ATR

In a welcome move Wednesday, Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber al-Mubarak al-Sabah offered to shelve Kuwait’s controversial draft media law, according to news reports. The announcement came in what the official Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) called a “candid, frank, and expanded meeting with chief editors of Kuwaiti press.” 

Bangkok, April 25, 2013–Thailand’s Ministry of Culture has banned the locally produced documentary Fah Tam Pan Din Soon (Boundary) on grounds that it could “mislead and disrupt public order,” according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the censorship order and calls on ministry officials to reverse the arbitrary decision.

Lagos, Nigeria, April 17, 2013–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns a recent decision by the Nigerian government to ban the exhibition and distribution of a documentary film on corruption in the state’s management of oil wealth, “Fuelling Poverty.”

On Thursday, April 18, the European Parliament will discuss Vietnam’s human rights in a plenary session. At the top of the agenda will be freedom of expression. Over the weekend, CPJ’s Brussels-based Senior Adviser Jean-Paul Marthoz blogged about the issues the parliament must confront in Le Soir.  

The Baghdad offices of at least four independent daily newspapers were attacked on April 1, 2013, with the assailants destroying equipment and injuring several employees.

New York, April 5, 2013–An Azerbaijani court has sentenced the editor of a religious news website to eight years in prison on charges related to his coverage of events involving the Muslim community. The Committee to Protect Journalists considers the charges to be fabricated and calls on the courts to overturn the conviction on appeal.