A court in the northern city of Vinh on today ruled on the appeals by five bloggers – Ho Duc Hoa, Paulus Le Van Son, Nguyen Van Duyet, Thai Van Dung and Tran Minh Nhat ¬ against their long jail terms, upholding the existing sentences for three of them and reducing the sentences of the other two. “Even if the appeal court reduced Son’s sentence by a considerable amount, it is still unacceptable and reflects the government’s determination to reduce all dissidents to silence,” Reporters Without (…) … Read More
Turkey – Journalist given 13 months in jail for insulting Mohammed
Reporters Without Borders firmly condemns the sentence of 13 and a half months in prison that an Istanbul magistrate’s court passed yesterday on Turkish-Armenian journalist Sevan Nisanyan for posting “insulting” comments about Mohammed in his blog. “Nisanyan’s jail sentence is a grave violation of freedom of information and sends a threatening message to fellow journalists and bloggers that is unacceptable,” Reporters Without Borders said. “It should be overturned on appeal. Suppression of (…) … Read More
Afghanistan – Radio station technician and host murdered in Kapisa Valley
Reporters Without Borders is saddened to learn that the body of Mohammad Hassin Hashemi, a 30-year-old employee of local radio Nadjhrab in the northeastern Kapisa Valley, was found near his home yesterday, 18 days after he disappeared. Hashemi was apparently shot in the head the day after he went missing. His body also bore the marks of blows. “We offer our condolences to his family and fellow workers, and we urge the authorities to establish the circumstances of his murder,” Reporters (…) … Read More
Haïti – Motive not yet known in radio journalist’s fatal shooting
Reporters Without Borders hopes that the reason will soon be known for radio journalist Pierre-Richard Alexandre’s fatal shooting by an individual identified as Baudelaire Augustin in Saint-Marc, in the north-central department of Artibonite, on 17 May. A correspondent for the national radio station Radio Kiskeya and the host of a daily political discussion programme on local Radio Delta, Alexandre died of his gunshot injury to the stomach on the night of 19 May after initially appearing to (…) … Read More
United States – Recommendations for a federal law protecting journalists’ sources
The U.S. Department of Justice’s seizure of Associated Press phone records has highlighted the urgency of the need for a shield law guaranteeing the protection of journalists’ sources at the federal level in the United States, a need that Reporters Without Borders has been emphasizing for years. Following reports that the White House is supporting the reintroduction of a proposed federal shield law in the Senate, Reporters Without Borders has drafted detailed recommendations for such a law. (…) … Read More
United States – Seizure of AP phone records condemned as “grave violation”
Reporters Without Borders regards the US Department of Justice’s seizure of the records of thousands of Associated Press phone calls as an “extremely grave violation of freedom of information.” The DOJ notified the AP in an email on 10 May that it had obtained the records of calls made from 20 of the news agency’s phone lines during April and May 2012. The email did specify the DOJ’s reasons for seizing them or the legal grounds on which they were seized. But the purpose was presumably to (…) … Read More
Thailand – Projectiles hurled at Bangkok daily after cartoonist’s controversial post
Reporters Without Borders deplores an attack by four men who threw various projectiles at the security box outside the Bangkok headquarters of the Thai Rath daily newspaper on 11 May, causing minor damage and slightly injuring two security guards. The attack came a few days after one of the newspaper’s cartoonists, Somchai Katanyutanan, who uses the pen name of Chai Ratchawat, posted a controversial comment on his Facebook page about Thailand’s prime minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, former (…) … Read More
