Judge confirms charges against Ethiopian dissident blogger
New York, January 25, 2012–Jailed Ethiopian dissident blogger Eskinder Nega will stand trial in March for all of the terrorism accusations initially advanced by prosecutors, a federal high court judge ruled yesterday, local sources said. If convicted on all charges, he could face the death penalty.
Editor detained, newsrooms raided in Kazakhstan
New York, January 24, 2012–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the detention by the Kazakh security service, or KNB, of Igor Vinyavsky, editor of the Almaty-based independent weekly Vzglyad, and calls for his immediate release. Vinyavsky was detained in an ongoing crackdown by the KNB on critical media and opposition activists, which also involved a…
OAS should stand firm against Correa
Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa has a torrid relationship with press freedom. His arsenal of repression includes such tactics as pre-empting private broadcasts to denounce the presenters, bankrupting papers through defamation suits, and publicly shouting down critics who dare question him.In his latest attempt to censor free expression Correa has targeted the office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression, an independent…
Mazhar Abbas: Shahzad was no Pearl
Yesterday marked the 10th anniversary of the disappearance of Wall Street Journal reporter Danny Pearl in Karachi on January 23, 2002. On February 21 of that year, a video of his beheading was released. In the wake of the judicial inquiry into the murder of journalist Saleem Shahzad, veteran Pakistani journalist Mazhar Abbas has taken…
Criticism of Hungary’s media controls keeps growing
“Klubrádió solely wants to provide news and present different opinions and never meant to play any emblematic role. But, because of the decision of the Media Authority, it has became the symbol of free speech in Hungary,” stated the broadcaster’s CEO, András Arató, on Sunday when addressing thousands of demonstrators who gathered in central Budapest…
Uganda’s radio closures uncover lack of independence
Ugandan police have shuttered 13 broadcasters since December, accusing them of misusing power supplies and equipment belonging to the state-run Uganda Broadcasting Corporation (UBC). The widespread allegations of corrupt deals between the state broadcaster and ostensibly private stations reveal more than illicit transactions–they expose a lack of independence within Uganda’s broadcast sector.
In Senegal, two journalists get suspended prison terms
New York, January 20, 2012–Two Senegalese journalists with the private daily Le Quotidien were handed suspended prison sentences this week in a criminal libel case over their coverage of an armed insurgency in a separatist province, according to news reports.