03 Apr 12 | Index Index, minipost
A citizen journalist who was shot during a peaceful protest in Bahrain has died in hospital. Ahmed Ismael Hassan al-Samadi was shot in the thigh whilst filming tear-gas being fired on protesters near Bahrain’s capital. It is believed al-Samadi was targeted for having a video camera, by armed men who were accompanying security forces. Violence has intensified in Bahrain in the run up to the Grand Prix, which will take place later this month.
01 Apr 12 | Americas, Mexico
Wiretapping has become so fashionable in Mexico that it could pose a problem for freedom of expression. The latest victim of this type of espionage was presidential candidate Josefina Vasquez Mota, of the ruling National Political Action Party (PAN). A telephone conversation in which Mota is heard complaining that National Security Secretary Genaro Garcia Luna spends more time spying on her than on fugitive drug kingpin Joaquin Chapo Guzman was released publically and made available on video sharing site YouTube.
Many of the wiretaps released in Mexico in the past have involved politicians or aspiring candidates during electoral periods. But in a country at war with organised crime, and where the number of journalists killed because of what they write or know is among the highest in the world, it is worrisome that nobody is alarmed by this eavesdropping fashionista streak.
Access to eavesdropping equipment in Mexico is easily done. US and Mexican authorities use eavesdropping to get access to information on organised crime cases, which is of concern as many times these wiretaps are carried out with information that might not be totally correct. However, both US and Mexican authorities say the practice is important and useful as it has helped them nab high-level organised crime figures.
What worries journalists and other freedom of expression advocates, however is how is organised crime and corrupt government officials use wiretaps to curb a free press.
30 Mar 12 | Americas, Index Index, minipost
National Mexican television network Televisa, based in Matamoros, Tamaulipas state, suffered a bomb attack on 25 March. No one was injured in the blast, which occurred in the wake of two other attacks in the same part of northern Mexico. On 19 March a car bomb explosion took place at the offices of the daily Expreso in Ciudad Victoria, the capital of Tamaulipas state. Expreso subsequently removed a statement on the attack from its website. The Durango home of Víctor Montenegro, editor of the weekly El Contralor, also faced a shooting attack during the night of 24 March. Televisa was hit by similar blasts in August 2010, though no injuries were caused.
29 Mar 12 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost
A Tunisian journalist was physically attacked after being ejected from a political meeting last week. Al Jazeera journalist Lotfi Hajji was officially invited to a meeting on 24 March which brought together several political parties, but was ejected after some participants complained that he had a different political approach. The microphone which was being used to record the meeting was reportedly stolen and destroyed. After he was forced to leave the meeting, Hajji was severely assaulted.
