9 Sep 2011 | Index Index, minipost, News
A sentence of six months and a suspended sentence of another year in prison were handed down on Tuesday to Gatot Machali, manager of Batam-based Radio Era Baru, who was found guilty of broadcasting without permission and disrupting neighbouring frequencies. The station’s president, Raymond Tan, citing a leaked copy of a letter from the Chinese embassy in Indonesia, said the prosecution is the result of direct pressure by the Chinese government on the Indonesian authorities with the aim of preventing the station from broadcasting its programmes in Chinese about human rights violations in the People’s Republic.
8 Sep 2011 | Index Index, minipost
Studios of a private television station in Congo were set alight yesterday. Radio Lisanga Télévision studios in Kinshasa were allegedly set on fire by a group of men throwing tear gas, petrol bombs and incendiary grenades into the building. The station has aired programmes in favour of the opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi and it is believed that one of the assailants was a member of the youth league of President Joseph Kabila. Two employees escaped from the building from the roof. Press freedom watchdogs have registered concern about the safety of journalists in Congo in the run-up to the presidential elections.
8 Sep 2011 | Index Index, minipost
Terrorism charges have been filed against five journalists in Ethiopia. Four independent journalists and the editor of a US based news forum have been detained in the country since June and July. The group were formally charged before the High Court on Tuesday, following their entry to Ethiopia in June with the Ogaden National Liberation Front, which is classed as a terrorist organisation by the government. Terrorism charges were also filed in absentia against Elias Kifle, editor of US-based anti-government forum Ethiopian Review.
8 Sep 2011 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost
Two Yemeni journalists were attacked by armed men on Monday. Abdul al-Hafeez al-Hatami from news website Al-Sahwa Net and Raafat al-Amiri, cameraman for Suhail TV, an opposition news station, were covering the rising prices of oil in the western province of Hobeidah. The journalists were attacked by a group of men in Al-Duha district, who confiscated their camera, which was only returned after intervention and negotiations from a local tribe. This attack follows a similar attack on a BBC journalist in August, and previous attacks on Al-Sahwa Net and Suhail TV, highlighting the increasing danger for journalists in Yemen.
