In a bid to stifle anti-government protests, the Iranian government has intensified its censorship, especially of online media, and arrested journalists covering demonstrations. Opposition websites and independent news websites have come under cyber-attacks limiting their functionality. Bloggers and journalists reporting on the protests continue to be arrested, and security forces have also reportedly beaten relatives of detained protestors.
Journalists trying to visit Chen Guangcheng, a human rights activist who is under house arrest, have come under attack to stop them from meeting him. A number of reporters have been attacked by men in plain-clothes who have set up checkpoints leading up to Guangcheng’s residence, and some have had their equipment confiscated or destroyed. A CNN reporter was filmed being manhandled and then coming under a stone attack as he tried to make his way to visit Guangcheng.
Journalist, Fumbah Kanneh, was attacked and beaten by police while covering an international women’s football match between Liberia and Ghana on 13 February. The police spotted him as he videotaped them manhandling spectators who had invaded the pitch at the end of the match. He was flogged and hit in the mouth with a police baton, and his video camera was damaged.
Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu has dismissed remarks made by the US ambassador in Ankara. Diplomat Francis J Ricciardone expressed concerns about press freedom in the country. His comments came in response to the detention of four journalists following a raid on opposition news portal Oda TV. The foreign minister said that he did not think it was right for “ambassador to pass judgment on an ongoing criminal investigation”, and claimed press freedom was not the issue.