del Este. Last week Juan Pío Balbuena had his programme cancelled on Radio Corpus after the owner of the station made a ‘business deal’ with local politician Javier Zacarías Irún, in which he agreed not to criticise Zacarías’s political group. Zacarías’ wife, Sandra Mcleod, is mayor of Ciudad del Este and was recently accused of attempting to bribe another Radio Corpus journalist to favour her party on air. He refused and was later forced to resign.
14 Apr 2010 | Index Index, minipost
On 12 April, a court dropped all the charges against the former commissioners of the National Telecommunications Commission (CONATEL), accused of the closure of two media during the political crisis of 2009. The Human Rights special prosecutor had accused them of the crime of abuse of authority, for ordering the closing of Channel 36 and Radio Globo, in the context of the political crisis created after the coup d’état against Manuel Zelaya.
7 Apr 2010 | Index Index, minipost, Uncategorized
Large-scale riots have broken out in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, over what human rights groups claim are increasingly repressive policies of the president, Kurmanbek Bakiyev. One government minister has been killed, and the deputy prime minister has been taken hostage in a series of protests which started when a group of protestors stormed government offices in the town of of Talas on Tuesday. Since he took office in 2005, Bakiyev has cracked down on opposition parties and the independent media. Last Wednesday, a court suspended the newspaper Forum, on the basis that an article contained “appeals to forcibly overthrow the constitutional order”. On Thursday, financial police raided the Bishkek headquarters of the independent Web-based television outlet Stan TV, confiscating all computer equipment. The clampdown follows suspensions of two other newspapers Achyk Sayasat and Nazar on 18 March. All thee had reported on a March opposition convention, at which representatives demanded President Bakiyev dismiss his relatives from government positions, and that the government lower electricity and heating costs.
31 Mar 2010 | Index Index, minipost, Uncategorized
The World Association of Newpapers and News Publishers, the World Editors Forum, and the European Newspaper Publishers Association have called on the government to drop a proposal that would enable courts to jail journalists who failed to reveal their sources, and impose fines on newspapers solely on the basis that they intend to publish “potentially harmful information”. In an open letter to President Thomas Hendrik, the organizations said that proposed Source Protection Act would“have a significant negative impact on investigative journalism”and was in conflict with Estonia’s international treaty obligations. On 18 March, six leading newspapers published blank pages in protest at the draft legislation.
