As Azerbaijan celebrates 20 years of independence, Index on Censorship tracks its citizens’ struggle for free expression
Michael Harris, Head of Advocacy at Index on Censorship will be speaking at the event Azerbaijan – 20 Years of Independence and the Struggle for Democracy on 20 October. Click here for more details
Dipity seem to be experiencing some technical problems. You can also view this timeline here
The car of a popular Bulgarian journalist was blown up on Thursday, after a makeshift bomb was attached to the vehicle. Sasho Dikov, programme director of the Channel 3 TV station, was not injured by the blast outside his home in a residential area of Sofia. The journalist, who has been a fierce critic of the center-right government said the attack was to intimidate him, and “anyone who speaks the truth.” Dikov said the attack would not stop him from discussing the alleged failure by Prime Minister Boiko Borisov’s government’s to cope with corruption and organised crime.
The editor of a Colombian monthly newspaper has been handed a 20-month suspended sentence and a $5,500 fine. Luis Agustín González, who is both founder and editor of Cundinamarca Democrática, was convicted of criminal libel yesterday, after he published an article critical of local politician. In a 2008 article, González expressed his dismay that Maria Leonor Serrano had announced she would be a senate candidate in the 2010 elections. The article also referred to allegations of corruption throughout her career, and covered a range of disappearances and assassinations which occurred during her tenure as a town mayor.
Six journalists and one other staff have been arrested following raids on a newspaper office in Nigeria. Detectives stormed the Lagos-based premises of independent daily newspaper The Nation on Tuesday, arresting seven. The arrests are believed to be linked to the publication of a private letter on 4 October from former head of state Olusegun Obasanjo to President Goodluck Jonathan, suggesting Jonathan replace CEOs of several government agencies. Obasanjo accused the newspaper of publishing the letter with a forgery of his signature. The journalists are expected to appear in court tomorrow.