16 Apr 11 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost
The Syrian authorities have arrested an Algerian freelance journalist working for a French radio station. Khaled Sid Mohnad was picked up on 9 April and is thought to be in a Damascus prison. His arrest follows that of Syrian writer and former political prisoner Fayez Sara, who was arrested on 11 April after attending an opposition meeting. In total 11 journalists have been arrested.
25 Nov 10 | Index Index, minipost, News and features
Writer Nevin Berktaş, author of the book “Difficult places that challenge the faith: Prison Cells” (published by Yediveren Yayınları in 2010), is being tried on charges of “spreading propaganda for an illegal organisation”. The case about Berktaş’s book has been pending for ten years.
The book is related to the 22 years the writer spent in prison after the 1980 military coup and describes the process of resistance in prison cells. The health conditions of the writer are reportedly very bad, as a result of the hunger strikes she carried out in 1984 and 1996.
13 Sep 10 | Index Index, minipost
A Scottish missionary, who was jailed in 2008 for criticising the Gambian president, has been released. David Fulton was charged with sedition after emails he sent to friends in the UK were deemed offensive to President Yahya Jammeh. The 61-year-old and his wife spent 20 months in the notorious Mile 2 prison, facing hard labour and solitary confinement. The couple were also fined £6250 each.
19 Apr 10 | Index Index, minipost
Geovanni Acate, director of Radio Televisión Oriente, is facing a 10-year prison sentence after being charged with disrupting public tranquility and instigating the public to commit the crime of rebellion. Geovanni Acate, as Radio La Voz and other radio stations in the region, has been persecuted after reporting on the protests that took place in Bagua Grande in 2009.
