31 Aug 2011 | Index Index, minipost
Following the publication of stories in the Washington Post earlier this month that allege former Colombian president Álvaro Uribe Vélez may have been involved in illegal actions using the national intelligence service with the help of the US, the former leader accused the articles’ writers of being sympathisers of terrorism and accomplices of leftist guerrillas. The journalists in question are Juan Forero, the Washington Post’s Andean region correspondent, and Claudia Julieta Duque, a reporter who works in Colombia.
31 Aug 2011 | Index Index, minipost
Elena Bondar, an Uzbekistani freelance journalist who was briefly detained at Tashkent airport last week, has been notified that she is to be prosecuted for not declaring the professional material that was seized from her at the time, and that it will be examined by a censorship committee. When interrogated again for three hours on 27 August, Bondar was told that she is to be prosecuted under articles of the customs law and the civil code for failing to declare the four USB flash drives, three CDs and two video cassettes that were taken from her when she landed in the Uzbek capital on 22 August. She is facing a possible fine on these charges.
31 Aug 2011 | Index Index, minipost
A judge has this week lifted a week-old court ruling banning the distribution of a Venezuelan magazine after it published a satirical article featuring government officials portrayed as cabaret dancers, which had been deemed offensive to women and public officials. However, the weekly, 6to Poder, was still prohibited from referring to the case in print or from publishing similar content. The paper’s owner and a top executive were charged last week with inciting hatred, insulting a public official, and publicly denigrating women. The criminal cases against them are ongoing.
31 Aug 2011 | Index Index, minipost
Khagendra Basnet, distributor of a local daily called Nigarani, was threatened on 22 August in eastern Nepal. According to reports, the individual harassed Basnet and threatened to burn down the daily’s facilities on the account of a cartoon published in the newspaper’s satirical section, Gaijatre. The section is named after the Gaijatre festival, also known as the festival of cows, in which important and powerful members of society are mocked.
