Zahid Hussein, a cameraman for Express News TV, was beaten by the police for filming during clashes between armed groups in Peshawar. He was attacked after police noticed him filming them beating a man, Hussein said. He also had his camera confiscated, which was only given back to him after the video footage was deleted.
Cuban reporter Pedro Arguelles Moran has been released from prison on parole. He is the last of the journalists jailed during the 2003 “Black Spring” crackdown to be freed. In April 2003 he was sentenced to 20 years in prison under Law 88, for commiting acts “aimed at subverting the internal order of the nation”. He was released as part of an agreement brokered by the Catholic church in 2010.
Armando José Chicoca, a freelance journalist, has been given a one year prison sentence and fined US $2,100 for reporting on sexual harassment allegations against a top judicial official. His report, aired on Voice of America, included references to allegations about Antonio Vissandula, the highest judge in the province of Namibe.
José Cadena, owner of the weekly “El Vocero” newspaper, based in northeastern Ecuador, faces a lawsuit for publishing allegations of bribery and embezzlement against the local prefect, Orlando Grefa. The newspaper claims it has stopped receiving government advertisement contracts, and is no longer invited to local government press conferences.