28 Apr 2011 | Index Index, minipost
Burundi’s state-run media regulator, the National Communications Council, suspended a popular talk show on Monday (25 April) after a caller accused the President of wrongdoing. The show, Kabizi, was ordered off the air for an initial four-day period. The caller insinuated that the President had committed war crimes during Burundi’s civil war, the show’s host had immediately stopped the caller and asked him to refer his allegations to the Burundi Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
28 Apr 2011 | Index Index, minipost
The Thai government forced the closure of 13 radio stations on Tuesday (26 April) and issued them with court warrants for broadcasting a speech by an opposition leader in which the monarchy was criticised. In Thailand, Les majeste, or offence against the monarchy, carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. It is as yet unclear whether the stations will face such a charge. According to rights organisations most of the sanctioned stations are openly aligned with the opposition. Local reports have also claimed that police plan to raid additional radio stations.
27 Apr 2011 | Americas, Mexico
Violence against journalists in Colombia has escalated recently, with paramilitary groups issuing threats against reporters all over the country. The threats are worrisome for a country, where drug traffickers, corrupt politicians, leftist guerrillas and paramilitary groups killed 43 journalists since 1992. For that reason, the Colombian Federation for Journalists, FELCOPER, will hold a silent march on 3 May to mark International Press Freedom Day.
The paramilitary group, Grupo Bloque Capital de las Águilas Negras, has become the worst press freedom offender. It recently issued threats against 28 reporters from the capital city of Bogota and other provincial towns.
Worse yet, is the fact that the Colombian Attorney General´s office just announced that it was shelving investigations on murders of journalists that occurred in the 1990s. One case is that of two journalists from El Universal, Julio Daniel Chaparro, 29, and Jorge Torres, 39. The two were killed by unknown men while reporting on the anniversary of a human rights massacre in the town of Segovia, Medellin. That massacre was completed by paramilitaries in 1988, but Chaparro and Torres were killed by guerrillas who later died in combat themselves.
21 Apr 2011 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost
Six men raided the office of a news website, Al-Muharrir, in Amman on 19 April. Unidentified men broke into the personal office of editor-in-chief Jihad Abu Baidar and threatened to kill him if he did not withdraw a report criticising the country’s Anti-Corruption Commission. Baidar subsequently filed a police complaint. A number of journalists staged a sit-in at the Jordan Press Association premises to protest the incident.
