New York, November 18, 2008–An Azerbaijani court convicted Ali Hasanov, editor-in-chief of the pro-government daily Ideal, on defamation charges and sentenced him to six months in jail, according to the head of the Baku-based Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety (IRFS), Emin Huseynov.
We received a large package from the Tunisian Embassy in Washington on Friday. The package contained an official response to our September special report, “The Smiling Oppressor” and a hefty collection of Tunisian newspapers and individual articles that the government says demonstrates a “liberal and pluralistic media landscape” under President Zine El Abidine’s 21-year rule.…
New York, November 17, 2008–Authorities should halt harassment of media and human rights lawyer Harrison Nkomo, CPJ said today. Nkomo is awaiting word on whether he will face criminal charges after a client left Zimbabwe in the midst of a case, said Beatrice Mtetwa, co-founder of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights.
We issued the following statement today in response to Russian news reports of ongoing death threats via cell phone against Mikhail Beketov, the hospitalized editor-in-chief of the independent newspaper Khimkinskaya Pravda, who was severely beaten on Wednesday…