3 Apr 2012 | Index Index, minipost
A Peruvian appeals court has overturned a criminal defamation conviction against a journalist who reported on local corruption. The court found that the decision against radio journalist Teobaldo Meléndez Fachín contained “substantial errors” in the earlier conviction. The journalist was given a three year suspended sentence and a fine of around US $11,000, after reporting that a local mayor had misused a government loan of over US $2m. Fachín reported that local mayor Juan Daniel Mesía Camus used the loan for projects which benefited his political allies.
3 Apr 2012 | Index Index, minipost
The publisher of a Latvian news website was attacked last week. Leonids Jakobsons, owner of the independent news website Kompromat was attacked by at least two unidentified assailants, after the site published sensitive news stories. The publisher was attacked with a knife in the stairwell of his apartment building in Latvia’s capital Riga. He was admitted to hospital with bruises on his head and a 3 inch long cut to his cheek. Kompromat has reportedly published information on sensitive issues, including a probe into the attempted murder of a former customs official, and alleged connections between Latvia and the communities of Chechen people who live outside of Chechnya.
3 Apr 2012 | Index Index, minipost
A Syrian citizen journalist who has been detained by authorities since Wednesday has reportedly been tortured during his arrest. Ali Mahmoud Othman, who ran the media centre in Baba Amr where Marie Colvin and Remi Ochlik were killed, was arrested and initially detained at a military intelligence unit in Aleppo. Over the weekend, he was transferred to Damascus. Sunday Times photographer Paul Conroy told Channel 4 news that Othman had been tortured during his detention. The continuing campaign against local and international press in Syria is believed to be an attempt to “systematically dismantle” the anti-regime “citizen journalist network”.
3 Apr 2012 | 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.
