19 Dec 2011 | Index Index, minipost
News reports of an uprising that began several days ago in Wukan have been blocked by the Chinese government. Coverage of the protests, which began following the death of a local villager Xue Jinbo, and political interference in local elections, has not been covered by any Chinese language media. Wukan residents dispute the claim that Jinbo died from a heart attack, believing he was tortured to death. In China, the story has only been covered by the English-language edition of an official Chinese Communist Party newspaper, “Global Times”.
16 Dec 2011 | Index Index, minipost
A gunman has shot and killed a newspaper founder in Russia’s North Caucasus region. Gadzhimurat Kamalov, who founded the newspaper Chernovik, was shot eight times as he left the newspaper office in Dagestan province, shortly before midnight on Thursday. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Chernovik is renowned for its investigation of government corruption. Journalists in Russia who cover corruption face serious risks. There have been 19 unsolved murders of journalists in Russia since 2000.
15 Dec 2011 | Index Index, minipost
Detained staff from a Zimbabwean media monitoring project have been refused bail. Advocacy officers Molly Chimhanda and Fadzai December from Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe (MMPZ), and an another MMPZ member, Gilbert Mabusa, were arrested on 5 December. The three were granted bail of US$50 by a Gwanda magistrate, but the state subsequently suspended that ruling. As the bail order has been suspended, Chinhanda, December and Mabusa must now the filing of an appeal to the High Court by the state within seven days.
15 Dec 2011 | Index Index, minipost
A Ukranian court has dropped the case against a former president accused of ordering the killing of a journalist. Former president Leonid Kuchma was accused of being involved in the murder of Georgy Gongadze by a former interior ministry official who admitted to strangling the journalist earlier this year. Gongadze was found decapitated after being abducted in Kiev in 2000. Secret audio recordings apparently incriminating the former president were also heard in court, but Kuchma has continually denied any involvement in the murder. Gongadze was founder of the Ukrainska Pravda website, and was often critical of the Ukrainian leader.
