17 Feb 2012 | Americas, Index Index, minipost
Police in Trinidad raided the daily newspaper Newsday on 9 February and searched the home of one of its journalists, seizing three computers and two mobile phones belonging to him. Andre Bagoo has refused to reveal his sources or hand over material relating to a report published by the paper in December about an alleged conflict within the country’s integrity commission, an independent body that oversees the ethical practices of those in public life. Bagoo and the paper argue the story is of major public interest.
16 Feb 2012 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost
Activists in Syria have reported that the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression in Damascus was raided today. Between 12 and 14 people were arrested, with blogger Razan Ghazzawi said to be among them. Ghazzawi was arrested in December last year while travelling to a press freedom conference in Jordan, but was released 15 days later after a robust online campaign.
16 Feb 2012 | Asia and Pacific, Index Index, minipost
Journalists from French broadcaster France 24 and the Netherlands Press Association were attacked yesterday in Panhe, Zhejiang province, while investigating land grab protests in the area. France 24’s Baptiste Fallevoz and his Chinese fixer, Jack Zhang, said they were followed in their car and later surrounded by 20-30 thugs who pulled Zhang from the vehicle and smashed his camera before continuing to try to attack him. Remko Tanis of the Netherlands Press Association was also beaten up by attackers who confiscated his notebook, materials about the land disputes given to him by Panhe locals, and his camera memory card.
16 Feb 2012 | Americas, Index Index, minipost
Ecuador‘s highest court has upheld a criminal libel verdict favouring President Rafael Correa, sentencing three newspaper executives and a columnist each to three years in prison ordering them to pay a total of around 26 million GBP in damages. The case was brought by Correa against opposition paper El Universo, which published a column that referred to the president as “the Dictator”, claiming he “ordered discretionary fire — without prior notification — against a hospital full of civilians and innocent people” during a September 2010 police revolt over government plans to cut police benefits that claimed at least five lives. The verdict is not subject to appeal.
