2012
In Cryptocat, lessons for technologists and journalists
Alhamdulillah! Finally, a technologist designed a security tool that everyone could use. A Lebanese-born, Montreal-based computer scientist, college student, and activist named Nadim Kobeissi had developed a cryptography tool, Cryptocat, for the Internet that seemed as easy to use as Facebook Chat but was presumably far more secure.
In Nigeria, soldiers beat journalist covering demolition
Nigerian soldiers beat Leadership Newspapers reporter David-Chyddy Eleke, confiscated his camera, and arrested him for taking pictures of the demolition of buildings in Awka, in Anambra State in Nigeria’s southeast region on September 6, 2012, according to local journalists and news reports.
Gabon opposition TV station reports attack
On September 5, 2012, the studios of TV+, a private television station in the capital, Libreville, owned by André Mba Obame, the country’s main opposition leader, were attacked by six unknown assailants, Agence France-Presse quoted Editor-in-Chief Ismaël Obiang Nze as saying. In the attack around 3 a.m. local time, a security guard was hit on the…
Indian cartoonist jailed for images criticizing government
New York, September 10, 2012–Indian authorities should immediately drop all of the charges against cartoonist Aseem Trivedi and release him from detention, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.Police in Maharashtra state arrested Trivedi, a 25-year-old freelancer from India’s central Uttar Pradesh state, on Saturday, according to news reports. The cartoonist faces charges of sedition,…
Bahrain’s PR Offensive
Press freedom in Bahrain has worsened in the past year as authorities use deportations, arbitrary detentions, and anti-state charges to silence critical journalists, according to CPJ research. HuffPost Live interviewed CPJ Executive Director, Joel Simon, and regional experts on Bahrain’s human rights abuses as it works to improve its image. Click here for the full story
Mission Journal: Putin imposes harsh climate on Russia
Record-high temperatures swept most of Europe this summer, but in Moscow the weather, much like the political climate, was chilly. I spent three months in the capital at the invitation of the Russian Union of Journalists, and witnessed how Vladimir Putin’s third term in office kicked off with the passage of restrictive laws, harassment and…
Bahrain should scrap life sentence of blogger Alsingace
New York, September 6, 2012–Bahraini authorities should toss out the unjust conviction and life sentence handed to an online journalist who was imprisoned for exercising his right to free expression during the country’s 2011 popular uprising, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Signs of justice for battered Nigerian photojournalist
Hardly ever do Nigerian journalists get justice for assaults suffered in the line of duty. But things may be set to change with the case of Benedict Uwalaka, a photojournalist with Leadership Newspapers, who on August 9 was brutally assaulted at a government hospital in Lagos State. The first step toward justice came 22 days…