Azerbaijan suspends TV station’s license for Turkey coverage
New York, July 19, 2016 – Azerbaijani regulators should immediately reverse their decision to suspend the license of broadcaster ANS TV, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Broadcasting regulators yesterday said they were suspending the station’s license to broadcast for one month because of its coverage of events in Turkey.
Indian authorities shut down media outlets in Jammu and Kashmir
Washington, July 18, 2016–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities in the northern Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir to stop harassing and obstructing the media. Several newspapers in the state have been prevented from publishing for three days, while mobile internet services are shut down, and cable television has been blocked.
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of July 17
Police raid and seal Meydan offices Istanbul police raided the offices of the pro-Hizmet daily Meydan at about 5 p.m. yesterday, local press reported. Police searched the offices in the Şirinevler district for three hours and confiscated documents, before sealing the building. The website of Meydan has not been updated since yesterday. The raid comes…
In Turkey, one journalist killed, several newsrooms seized in attempted coup
Istanbul, July 16, 2016 – Turkish soldiers shot and killed one journalist and seized control of several newsrooms last night as factions of the Turkish military attempted to topple the government of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. A night of violence, which was most severe in Ankara, left…
China’s information and internet controls will only tighten under Xu Lin
When the new director of the Cyberspace Administration of China, Xu Lin, issued on July 3 a warning that websites not report unverified content drawn from social media without facing possible punishment, it was clear that Beijing would move quickly beyond the Lu Wei era of information control. The announcement demanded that news websites provide…
Mongolian election unlikely to advance press freedom
During a visit to Mongolia this month, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry hailed the country as “an oasis of democracy.” Mongolia, sandwiched between powerful autocratic neighbors Russia and China, underwent democratic transition in 1990 when it broke away from Soviet rule, and has since held several elections characterized by the Asia Foundation as “reasonably…
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of June 26
Columnist freed pending trial Istanbul’s 14th Court of Serious Crimes today ordered Cumhuriyet columnist Ahmet Nesin released, pending trial, the pro-Kurdish daily newspaper Özgür Gündem reported. Police on June 20 arrested Nesin, Erol Önderoğlu, Turkey representative for the press freedom group Reporters Without Borders (RSF), and Şebnem Korur Fincancı, an academic, columnist and human rights…