Attacks on the Press: From Uprisings, Trends to Watch
The Middle East’s political shifts changed conditions for journalists dramatically. The emerging trends favor free expression, but are filled with ambiguity and depend on the political configurations to emerge after the revolutionary dust has settled. By Mohamed Abdel Dayem
Attacks on the Press in 2011: Turkey’s Legal Problem
With the aid of anachronistic legislation and a rigid judiciary, Turkish officials and politicians have curbed free expression by subjecting journalists to endless court proceedings and legal costs. The EU and the U.S. are no help. By Robert Mahoney >> Türkçe
Attacks on the Press in 2011: Iran’s Vast Diaspora
Journalists who have fled Iran to avoid prison face a tense and lengthy process toward resettlement, an uncertain financial and professional future, and most of all, fear that the Iranian government will catch up with them. By María Salazar-Ferro and Sheryl A. Mendez >> فارسي
In Ecuador, a crushed and silenced democracy
The sentence against Ecuadoran newspaper El Universo, its opinion editor, Emilio Palacio Urrutia, and its three top executives, Carlos Eduardo Pérez Barriga, César Enrique Pérez Barriga, and Carlos Nicolás Pérez Lapentti, for supposed offenses against Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa in Palacio’s article “NO to lies,” is a worn-out manifestation of the perverse concept of public…
El Universo verdict bad precedent for free press in Americas
New York, February 16, 2012–Today’s decision by Ecuador’s highest court to uphold the criminal libel conviction brought by President Rafael Correa against El Universo represents a serious blow to freedom of expression and a setback for democracy, the Committee to Protect Journalists said.
Increasing press freedom violations in Iran
New York, February 14, 2012–The Iranian regime continued its sustained crackdown on the press, arresting a blogger, handing a journalist a harsh prison term, and banning a reformist news publication, according to news reports. The regime has also announced the mass arrest of several individuals with alleged links to the BBC Persian-language service, news reports…
For Gambia’s press, positive developments?
Good news for Gambia’s beleaguered independent press has been rare during President Yahya Jammeh’s 17-year rule, but last week brought three potentially positive developments. It’s unclear whether they mark a real change in the status quo, but they may at least increase the resolve of advocacy groups to seek improvements.
