Press freedom in the news 9/25/08

The Canadian Press has coverage of the release of CTV reporter Jawed Ahmad, who was freed from U.S. detention on September 22. The article quotes Ahmad as saying that he believes the Canadian military “told them I was a risk.” The piece also mentions our alert urging the U.S. military to reveal the evidence against Ahamd when he was initially detained in February. Legal blog The BLT posted an article about his release late yesterday.

The Media Line Web site has an article about the Iraqi government’s new movement to help protect journalists working in the volatile region. The Iraqi Interior Ministry has developed a plan that will help train journalists on safety measures as well as instruct them on how to better approach conflict zones while they are covering dangerous events.

Also of note in the news today, the Lusaka-based newspaper Zambia Daily Mail has a news brief about a controversy over editorials printed about Zambian presidential candidate Rupiah Banda.