25 Aug 2011 | Index Index, minipost
On 18 August, police in Istanbul raided the office of newspaper Aydinlik, as well as Ulusal Kanal television station. Officials detained five journalists following the raids, reportedly in connection to an ongoing investigation of Ergenekon, a “secular ultra-nationalist group” for attempts to oust the adminstration of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Four of the journalists were released, but Turhan Özlü, executive editor of Ulusal Kanal, remains in custody.
24 Aug 2011 | Index Index, minipost
Between 20 and 23 August, Al-Jaridah, a Khartoum-based Arabic daily newspaper, had issues confiscated by members of Sudan’s National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS). According to a press release, no official reason was given for the suspension. However, editor-in-chief Saad Al-Din Ibrahim believes that the paper was suspended because of their refusal to comply with the NISS’s persistence in interfering with the paper’s editorial and recruitment policy. Recently, officials have confiscated a number of publications without explanation, are currently revising Sudan’s press and publications law, and are considering pre-publication censorship.
24 Aug 2011 | Index Index, minipost
A BBC World Service reporter who was arrested in Tajikistan this summer has said he was burned with lit cigarettes and beaten while detained. Although the specific charges against journalist Urunboy Usmanov remain unclear, he has been accused in the country’s state media of being a member of Hizb ut-Tahr an Islamist organisation which is banned in the country.
24 Aug 2011 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost
On August 21, two Palestinian journalists, Usaid Abd Al Majid Amarana, of Al-Aqsa TV, and Amar Abu Urfa, a reporter for Shahab news agency, were arrested. Both journalists were seized by Israeli soldiers in their homes. According to reports, soldiers stormed and searched Amarana’s home. During the arrest, soldiers opened fire and wounded Amarana’s cousin. Urfa’s arrest in Hebron resembled that of Amarana.
