Asia Pacific News items Page

Yale to Ensure Students in Singapore Have Freedom of Expression
Date: 7 July 2012 "Yale University will ensure its liberal arts campus in Singapore won’t impose censorship amid criticism the city-state’s laws will stifle academic freedom...

Australia's news media faces regulatory crackdown by government
Date: 10 June 2012 - "The prospect of tighter regulation of the Australian media has drawn closer after it emerged last week that a TV network aired a prostitute's lurid claims against an MP despite knowing the woman wanted to retract the allegations...

Investigative journalist and family murdered
Date: 22 february 2012 "A freelance journalist who had investigated illegal mining activity, his wife and their two children were found brutally murdered in their home in India's Madhya Pradesh state on 18 February...

Media law may spell end to censorship
Date: 08 February 2012 "Burma is poised to adopt a new media law that could sweep away half a century of heavy-handed censorship, as an increasingly impatient press ...

The bloodlust faced by the 'blaspheming' Saudi journalist
Date: 15 February 2012 "In this country, and in the US, the judicial authorities make fools of themselves about Twitter. In Saudi and Malaysia, they may make themselves murderers...

China tells broadcasters they will be limited in number of imported TV series they can show
Date: 14 February 2012 "BEIJING — China’s television broadcasters will be limited in the number of imported series they can show, the government has announced, as China continues to try to rein in foreign influence...

Internet censorship could damage India's democracy
Date: 07 February 2012 "Twitter is seething over the news that internet giants, including Google and Facebook, have been told to remove offensive content from the web following...

UN: Philippines Journalist Defamation Conviction a Violation of Free Speech
Date: 02 February 2012 "In a landmark ruling that could have global implications, the United Nations Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) has found that the conviction of a Philippines journalist...

Burma-sponsored media workshop: A new dawn for press freedom?
Date: 01 February 2012 "Myanmar Writers and Journalists Association and Singapore-based Asia Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC) jointly organized a...

Thailand backs Twitter censorship policy
Date: 31 January 2012 "Authorities in Thailand have become the first to welcome a controversial new censorship policy introduced by Twitter, announcing they will work with...

Press freedom suffered significant setbacks in 2011, says IFJ report
Date: 23 Janaury 2012 "A new International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) report reveals that press freedom in China suffered significant setbacks in 2011...

Chinese dissident charged with subversion... for writing a poem
Date: 18 January 2012 "The Chinese authorities have indicted a veteran dissident on subversion charges for writing a poem urging people to gather to defend their...

India must chose to defend free speech
Date: 18 January 2012 " India used to be the land of “gup”, which meant talk, arguments, conversations, and debates. Babble and noise, that’s what “gup” is...

Censoring social media curbs free speech, say netizens
Date: 16 January 2012 "The Indian government's decision to prosecute social networking sites like Google and Facebook has triggered public anger, with netizens saying the move is tantamount to clamping down on constitutional rights of free speech and individual liberty...

Myanmar Releases Imprisoned Journalists
Date: 13 Janaury 2012 "VIENNA, 13 Jan. 2012 – At least 16 journalists were among the hundreds of political prisoners and prisoners of conscience released today by the ...

Pakistan: CPNE expresses concern over threats to journalists
Date: 9 January 2012 "The Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE), on Sunday, reiterated that it will continue to strive for the protection of freedom of the press against all odds....

Online writer imprisoned in China
Date: 09 Jnauary 2012 "A 10-year prison term given to online critic Chen Xi last month is the latest severe sentence targeting dissenters in China, the Committee to Protect ...

China claims it has successfully curbed 'excessive entertainment' on TV
Date: 4 January 2012 "A campaign to curb "excessive entertainment" by cutting the number of racy programmes on Chinese satellite television channels has been successful...

'Clean up your website': Indian court orders Facebook and Google to remove 'anti-religious' content
Date: 02 January 2011 "Social websites including Google and Facebook have been ordered by an Indian court to remove all 'anti-religious' and 'anti-social' content within six weeks...

Thai royal insult law may have been misused
Date: 14 October 2011 " Thailand on Thursday accepted its controversial royal insult laws may have been misused and could "inadvertently" have affected freedom of expression...

Bahrain Fines Newspaper Staff For False Reports
Date: 11 October 2011 "A court in Bahrain has fined the chief editor of one of the kingdom's leading independent newspapers and three of his colleagues for publishing false reports...

UN expert urges Thailand to amend royal insult laws
Date: 11 October 2011 "GENEVA, October 10, 2011 - A UN expert on Monday urged Thailand to amend its controversial lese majeste laws, saying a recent increase in legal cases highlights the urgent need for reforms...

9th World day against death penalty
Date: 10 October 2011 "Vietnam’s communist leaders refuse to abolish the death penalty, despite strong international pressure.

Burma censor chief calls for more media freedom
Date: 08 October 2011 "The head of Burma's powerful press censorship department has called for greater media freedom in his country. Tint Swe said censorship was incompatible...

Vietnam: Amnesty for two imprisoned writers but unjust sentences for many more
Date: 5 October 2011 "In Vietnam's annual tradition of giving amnesty to prisoners in recognition of independence day, the government passed over many of those most

Cambodia: Judges Investigating Khmer Rouge Crimes Should Resign
Date: 3 October 2011 "The two investigating judges at the hybrid Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), created to try Khmer Rouge mass crimes and ...

UN expert calls on Cambodia to amend draft NGO law
Date: 28 September 2011 "The UN special rapporteur on Cambodia has called on the government to change its draft law on NGOs, which is a source of much anxiety among civil society groups...

IPI World Congress in Taipei spotlights free press
Date: 26 September 2011 "The 2011 International Press Institute World Congress, featuring discussions on press freedom, citizen journalism and social media revolutions...

Call for Free Press in Burma
Date: 21 September 2011 "Despite guarantees from Burmese President Thein Sein’s government of democratic reform to Burma's media and press, it has been reported

Indonesia: Honor for Daring to Speak Out
Date: 18 September 2011 " Despite efforts to protect journalists, freedom of the press sits on shaky ground in Indonesia, according to two writers honored last week for their...

Malaysia: Najib to Abolish Detention, Media Laws as Popularity Drops
Date: 16 September 2011 "Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said he will abolish laws allowing the government to detain citizens without trial and ease media rules...

China: Propaganda Bureau takes control of two Beijing newspapers
Date: 03 September 2011 "The Beijing propaganda bureau has taken control of two influential newspapers in the Chinese capital, prompting fears that they will be more strictly censored...

Pakistan : Journalist abducted in Pakistan tribal area
Date: 12 August 2011 "New York, August 12, 2011--Concern is mounting for the safety of journalist Rahmatullah Darpakhel, who was seized by a group of armed men in North Waziristan...

China: Says It Was Targeted In 500,000 Cyberattacks
Date: 09 August 2011 "BEIJING -- Nearly 500,000 cyberattacks were aimed at computers in China last year and almost half originated overseas...

More Democracy in SE Asia, but Free Speech Doesn’t Always Follow
Date: 02/08/2011 "Free speech in Southeast Asia is under assault despite the wave of democratization that has rolled through many countries in the region, activists and UN officials said over the weekend...

India’s new Internet rules criticized
Date: 01/08/2011 "NEW DELHI — New Internet rules that seek to enhance national security and limit offensive content have sparked an angry debate about free speech in the world’s largest democracy.

Vietnam: Ensure Fair Hearing for Legal Scholar
Date: 01/08/2011 "(Bangkok) ­– The outcome of the August 2, 2011 Appeals Court hearing on legal scholar Cu Huy Ha Vu’s conviction on national security charges will have important repercussions...

Sri Lankan journalist attacked 'with iron bars'
Date: 30/07/2011 "An ethnic Tamil journalist in Sri Lanka’s formerly embattled north was brutally attacked with iron bars, police said on Saturday, the latest in a string of assaults on the nation’s media...

China Steps Up Web Monitoring
Date: 26/07/2011 "New regulations that require bars, restaurants, hotels and bookstores to install costly Web monitoring software are prompting many businesses to cut Internet access...

CIJ concerned over proposed media consultative council
Date: 26/07/2011 "The Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) Malaysia strongly opposes the media consultative council that the Malaysian government is planning to establish...

China: 1.3 million websites shut in 2010
Date: 13/07/2011 " More than one million websites closed down in China last year, a state-run think tank has said...

To Track Militants, U.S. Has System That Never Forgets a Face
Date: 13/07/2011 "When the Taliban dug an elaborate tunnel system beneath the largest prison in southern Afghanistan this spring, they set off a scramble to catch the 475 inmates who escaped...

Malaysia: UN rights office concerned at reported crackdown ahead of planned protests
Date: 05/07/2011 "The United Nations human rights office today voiced concern about measures being taken by authorities in Malaysia...

Pakistan’s Spies Tied to Slaying of a Journalist
Date: 05/06/2011 "Obama administration officials believe that Pakistan’s powerful spy agency ordered the killing of a Pakistani journalist who had written scathing reports about the infiltration of militants in the country’s military, according to American officials..."

Don't blacklist journalists: media watchdog
Date: 30/06/2011"China's top press watchdog has reiterated that no organization or individual has the right to bar journalists from reporting on them and urged government departments to...

China: Dark times for lawyers as repression intensifies
Date:30/06/2011 "The Chinese government has unleashed an uncompromising series of measures intended to rein in the legal profession and suppress lawyers pursuing human rights cases...

THAILAND: Criminalization of free speech ahead of election
Date:03/06/2011 In May 2011, the government of Thailand announced that the country would go to a national election on July 3…

Baidu Accused of Aiding Chinese Censorship in U.S. Suit
Date:19/05/2011 BEIJING—Eight New York residents filed a lawsuit Wednesday against China and Chinese online-search provider Baidu Inc...

Thailand: Authorities Silence ‘Red Shirt’ Community Radios
Date:28/04/2011 'The Thai government has shut down community radio stations associated with the anti-government Red Shirt movement...

Burma's hip-hop resistance spreads message of freedom
Date:27/04/2011 Thxa Soe's music gives country's youth a focus for dissatisfaction with the junta despite strict censorship...

Chinese Christians arrested for trying to hold open-air service
Date:12/04/2011 Dozens of Christians who planned to hold an outdoor service in Beijing in protest at being made homeless from their place of worship have been arrested, in the latest Communist party crackdown on dissent and demonstrations...

Iranian journalist Ahmad Zeidabadi Named 2011 UNESCO World Press Freedom Prize Winner
Date:07/04/2011 I send my deepest congratulations to jailed Iranian journalist Ahmad Zeidabadi for being named the 2011 UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom prize winner...

Vietnamese rights lawyer jailed over call for democracy
Date:05/04/2011 A dissident lawyer and son of a Vietnamese communist revolutionary leader has been sentenced to seven years in prison and a further three years' house arrest for calling for an end to Vietnam's government and its one-party system...

Pakistan minister shot dead on way to cabinet meeting in Islamabad
Date:02/03/2011 Pakistan's minorities minister, Shahbaz Bhatti, has been assassinated by unidentified gunmen in the capital, Islamabad...

Pakistan minorities minister shot dead in Islamabad
Date:02/03/2011 Pakistani Minorities Minister Shahbaz Bhatti has died after gunmen opened fire on his car in the capital Islamabad, hospital officials say...

Iran unrest: MPs call for death of Mousavi and Karroubi
Date:15/02/2011 Members of Iran's parliament have called for opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi to be tried and executed...

Iran hinders web searches leading up to planned rally, sources say
Date:14/02/2011 Iranian authorities have blocked the word Bahman – the 11th month of the Persian calendar – from Internet searches within the country, according to an opposition website...

Thai webmaster on trial in free speech test case
Date:07/02/2011 Prachatai website manager faces up to 20 years' jail for failing to remove offending comments posted by readers...

Thai webmaster on trial in free speech test case
Date:04/02/2011 The head of a popular Thai political website went on trial today, charged with violating the country's tough internet laws in a case seen as a bellwether for freedom of expression in the politically troubled nation...

Singapore: Hocus Pocus Hides Rights Abuses
Date:03/02/2011 (New York) - Singapore's stated goal of updating its political system in time for the 2011 elections should include revamping laws, policies, and practices that fail to comply with international human rights standards, Human Rights Watch said today in releasing its World Report 2011...

Top Iranian Lawyer Unjustly Sentenced to 11 years in Prison
Date:27/01/2011 UN Human Rights Council Should Act to Address Crisis (9 January 2011) The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran called the 11-year prison sentence of leading human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh a “gross miscarriage of justice” and said that it should be overturned by an appeals court...

Regulate media content but don''t muzzle the press: Bhushan
Date:15/12/2010 New Delhi: Amid continuing debate over where to draw the line on freedom of expression when it comes to national security, a top Supreme Court advocate today said there was need to regulate media content but cautioned against pre-censorship and the muzzling of the press...

New Cambodian laws may suppress free speech: rights groups
Date:11/12/2010 Cambodia is introducing new laws which rights groups warned Friday could be used to silence critics and stifle freedom of expression...

Iranian blogger given leave from prison
Date:09/12/2010 The dissident Iranian-Canadian blogger Hossein Derakhshan – known as Hoder – has been released on bail of $1...

Malaysia: Proposed cyber sedition law is undemocratic
Date:03/12/2010 The Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) is concerned with Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein's references to a new law that will be introduced to govern sedition in cyberspace...

Burma's junta pays no heed to Freedom of Expression
Date:01/12/2010 Reporters from private journals and periodicals in Burma were inadmissible to be present at a press conference of a United Nation's special envy to Burma held before his departure on 28 November evening, according to sources in Rangoon...

Singapore: ‘Drop Charges Against Author Who Raised Rights Concerns’
Date:09/11/2010 The Singapore government should exonerate a British author who was convicted for contempt of court for his criticism of Singapore's justice system, Human Rights Watch said today...

Maldives - Upholding Freedom of Expression and People’s Liberty, the Most Important Goal of the Government – President Nasheed
Date:08/11/2010 Addressing the people of Lhohi, the third stop of his tour of Noonu Atoll, President Mohamed Nasheed said upholding the principles of freedom of expression and safeguarding people’s liberty were the most important goals of the government...

Vanuatu Times right of reply breach 'alarming'
Date:01/11/2010 Pacific Freedom Forum, Rarotonga COOK ISLANDS -- The refusal by the Vanuatu Times newspaper to allow the subject of a front page article right of reply is an ‘alarming’ breach of media ethics, says the Pacific Freedom Forum, PFF...

Enrile to SC: Please act with restraint
Date:27/10/2010 MANILA, Philippines;Senate President Juan Ponce-Enrile has asked the Supreme Court to cleanse itself and its ranks instead of penalizing those who criticize the institution because of the plagiarism allegation against its member...

Burma: International media consortium urges press freedom during elections
Date:26/10/2010 Thirty-three media organisations from across the globe are appealing to the Burmese government to respect the rights of Burmese citizens, and specifically the media, during next month’s general election...

Mumbai university book ban sparks free speech fears
Date:20/10/2010 MUMBAI ; Writers, filmmakers and social commentators have expressed fears about freedom of speech in India after hardline Hindu activists forced an award-winning book to be taken off a university syllabus...

Iran must disclose identities of detained Germans
Date:14/10/2010 The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Iranian authorities to immediately disclose the names of two Germans who were arrested on Sunday and described as journalists in several news reports...

China must abandon censorship
Date:13/10/2010 Dear members of the standing committee of the National People's Congress: Article 35 of China's constitution as adopted in 1982 clearly states that: Citizens of the People's Republic of China enjoy freedom of speech, of the press, of assembly, of association, of procession and of demonstration...

Fiji clampdown on free speech continues
Date:07/10/2010 Regional media freedom watchdog the Pacific Freedom Forum is concerned over the increasing confusion spread by Fiji’s regime over the departure from Fiji Times of its long-serving editor Netani Rika...

Thailand blocks news conference on Vietnam's human rights record, drawing criticism
Date:14/09/2010 BANGKOK ; The Thai government blocked a planned news conference Monday on Vietnamese human rights because it feared the disclosures might insult the neighbouring country...

Thailand blocks news conference on Vietnam's human rights record, drawing criticism
Date:13/09/2010 BANGKOK ; The Thai government blocked a planned news conference Monday on Vietnamese human rights because it feared the disclosures might insult the neighbouring country...

India leads calls for action to stop Koran burning
Date:09/09/2010 India led calls on Thursday for the United States to intervene to halt a small church's plan to burn copies of the Koran in commemoration of the September 11 attacks and urged a media blackout to calm tensions...

The Tokyo Two: an abuse of human rights
Date:08/09/2010 In 2008, acting on whistleblower evidence, anti-whaling activists Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki uncovered illegal trade in whale meat in the course of an investigation into whaling...

Pakistan: HRCP flays delay in arrest of journalist’s abductors
Date:07/09/2010 The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) on Monday condemned the abduction and manhandling of journalist Umar Cheema and the delay in arresting his abductors...

Phillipene Supreme Court SC backs GSIS employees’ right to rally
Date:31/08/2010 The Supreme Court affirmed the exercise of freedom of expression and speech of employees of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) when in 2005, they wore red shirt and appeared at a hearing to show support to their union leader...

Iran bans mention of opposition leaders in press
Date:25/08/2010 Iranian newspapers have been banned from publishing the names or photos of the leaders of Iran's green movement, according to a confidential governmental ruling revealed by an opposition website...

Indonesian president calls for religious tolerance
Date:16/08/2010 Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Monday stressed the need for religious tolerance amid growing calls for him to act against Islamic radicals who regularly attack minorities...

Cambodia: The Official Launch of the First Online Human Rights Portal
Date:09/08/2010 Sithi...

China dissident's PM book set for release amid jail threat
Date:09/08/2010 BEIJING, Thursday 5 August 2010 (AFP) - A controversial book that criticises China's Premier Wen Jiabao will be published later this month even after police warned its dissident author that he could end up in jail, the publisher said Thursday...

Chinese censors take notice of Twitter-style blogs
Date:02/08/2010 Chinese censors blocked access to Facebook and Twitter a year ago for fear the foreign sites could be used to sow political unrest...

China jails writer for 15 years for 'endangering state security'
Date:25/07/2010 Human rights groups have attacked the heavy sentence a Chinese court has imposed on a Uighur writer who posted critical articles online and spoke to foreign journalists after last year's riots in Xinjiang...

Singapore releases UK author in defamation case
Date:20/07/2010 SINGAPORE ; Singapore released on bail Tuesday a British author arrested two days earlier as part of a criminal defamation investigation related to his book on the city-state's death penalty policy...

Iranian journalist gets 30 Year writing ban
Date:09/06/2010 The Daily Shargh, Iran’s leading moderate newspaper (which was banned for three years) reported on June 9, 2010, that an award-winning woman journalist Jila Baniyaghoob (39) was sentenced to a year’s imprisonment and banned from writing or reporting for 30 years...

Iranian court sentences a journalist to 13 years and 74 lashes in absentia
Date:13/05/2010 An Iranian court has sentenced Maziar Bahari a journalist to 13 years and 74 lashes in absentia...

Indonesia under fire for upholding scripture over rights
Date:20/04/2010 Human rights groups pilloried Indonesia's constitutional court Tuesday after it upheld a 1965 blasphemy law, ruling in favour of orthodox religions over basic freedoms...

Burma's Press Censored on NLD Decision
Date:01/04/2010 Outside Burma the reactions of the press and observers to the National League for Democracy's (NLD's) decision not to contest this year's election have been numerous and varied, but inside Burma the military government's Press Scrutiny and Registration Division (PSRD) is forcing newspapers and other publications to publish the official line on the NLD decision, if they publish at all...

Iran: UN Human Rights Council Reviews Situation for Free Expression
Date:15/02/2010 As the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) meets today in Geneva to engage in its Universal Periodic Review of Iran, ARTICLE 19 again raises serious concerns about the failure of the Islamic Republic to respect and promote freedom of expression...

Free Press and Free Expression Organizations to Iran: Release Jailed Journalists, Writers
Date:12/02/2010 A coalition of leading international journalists', writers', and publishers' organizations today launched a campaign to press the government of Iran to release their colleagues imprisoned in the wake of last year's disputed presidential election in the Islamic Republic of Iran...

China Upholds Dissident Liu's Sentence
Date:11/02/2010 A Chinese court upheld an 11-year prison sentence for writer Liu Xiaobo on subversion charges, prompting swift rebukes from the U...

Myanmar's Suu Kyi undecided on junta's elections
Date:11/02/2010 Myanmar's detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi says that the military-run country's upcoming elections cannot be credible unless the government allows freedom of information, her party said Wednesday...

Vietnam jails democracy activists for subversion
Date:01/02/2010 A court in Vietnam has convicted four activists, including prominent human rights lawyer Le Cong Dinh, of trying to overthrow the Communist government...

Vietnam: ARTICLE 19 Condemns Convictions of Pro-Democracy Activists
Date:21/01/2010 ARTICLE 19 condemns the conviction today of four Vietnamese pro-democracy activists, including leading human rights lawyer, Le Cong Dinh...

Vietnam Jails 4 Activists for Subversion
Date:20/01/2010 Four pro-democracy campaigners in Vietnam were convicted in a high-profile trial Wednesday of trying to overthrow the state, the latest targets of a campaign against dissent that has led to dozens of arrests in recent months...

Thailand: Reverse backward slide in freedom of expression
Date:14/01/2010 Thailand should reverse its recent backward slide in respect for freedom of expression, as illustrated by the sharp increase over the past ten months in cases under the lese majeste law...

Google stops its censorship in China: Amnesty response
Date:13/01/2010 Reacting to media reports today that Google is to stop censoring Internet search results for users of its Google...

Thai royal laws hurting freedom of speech: Amnesty
Date:13/01/2010 Thailand must halt a backward slide on freedom of expression after a sharp rise in cases of people accused of insulting the revered monarchy, a leading rights group said Wednesday...

Freedom House Report: Asia Sees Some Significant Progress
Date:13/01/2010 The U...

The Asia Foundation: Media in Timor-Leste: Freedom Under Challenges
Date:12/01/2010 Jose Belo, founder and editor of Timor-Leste’s local weekly newspaper Tempo Semanal, is familiar with uncertain terms...

Sri Lanka: After Lasantha
Date:11/01/2010 When the leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Velupillai Prabhakaran, shut the sluice gates of the Mavil Aru reservoir in July 2006, depriving many of the people in the eastern province of Sri Lanka access to water, a provoked President Mahinda Rajapaksa vowed to wipe out the rebel group...

S.Lanka presidential challenger vows press freedom
Date:07/01/2010 Sri Lanka's former army chief on Thursday launched his manifesto for the January 26 presidential elections, promising greater press freedom and a battle against rampant corruption...

China, Palm Springs Film Festival clash over Tibet doc
Date:07/01/2010 Chinese authorities have pulled two films from the Palm Springs International Film Festival ahead of screenings later this week of The Sun Behind The Clouds: Tibet’s Struggle For Freedom...

Chinese Censorship Equals Protectionism
Date:07/01/2010 Beijing's methods to censor the Internet are becoming ever more repressive...

Liu Xiaobo's case shows harsh Chinese sentencing trend for freedom of expression
Date:07/01/2010 When Chinese democracy activist and author Liu Xiaobo was sentenced to 11 years in prison last week, many around the world appeared stunned by the length of his sentence and absence of due process rights...

Liu Xiaobo's case shows harsh Chinese sentencing trend for freedom of expression
Date:07/01/2010 When Chinese democracy activist and author Liu Xiaobo was sentenced to 11 years in prison last week, many around the world appeared stunned by the length of his sentence and absence of due process rights...

Liu Xiaobo's case shows harsh Chinese sentencing trend for freedom of expression
Date:07/01/2010 When Chinese democracy activist and author Liu Xiaobo was sentenced to 11 years in prison last week, many around the world appeared stunned by the length of his sentence and absence of due process rights...

Liu Xiaobo's case shows harsh Chinese sentencing trend for freedom of expression
Date:07/01/2010 When Chinese democracy activist and author Liu Xiaobo was sentenced to 11 years in prison last week, many around the world appeared stunned by the length of his sentence and absence of due process rights...

Philippines: Brutal Killing Undermines Freedom of Expression
Date:24/11/2009 At least 39 people were viciously killed when a convoy they were travelling in was attacked in the Philippines on 23 November...

China: Sham Trial of Veteran Human Rights Activist
Date:23/11/2009 The conviction of veteran human rights activist Huang Qi on state secrets charges on November 23, 2009, demonstrates the Chinese government's intent to use the judicial apparatus to crush whistleblowers without regard to minimum standards of fairness, Human Rights Watch said today...

Officials: Vietnam not blocking Facebook
Date:21/11/2009 HANOI, Vietnam, Nov...

Fiji strips licences from broadcasters
Date:20/11/2009 THE military-installed Fiji government has removed all broadcasting licences and given Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum the absolute power to renew or redistribute them without any compensation to those whose licences are stripped...

Group: Founder of Tibetan Web site gets 15 years
Date:16/11/2009 The founder of a Tibetan literary Web site was sentenced to 15 years in prison on charges of disclosing state secrets, an overseas monitoring group said Tuesday...

Iran moves to silence opposition with internet crime unit
Date:15/11/2009 Iran has moved to block the last remaining outlet of expression for the country's political opposition with the launch of a special force to police the internet...

Iran policing Net in new attack on opposition
Date:14/11/2009 Iran has deployed a special police unit to sweep websites for political material and prosecute those deemed to be spreading lies, Iranian media reported Saturday, in a step clearly aimed at choking off the embattled opposition’s last real means of keeping its campaign alive...

Editor who led independent journalism in China resigns
Date:10/11/2009 Independent journalism in China, never a robust phenomenon, has taken a body blow with the resignation from the country’s top investigative business magazine of its pioneering editor...

Singapore Ratchets Down Freedom Before Hosting APEC
Date:27/10/2009 Increasing pressure is being put on Falun Gong practitioners to stay away from certain public areas during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit, set to be held in Singapore next month...

Vietnam: Sharp Backsliding on Religious Freedom
Date:18/10/2009 The violent forced expulsion of more than 300 followers of the world-renowned Buddhist monk and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh from Bat Nha monastery in late September highlights the Vietnamese government's suppression of religious freedom, Human Rights Watch said today...

Group: Chinese democracy activist gets 10 years
Date:17/10/2009 The founder of a Chinese group that challenged Communist rule with a call for multiparty democracy has been sentenced to 10 years in prison, a human rights group said Saturday...

Vietnamese Democracy Activists On Trial For Patriotism
Date:07/10/2009 Nine democracy activists will be tried in Vietnam this week for “propaganda against the socialist state...

Cambodia Criticized for Curtailing Freedom of Expression
Date:24/09/2009 Cambodia has been accused of silencing critics with lawsuits, jail time, and assassinations...

Philippines: Supreme Court moves trial in Philippine attack
Date:24/09/2009 'The Committee to Protect Journalists applauds a Philippine Supreme Court decision to grant a change of venue in the trial of a defendant in the attempted murder of radio journalist Nilo Labares, who was shot and injured in Cagayan de Oro City in March...

China: National Day triggers censorship, cyber attacks in China
Date:23/09/2009 The Chinese government should stop censoring Web sites and protect Internet users from cyber attacks in advance of upcoming National Day celebrations, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today...

Iran: CPJ asks Iran to release imprisoned journalists
Date:23/09/2009 'Dear Mr...

Iran: Government still targeting journalists employed by foreign media
Date:23/09/2009 Reporters Without Borders is outraged that the Iranian judicial authorities are continuing to hold journalists employed by foreign news media including, Maziar Bahari, the correspondent of the US news magazine Newsweek, arrested exactly three months ago, and Fariba Pajooh, a stringer for Radio France Internationale and other media, who today begins her second month in detention...

Burma: Two journalists released, 12 still languish in Burma’s jails
Date:23/09/2009 The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release of two journalists as part of a mass amnesty in Burma, but calls upon the military-run government to release the other 12 reporters it still holds in detention...

Cambodia: ARTICLE 19 Analyses Draft Penal Code
Date:21/09/2009 ARTICLE 19 has produced a Comment analysing the draft Cambodian Penal Code provisions affecting freedom of expression...

China: Is China imposing more powerful version of Green Dam, called Blue Shield?
Date:21/09/2009 'Reporters Without Borders is very worried about reports that Internet Service Providers in the southern province of Guangdong have installed a new filtering software called Landun (Blue Shield or Blue Dam in English) that is more powerful that its problematic predecessor Green Dam...

Iran: Act V of Tehran judicial travesty
Date:21/09/2009 'The prosecution again put the media at the centre of its case during the fifth hearing before a Tehran revolutionary court on 14 September in the mass trial of opponents of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s reelection, this time going so far as to accuse Facebook and YouTube of waging a psychological war against Iran...

Iran: Bloggers demonised and persecuted
Date:21/09/2009 In addition to the political trials and arrests of hundreds of government opponents, repression in Iran is concentrating on Internet users...

Burma: Three journalists released under junta’s amnesty
Date:21/09/2009 “I am happy to be free and I am going to continue working as a journalist, ” Eint Khaing Oo said as she was freed today from Insein prison, near Rangoon under an amnesty announced by the military government for nearly 7, 000 detainees...

Pakistan: Afghan journalist’s murder in Pakistan must not go unpunished
Date:21/09/2009 Afghan journalist Jaah Hashimzada’s murder on 24 August in Jamrud, in northwestern Pakistan, has sown terror and disarray...

Pakistan: Afghan journalist’s murder in Pakistan must not go unpunished
Date:21/09/2009 Afghan journalist Jaah Hashimzada’s murder on 24 August in Jamrud, in northwestern Pakistan, has sown terror and disarray...

South Korea: Secretary General of World Uighur Congress denied entry to South Korea
Date:21/09/2009 The South Korean authorities should immediately release Dolkun Isa, Secretary General of the World Uighur Congress, unless he is to be charged with an internationally recognized criminal offence, Amnesty International said on Thursday...

South Korea: South Korea releases Secretary General of the World Uighur Congress
Date:21/09/2009 'Amnesty International on Friday welcomed the release of the Secretary General of the World Uighur Congress, following his detention at Incheon International airport in Seoul, South Korea but said the authorities should not have denied him entry to the country...

Iran: Act V of Tehran judicial travesty
Date:17/09/2009 'The prosecution again put the media at the centre of its case during the fifth hearing before a Tehran revolutionary court on 14 September in the mass trial of opponents of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s reelection, this time going so far as to accuse Facebook and YouTube of waging a psychological war against Iran...

Afghanistan: ARTICLE 19 Calls for Investigation into Journalist’s Death
Date:16/09/2009 ARTICLE 19 calls for an immediate investigation into the death of Afghan journalist Sultan Munadi...

Thailand: Radio host forced to resign for interviewing exiled former premier
Date:16/09/2009 Reporters Without Borders is today publishing Thai radio show host Jom Petpradab’s account of the harassment to which he was subjected after interviewing former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who lives in exile in Dubai...

Afghanistan: Afghan journalists call for justice in Munadi's death
Date:15/09/2009 A large group of Afghan journalists met on Sunday in Kabul...

China: CPJ testifies on China's media controls
Date:11/09/2009 Madeline Earp...

Iran: CPJ calls for humanitarian release as Ramadan ends
Date:11/09/2009 As the end of Muslim holy month of Ramadan approaches, Maziar Bahari, a Canadian-Iranian national, continues to be held in an Iranian jail under deplorable conditions...

Afghanistan: Amid woes, Kambakhsh release a moment to celebrate
Date:09/09/2009 'We received great news that Parwez Kambakhsh, a 24-year-old Afghan journalist and student who was unjustly convicted of blasphemy and serving a 20-year term, was released from prison...

Afghanistan: Sayed Perwiz Kambakhsh is freed and goes abroad
Date:09/09/2009 Reporters Without Borders is deeply relieved to learn that Sayed Perwiz Kambakhsh, the young journalist who was sentenced to death and then to 20 years in prison for downloading an article about the rights of women in Islam, was secretly pardoned and released several weeks ago and left the country for fear of reprisals...

China: Crackdown on lawyers and legal activists
Date:09/09/2009 'In a report released today, Amnesty documents an alarming escalation of the crackdown on lawyers and legal activists who have accepted the risk of human rights cases in China...

China: Physical attacks and harassment of journalists in Xinjiang and Guangdong
Date:09/09/2009 At least four journalists have been physically attacked by security guards or police in the past eight days in China...

Iran: Iranian journalist arrested, others summoned
Date:09/09/2009 'Iranian authorities arrested one journalist today while security forces summoned at least 15 who were among the signatories of a recent petition demanding the release of detained journalists, local press reported...

Afghanistan: Amid concerns of fraud, UN envoy calls for ensuring integrity of Afghan polls
Date:08/09/2009 'The top United Nations envoy to Afghanistan today called on national election authorities to ensure the integrity of last month’s presidential and provincial council elections, in light of concerns that have arisen over irregularities in voting...

Afghanistan: Amid concerns of fraud, UN envoy calls for ensuring integrity of Afghan polls
Date:08/09/2009 The top United Nations envoy to Afghanistan today called on national election authorities to ensure the integrity of last month’s presidential and provincial council elections, in light of concerns that have arisen over irregularities in voting...

Afghanistan: Sayed Perwiz Kambakhsh is freed and goes abroad
Date:08/09/2009 Reporters Without Borders is deeply relieved to learn that Sayed Perwiz Kambakhsh, the young journalist who was sentenced to death and then to 20 years in prison for downloading an article about the rights of women in Islam, was secretly pardoned and released several weeks ago and left the country for fear of reprisals...

Iran: One blogger arrested, another made to confess in blog from prison
Date:08/09/2009 'Reporters Without Borders calls for the release Ali Asguar Jamali, a blogger and doctor based in the northern city of Qasvin who has been arrested along with other activists for “inciting actions against national security including protests and insults against government officials by means of publications and meeting, ” the news agency Fars reported on 2 September...

Iran:ARTICLE 19 Urges Human Rights Council to Address Free Expression
Date:04/09/2009 ARTICLE 19 has provided a Submission to the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) raising serious concerns about the failure of the Islamic Republic of Iran to respect and promote freedom of expression in that country...

Vietnam: Vietnam cracks down on bloggers and online journalists
Date:04/09/2009 The Committee to Protect Journalists strongly condemns the recent harassment and arrests of online journalists and political bloggers in Vietnam...

North Korea: Lee and Ling: 'Instinctively, we ran.'
Date:03/09/2009 Current TV journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee were arrested by North Korean police on March 17 for allegedly entering the country illegally and carrying out hostile acts...

Burma: Military censors close Rangoon-based weekly for good
Date:02/09/2009 Reporters Without Borders and the Burma Media Association condemn the indefinite closure of the Rangoon-based weekly Phoenix by the military government’s censorship board on 21 August...

Sri Lanka: CPJ award goes to jailed Sri Lankan journalist
Date:01/09/2009 'New York, August 31, 2009--The Committee to Protect Journalists announced today that it will honor imprisoned Sri Lankan journalist J...

Sri Lanka: Tamil journalist gets “shameful” 20-year sentence on terrorism charges
Date:01/09/2009 Reporters Without Borders is appalled by the “shameful” 20-year jail sentence which a Colombo high court passed today on journalist J...

Philippines: Philippine murder case granted change of venue
Date:01/09/2009 A Supreme Court decision to allow a change of venue in the trial of three suspects accused of murdering journalist Dennis Cuesta, at left, in August 2008 sets a hopeful precedent in the fight against impunity in media killings in the Philippines...

Vietnam: Newspaper dismisses reporter over blog entry critical of Soviet Union
Date:01/09/2009 Reporters Without Borders condemns reporter Huy Duc’s dismissal by the governmental daily Sai Gon Tiep Thi on 25 August for posting criticism of the Cold War-era Soviet Union on his personal blog...

Thailand: Thai court jails Thaksin supporter for royal insult
Date:28/08/2009 A Thai court on Friday sentenced a political campaigner to 18 years in prison for insulting the monarchy, the latest in a slew of lese-majeste cases critics say are stifling dissent and freedom of speech...

Iran: Iran charges journalists with 'lying'
Date:27/08/2009 The fourth session of the mass trial of more than 100 opposition figures, including journalists, took place in Tehran today...

Nepal: Increase in physical attacks on journalists and news media in August
Date:27/08/2009 Reporters Without Borders is alarmed by a recent increase in press freedom violations, including the torching of thousands of newspapers and physical attacks on journalists by demonstrators, officials and police...

Pakistan: “Extreme military pressure” forces closure of daily
Date:27/08/2009 Reporters Without Borders said today it was shocked by the closure of Pakistani Urdu-languge daily Asaap...

India: A Major Indian Artist Offends Hindus, and Galleries Turn Fearfu
Date:26/08/2009 In the heady celebration of the boom in India's contemporary art market in recent years, an iconic artist has been conspicuous by his absence...

Sri Lanka: ARTICLE 19 Strongly Condemns Death Threat Against Human Rights Activist
Date:26/08/2009 'On 20 August 2009, Dr Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, a human rights activist and Executive Director of the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA), a leading Sri Lankan think-tank and democracy NGO, as well as a long-standing ARTICLE 19 partner, received an anonymous death threat by post at his residence in Colombo...

Afghanistan: Afghan journalist killed in Pakistan
Date:26/08/2009 New York, August 24, 2009--Authorities in Pakistan's northwest tribal regions must immediately investigate today's murder of Afghan journalist Jaah Hashimzada, the Committee to Protect Journalists said...

Afghanistan: Afghan journalist killed in Pakistan
Date:26/08/2009 Authorities in Pakistan's northwest tribal regions must immediately investigate today's murder of Afghan journalist Jaah Hashimzada, the Committee to Protect Journalists said...

Afghanistan: Afghanistan's Sham Vote
Date:26/08/2009 'The dust had barely settled on the Afghan elections before the U...

Afghanistan: Wide Fraud Is Charged as Afghans Tally Votes
Date:26/08/2009 KABUL, Afghanistan ; The preliminary results from Afghanistan’s election gave both President Hamid Karzai and his chief rival, Abdullah Abdullah, nearly 40 percent of the vote on Tuesday as accumulating charges of widespread fraud cast new doubts on the credibility of the election...

Sri Lanka: ARTICLE 19 Strongly Condemns Death Threat Against Human Rights Activist
Date:25/08/2009 On 20 August 2009, Dr Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, a human rights activist and Executive Director of the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA), a leading Sri Lankan think-tank and democracy NGO, as well as a long-standing ARTICLE 19 partner, received an anonymous death threat by post at his residence in Colombo...

India: Opposition party bans book by dissident member
Date:24/08/2009 Reporters Without Borders is alarmed to learn that a new book that pays tribute to Pakistan’s founder, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, and criticises Vallabhbhai Patel, a politician widely regarded as the architect of modern India, has been banned in the western state of Gujarat, which is governed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), India’s main opposition party...

Afghanistan: Afghan journalists debate election restrictions
Date:24/08/2009 'CPJ spoke with three Kabul-based journalists to learn how they and their colleagues around the country responded to the government's request to mute coverage of violence during polling hours today...

Afghanistan: Afghan police beat, detain journalists during election
Date:24/08/2009 Security forces obstructed, assaulted, and detained Afghan and foreign journalists in Kabul and elsewhere in Afghanistan today, enforcing an official gag order on news of violent incidents during the presidential election...

Afghanistan: Government restricts media coverage on election day
Date:21/08/2009 The instructions which the government issued to the media yesterday forbidding them to cover Taliban violence during tomorrow’s presidential election send a very bad signal, Reporters Without Borders said today...

China: Well-known human rights blogger placed under house arrest in Beijing
Date:21/08/2009 Reporters Without Borders was relieved to learn in a telephone interview with Mo Zhixu today that his house arrest has been lifted...

China: China's Green Dam finally cracks
Date:18/08/2009 The Chinese government backed away on Thursday from its attempt to mandate censorship software, Green Dam and Youth Escort, on personal computers, a move that was previously delayed...

Iran: Reformist Newspaper Closed as Rape Allegations Reverberate through the Corridors of Power
Date:18/08/2009 ARTICLE 19 is concerned about reports that authorities have closed Etemad-e Melli, a leading reformist newspaper Iran...

Afghanistan: Afghanistan journalists caught between the government and the Taleban
Date:17/08/2009 Journalists in Afghanistan face increasing threats and attacks from both government officials and the Taleban in the run-up to the presidential elections on 20 August...

Afghanistan: State radio and TV broadcaster backs Hamid Karzai’s reelection campaign
Date:17/08/2009 The violence that threatens journalists working for Afghanistan’s news media has created a climate that does not favour free and impartial coverage of the 20 August crucial presidential election, now just one week away, Reporters Without Borders said today...

Iran: Details emerge about show trial detainees being denied their rights
Date:17/08/2009 'Reporters Without Borders reiterates its condemnation of the Stalin-style prosecutions and trials of critics of President Mahmoud Ahmadinedjad’s reelection that are taking place in Tehran...

Iran: Lawyers protest lack of access in Iran
Date:17/08/2009 'New York, August 14, 2009--In a letter addressed to the head of the Iranian judiciary, four defense lawyers protested that they were not allowed to attend the latest hearing, on August 8, in a mass trial in which more than 100 defendants, including journalists, stand accused of anti-state activities...

Afghanistan: UN: Violence hampering Afghan vote
Date:11/08/2009 Insecurity in significant portions of Afghanistan has hindered election preparations and disproportionately affected Afghan women, a report co-authored by the U...

Burma: Aung San Suu Kyi Gets 1.5 Years, Regime Removes Last Obstacle to Rigging 2010 Elections
Date:11/08/2009 ARTICLE 19 joins the chorus of international voices raised in protest today as the Burmese leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi was sentenced to one and a half years under house arrest...

Iran: In Iran, journalist association closed down, more arrested
Date:10/08/2009 'New York, August 6, 2009--Officials shut down the office of the Association of Iranian Journalists in Tehran on Wednesday night, just after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was sworn in for a second term, according to international news reports...

Philippines: Filipino journalists dying for freedom of expression
Date:10/08/2009 'Philippines, August 7, 2009 (Pal Telegraph)- Filipino journalists are paying too high a price for exercising their freedom of expression, the head of the United Nations agency tasked with promoting a free press said yesterday...

Burma: Launch of Simmering Under Ashes
Date:07/08/2009 'ARTICLE 19 is marking tomorrow’s anniversary of 8888 – the date that marks the violent suppression of demonstrators in Burma – by launching Simmering Under Ashes, a collection of essays, poems, stories and articles written by Burmese journalists, writers and ordinary people' To continue reading the article follow the above link...

Tibet: Four Tibetan writers jailed for criticising Chinese government
Date:05/08/2009 Reporters Without Borders is shocked to learn of the imprisonment of four Tibetan writers, which was reported yesterday by the Tibetan blogger Woeser and has been confirmed by other local blogs that have all subsequently been blocked (Aryatara, Ganglin, Sangge, Lmgo)...

North Korea: In Release of Journalists, Both Clintons Had Key Roles
Date:05/08/2009 Former President Bill Clinton left North Korea on Wednesday morning after a dramatic 20-hour visit, in which he won the freedom of two American journalists, opened a diplomatic channel to North Korea’s reclusive government and dined with the North’s ailing leader, Kim Jong-il...

North Korea: Bill Clinton in North Korea to Seek Release of U.S. Reporters
Date:04/08/2009 Former President Bill Clinton landed in North Korea on Tuesday to negotiate the release of two American television journalists sentenced to 12 years of hard labor for illegally entering North Korean territory, according to a person briefed on the mission...

Afghanistan: Letter asks presidential candidates to pledge to advance press freedom
Date:03/08/2009 Reporters Without Borders wrote today to Afghanistan’s leading presidential candidates – including Hamid Karzai, Abdullah Abdullah, Ashraf Ghani, Ramazan Bashardost and Sayed Jalal Karim – urging them to give a clear undertaking to ensure that press freedom becomes firmly rooted in the everyday life of Afghans...

Iran: Journalists face trial in Iran as arrests continue
Date:03/08/2009 After more than a month of detention, several journalists may face trial beginning on Saturday on charges of sending pictures to enemy media...

Thailand: Report on Defamation Law
Date:31/07/2009 ARTICLE 19 and the National Press Council of Thailand (NPCT) have jointly launched a Report, the Impact of Defamation Law on Freedom of Expression in Thailand...

Philippines: Radio journalist shot dead in Surigao del Sur
Date:28/07/2009 A radio broadcaster was shot dead early dawn today in the town of Barobo in Surigao del Sur...

South Korea: Opposition takes media law confrontation to streets ahead of court ruling
Date:28/07/2009 The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) was poised to take to the streets Tuesday to protest railroaded media law revisions, as their campaign to ify the legislation intensified with a legal battle...

Afghanistan: At Tolo and other Afghan media, pressure from all sides
Date:27/07/2009 With elections due on August 20, pressure is mounting on Afghan journalists, and it's coming from all sides...

China: China Considers State Secrets Law Revision
Date:27/07/2009 On June 22, 2009, a draft revision of China’s Law on Guarding State Secrets was given a first reading at the Ninth Session of the Standing Committee of the 11th National People’s Congress (NPC)...

China: China launches Arabic TV channel
Date:27/07/2009 China has launched a 24-hour Arabic-language television channel aimed at addressing distorted views of China in the Middle East and North Africa...

Iran: Protesters decry Iran detentions
Date:27/07/2009 Protesters have taken to the streets in several countries across the globe in support of opposition Iranian activists detained following last month's disputed presidential election...

Iran: Alarm at violent arrest of women's rights activist Shadi Sadr
Date:27/07/2009 Arrest fuels fear that wave of arrests is intensifying Amnesty International fears the wave of arrests of civil society activists in Iran is intensifying after the leading lawyer and women's human rights activist Shadi Sadr was violently arrested in Tehran this morning on her way to Friday prayers...

Iran: Iran government faces problem of 'legitimacy': EU presidency
Date:27/07/2009 Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said Tuesday that the Iranian government was suffering from problems of legitimacy among voters, following the controversial presidential elections last month...

Iran: US Senate targets Iran censorship
Date:27/07/2009 The US Senate has approved funds for measures to help Iran's opposition defeat curbs on news and Internet social networking sites it has used to organize since a disputed presidential vote...

Seoul Media Bills Pass After Brawl
Date:23/07/2009 The National Assembly passed three bills to modernize South Korea's media industry, including allowing companies to own both broadcast and print properties...

Talking about a revolution: Iran
Date:22/07/2009 Following the controversial re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, hundreds of thousands of protestors flocked to the streets of Tehran in a passionate bid to seek justice amidst allegations of voting irregularities...

Then they came for the lawyers: Sri Lanka
Date:22/07/2009 This is the latest post on the Sri Lankan Ministry of Defence website:Traitors in black coats flocked together?Leader Publications (Pvt) Ltd was given time to show cause and the case was heard 9 July 2009 at the Mt...

China: Bloggers contained by police for online content
Date:20/07/2009 The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) condemns actions by Chinese authorities to locate and detain bloggers and delete online content and debate concerning controversial issues...

Indonesia: IFJ welcomes court's rejection of libel case
Date:20/07/2009 The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) welcomes a decision by the South Jakarta Supreme Court to reject a libel suit against local newspaper Koran Tempo by Islamic Troop commander Munarman...

Indonesia: Libel sentence ignores press law, says press council
Date:20/07/2009 Indonesia's Press Council expressed dissatisfaction with the East Jakarta District Court's decision on 15 July 2009 convicting two businessmen of defaming a property giant due to a complaint letter they posted in several newspapers...

Iran: Rafsanjani condemns Iranian regime's handling of post-election unrest
Date:20/07/2009 One of Iran's most powerful clerics today attacked the Iranian government for its handling of protests and unrest that followed the disputed presidential election result...

Iran: Seven media workers, including Franco-Iranian cameraman, arrested
Date:20/07/2009 Reporters Without Borders is very concerned about a crackdown in recent days on photographers and cameramen...

Malaysia: Television host reasssigned following question on prime minister's ratings
Date:20/07/2009 The Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) notes with concern the action taken against a local television station host and producer for the program Point of View, Florence Looi, for having asked her guests to rate the performance of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak in his 100 days in office...

Pakistan: HRCP hits out at penalty to curtail SMS, email
Date:20/07/2009 The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has condemned the government’s move to use state power to prosecute certain kind of messaging through cellular phone networks and content on the websites...

Sri Lanka: Deteriorating press freedom continues post-conflict
Date:17/07/2009 Today the International Press Freedom Mission to Sri Lanka, of which ARTICLE 19 is a member, issued an open letter to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa expressing extreme concern over the deterioration of press freedom despite the military victory over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam...

Bangladesh: Right to Information Act comes into force
Date:17/07/2009 The International Press Institute welcomes the enactment on 1 July of Bangladesh's long-awaited Right to Information Act (2009), and the appointment, under Article 15(1) of the Act, of a three-member Information Commission, as an important step towards acknowledgment of the people's right to access information...

Cambodia: Harshest crackdown in years, says Human Rights Watch
Date:17/07/2009 The Cambodian government of Prime Minister Hun Sen should end its campaign of harassment, threats, and unwarranted legal action aimed at consolidating its rule by silencing the political opposition and peaceful critics, Human Rights Watch said today...

Iran: One hundred prominent journalists call for release of Maziar Bahari
Date:17/07/2009 More than 100 prominent journalists from 47 countries sent a petition to the Iranian government today calling for the immediate release of Maziar Bahari, Newsweek's Tehran correspondent, who has been held without charge in an Iranian jail since June 21...

New Zealand: PFF urges investigation into broadcaster's suspension
Date:17/07/2009 Regional media watchdog the Pacific Freedom Forum (PFF) is encouraging the management of New Zealand's flagship Pacific Islands radio station Niu FM 531pi to launch an independent investigation into the June suspension - and then reinstatement - of veteran Fiji journalist Bulou Amalaini Ligalevu...

India: Shocking police intimidation of journalists
Date:16/07/2009 The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is disturbed by reports that two journalists based in Srinagar, the capital of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, have been threatened with arrest for their reporting on what is believed to be a recent case of murder...

Afghanistan: Jounalist kidnapped, IFJ concerned that dangers faced by journalists may escalate leading up to August elections
Date:16/07/2009 Dangers for Journalists Rise as Afghan Elections Approach The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is concerned that the dangers faced by Afghan journalists may be escalating rapidly as Afghanistan prepares for nation-wide elections on August 20...

Iran: Forty-one journalists in prison after a month of unrest
Date:16/07/2009 Reporters Without Borders has expressed great concern over the growing repression of journalists and cyber-dissidents in Iran after a month of post-election protests and called for them all to be freed at once...

Iran: Protests against election results or the entire establishment?
Date:16/07/2009 Particularly in the final days of campaigning, the real race was clearly one that would be a choice between President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi...

Sri Lanka: Website blocking condemned
Date:15/07/2009 International media watchdogs have condemned the blocking of another Sri Lankan news website by the authorities...

Iran: Arrests continue, one journalist released
Date:15/07/2009 Reporters Without Borders condemns the arrest of Mohamed Ali Dadkhah, a lawyer who represents many journalists and cyber-dissidents and who, together with Nobel peace laureate Shirin Ebadi, helped to set up the Human Rights Defenders Centre...

Pakistan: More journalists' homes destroyed, damaged in ongoing conflict
Date:15/07/2009 The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is extremely concerned by acts of violence and intimidation targeting journalists in Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province, after the family homes of two journalists were bombed by militant insurgents...

Pakistan: Taliban militants blow up journalist's house in Buner district
Date:15/07/2009 The home of Rahman Buneri, a correspondent for Voice of America's (VOA) Pashto-language service, Deewa Radio, was blown up on 9 July 2009 by the Pakistani Taliban in the militancy plagued Buner district of Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province (NWFP)...

China: Academic arrested following publication of online article
Date:13/07/2009 The Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN is seriously concerned about the detention of Uyghur writer, academic and member of the Uyghur PEN Centre, Iham Tohti, who was reportedly arrested in Beijing on 6 July 2009...

China: CPJ condemns harassment of journalists, censorship in Urumqi
Date:13/07/2009 China must allow free reporting and Internet in Urumqi Authorities in northwestern Xinjiang should stop the harassment of journalists reporting on ethnic rioting and restore Internet access in the regional capital, Urumqi, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today...

Iran: Iranian government must allow peaceful commemorations of 18 Tir events
Date:13/07/2009 'Thursday marks the tenth anniversary of the brutal suppression of student-led protests by security forces in Iran, which resulted in the death of at least one student and the torture and ill-treatment of others...

Iran: Iranian government must allow peaceful commemorations of 18 Tir events
Date:13/07/2009 'Thursday marks the tenth anniversary of the brutal suppression of student-led protests by security forces in Iran, which resulted in the death of at least one student and the torture and ill-treatment of others...

Iran: Iranian government must allow peaceful commemorations of 18 Tir events
Date:13/07/2009 Thursday marks the tenth anniversary of the brutal suppression of student-led protests by security forces in Iran, which resulted in the death of at least one student and the torture and ill-treatment of others...

Afghanistan: What gains for press freedom from Hamid Karzai's seven years as President?
Date:09/07/2009 The reign of the Taliban from 1996 to 2001 was a dark period in Afghanistan’s history...

Iran: Correspondent's confession posted by news agency; photographer released
Date:09/07/2009 'New York, June 30, 2009 - The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on the Iranian authorities to immediately release all jailed journalists and to stop vilifying the foreign press...

Iran: Correspondent's confession posted by news agency; photographer released
Date:09/07/2009 'New York, June 30, 2009 - The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on the Iranian authorities to immediately release all jailed journalists and to stop vilifying the foreign press...

Iran: Correspondent's confession posted by news agency; photographer released
Date:09/07/2009 The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on the Iranian authorities to immediately release all jailed journalists and to stop vilifying the foreign press...

Iran: French student held because of photographs and e-mails
Date:09/07/2009 Reporters Without Borders is very worried by French graduate student Clotilde Reiss's arrest at Tehran airport as she was about to leave the country on 1 July 2009...

Nepal: Journalists leave their district after receiving death threats
Date:09/07/2009 Labadev Dhungana, the former district president of the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) in Panchthar, and Kumar Ojha, an FNJ member, have been displaced from the Panchthar district due to death threats issued by members of the Unified CPN Maoists party...

India: Gay Pride (in the name of love)
Date:06/07/2009 ' Rituparno Ghosh director: I’m a bit surprised at this sudden awakening...

India: India's ruling against 'Sodomy' laws is first step to equality
Date:06/07/2009 'The historic decision by the high court in Delhi on Thursday to decriminalize homosexuality, has been welcomed by Amnesty International...

Iran: CPJ relieved by release of journalist in Iran
Date:06/07/2009 In response to reports that Iason Athanasiadis, a journalist detained in Iran since June 17, was released today we issued the following statement...

Iran: UNESCO chief backs G8 call on Iran to respect human rights
Date:06/07/2009 The head of the United Nations agency tasked with upholding freedom of expression and press freedom today voiced his strong support for the recent call issued by the foreign ministers of the Group of Eight (G8) nations on Iran to respect fundamental human rights...

Middle Israel: Iran's upheaval in context
Date:06/07/2009 The upheaval in Iran may have ended and, conversely, it may have hardly begun, but from what we have seen so far, several mostly somber conclusions already arise...

Sri Lanka: Government revives harsh press law
Date:03/07/2009 Reactivation of Discredited Press Council Law a Step Backward for Sri Lanka The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins its affiliate organisations in Sri Lanka - the Free Media Movement, the Sri Lanka Working Journalists' Association and the Federation of Media Employees' Trade Unions - in strongly condemning the Sri Lankan Government’s decision to revive the Press Council that was established by an act of parliament in 1973...

Cambodia: Tried in absentia, Cambodian journalist immediately arrested, sent to prison
Date:03/07/2009 The editor-in-chief of the The Khmer Machas Srok newspaper, who had been fined and sentenced to a year's imprisonment, was arrested on the same day by the police and sent to the Prey Sar prison, near Phnom Penh, Cambodia, media reports said...

Iran: Arbitrary arrest/Fear of torture
Date:03/07/2009 At least 13 journalists are among scores of people arrested in their homes or offices since the disputed Iranian Presidential election on 12 June...

Burma: Make Ban's visit meaningful
Date:03/07/2009 United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon during his trip to Burma should press the ruling generals to publicly commit to the release of all political prisoners and to engage in a dialogue with the opposition that leads to genuine political reforms, Human Rights Watch said today...

Philippines: Radio broadcaster shot dead
Date:03/07/2009 The International Federation of Journalists urges immediate police investigation into the motive behind the fatal shooting of radio broadcaster Jonathan Fetalvero in Agusan del Sur province in the Philippines' troubled island of Mindanao...

Philippines: Radio journalist murdered, fourth this year
Date:01/07/2009 Reporters Without Borders is outraged by the fatal shooting of radio presenter Jonathan Petalvero in a restaurant in Bayugan, in the southern province of Agusan del Sur...

Sri Lanka: Nearly 400 journalists exiled since 2001, says CPJ
Date:30/06/2009 Sri Lankan journalist Upali Tennakoon paid a heavy price for producing critical coverage of the government offensive against Tamil rebels this year...

Cambodia: Newspaper editor jailed under law bequeathed by UN
Date:30/06/2009 Reporters Without Borders calls for the release of Hang Chakra, the editor of the daily Khmer Machas Srok (http:// kmsblog...

China: Leading free speech activist could get five years in prison
Date:30/06/2009 Reporters Without Borders condemns the subversion charge that was brought yesterday against Liu Xiaobo , a leading intellectual and free speech activitist who has been held without trial in an unknown location since 8 December...

China: Dissident and literary scholar Liu Xiaobo formally arrested
Date:29/06/2009 Amnesty International condemns the formal arrest of prominent scholar and activist Liu Xiaobo on suspicion of “inciting subversion of state power” on 23 June...

China: Europe Asks for Software Delay
Date:29/06/2009 The European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union, called on China to postpone its requirement that computers be sold with Internet filters starting July 1...

Civil society groups slam government's harsh suppression of freedom of expression
Date:29/06/2009 Several civil society groups in Cambodia expressed concern at what they claim is 'the perilous state of freedom of expression'; in the country...

Sri Lanka: Rajapaksa rules the media
Date:25/06/2009 The reintroduction of the government-run press council is another marker of the decline of Sri Lanka’s democracy, says Uvindu Kurukulasuriya</p> “Four hostile newspapers are more to be feared than a thousand bayonets” ;Napoleon Bonaparte</p> The guns are now silent in Sri Lanka...

Iranian newspaper raided, employees detained
Date:24/06/2009 Iranian security agents arrested about 25 employees of Kalameh Sabz, the reformist newspaper owned by presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi, after raiding the paper's offices on Monday evening, according to local and international news reports...

Iran: At least 13 jailed as crackdown enters second week
Date:23/06/2009 The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Iranian authorities to release all journalists detained in the aftermath of the disputed presidential election and to lift the onerous press restrictions that are choking information at a time when the country and the world most need it...

NUJP Davao: “Nograles has unmasked himself as a bully”
Date:19/06/2009 “Speaker Prospero Nograles has unmasked himself as a bully, one with no qualms about brandishing the power of his high office to threaten journalists going about their jobs with libel suits and the passage of the unconstitutional Right of Reply Bill, ” the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) Davao City chapter said...

Thai court dismisses Tesco libel case against former MP
Date:19/06/2009 Thai court has dismissed a law suit filed by Tesco against a former MP, Jit Siratranont, for making comments that the supermarket giant's expansion was at the expense of small retailers...

Special Report: Journalists in Exile 2009
Date:17/06/2009 Sri Lankan journalists flee under severe pressure in the past year...

CAMBODIA: Judicial independence is the key to reducing defamation lawsuits against critics and upholding freedom of expression
Date:17/06/2009 Prime Minister Hun Sen is utilising much of the country’s electronic media to assert his leadership of the country and send out messages to his people through his public speeches at different functions...

Iran bars foreign media from reporting on protests
Date:17/06/2009 The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the Iranian government's decision to bar foreign journalists from leaving their offices to report, film, or take photographs--a restriction intended to prevent news coverage of protests over the disputed presidential election...

Iran's Revolutionary Guards issue warning to media
Date:17/06/2009 Iran's most powerful military force is warning online media of a crackdown over their coverage of the country's election crisis...

Maldives: Stop Prosecuting Criminal Defamation Cases
Date:17/06/2009 The first criminal case in many years began hearings at the Criminal Court in the Maldives yesterday...

Iranian authorities crack down on media
Date:16/06/2009 The Committee to Protect Journalists called today for an end to the Iranian authorities' ongoing crackdown on media following the disputed re-election of incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad...

Sri Lanka Press Council born again
Date:15/06/2009 Sri Lanka Press Council, which was inactive for the last seven years, has reborn...

Sri Lankan government comments on investigations into journalists' complaints
Date:15/06/2009 The Sri Lanka government today said they have received 50 complaints from journalists over matters ranging from threats to murder...

Seeing red over green: China to install censorship software
Date:15/06/2009 China's announcement that personal computers sold from July 1 must carry Internet-filtering software pre-installed by the manufacturer should be a flashing red light to journalists and defenders of free expression online...

Fiji: PFF warns global media conference to watch out for government interference
Date:15/06/2009 Regional media freedom organization, the Pacific Freedom Forum, has warned the Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD) to keep its agenda free from interference by Fiji's military regime in the lead-up to its July 2009 conference...

Iran: Escalation of Attacks and Censorship After Elections
Date:15/06/2009 ARTICLE 19 calls on the Islamic Republic of Iran immediately to unblock Iranians’ access to international media, to lift bans on local newspapers and websites, and to stop harassing Iranian and foreign journalists in the wake of last Friday’s presidential elections...

Vietnamese media advocate arrested for sedition, spreading propaganda against government
Date:15/06/2009 Vietnamese lawyer and media advocate Le Cong Dinh was arrested by the police in his home in Ho Chi Minh City on 13 June 2009, SEAPA sources said...

Nepal: Television team assaulted; Maoist supporters set fire to copies of daily
Date:12/06/2009 On the morning of 11 June 2009, at approximately 9:00 a...

Cambodia: Civil society groups slam Cambodian government's harsh suppression of freedom of expression
Date:11/06/2009 Several civil society groups in Cambodia expressed concern at what they claim as the perilous state of freedom of expression in the country...

Philippine broadcast journalist shot dead
Date:10/06/2009 Police in Mindoro Occidental province should immediately investigate the shooting murder of Philippine radio commentator Crispin Perez for possible links to his reporting, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today...

Afghanistan's war on books
Date:09/06/2009 The Afghan government last week threw tens of thousands of books into the Helmand river, in the south of the country...

North Korea sentences U.S. journalists to 12 years
Date:08/06/2009 We released this statement today after a North Korean court found U...

CHINA: Tiananmen: It's raining censorship
Date:05/06/2009 It's hot in Beijing this time of year...

Philippines: Media groups oppose right of reply bill
Date:05/06/2009 Print and broadcast journalists together with other media groups on Thursday came out to air their strong opposition to the right of reply bill, which is being deliberated in Congress...

Philippine journalist killed in crossfire
Date:04/06/2009 The Committee to Protect Journalists offered condolences today to the family and colleagues of Philippine journalist Jojo Trajano, who was killed in crossfire during a police raid of an alleged organized crime den near Manila...

SRI LANKA: More journalists harassed
Date:03/06/2009 The investigation into the assault on journalist Poddala Jayantha took a new turn when the police arrested and interrogated another journalist who provided the initial information about Mr...

China: High security on Tiananmen Square
Date:03/06/2009 China has boosted security in Beijing's Tiananmen Square, ahead of Thursday's anniversary of the killings in 1989...

China cracks down on Twitter, other social media
Date:03/06/2009 Chinese authorities shut down blogs, Internet forums, and social media sites such as Twitter in an apparent attempt to stem online political discussion ahead of Thursday's 20th anniversary of the bloody crackdown on 1989's Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests...

Malaysia: CIJ now a member of IFEX
Date:03/06/2009 CIJ is accepted as member of the International Freedom of eXpression Exchange (IFEX), an international network of freedom of expression advocates...

PHILIPPINES: List of targets exposes activists to abduction, killing
Date:03/06/2009 When the 67-page PowerPoint presentation containing the list of 105 names of persons, including lawyers, union leaders, religious leaders, human rights and political activists, appeared in public after having been reportedly leaked by a military source, what immediately came to mind was that the reaction and implications were reminiscent of the recent past: victims and their organisation being exposed as targets of abductions and killings...

Bhutan: ‘Too early to say Bhutan has press freedom’
Date:01/06/2009 A Bhutanese journalist working with a weekly newspaper published from Thimphu said it would be too early to say that Bhutan has press freedom even after the country adopted constitution and changed its politics from absolute monarchy to parliamentary democracy last year...

Indonesian housewife arrested over online consumer complaint
Date:01/06/2009 An Indonesian woman was arrested on 13 May 2009 for allegedly circulating online defamatory statements against a hospital in Banten province, Indonesia...

Iran: Opposition Presidential Candidates Blocked from Equitable Access to the Media
Date:01/06/2009 ARTICLE 19 is concerned that opposition candidates, contesting Iran’s presidential election on 12 June 2009, are being hampered in their campaigning by the Government’s intermittent blocking of social networking sites and closure of independent newspapers...

Burmese censor board suspends one issue of weekly journal
Date:01/06/2009 The Ministry of Information’s censor board suspended this week’s issue of the Phoenix Journal after it published several censored news articles...

Nepal: New Government Must Safeguard Freedom of Expression
Date:01/06/2009 ARTICLE 19, along with the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) and Freedom Forum (FF), congratulate Madhav Kumar Nepal on his election as Prime Minister of Nepal...

Sri Lanka: IBAHRI recommends protections for a justice system, legal profession and media in peril
Date:29/05/2009 Sri Lanka’s justice system, legal profession and media are all under grave threat, concludes a report published today by the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI)...

Sri Lanka: Journalists trying to cover fate of Tamils are threatened, obstructed
Date:29/05/2009 Reporters Without Borders is extremely worried by statements by Sri Lankan officials, including army commander Gen...

Philippine court denies motion for reconsideration by alleged masterminds behind Esperat slay
Date:27/05/2009 The Philippine press gained another victory in its fight against impunity after a local court in Sultan Kudarat affirmed its earlier denial of the motion to dismiss the case against the alleged masterminds in the killing of journalist Marlene Esperat...

Philippines: A journalist on army target list, another shot, possibly by soldier
Date:22/05/2009 Reporters Without Borders is alarmed to learn that a journalist and two human rights groups were on an armed forces “order of battle” list of surveillance targets in the south of Mindanao Island in 2007 because of their alleged links to the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, the New People’s Army...

Bangladesh: Government’s Vision for Digital Bangladesh Must Include Community Radios
Date:20/05/2009 As part of its vision for Digital Bangladesh, the Government of Bangladesh has committed to issuing licenses for community radio stations...

Malaysia: Selangor to enact Freedom of Info law
Date:20/05/2009 Selangor will be the first state to table a Freedom of Information (FOI) Enactment bill in its legislative assembly by the end of this year...

Iran: Pro-reform daily closed one day after bringing out first issue in five years
Date:19/05/2009 Reporters Without Borders condemns the pro-reform daily Yas-e-no’s closure on 16 May, immediately after it brought out its first issue in five years...

Burma: Growing restrictions on free flow of information
Date:18/05/2009 Reporters Without Borders condemns a new wave of obstacles that Burma’s military government has imposed on Internet usage as well as its expulsion of two American journalism teachers on 6 May...

Thai government wants prior restraint on community radio programs and satellite, cable TV stations
Date:15/05/2009 The Thai government announced on 14 May 2009 its plan to regulate the program content of radio stations and satellite TV stations in the country, media reports said...

EAST TIMOR: Journalists Hold Out For Better Media Laws
Date:15/05/2009 Journalists in East Timor are anxiously waiting for a set of media laws to be revised after a negative reaction to a draft that was circulated in March...

Indonesian central bank guard attacks TV journalist to prevent news coverage
Date:13/05/2009 A building security officer of the Bank Indonesia (BI) attacked a TV journalist in Jakarta on 13 May...

Title Too Long
Date:13/05/2009 The AWARE saga has demonstrated how important it is to stand up for our ideals...

Fiji: Government arrests two journalists in another “warning shot” for press freedom
Date:12/05/2009 Reporters Without Borders condemns the arrests of two journalists, Shelvin Chand and Dionisia Turaganbeci, under emergency regulations for writing a negative article about Commodore Frank Bainimarama's military government for the FijiLive news website...

Sri Lanka throws out three Channel 4 journalists
Date:11/05/2009 Asia correspondent Nick Paton Walsh deported after report on deaths, food shortages and sexual abuse at refugee camp Sri Lanka deported three journalists from Channel 4 television today, a day after they were arrested for alleged false reporting on the civil war...

Vietnam: ARTICLE 19 Assists with Drafting Freedom of Information Law
Date:11/05/2009 ARTICLE 19 has been working with the Vietnamese Ministry of Justice, which is drafting a right to information law, to help ensure that the draft is as consistent as possible with international standards and best national practice...

Sri Lanka: Parliamentarian threatens online journalists
Date:08/05/2009 Reporters Without Borders is concerned about the telephone threats that have been made against reporter Santha Wijesuirya of the Lankaenews website and his editor, Bennet Rupasingha, by parliamentarian Wimal Weerawansa, the leader of the National Freedom Front...

Malaysian government's crackdown on free expression alarms media group
Date:08/05/2009 CIJ raises concern over possible clampdown on anti-government expression The Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) is deeply worried that the new administration under Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has begun a swoop of those publicly opposed to the takeover of the northern state of Perak by the ruling Federal government Barisan Nasional...

Indonesia: Press Freedom Victim of Defamation Law’s ‘Inverted Logic, ’ Journalists Say
Date:07/05/2009 In what has been labelled a major blow to freedom of expression, the Constitutional Court on Tuesday rejected a request for judicial review filed by a group of bloggers and media rights advocates against articles in the Electronic Information and Transaction Law that allow the filing of defamation charges in cases involving electronically transmitted or distributed information...

Malaysia: Government Crackdown on Freedom of Expression
Date:07/05/2009 Amnesty International calls on the Malaysian authorities to release five government critics arrested in the last two days, or charge them with recognizable criminal offences...

Iran court to hear U.S.-born reporter's appeal
Date:06/05/2009 An Iranian court will hold a hearing next week on the appeal of Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi against her eight-year jail sentence for espionage, the judiciary said Tuesday...

Bangladesh: ARTICLE 19 Launches Right to Information Handbook
Date:05/05/2009 ARTICLE 19 has launched a handbook on the 2009 Right to Information Act on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, 3 May 2009...

CAMBODIA: Why should an MP defamation plaintiff be sued and have her immunity suspended?
Date:01/05/2009 At a news conference on 23 April 2009, Ms Mu Sohua, Member of Parliament (MP) for the opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP), flanked by her lawyer, announced that she was going to file a defamation lawsuit against Prime Minister Hun Sen...

Briefing: Pakistani journalists face Taliban, military threats
Date:01/05/2009 Journalists in Pakistan have come under rapidly escalating pressure as the military confronts Taliban militants in the northwest region of the country...

Indonesia: Rioting Indonesian soldiers attack journalists, confiscate equipment
Date:30/04/2009 Several Indonesian journalists are in danger in Jayapura in Papua province after hundreds of soldiers in the area rioted on 29 April...

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Thailand: Censorship lifted on some websites
Date:28/04/2009 The information and communication ministry asked Internet Service Providers on 24 April to lift the censorship on 72 news websites operated by the government's Red Shirt opponents...

Sri Lanka: Reporters Without Borders welcomes release of N. Vithyatharan
Date:27/04/2009 Reporters Without Borders welcomed the release of editor of the Tamil daily Sudar Oli, N...

Burmese junta censors story on arrest of murder suspect
Date:27/04/2009 Local weekly journals in Rangoon said they have been prohibited from publishing follow-up news on a murder case in Botahtaung Township...

North Korea will try American journalists
Date:27/04/2009 The Committee to Protect Journalists expressed concern today after North Korea announced that it would try American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee on unspecified criminal charges, according to international news reports...

Thai government moves to suppress media
Date:24/04/2009 Following the anti-government protests, the Thai government has begun to crack down on the opposition media...

Afghanistan: Emroz channel presenter freed on bail after being held because of complaint by Iran
Date:22/04/2009 Reporters Without Borders welcomes TV reporter and presenter Fahim Kohdamani's release on 19 April after a four weeks of detention in Kabul and calls for the withdrawal of the defamation and insult charges still pending against him, especially as the organisation has obtained a letter ( attached) proving that his arrest was the result of a complaint by Iranian officials...

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Australian jailed for insulting Kuwaiti ruler
Date:21/04/2009 An Australian woman has been sentenced to two years in a Kuwaiti jail after she was convicted of insulting the countrys ruler...

China defies media cuts and closures with new newspaper launch
Date:21/04/2009 These are gloomy times for the media, with cuts and closures around the world...

Iranian president orders review of Roxana Saberi's case
Date:21/04/2009 In response to a letter sent on Sunday by Irans president urging the public prosecutor to ensure justice for Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi, the Committee to Protect Journalists called today for Saberi to be released on bail pending her appeal...

SOUTH KOREA: Court acquits blogger known as “Minerva”
Date:21/04/2009 Reporters Without Borders welcomes blogger Park Dae-sung's acquittal today by the Seoul central district court on charges of affecting foreign exchange markets and undermining the nation's credibility by posting false information online...

Indonesia: Local police chief files Rp 10-billion civil defamation suit against Indonesian media advocate
Date:20/04/2009 A provincial police chief in Indonesia recently filed a Rp 10-billion civil defamation suit against media activist Jupriadi Upi Asmaradhana on top of the criminal defamation charges earlier lodged against him...

Iran sentences Roxana Saberi to 8 years
Date:20/04/2009 An Iranian American journalist accused of spying for the U...

Philippine court turns down motion to dismiss murder charges against masterminds in journalist’s slay
Date:20/04/2009 A local Philippine court denied on 7 April 2009 the motion to dismiss the murder charges against the alleged masterminds in the 2005 killing of journalist Marlene Esperat...

Indonesia: Time magazine wins appeal in Indonesia
Date:16/04/2009 Time magazine won an appeal in Indonesias Supreme Court on Thursday against 93 million dollars in libel damages awarded to late dictator Suharto...

Thai media caught yet again in political crossfire
Date:15/04/2009 Thai media found themselves caught in the middle of the political turmoil that has been gripping the country since last week, media reports said...

Korean Cyber Defamation Law causes trouble for Google
Date:14/04/2009 New Korean law forbids netizens from making anonymous comments South Korea has began to enforce a new law limiting anonymous uploads and commentary, at the start of this month...

SRI LANKA: Report blames an ultra-powerful authority for attacks on media freedom
Date:09/04/2009 Five media organisations in Sri Lanka issuing an investigative report entitled, The Resurgence of Terror and the paramilitary forces in Sri Lanka, stated that covert operations are carried out by paramilitary groups that have the patronage of an ultra-powerful authority in carrying out terror operations...

HONG KONG: Complaints filed against a local newspaper and journalists over 'super bug' report
Date:09/04/2009 The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has filed separate complaints against a local newspaper, a reporter and the newspapers editor-in-chief before the Hong Kong Journalist Association (HKJA) and the Hong Kong Press Council (HKPC) over its report on an infectious disease, super bug...

Iran charges imprisoned journalist with spying
Date:09/04/2009 Roxana Saberi, who has dual U...

PAKISTAN: Taliban partially lift ban on cable TV broadcasting in Swat valley
Date:09/04/2009 Reporters Without Borders calls on the Pakistani authorities and Taliban leaders to ensure that cable TV operators in the Swat valley are able to resume broadcasting of both Pakistani and international TV stations without delay...

Taiwan: Freedom of the press threatened from within
Date:09/04/2009 Although 20 years have passed, people should still remember the institutions that restricted press freedom back in the Martial Law era: The Taiwan Garrison Command, the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) Cultural Affairs Department, the Government Information Office and the entire authoritarian regime that those institutions represented...

Thai protesters attack three broadcast journalists covering rally
Date:09/04/2009 Three Thai broadcast journalists were attacked in three separate incidents by opposition demonstrators dubbed as the Red Shirts, during a massive protest rally in Bangkok meant as a final bid to pressure the government of Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and the King's close aides to resign...

Indonesian media group denounces arrest of four Dutch journalists
Date:08/04/2009 The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) of Indonesia issued a call for accessibility and safety of journalists after four Dutch reporters were arrested and detained for 12 hours on 24 March 2009 in Papua province...

Thailand: Father of three gets 10-year prison term for emailing material offensive to Thai royalty
Date:08/04/2009 In a development described by media observers as having a chilling effect on the online community in Thailand, the Criminal Court sentenced a 34-year-old engineer, Suwicha Takor, to 10 years imprisonment for violating the Constitution, the Criminal Code and the Computer Related Crime Law...

Thailand: Blogger Gets 10 Years for Insulting Monarchy
Date:06/04/2009 Suwicha Thakhor's nightmare in a Thai jail is set to continue after a court delivered a harsh verdict this week that contained an unequivocal message ? the Internet in this country is being policed with the aim of limiting free expression...

Vietnam’s Crackdown on Bloggers Prompts Appeal From U.S. Lawmakers
Date:06/04/2009 Five months after Internet giants Google, Microsoft and Yahoo pledged to uphold privacy and freedom of expression when operating in repressive environments, a group of U...

Australia: Xenophon's push to improve shield laws
Date:03/04/2009 INDEPENDENT senator Nick Xenophon is working on a plan to force the federal Government to improve its proposed shield laws for journalists sources...

Vietnam’s Crackdown on Bloggers Prompts Appeal From U.S. Lawmakers
Date:03/04/2009 Five months after Internet giants Google, Microsoft and Yahoo pledged to uphold privacy and freedom of expression when operating in repressive environments, a group of U...

Cambodia: NGOs Worry Over Intent of New Law
Date:02/04/2009 A draft law to tighten control over Cambodias many non-governmental organizations is nearly completed and will soon be at the Council of Ministers for final approval before moving on to the National Assembly...

Tibetan writer detained, whereabouts unclear
Date:02/04/2009 The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the Public Security Bureau in Chinas Gansu province to disclose the whereabouts and legal status of Kunga Tsayang, a monk from the Amdo Labrang Tashi Kyil Monastery who has written online political commentary...

South Korea: Management and union reach deal at troubled TV news station
Date:02/04/2009 Reporters Without Borders is very relieved to learn that an agreement has been reached that should end a year-long dispute between the management and journalists' union at state-owned TV news station YTN...

Nepal: Government Adopts Regressive Film Regulation
Date:31/03/2009 Amendments to Nepal's Regulation on Film (Production, Exhibition and Distribution) 2057 (2001 AD) were published in the Official Gazette on 2 February 2009...

North Korea to indict US journalists: state media
Date:31/03/2009 North Korea is preparing to indict two detained US journalists after it accused them of illegally entering the communist country, state media said early Tuesday...

MALAYSIA: Malaysia suspends two opposition newspapers
Date:30/03/2009 The following is a statement from the Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ), a SEAPA partner based in Kuala Lumpur: CIJ and WAMI condemn suspension of Opposition newspapers The Centre for Independent Journalism, Malaysia, (CIJ) and the Writers Alliance for Media Independence (WAMI) strongly condemn the Government's latest assault on constitutionally-enshrined freedom of expression and freedom of assembly when the country faces a change in leadership and three crucial by-elections...

PHILIPPINES: Philippine media group releases 2008 press freedom report
Date:30/03/2009 As the year 2008 ended, another radio broadcaster in Northern Samar in the Philippines was killed by unknown assailants...

AUSTRALIA: Unlikely trio defends freedom of speech
Date:27/03/2009 They make for a strange trio of bedfellows, Peter Jensen, the Anglican Archbishop of Sydney, David Marr, the journalist, and Janet Albrechtsen, the columnist - public figures whose views on politics, society and religion could not be more different...

Bangladesh blocking free expression
Date:27/03/2009 Freedom of expression and freedom of the media have become key issues around the world, especially with the advent of the Internet, which has broadened the opportunities for innumerable individuals, institutions and communities to express their views without restriction...

Malaysia warns lawyers group on discussing Allah row
Date:23/03/2009 Malaysia warned a leading lawyers association not to use its website to discuss whether non-Muslims can use the word Allah for God, the state news agency Bernama reported on Sunday, saying it would incur the wrath of the countrys majority Muslims...

Iran: ARTICLE 19 Calls for an Urgent Investigation into the Death of Blogger Omid Reza Mirsayafi
Date:20/03/2009 On 18 March 2009, Omid Reza Mirsayafi, a 29-year-old Iranian blogger died in prison in Tehran after he failed to receive medical assistance...

SINGAPORE: WSJ editor faces contempt
Date:20/03/2009 THE Government is taking a senior editor of the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) to court, accusing her of being in contempt of court in three articles published last year...

Timor Leste: Analysis of Media Laws
Date:20/03/2009 ARTICLE 19 has prepared a Memorandum assessing the compatibility of a set of five draft laws on media regulation and the right to information - prepared on behalf of the UNDP for consideration by the authorities in Timor Leste - with international standards on freedom of expression...

PAKISTAN: Govt believes in freedom of expression, says Kaira
Date:18/03/2009 Federal Minister for Information, Kashmir Affairs and Northern Areas Chaudhry Qamaruzzaman Kaira said that the government believed in the freedom of expression and neither had it banned the media in the past nor would do so in the future...

Malaysian MP on sedition charges
Date:17/03/2009 A Malaysian opposition leader has been charged with sedition for allegedly insulting a royal figure...

PAKISTAN: UK Lawyers Condemn blocking TV channels and citizen freedom
Date:16/03/2009 Association of Pakistani Lawyers a team of Pakistani origin lawyers, Solicitors, Barristers, Judges in UK jointly condemn blocking TV transmissions in Pakistan in the wake of lawyers long March 2009, and regret to note that curbs on Article 19 freedom is ordered in a democratic reign of democratic parties not in military dictatorship...

Afghanistan: Freedom of expression faces increasing threat
Date:13/03/2009 Freedom of expression in Afghanistan faces increasing threats from the government as well as anti-government forces, Amnesty International warned today...

Iran's persecution of Bahá'ís is devastating
Date:13/03/2009 What connects an academic, a blogger, a Nobel prize winner, a postgraduate researcher, a cyber feminist, a journalist and a woman who let her head covering slip? The answer? They have all had their freedom to express themselves violated...

MALAYSIA: Six to be charged for insulting Perak Sultan via blogs, postings
Date:13/03/2009 Six people, who allegedly insulted the Sultan of Perak via their blogs or online postings, are expected to be charged on Friday under the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998...

Media outlets: Iran must allow access to reporter
Date:11/03/2009 The Associated Press has joined several other major news outlets in demanding that Iran specify how a detained American journalist broke the law, and that the country allow an outside group to evaluate her health and living conditions...

THAILAND: Our country's media freedom: myth and reality
Date:11/03/2009 Last Friday Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva was speaking eloquently in front of three dozen Asian editors and publishers about his efforts to bring back Thailands reputation as a land of free media...

MALDIVES: UN rights expert praises steps taken towards freedom of expression
Date:09/03/2009 United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression Frank La Rue on Thursday has welcomed measures taken by Maldives government to establish democratic reforms, including on freedom of expression, according to foreign ministry...

PHILIPPINES: IFJ welcomes press freedom commitment, new Asean body
Date:09/03/2009 An international media watchdog group welcomed Tuesday the formation of the Legislative Caucus on Rights and Free Expression, a new regional body of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) to promote press freedom...

PHILIPPINES: The right to reply
Date:09/03/2009 WHEN a senator or representative delivers a libelous accusation against another person, he incurs no liability because of his parliamentary immunity for any speech or debate within the halls of Congress...

PHILIPPINES: What is your take on the proposed Right of Reply Bill?
Date:09/03/2009 Alexander B...

THAILAND: PM committed to media freedom
Date:09/03/2009 Determined to reclaim Thailands position as a country that values press freedom the most in Asia, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has vowed to push for laws that provide the media the needed protection to perform its functions of serving the public...

INDIA: ‘Freedom of expression should be used with great responsibility’
Date:03/03/2009 Registrar of Manipal University G...

PHILIPPINES: Media self-regulation enough, CHR chief says
Date:03/03/2009 Self-regulation and not legislation is the key to a responsible media, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) said Friday as it slammed a measure proposing to require media organizations to print or air replies of personalities accused and criticized in news reports...

PHILIPPINES: Party-list solons back out from bill amending libel law
Date:03/03/2009 The militant bloc in the House of Representatives on Monday withdrew their authorship of a measure that supposedly consolidates bills decriminalizing libel after finding that the recently-approved measure did not reflect their original proposal...

CAMBODIA: Journalist ethics questioned
Date:02/03/2009 The Club of Cambodian Journalists (CCJ) said Thursday that 22 cases of violence against journalists were recorded in the second half of 2008 and the first two months of 2009...

PHILIPPINES: CA denies FG’s plea to scrap class suit
Date:02/03/2009 The Court of Appeals has denied First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo's motion for reconsideration of an earlier ruling that mandated the Makati regional trial court to continue hearing the P12...

PHILIPPINES: Slay try on Digos journalist condemned
Date:02/03/2009 Media groups condemned on Sunday the attack on a broadcaster here by branding it as yet another case of assault on the freedom of the press and of expression...

Fiji media law to be completed soon
Date:27/02/2009 The formulation of a law that will regulate the Fiji media is expected to be completed soon...

Fiji media law to be completed soon
Date:27/02/2009 The formulation of a law that will regulate the Fiji media is expected to be completed soon...

Philippines: Gov't Cautions Lawmakers On Infringing Press Freedom
Date:27/02/2009 Malacañang (Philippine presidential palace) cautioned lawmakers against impinging upon the freedoms of expression and of the press should Congress decide to pass the controversial right of reply bill...

INDIA: Of blogs, bloggers and freedom of expression
Date:26/02/2009 There is an ongoing discussion thread with the subject title as Disturbing News on the Bangalore bloggers' mailing list, the Blogaloreans...

China: Tibet Lockdown Exacerbates Tensions
Date:26/02/2009 China should open Tibetan areas to independent monitors and journalists as a means of diffusing ethnic tensions and preventing violence on the eve of a string of politically sensitive anniversaries, Human Rights Watch said today...

PHILIPPINES: Palace frowns upon 'right of reply' bill
Date:26/02/2009 Malacañang cautioned Congress yesterday that the Right of Reply Bill could infringe on press freedom as guaranteed under the Constitution...

INDIA: Bloggers unite against SC verdict
Date:25/02/2009 Outraged bloggers vented their ire in cyberworld against the Supreme Court's take that they may face libel, even prosecution, for airing their views online...

Afghanistan: Media Law Wrangling Leaves Journalists in Limbo
Date:25/02/2009 Few legal issues in Afghanistan's chaotic recent past have caused so much fuss as the still-unpublished media law, which has gone through at least three major revisions in the past seven years, with the latest version seemingly far from becoming a reality...

PHILIPPINES: Pimentel says no curtailment of press freedom in RORB
Date:25/02/2009 If the press has the right to offend or to mortify, the people should have the right to reply...

Afghanistan's Constitution Creates Death Penalties for Religious Freedom
Date:24/02/2009 When Ahmad Ghawas Zalmi worked with a cleric from a Kabul mosque to produce 1, 000 pocket-sized copies of the Quran in the Afghan language known as Dari, he probably was not expecting to end up facing execution for his efforts...

CHINA: Dissident Writer Interrogated for Publishing Critical Articles
Date:24/02/2009 Human Rights in China (HRIC) has learned that Zhejiang-based writer Wu Gaoxing (???) was interrogated by public security police for defaming the reputation of state organs...

INDIA: Ravindra Kumar and Anand Sinha, arrested ‘hurting the religious feelings’ of Muslims
Date:18/02/2009 Last week in Kolkata, India, police arrested the editor and publisher of the city's most prestigious English-language daily for hurting the religious feelings of Muslims...

IRAN: President Abolhassan Banisadr Supporting Freedom of Expression for Baha’is
Date:18/02/2009 In Iran, debate about the manner in which the government is dealing with the Baha'i community and its followers gains a new intensity each day...

INDONESIA: Minister Tries to Play Down Bloggers’ Concerns Over Electronic Media Law
Date:17/02/2009 Local media and bloggers who transmit ideas electronically should not feel that their freedom of expression is under threat from the controversial 2008 Electronic Information and Transactions Law, Communication and Information Technology Minister Muhammad Nuh said on Monday...

PHILIPPINES: Judge Lifts Warrant on Suspect in Davao Journalist’s Slay
Date:16/02/2009 The warrant of arrest issued against Inspector Redempto Acharon, main suspect in the killing of Davao-based radio broadcaster Dennis Cuesta, was lifted by the very judge who issued it...

SRI LANKA: 'Then they came for me' - remembering Lanka's Wickrematunga (Feature)
Date:09/02/2009 They came for him in the morning...

IRAN: Photojournalist Recalls Heady Days, Grim Aftermath
Date:09/02/2009 Reza Deghati has spent the last three decades capturing images of despair, hope, and the lives of ordinary people in war-torn areas around the world...

IRAN: Profile: Mohammad Khatami
Date:09/02/2009 Mohammad Khatami, who has announced he will run for re-election as president of Iran after a gap of four years, served in the post for eight years...

Chinese Learn Limits of Online Freedom as the Filter Tightens
Date:06/02/2009 It was meant to be a tongue-in-cheek alternative to the stultifying variety show beamed into hundreds of millions of living rooms on the eve of each Lunar New Year holiday...

Indonesian media advocate's defamation charges forwarded to Attorney General's Office
Date:04/02/2009 AJI is disappointed with criminal defamation charges filed against Upi Asmaradhana...

AUSTRALIA: Expression costs freedom
Date:03/02/2009 GRAFFITI vandals once sought to explain their crimes as freedom of expression...

Sri Lanka under siege
Date:02/02/2009 When the fifty-ninth division of Sri Lankas army entered Mullaitivu on 25 January 2009, it marked the fall of the last major town under the control of the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)...

Sri Lanka under siege
Date:02/02/2009 When the fifty-ninth division of Sri Lankas army entered Mullaitivu on 25 January 2009, it marked the fall of the last major town under the control of the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)...

AUSTRALIA: Fighting for freedom of speech
Date:29/01/2009 FREEDOM of speech and a free press are among the freedoms we take for granted in Australia...

MALAYSIA: Malaysiakini inspires debate
Date:28/01/2009 A MALAYSIAN newspaper that exists only in cyberspace has inspired a torrent of online debate since its launch a decade ago, in a phenomenon that has shaken up the nations media and political scene...

PHILIPPINES: Stifling free speech in the workplace
Date:28/01/2009 The Philippine Supreme Court, in a decision handed down by its Second Division last November, has laid down a new doctrine that threatens to seriously undermine the exercise of the essential right to free speech and expression in the context of labor relations...

SINGAPORE:Southeast Asian consensus on freedom of speech
Date:28/01/2009 Debates over freedom of expression have been at the centre of Indonesias decade-old democratic journey...

India: Lighting up
Date:26/01/2009 Flips in the air, somersaults, and lands straight in his mouth...

Sri Lanka's other war keeps media on the run
Date:26/01/2009 Sri Lanka is in the grip of its biggest military offensive against Tamil Tiger rebels, but the countrys journalists are also facing an unprecedented battle of their own...

MALAYSIA: Media watchdog slams federal government for lack of media reforms
Date:26/01/2009 The Malaysian government under the Barisan Nasional party remained rooted in its approach and ignored calls for greater respect for freedom of expression despite a loud message from the public who voted for a much stronger opposition representation in the 2008 general elections, the Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) noted in its annual review launched on 22 January 2009...

Thailand: criminalising dissent
Date:26/01/2009 The crackdown on lèse majesté is intensifying as politics becomes polarised around the monarchy, says Sinfah Tunsarawuth...

ASIA: Are journalism and activism ever compatible?
Date:26/01/2009 The following is an extract from a chapter written for a journalism guide being written by a journalist living in exile in Asia...

Thailand's draconian lese-majesty law is a blunt instrument that Thais can too easily turn on foreigners – and each other
Date:23/01/2009 Australian writer Harry Nicolaides has been sentenced to three years in a Thai prison for writing a novel that practically nobody has read...

PAKISTAN: Govt believes in freedom of expression, says Sherry
Date:21/01/2009 Information Minister Sherry Rehman on Monday denied reports that alleged that President Asif Ali Zardari had made derogatory remark about journalists...

Top Sri Lankan editor shot dead
Date:19/01/2009 The editor of a Sri Lankan newspaper often critical of the government has been shot dead in Colombo...

Nepal radio journalist murdered
Date:19/01/2009 A young woman journalist has been murdered in southern Nepal...

PHILIPPINES: Radio man finds freedom a new start
Date:19/01/2009 Barely 20 days after his release from the Davao Penal Colony, jailed broadcaster Alexander Lex Adonis is back in action...

Writer jailed for Thai 'insult'
Date:19/01/2009 Australian writer Harry Nicolaides has been sentenced to three years in jail for insulting the monarchy...

Vietnamese Americans protest art exhibit in Santa Ana
Date:19/01/2009 Hundreds of Vietnamese Americans demonstrated Saturday outside a provocative art exhibit in Santa Ana that had featured Communist symbols that protesters claimed mocked their painful experiences as political refugees...

India: Cameras and terror
Date:15/01/2009 In the wake of 26/11, television channels have come under attack for their coverage...

MACAU: Anti subversion bill won't threaten freedom of speech: lawmakers
Date:15/01/2009 The mainstream view of the Second Standing Committee was that the articles incriminating sedition and theft of state secrets in the national security bill would not jeopardise human rights...

SRI LANKA: Freedom of expression and rejection
Date:14/01/2009 Freedom of expression is a jewel amongst many that shine in the crown of democracy...

CAMBODIA: Internet to be regulated: minister
Date:14/01/2009 The Ministry of Information is drafting legislation that allows existing print regulations to govern other media, including the internet, but vows not to curtail press freedom...

China fails to improve human rights in 2008
Date:14/01/2009 China failed to enact democratic reforms in 2008 despite promises to do so, a private democracy watchdog organization said Tuesday...

IRAN: As Far as We Know . . .?
Date:14/01/2009 In response to a question from a reporter who asked about the allocation of a million ?Dollars for the assassination of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, the spokesperson for ?Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs Hassan Ghashghavi said, You know that the flow of ?information and expression of opinion in Iran enjoys freedom...

Iran calls on int’l activists to help freedom of Palestinian journalist
Date:14/01/2009 Deputy Minister of Culture and the Islamic Guidance Ali-Reza Malekian called on international press community on Monday to take necessary measures for the rapid release of a Palestinian journalist illegally arrested by Israeli forces in Gaza...

China closes 90 websites as internet crackdown intensifies
Date:13/01/2009 China extended its internet crackdown today, announcing that it had closed more than 90 websites as part of its campaign to eradicate vulgar and pornographic ­material...

SOUTH KOREA: 'Minerva' Scandal Exposes a Deeper Malaise
Date:13/01/2009 The Seoul Central District Court issued an arrest warrant on Saturday for an unemployed 30-year-old man named Park Dae-sung who is believed to be the online pundit Minerva and has been an outspoken critic of the governments handling of the economy...

SOUTH KOREA: 'Minerva' Scandal Exposes a Deeper Malaise
Date:13/01/2009 The Seoul Central District Court issued an arrest warrant on Saturday for an unemployed 30-year-old man named Park Dae-sung who is believed to be the online pundit Minerva and has been an outspoken critic of the governments handling of the economy...

INDONESIA: Alert for Criminal Defamation on Indonesian E - Law
Date:12/01/2009 The Advocacy Team for Freedom of Expression in Indonesia, acting for and on behalf of Edy Cahyono, Nenda Inasa Fadhilah, Amrie Hakim, Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI), Alliance of Independent Journalists, and Legal Aid Center for Press apply the constitutional review petition against Section 27 sentence (3) Law No 11 Year 2008 concerning Information and Electronic Transaction...

Bangladeshi Media Polarized and Under Pressure, IPI Mission Finds
Date:07/01/2009 IPI today issued its preliminary report on the press freedom mission conducted in Bangladesh from 27 November to 2 December, in advance of national elections, currently slated for December 29...

Democracy and freedom of speech: The emerging consensus
Date:07/01/2009 Debates over freedom of expression have been at the center of Indonesias decade-old democratic journey...

SRI LANKA: Credibility Problem, Sri Lanka business chambers condemn attack on TV station
Date:06/01/2009 Sri Lankas top business chambers condemned an attack on a private television station, saying the governments credibility is at stake if it failed to bring the culprits to justice and prevent further attacks...

China cracks down on 'vulgar' online searches
Date:06/01/2009 Chinese officials yesterday launched a crackdown on vulgar websites including Google and the country's leading search engine, Baidu...

PHILIPPINES: Nograles 'meddling' in release of libel convict hit
Date:06/01/2009 Lawyer and professor Harry Roque on Tuesday expressed dismay over the circumstances behind the release of former radio broadcaster Alexander Adonis from a Davao prison, saying press freedom is still under attack...

Thailand Blocks 2, 300 Web Sites It Says Insult King Bhumibol
Date:06/01/2009 Thailand has blocked 2, 300 Web sites it says insult King Bhumibol Adulyadej and is establishing a war room for future crackdowns, actions critics say threaten free speech...

Malaysia mulls 'cyber court' to handle Internet crimes
Date:05/01/2009 Malaysia is considering establishing a cyber court to deal with the increasing number of crimes related to the Internet and blogging, a report said Tuesday...

PHILIPPINES: 2008 tragic year for press freedom in RP - media group
Date:30/12/2008 An officer of the Philippine National Press Club (NPC) said Monday that 2008 was a tragic year for press freedom in the country, with seven local journalists being killed and several others getting death threats...

INDONESIA: Crackdown on freedom of expression in Maluku
Date:17/12/2008 At least 70 people have been arrested or imprisoned for peaceful pro-independence activities in the province of Maluku, Indonesia over the last two years, Amnesty International revealed today...

BURMA: Crackdown on Freedom of Speech Condemned
Date:16/12/2008 The World Association of Newspapers condemned the crackdown on freedom of expression in Burma, in a press statement released on Monday...

PHILIPPINES: Media urged to prod gov’t on murders
Date:12/12/2008 Philippine media should band together and prod the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to take more vigorous steps in addressing the killing of journalists all over the country...

PHILIPPINES: Media urged to prod gov’t on murders
Date:11/12/2008 Philippine media should band together and prod the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to take more vigorous steps in addressing the killing of journalists all over the country...

CHINA: Leading Chinese dissident, Liu Xiaobo, arrested over freedom charter
Date:10/12/2008 A leading dissident who organised a charter signed by hundreds of Chinese thinkers, academics and writers calling for dramatic political and legal reforms was under arrest yesterday...

SRI LANKA: Free Journalists Unfairly Held
Date:09/12/2008 The Sri Lankan government should immediately drop charges and free J...

Thai journalist settles Tesco libel case
Date:28/11/2008 A Thai business columnist sued for libel damages of £1...

Beijing must Open Door to Media Freedom, Says report on Olympics
Date:27/11/2008 Chinas Olympic Games performance took the world by storm, but it gets mixed reviews in a report issued today on official treatment of overseas journalists and media covering the Games...

NEPAL: Beyond hooliganism, undermining of a free media
Date:24/11/2008 The escalating number of violent attacks on certain parts of the Nepali media can no longer be regarded as hooliganism - instead they point to an organised assault on freedom of expression in Nepal...

TAPEI: Federation concerned about police response to protests
Date:24/11/2008 The International Federation for Human Rights has become the latest international group to express concern regarding the response of police to protests against Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait Chairman Chen Yun-lin earlier this month...

CHINA: Fears for Web Freedom
Date:19/11/2008 Writers in China said they feared a long hard road before real freedom of expression emerges in China, as authorities in the eastern province of Jiangsu formally arrested a prominent blogger who called for democratic change...

INDONESIA: Police urged to back freedom of expression
Date:19/11/2008 Artists, journalists and activists from non-governmental groups in Surakarta on Tuesday urged the police to guarantee freedom of expression in relation to art and journalistic works and to prevent anyone or any group from restricting them...

PAKISTAN: TV channels' suspension an outrage, violates freedom of expression
Date:18/11/2008 The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has expressed grave concern at two independent news channels being taken off air in Sindh on Monday and called the action an 'unpardonable attack on freedom of expression'...

PHILIPPINES: Radioman shot dead in front of daughter
Date:18/11/2008 They trailed him from home to school...

PAKISTAN: Govt to repeal all black laws affecting Freedom of Expression
Date:17/11/2008 Condemning all kinds of restrictions over private TV channels, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani, along with Provincial officials, and political leaders have expressed their strong resolve to repeal all black laws affecting freedom of expression...

INDONESIA: Media advocate charged with libel and defamation
Date:13/11/2008 A freedom of expression advocate was charged with libel and defamation by the South Sulawesi Regional Police Office in Indonesia...

Expression still limited in Cambodia: forum
Date:12/11/2008 An annual Asia-wide lecture tour promoting freedom of expression touched down Monday in Phnom Penh, providing students and journalists with a chance to compare levels of expression in their home country with those across Asia and Europe...

Burmese court sentences blogger to 20 years, poet gets two-year sentence
Date:12/11/2008 A court in Rangoons notorious Insein prison on November 10 meted out a combined prison term of 20 years to popular blogger Nay Phone Latt ...

NEPAL: CA Members Vow to Stand for Press Freedom
Date:12/11/2008 Constituent Assembly (CA) members from some 12 parites said on Tuesday that they would see to it that the new constitution guarantees freedom of opinion and expression...

SRI LANKA: Journalist still in detention after 250 days
Date:11/11/2008 As the trial of newspaper editor and human rights activist JS Tissainayagam gets underway, ARTICLE 19 and Index on Censorship call for his immediate release after being held in detention for 250 days...

MALAYSIA: A free press must have free reign
Date:11/11/2008 MENTION the arrest of Sin Chew Daily reporter Tan Hoon Cheng and one is likely to hear sighs of frustration and comments about bad politicking...

PAKISTAN: Media workers deserve long over-due pay rise, says IFJ
Date:11/11/2008 The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins journalists and media workers in Pakistan in calling on Pakistan's Government to honour a commitment made by President Asif Zardari in March to ensure implementation of wage rises for newspaper employees which have been stalled since 2001...

SOUTH KOREA: New laws proposed to restrict freedom of assembly and opinion
Date:11/11/2008 Two pieces of legislation have recently been submitted to South Koreas national assembly, their purpose clearly to restrict peoples rights to freedom of assembly and opinion...

PAKISTAN: Govt believes in freedom of expression - Sumsam Bakhari
Date:10/11/2008 Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Syed Sumsam Bukhari said in the Senate on Monday that the PPP government and its allies believe in freedom of expression and all possible steps would be taken to protect this right...

MALAYSIA: Court frees Raja Petra
Date:07/11/2008 Malaysia Today editor Raja Petra Raja Kamarudin was released from his two-year detention under the Internal Security Act (ISA) at 3...

Pakistan unveils cybercrime laws
Date:07/11/2008 Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has issued a decree making internet crime punishable with death or imprisonment with heavy fines...

Thai arrest over 'royal insult'
Date:07/11/2008 One of Thailands best-known social activists has been arrested on charges of insulting the monarchy...

Fiji interim regime reorganises media rules
Date:04/11/2008 Fiji's interim government says the work on the media promulgation is well underway and government expects to have a draft document ready next month...

Fiji regime asked to safeguard freedom of expression
Date:04/11/2008 A regional media group, the Pacific Freedom Forum, has called on Fijis interim government to respect and safeguard the right to freedom of expression as enshrined in the constitution...

Official: Hong Kong continues to protect free flow of information, freedom of expression
Date:03/11/2008 A top commerce and economic official of Hong Kong pledged here Monday that the government of the special administrative region will continue to protect the free flow of information and freedom of expression...

JAPAN: Experts dissect media-law relationship
Date:03/11/2008 In an attempt to find ways of ensuring freedom of expression, experts from Asia and Europe recently held a meeting in Nagoya to discuss the complex relationship between the media and the law...

MALDIVES: Majlis accepts bill on freedom of expression
Date:28/10/2008 People's Majlis at its 8th sitting of the third session held yesterday has accepted the bill on the right of freedom of expression and passed to send the bill to Majlis committee on Social Affairs...

Freedom of Expression: Whether Papuans support autonomy or independence, they should be allowed to speak freely
Date:27/10/2008 Yohana Pekei and Nelly Pigome sell handicrafts by the road in Jayapura...

BANGLADESH: Right to Information law welcomed
Date:24/10/2008 ARTICLE 19 has welcomed the publication of the Right to Information Ordinance, No...

INDIA: Use freedom of press judiciously - Ray
Date:21/10/2008 Media accountability is based on the concept that mass media like any other organ of an organised society has to be accountable in public interest and public good, and the media is expected to conduct themselves in a manner in which they will contribute to public good and that there be transparency in the way they function, said Justice G N Ray, chairman of the Press Council of India...

SRI LANKA: Protect the little media freedom left - Ranil
Date:21/10/2008 As the UNESCO stressed that the path to true democracy would be blurred when there is a mutual conflict between the media and the government, Opposition UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday warned the little media freedom in the country would be lost if all media associations did not iron out differences and safeguard their rights...

AUSTRALIA: Nazi flag is free speech - AG
Date:21/10/2008 THERES not much the South Australian Government can do to stop an Adelaide man flying a Nazi flag on his property, state Attorney-General Michael Atkinson says...

SRI LANKA: Editor of The Hindu hits out at pro-LTTE anti social elements
Date:20/10/2008 CHENNAI: N...

There's a balance between freedom of expression and respect for religion: Sampaio
Date:20/10/2008 TEHRAN -- There is a balance to be found between freedom of expression and respect for religion and for religious feelings and principles, Jorge Sampaio, the UN High Representative for the Alliance of Civilizations (AoC), said here on Thursday...

PHILIPPINES: Journalists hit PNP’s ‘refusal’ to provide spot reports
Date:19/10/2008 Media groups on Sunday criticized a directive prohibiting police from providing journalists with spot reports on crime incidents...

PAKISTAN: Cameran suffers serious injuries while reporting on clash at college
Date:16/10/2008 The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is deeply concerned for the safety of journalists and media workers in Pakistan after a cameraman received serious gunshot wounds while reporting on a clash between students at a college in Karachi on October 12...

SOUTH KOREA: Government intereference at TV stations leads to firings, suspensions of employees
Date:16/10/2008 The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today strongly condemned the latest efforts by the Korean government to control YTN, a 24-hour television channel, in a move that has led to the firing of journalist union activists protesting the changes...

VIETNAM: Graft-busting reporter jailed for two years
Date:16/10/2008 Nguyen Viet Chien, a reporter for the Vietnamese daily newspaper Thanh Nien who broke major stories on high-level government corruption in 2006, was sentenced today to two years in prison after being found guilty of abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the state, according to news reports...

SRI LANKA: University fires professor for alleging provincial elections were rigged
Date:10/10/2008 The Free Media Movement (FMM) registers deep disquiet over the indictment of the General Secretary of Campaign for Free and Fair Elections (CaFFE), Mr...

THAILAND: Local newspaper editor gunned down, fourth death this year
Date:07/10/2008 Editor-in-chief of ‘Den Siam’, Wallop Bounsampop, was murdered in Chonburi province on 5 October 2008 in what was the fourth murder of a journalist in Thailand since the start of the year...

KOREA: Political parties in disagreement over Cyber Slander Act
Date:06/10/2008 Political parties in Korea have clashed over the introduction of the Cyber Slander Act...

BURMA: Journalist and opposition member Ohn Kyaing arrested again
Date:03/10/2008 <p style=text-align: justify>Reporters Without Borders and Burma Media Association have called for the immediate release of well-known former journalist Ohn Kyaing, who was arrested at his home on 1 October 2008...

Chinese authorities ban newspaper
Date:01/10/2008 <p style=text-align: justify>Chinese Authorities have issued a three-month ban on the China Business Post over allegations that the weekly publication convened media regulations...

INDIA: State to file defamation suit against former Chief Minister
Date:30/09/2008 The BJP government in Karnataka has announced that it will file a defamation suit against former Chief Minister H...

PHILIPPINES: Court allows media suit vs Mike Arroyo to proceed
Date:29/09/2008 The Court of Appeals has allowed the preliminary hearing in the amended class suit filed by media practitioners against the President's husband, Jose Miguel Mike Arroyo, to proceed in the Makati Regional Trial Court...

THAILAND: Samak Sundaravej jailed for two years.
Date:26/09/2008 The Court of Appeals in Thailand has upheld the defamation jail terms for former prime minister Samak Sundaravaj, stating that he and the former senator showed no remorse...

Timor Lests government vows to decriminalize defamation
Date:25/09/2008 The government of Timor Leste announced on September 24 its decision to decriminalize the countrys Defamation Law, a move that was welcomed by the Timor Lorosae Journalists Association (TLJA)...