In January 2003, President Heydar Aliyev froze the print media’s debts to the state publishing house through 2005. But that was the only positive development for the Azerbaijani press in what turned out to be a dismal year. With Aliyev’s health failing as 2003 wore on, he began grooming his son Ilham Aliyev to take…
A new press law implemented by the government in October 2002 imposes harsh restrictions on the press, undermining the limited democracy that was introduced in this tiny Persian Gulf archipelago after elections that year. The law includes an assortment of restrictions and stipulates fines, prison terms, or closure of publications for those that violate them.…
In 2003, Bangladesh was one of the most violent countries in the world for journalists, with almost daily cases of physical assaults and intimidation–particularly in rural areas. Local journalists say they are increasingly under threat for reporting on political violence, graft, and organized crime, but that the main cause of brutality against the press in…
Squeezed by the expansion of NATO and the European Union to the west and tepid relations with Russia to the east, Belarus grew ever more isolated. In the face of that isolation, President Aleksandr Lukashenko continued his assault on the media in 2003, tightening his grip on the impoverished country. Local analysts suspect that Lukashenko’s…
The political crisis that has gripped Bolivia since June 2002 elections peaked in October 2003, when President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada resigned amid violent protests. During the unrest, journalists were attacked and threatened by both the Bolivian military and civilian protesters.
Corruption and political chaos in Bosnia and Herzegovina gave journalists many scandals to cover in 2003, from massive fraud at state power companies to illegal weapons sales to Iraq. Journalists endured a wide array of harassment and abuses, including threatening phone calls, politically motivated tax inspections, retaliatory lawsuits, and physical attacks, most of which were…
Although Brazilian media outlets generally operate in a free environment, they have increasingly been targeted with defamation lawsuits that seek to silence them. Judicial interference and censorship, under the guise of protecting privacy and honor, continues unabated.
Burma’s ruling military junta launched a major crackdown on pro-democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD) party on May 30, when a mob of government-backed thugs ambushed her convoy while she was driving through the remote northern town of Ye-u. Since her release from house arrest in May 2002,…
Burundi made some progress toward peace in 2003, but cease-fires remained fragile and civilians continued to bear the brunt of fighting between Hutu rebels and the Tutsi-dominated army. At the end of April, under intense international pressure, Tutsi President Pierre Buyoya stepped down in favor of his Hutu vice president, Domitien Ndayizeye, in accordance with the…
Nominally democratic, Cambodia continues to struggle with its official commitment to press freedom while the government frequently uses its power to influence, control, and bully the press. The Cambodian print media are famously free and infamously full of gossip. Some 200 newspapers are licensed for publication, but virtually all Khmer-language publications are subsidized, directly or…