Israeli airstrike destroys press car, killing Palestinian media worker
New York, July 10, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the Israel Defense Forces’ airstrike on a car clearly marked as a press vehicle in Gaza City on Wednesday. The airstrike killed Hamid Shihab, a driver for the Gaza-based press agency Media 24, according to the agency.
Burma takes another step toward repressing its media
New York, July 10, 2014–Donor countries should bring diplomatic pressure on Burma’s government and reconsider their economic support for the country following Thursday’s sentencing of four journalists of a magazine and the publication’s chief executive to 10 years of hard labor in prison, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Turkish journalist on trial for insulting prime minister
Erol Özkoray, Turkish journalist and author, appeared in court for the third time on June 18, 2014, on charges of insulting the Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in his book, The Gezi Phenomenon, according to news reports. The book covered the popular anti-government protests that erupted in Turkey in 2013 after the government announced its…
Turkish cartoonist jailed for insulting religious leader
On June 12, 2014, Mehmet Düzenli, a cartoonist, was taken into custody to begin serving a three-month prison term he was given after being convicted of insulting controversial religious leader and TV figure Adnan Oktar (also known as Harun Yahya) in his drawings. The daily pro-opposition newspaper Cumhuriyet reported that Düzenli was convicted by the…
In China, journalist released after weeks in jail
Shi Ping, a Henan-born Time Weekly journalist who wrote under the penname Shi Yu, was arrested on May 26, 2014, in connection with his alleged attendance at small-scale Tiananmen memorial events, the journalist said on his Weibo microblog page. He was accused of “gathering a crowd to disturb social order.”
China releases journalists from prison
As in past years, China in 2014 arrested some journalists and activists in the run-up to the anniversary of the massacre of protesters in Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989. This year, journalists were also arrested in possible connection to an ongoing police probe into prominent human rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang and for reporting on…
Ever broader restrictions handed down for China’s reporters
Yet another set of rules restricting the work of journalists in China takes the concept of “overbroad” to new heights. According to guidelines made public Tuesday by the official state news agency Xinhua, the new rules cover various “information, materials, and news products that journalists may deal with during their work, including state secrets, commercial…
Thai editor held for four days, accused of violating martial law
Thanapol Eawsakul, editor and founder of Fah Diew Gahn (Same Sky) news magazine, a tri-monthly Thai-language publication, was arrested on July 5, 2014, in a Bangkok café, according to news reports. He was held on a seven-day detention order, the maximum period allowable without a trial under martial law, and released on July 9, 2014.