IFEX Communique Vol 16 No 32 - 7 August 2007

IFEX Communiqué Vol 16 No 32 - 7 August 2007

INDEX

FREE EXPRESSION SPOTLIGHT:
1. IFEX Members Put China under Fire in Run Up to Olympics

REGIONAL NEWS:
2. Iran Cracks Down on Journalists with Death Sentences, Prison Terms
3. United States: Editor Killed for Article Criticising Bakery
4. Sri Lanka: Student Journalist Gunned Down in Front of Home
5. Burma: Spoof Ad Sparks New Censorship Rules
6. United Kingdom: Journalist Wins Fight to Protect Source

UPDATES:
7. Venezuela: Supreme Court Keeps RCTV Alive for Now
8. President Signs Spying Bill into Law

AWARDS AND FELLOWSHIPS:
9. IWPR Establishes Sahar Journalists' Assistance Fund

JOB NOTICES:
10. MFWA Seeks Three Programme Officers

ALERTS ISSUED BY THE IFEX CLEARING HOUSE LAST WEEK

FREE EXPRESSION SPOTLIGHT

1. IFEX MEMBERS PUT CHINA UNDER FIRE IN RUN UP TO OLYMPICS

Chinese police temporarily detained about a dozen journalists yesterday after they covered a Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF) press conference demanding greater press freedom in China ahead of next year's Olympics.

Four members of RSF flew in from Europe to hold their first-ever press conference in China, outside the headquarters of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games.

According to press reports, uniformed and plainclothes police moved in after the conference and refused to allow journalists to leave. Some cameramen were asked to turn over their tapes, but refused. The group was released after almost two hours.

In 2001, when China successfully bid for the 2008 Olympics, it said reporters would have "complete freedom to report." But RSF and other IFEX members the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Human Rights Watch say that hasn't happened.

"The official slogan, 'One world, one dream,' sounds more and more hollow," RSF says. "Beijing has not kept its promises to improve the human rights situation and yet continues cynically to refer to the Olympic spirit."

Wearing t-shirts showing the Olympic rings made up of handcuffs, RSF staff called for the release of the 100 journalists, cyber-dissidents and free speech activists now in Chinese jails, an end to Internet censorship at least 12 websites were closed or blocked in July alone and the ability for foreign correspondents to move about China freely. RSF also urged International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge, who has so far remained silent on China's human rights record, to hold the Olympic host to its promise.

With one year left before the Olympics begin, IFEX members are using the occasion to draw attention to China's lax human rights record.

Since 1 January, the Chinese government has given greater freedom to foreign journalists, while domestic reporters still face severe restrictions, in the run up to the Olympics, allowing them to cover China's "political, economic, social and cultural matters" and to travel widely without government permission. The regulations will cease to apply in October 2008, once the Beijing Games are over.

But several foreign reporters have been told there are still certain areas they cannot visit and sensitive subjects they cannot cover, including Tibet, or villages of HIV-AIDS sufferers in Henan province and along China's border with North Korea, says Human Rights Watch, who has been documenting cases of harassed and detained journalists.

"The ongoing harassment and detention of journalists makes Beijing's Olympic pledge on media freedoms seem more like a public relations ploy than a sincere policy initiative," says Human Rights Watch.

CPJ was planning to hold its press conference in Beijing on 7 August to launch its 80-page report, "Falling Short," which also criticises China's slow progress in applying "no restrictions" on media coverage. According to CPJ, China already jails more journalists than any other country in the world, with at least 29 known cases of journalists currently imprisoned for their work. The comprehensive report includes biographies of each of the jailed journalists, as well as tips for reporters on the ground and English translations of Chinese media laws.

Read the reports:

* RSF, "Beijing 2008: Press Report": http://tinyurl.com/33rqzp

* CPJ, "Falling Short: As the 2008 Olympics Approach, China Falters on Press Freedom", http://www.cpj.org/Briefings/2007/Falling_Short/China/

* Human Rights Watch, "'You Will Be Harassed and Detained': Media Freedoms under Assault in China Ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games": http://tinyurl.com/355zta

* Amnesty International, "The Olympics Countdown: One Year Left to Fulfil Human Rights Promises": http://tinyurl.com/378sox

Visit these links:

* The Toronto Star, "China detains reporters": http://www.thestar.com/News/article/243748

* "Service Guide for Foreign Media", published on the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games' website: http://tinyurl.com/3bmp45

* TAKE ACTION! Post an RSF or Human Rights Watch banner for human rights in China: http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/84557/

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REGIONAL NEWS

MIDDLE EAST

2. IRAN CRACKS DOWN ON JOURNALISTS WITH DEATH SENTENCES, PRISON TERMS

Iranian authorities have stepped up their efforts to persecute and jail journalists, activists and human rights defenders, report human rights groups worldwide. Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF) wants you to sign a petition demanding the release of two of their latest victims: Iranian Kurdish journalists whose death sentences were confirmed by the authorities on 31 July.

Adnan Hassanpour and Abdolvahed "Hiva" Botimar both wrote for the weekly magazine "Aso" until it was banned by the government in August 2005, forcing it to halt reports on the widespread unrest that broke out in Kurdish areas following the death of a 25-year old Kurd who was shot by police in Mahabad. The riots were violently suppressed by the authorities.

RSF is appealing to the international community to ask Iran, one of the world's leading practitioners of the death penalty, to reverse its decision and refrain from executing the two men "who only exercised their right to inform their fellow citizens." Sign RSF's petition here: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=15054

The journalists are believed to have been given death sentences in closed trials for being "mohareb" ("enemies of God") and "acting against national security" for expressing their views on the Kurdish issue. Hassanpour, who also contributed to foreign media outlets

including Voice of America and the Prague-based Radio Farda, was detained in January and was held incommunicado without charge. Botimar, an active member of the environmental organisation Sabzchia, was arrested in December 2006. The Kurdish Human Rights Project (KHRP) says both men experienced torture and degrading treatment in prison.

KHRP is concerned that the judgment will be implemented within three weeks if there is no international intervention. RSF reports that on 3 August, the European Union stepped forward and reminded Iran that it is signatory to international covenants that affirm the right to a fair trial.

International PEN's Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC) and KHRP believe that Botimar and Hassanpour were not only targeted for being journalists, but also for being Kurdish. According to WiPC, an "apparent pattern of repression against journalists and human rights activists in Iranian Kurdistan" has been ongoing since unrest broke out in 2005. Several other Iranian-Kurdish journalists are currently detained, and four Kurdish intellectuals were arrested a week after the death sentences were handed down for their activities in support of Hassanpour and Botimar, says WiPC.

Continuing the pattern of Iran's latest crackdown, RSF reports on a number of cases of journalists being targeted. Journalist Soheil Assefi was arrested when he presented himself to a Tehran court on 4 August in response to a summons. Neither his family nor his lawyers know where he is being held or what he is charged with. Officials from the prosecutor's office searched his home on 31 July, taking personal documents and his computer's hard disk.

Also on 31 July, editor Emadoldin Baghi was sentenced to three years in prison for writing articles that defended persons who were sentenced to death in southern Iran, while his wife and daughter received three-year suspended sentences for participating in a series of human rights workshops in Dubai. Emadoldin edited the "Jomhouriat" newspaper, until it was closed down by the authorities in September 2004, while his wife was editor of the now-defunct monthly "Jameh-e-no".

Journalist Farshad Gorbanpour, who works for the news website Roozonline, was arrested and sent to Tehran's Evin prison, also on 31 July. The charges against him have not been revealed.

"These developments confirm that the human rights situation in Iran is getting worse by the day," says RSF.

IFEX members have recently reported on the increased harassment of women's groups, students and U.S.-Iranian dual nationals. According to RSF, Iran continues to be the Middle East's biggest prison for the press 11 journalists and cyber-dissidents are currently in jail, in often deteriorating conditions. Human Rights Watch reports that student editors and activists who were arrested in May and June on "politically motivated charges" have been subject to beatings, 24-hour interrogation sessions, sleep deprivation and threats at the hands of the authorities who are trying to extract confessions.

Visit these links:

* IFEX alerts on Iran: http://tinyurl.com/2r5za8

* RSF: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=23114

* RSF on E.U.: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=23190

* RSF on Assefi: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=23179

* WiPC: http://tinyurl.com/2jlhrg

* CPJ: http://tinyurl.com/363f65

* Human Rights Watch on students: http://tinyurl.com/2prpwn

* KHRP: http://www.khrp.org/news/pr2007/30-07-07.htm

AMERICAS

3. UNITED STATES: EDITOR KILLED FOR ARTICLE CRITICISING BAKERY

A newspaper editor was shot to death on a downtown street in California for writing negative reports of a local bakery, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reports.

Chauncey Bailey, editor of the weekly paper "Oakland Post", was shot multiple times at close range on his way to work on 2 August. He died at the scene.

Devaughndre Broussard, a 19-year-old handyman and occasional cook at Your Black Muslim Bakery, confessed to the murder following a police raid on 3 August. According to CPJ, Broussard said he killed Bailey because he was angered by negative coverage of the bakery and its staff.

According to local news reports, Bailey had been working on a story about the financial status of the bakery, which had filed for bankruptcy in October 2006. Bailey had also reported on alleged statutory rape accusations against Yusuf Bey, the bakery's founder. Bey died from cancer in 2003.

Bailey was a veteran TV and print journalist in California's Bay Area, and had covered various issues including city politics, crime and African American issues. He took over as editor of "Oakland Post" in June.

According to CPJ, few journalists have been killed in the line of duty in the U.S. The last time a journalist was targeted and killed was in 1993 when Dona St. Plite, a Miami radio reporter of Haitian descent, was gunned down at a benefit. A 1993 CPJ report, "Silenced: The Unsolved Murders of Immigrant Journalists in the United States", found that in all but one case, the victims were immigrant journalists working in languages other than English. Most received little or no national media attention.

Visit these links:

* CPJ: http://tinyurl.com/32vguk

* RSF: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=23148

ASIA

4. SRI LANKA: STUDENT JOURNALIST GUNNED DOWN IN FRONT OF HOME

A student journalist was gunned down in front of his home in Jaffna, report the Free Media Movement (FMM) and Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF).

Nilakshan Sahapavan, a student journalist at Jaffna University's Media Resource Training Centre (MRTC), established by UNESCO, was shot on 1 August by unidentified gunmen in front of his house in Kokuvil, Jaffna, in the middle of the night. He later died in hospital from his injuries.

Kokuvil, just three miles away from Jaffna city, is heavily guarded by the Sri Lankan military. The shooting took place during curfew hours, which RSF says "raises questions about the possible complicity of the security forces."

RSF says Sahapavan was one of the editors of "Chaa'laram", a magazine linked to the Federation of Jaffna District Students that is known for supporting Tamil nationalism. Sahapavan attended an FMM seminar in Colombo with fellow MRTC students just a week before his death to discuss the situation of journalists in Jaffna. TamilNet reports that he had also recently commemorated the second anniversary of the death of journalist Dharmeratnam Sivaram, a prominent Tamil journalist who was assassinated for his sympathetic views of the Tamil Tigers.

According to FMM, not a single investigation into a murdered journalist has been carried out to completion by Sri Lanka's government. Sahapavan is the eighth media worker killed in Jaffna since May 2006.

The International Press Freedom Mission, which includes IFEX members the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), International Press Institute (IPI) and RSF, visited Sri Lanka in June 2007 and named Jaffna one of the worst places to be a journalist.

Visit these links:

* FMM: http://tinyurl.com/23o5y3

* RSF: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=23134

* IFJ: http://ifj.org/default.asp?Index=5175&Language=EN

* International Press Freedom Mission June report: http://tinyurl.com/2fdbhg

* TamilNet: http://tinyurl.com/36kptj

5. BURMA: SPOOF AD SPARKS NEW CENSORSHIP RULES

An ad placed in English-language "Myanmar Times" newspaper that carried a hidden message calling the country's military ruler a "killer" has prompted a slew of new rules for media outlets, report Mizzima News and local news reports.

Placed by the Danish-based satirical art group Surrend on 23 July, the ad looked like an innocent call for Scandinavian tourists to visit Burma. But the credit at the bottom of the ad reads: "The Board of Islandic Travel Agencies Ewhsnahtrellik and the Danish Industry Besoeg Danmark." "Ewhsnahtrellik" read backwards is "Killer Than Shwe," referring the head of the military junta, General Than Shwe. The spoof ad also contains a poem whose first letters of each word spell "freedom."

Responding to the ad, Burma's censorship bureau issued 28 rules to the news media. Only ads in Burmese and English are allowed. Managing editors will now be held responsible for the authenticity and identity of agencies that want to place ads. Advertisements that "tarnish the dignity and honour of an individual, harm national unity or cause misunderstanding among nationalities" are banned. According to Mizzima News, those who flout the rules would be stripped of their press licences.

After the hidden message was discovered, special police interrogated at least 10 staff members of the part government-owned "Myanmar Times", Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF) says.

The media organisation Democratic Voice of Burma says that shops in Rangoon had been forced to take the issue of the newspaper off the shelves while others had become too scared to stock it. Two staff from the Press Scrutiny and Registration Division have reportedly been fired over the incident.

According to the Associated Press (AP), Surrend has placed similar ads with hidden messages before, including in the government-controlled "Tehran Times" last December that spelled out "swine" below a photo of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. To place the ad in Burma, Surrend presented themselves as an advertising company.

Surrend says they wanted to show that even the worst regimes are not impenetrable, "that with art you can find holes, fly under the censorship's radar and hit the despots."

Visit these links:

* Mizzima News: http://tinyurl.com/2okpq5

* Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières): http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=23133&Valider=OK

* Surrend: http://www.surrend.org

* AP: http://tinyurl.com/2jwjm8

* Democratic Voice of Burma: http://english.dvb.no/news.php?id=279

EUROPE

6. UNITED KINGDOM: JOURNALIST WINS FIGHT TO PROTECT SOURCE

A freelance journalist's marathon legal fight to protect a confidential source has finally ended in victory, reports the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ).

The House of Lords refused to grant Mersey Care National Health Service (NHS) Trust leave to appeal the five-year case it had pursued against freelancer Robin Ackroyd, in its effort to reveal who leaked confidential medical treatment of murderer Ian Brady to the reporter.

According to the U.K.'s "Press Gazette", the case pitted the NHS Trust's interest in maintaining the privacy of patient records with journalists' need to protect confidential sources.

"We all owe (Ackroyd) an immense debt of gratitude," says Jeremy Dear, general secretary of Ackroyd's union, the National Union of Journalists (NUJ). "The fundamental point of principle that there is a vital public interest in upholding journalists' right not to reveal their sources has been maintained."

The case began after the "Daily Mirror" published a story in 1999 on the medical treatment of the infamous "Moors murderer" Brady. The NHS Trust took the Mirror Group all the way to the House of Lords to find out how the medical records on which the story was based were obtained. In 2002 Ackroyd identified himself as the author of the story and then became the target of court action himself.

In February 2006, a High Court judge ruled in favour of Ackroyd, saying he was "a responsible journalist whose purpose was to act in the public interest."

This year, the Court of Appeal confirmed that Ackroyd did not have to reveal the identity of his source. But the NHS Trust filed for permission to take the case to the House of Lords, who, on 27 July, refused its petition. The House of Lords granted Ackroyd permission to apply for his costs, which have been met by NUJ.

In a statement, the NHS Trust admitted its disappointment with the decision, saying it pursued the action against Ackroyd "to protect one of the key principles of the NHS the right of every patient to be treated on a confidential basis."

Visit these links:

* IFJ: http://www.ifj.org/default.asp?Index=5162&Language=EN

* Press Gazette: http://tinyurl.com/2p6fly

* NUJ: http://www.nuj.org.uk/inner.php?docid=1813
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UPDATES

7. VENEZUELA: SUPREME COURT KEEPS RCTV ALIVE FOR NOW

Venezuela's Supreme Court ruled that TV channel Radio Caracas Television (RCTV) will remain on cable and satellite for the moment, acting just hours before a government deadline that could have taken it off the air for the second time in two months, report Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontieres, RSF) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

The Supreme Court of Justice said in a statement on 1 August that it suspended the telecommunications commission's order for opposition-aligned RCTV and other cable and satellite channels to register as national producers, which would require them to interrupt programming to carry some of President Hugo Chavez's speeches.

RCTV, the country's oldest private channel, began broadcasting by cable and satellite about six weeks after President Hugo Chavez forced it off the air at the end of May by refusing to renew its terrestrial broadcasting licence. Chavez's decision prompted numerous IFEX members and the Venezuelan media workers' union, Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Prensa (SNTP), to comment that he was limiting freedom of expression. The President said he made the decision because the channel openly supported a 2002 coup attempt and "became a threat to the country."

RCTV was given five days until midnight on 1 August to agree to carry Chavez's speeches, or be taken off the air. According to RSF, RCTV maintains that the station has the same characteristics as other international cable channels, which do not need to adhere to the regulations that govern "national producers."

RSF and other freedom of expression groups asked why the requirement was only mentioned after RCTV cable and satellite went live, when never before had a cable station been required to register.

According to the Associated Press (AP), RCTV executive Marcel Granier suggested the court decision was a way out of a difficult situation for the government. "After they made the rules against Radio Caracas, they realised that they would have to bust 45 more companies," he told the private channel Globovision.

The court's constitutional branch said it decided to take up the case, brought on by Venezuela's Chamber of Subscription Television, in part due to a lack of regulations clearly defining rules and rights of "national audiovisual production services" and which channels fall under that classification.

The Supreme Court decision gives RCTV a temporary reprieve but leaves it open to future court rulings.

Visit these links:

* RSF: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=23124

* CPJ: http://tinyurl.com/2ewasg

* SNTP: http://www.sntp.org.ve/principal23.asp

* AP: http://tinyurl.com/yp292v

8. ZIMBABWE: PRESIDENT SIGNS SPYING BILL INTO LAW

A "spying" bill that would allow the Zimbabwean government to intercept mail, phone calls and emails without having to get court approval was signed into law on 3 August by President Robert Mugabe, reports the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA).

Under the "Interception of Communications" law, service providers will be forced to install "enabling equipment" on behalf of the government, which would allow senior intelligence, police and revenue officials to intercept telephone, email and cell phone messages through a newly created central monitoring agency.

MISA called 3 August a "sad day for Zimbabweans." "The government has refused to open the airwaves, closed newspapers and, as if that is not enough, it now wants to pry into people's conversations," MISA says. "This is simply an indication of a government that is afraid of its own citizens."

MISA is looking at mounting a constitutional challenge against the law in the Supreme Court.

Visit these links:

* MISA: http://tinyurl.com/3bdl7f

* "IFEX Communiqué" on the bill: http://tinyurl.com/2wuaq2

AWARDS AND FELLOWSHIPS

9. IWPR ESTABLISHES SAHAR JOURNALISTS' ASSISTANCE FUND

Exiled or disabled journalists around the world can now attend training programmes at the Institute of War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) through a newly established fund.

The Sahar Journalists' Assistance Fund, named in honour of Iraqi journalist Sahar al-Haideri, who was assassinated by unknown gunmen in Mosul in June, will be used to support exiled or disabled journalists, as well as the families of journalists who die in the line of duty.

For more information, contact Ria Burghardt, director of development, via: http://tinyurl.com/28lr48

To contribute to the fund, go to: http://tinyurl.com/2babpb

JOB NOTICES

10. MFWA SEEKS THREE PROGRAMME OFFICERS

The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) seeks qualified persons to fill three Programme Officer positions in Rights Monitoring, Research and Publications; Communications and Networking; and Media Law Reform and Journalists Legal Defence.

The Officer in charge of Rights Monitoring, Research and Publications will coordinate the research and monitoring of free expression violations in 16 West African countries, including producing and distributing alerts. S/he will also be responsible for producing all of the organisation's regular publications.

The Communications and Networking Officer will develop strong media and public relations at the local, national, regional and international levels, and ensure effective coverage and exposure of the organisation's activities.

The Law Reform and Legal Defence Officer will identify and monitor laws and legal cases on freedom of expression and advise the organisation of appropriate intervention and activities.

All positions are stationed in Accra, Ghana. Interested candidates should request details and requirements from the address below, and send their CV, plus evidence of qualifications and three recommendations on their professional experience, to: The Administrator, Media Foundation for West Africa, P.O. Box LG 730, Legon, Accra, Ghana.

ALERTS ISSUED BY THE IFEX CLEARING HOUSE LAST WEEK

3 AUGUST 2007

Venezuela - Court prohibits two newspapers in Bolívar from printing images showing blood http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/85374/

Peru - Two radio stations incite protesting peasants to attack journalist over coverage http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/85372/

Zimbabwe - President signs spying bill into law http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/85371/

Germany - Seventeen journalists under investigation over leaking of confidential documents http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/85368/

Uruguay - Senate must approve Community Broadcasting Bill, says ARTICLE 19 http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/85366/

United Kingdom - London appeal court quashes judge's gagging order in Blair-Bush memo case http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/85364/

Guinea-Bissau - Four journalists in hiding for fear of being arrested as army cracks down following coverage of drug trafficking http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/85362/

Burma - Satirical Danish ad in "Myanmar Times" leads to stricter regulations http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/85349/

Ethiopia - Four more journalists given heavy prison sentences; pardon anticipated http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/85340/

Argentina - One journalist beaten by police, another threatened by priest in cases reminiscent of military dictatorship http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/85332/

Democratic Republic of Congo - State TV union activist released after five days in detention http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/85330/

Turkey - Journalist abducted, violently assaulted and threatened with death by police officers http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/85329/

Brazil - Ruling party's resolution inflammatory toward certain media following critical reporting; "ominous", says RSF http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/85302/

2 AUGUST 2007

Turkey - ECHR condemns 1997 ruling against journalist, legitimizes punishment of former mayor for "inciting hatred" in speeches http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/85301/

United States - Newspaper editor gunned down in Oakland http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/85300/

Mozambique - Head of football club assaults photojournalist http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/85298/

Ghana - Journalist harassed, forced to delete photographs of politician http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/85297/

Venezuela - Government employees restrict Globovisión journalists from accessing official venues http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/85295/

Gabon - Jailed journalist hospitalised, sentenced http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/85292/

Thailand - Police investigate lecturer accused of lèse-majesté http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/85291/

Venezuela - Supreme Court provides temporary reprieve for RCTV's cable broadcasting, will hear petition http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/85288/

Kazakhstan - Two convicted, but many questions still unresolved in French journalist's 2006 murder http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/85285/

China - Renewed crackdown on media freedom shadows countdown to 2008 Olympic Games, says Human Rights Watch http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/85284/

India - Following bomb attempt on newspaper, death threats, media outlets shut down in protest http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/85283/

United Kingdom - IFJ welcomes victory in journalist's long battle to protect sources http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/85282/

Europe - ARTICLE 19 calls on EU to improve transparency http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/85281/

Russia - ECHR finds government violated free expression in defamation ruling against journalist http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/85280/

1 AUGUST 2007

Mexico - Attorney General endorses self-censorship by media in context of increasing danger; CENCOS urges government action http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/85280/

Mali - Politician assaults journalist over election coverage http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/85270/

Venezuela - Government forces RCTV to stop cable and satellite broadcasting http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/85267/

Botswana - Government communications company denies advertising to newspaper allegedly in retaliation for critical story http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/85264/

Zimbabwe - Army commander's wife assaults journalist covering opposition party activity http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/85263/

Iran - Several journalists victim of persistent prosecution by judicial system http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/85260/

Angola - ARTICLE 19 calls for lifting of media restrictions prior to elections http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/85251/

Iran - Four Kurdish journalists and writers arrested for expressing support for two colleagues sentenced to death http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/85250/

Sri Lanka - Student journalist shot dead in Jaffna http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/85249/

Yemen - Armed men raid newspaper office, threaten to kill editor; ministry files charges against journalists for "harming national security" http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/85248/

Sri Lanka - Chief Justice's comments on film have "grave implications for freedom of expression", says FMM http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/85247/

Afghanistan - Radio station director threatened with death following broadcasts on mail-order fraud http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/85246/

31 JULY 2007

Moldova - ARTICLE 19 welcomes new broadcasting law, recommends changes to protect private and community stations http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/85245/

Afghanistan - IFJ calls on media owners to ensure journalists' safety as a matter of protecting press freedom http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/85244/

Brazil - Prosecutor's office calls for annulment of broadcasting licenses unfairly obtained through political influence http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/85242/

The Gambia - "Disappeared" journalist seen http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/85240/

Egypt - Appeal court fines prominent poet for insulting religious extremist http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/85239/

China - Lawyer for journalists and cyber-dissidents loses licence http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/85233/

Paraguay - Government threatens to shut down educational radio station in Itapúa http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/85229/

Russia - Editor attacked by police officer, knocked unconscious, calls for proper investigation http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/85228/

Argentina - Municipal government in Santa Fe province closes critical newspaper's printing press http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/85216/

Colombia - Journalist and his family receive death threat in Antioquia http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/85201/

30 JULY 2007

Russia - Newspaper issue faces publishing, distribution difficulties, editor-in-chief questioned http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/85198/

Democratic Republic of Congo - Four state television journalists detained for "trying to destabilise RTNC" http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/85197/

Burma - Ban of popular internet telephony Mediaring Talk http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/85196/

Russia - Journalist and opposition activist forcibly confined in psychiatric hospital http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/85195/

Turkey - Court orders historian and "Agos" weekly to pay retired ambassador compensation for "violating" his personal rights, "insulting" him http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/85194/

ENDS

The "IFEX Communiqué" is the weekly newsletter of the International Freedom of Expression eXchange (IFEX), a global network of 71 organisations working to defend and promote the right to free expression. IFEX is managed by Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (www.cjfe.org).

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