Press freedom in the news 11/05/08

The Web site EurasiaNet has an article today looking at concerns surrounding the shutdown of foreign radio broadcasts in Azerbaijan. We released an alert on this troubling development on November 3, expressing concern at plans by President Ilham Aliyev’s administration to discontinue the broadcasts of the BBC, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and the Voice of America.

The Lesotho-based Web site Afrol News has coverage of the arrest and one-year jail sentencing of Tsion Girima, editor-in-chief of the private weekly Enbilta, for incorrectly naming a judge in a high-profile case. The article cites our alert on the incident and quotes CPJ’s Africa Program Coordinator Tom Rhodes as saying “This conviction cannot stand. Ms Tsion Girma should not be sent to prison.”