News Archive:
Journalists ordered out of courtroom
Source: Vanguard May 15 A Nigerian judge ordered several journalists from her court on May 14, claiming she would not allow them to cover a case because they did not have the capability to do so. Justice B.I. Molokwu, presiding over a court in Abeokuta in southwest Nigeria, had just finished reading a judgement when she told the court she understood there were some journalists in the courtroom, the Vanguard newspaper reported. She asked the journalists to identify themselves and the media they represented. After the reporters did so, Justice Molokwu said: "You will all have to go out. You do not have the capability to cover because you cannot understand this case. I will not allow you to cover it. What you will do is to come back and ask the Registrar to brief you on the proceedings." The journalists were in court to cover proceedings in a suit filed by Ogun State Governor Olugbenga Daniel asking for an injunction restraining the President of the Court of Appeal from setting up a new election petitions tribunal to hear the suit by Senator Ibikunle Amosun challenging Daniel's victory at the April 14 polls. Two senior advocates of Nigeria, Chief Adeniyi Akintola and Tayo Oyetibo, later pointed out to Justice Molokwu that asking journalists out of the courtroom was unconstitutional. The judge acquiesced and allowed the journalists to stay.
Journalists gather to end emergency rules in Bangladesh
Source: Daily Star May 14 Bangladeshi journalists from across the media spectrum have formed a committee to overcome the obstacles they say they continue to face since emergency rule was imposed in January 2007. Editors and senior journalists from both the print and electronic media said in a May 13 statement that the media has to work under limited rights, pressure and in fear of fundamental rights-denying emergency rules, a Daily Star report said. "No matter how we yearn for the freedom of the press, the media does not enjoy freedom under the emergency rules," said the statement. The statement was issued following a meeting of editors and senior journalists of the print and electronic media and representatives from the National Press Club, the Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalist, the Dhaka Union of Journalists and Dhaka Reporters' Unity. Journalists in Bangladesh have struggled to operate freely since the emergency rules were imposed. They often face harassment and intimidation by the authorities and representatives of both main political parties.
The Australian managing director of the Fiji Times newspaper is arrested and ordered to be deported.
The Australian newspaper reports (with additional reporting from Reuters): Evan Hannah was forcibly removed from his home in the capital of Suva by Fijian police and placed under "house arrest" pending his deportation. Although he was initially told he had breached his work permit, foreign minister Ratu Epeli Nailatikau later described Mr Hannah as a "threat to national security". "I'm standing in the doorway with my lawyer," Mr Hannah told The Australian, which, like the Fiji Times, is owned by News Limited, as he was arrested. "We've got immigration officials and the police standing in the security gate and I'm about to be taken down the stairs and put in their van." The arrest of Mr Hannah comes just two months after another Australian media executive, Russell Hunter, the publisher of the rival Fiji Sun newspaper, was arrested in a night-time raid on his home by police and deported. Earlier yesterday, self-appointed prime minister Frank Bainimarama warned the media that free speech had limits in his country. He also hinted that the media may face regulation, saying Fiji's mainstream media outlets fell well short of their responsibilities: "We are also puzzled as to why these low standards of reporting are allowed to continue unchecked". "Perhaps we are close to the point where the current system of self-regulation needs to be seen as a failure," he said. News Limited chairman and chief executive John Hartigan said last night the deportation threat against Hannah represented the latest attempt to intimidate the media. "This latest threat to a free, independent press in Fiji is unacceptable," he said. "The breach-of-permit argument is a weak excuse to intimidate our most senior representative in Fiji. This is the third time in a little over a year that the safety of our employees and the freedom of the press have been seriously threatened by Fijian authorities." In late 2006, armed members of the Fiji military stormed the Fiji Times building, halting publication and taking control of the newsroom. Earlier that year, Commodore Bainimarama seized power in a coup that ousted the democratically elected prime minister, Laisenia Qarase. Mr Hannah said his arrest was "a continuing attempt at intimidation of the media in Fiji". News Limited lawyers last night lodged an application in the Fiji High Court to stay the order on Mr Hannah. Despite the legal appeal, Mr Hannah said he expected to be bundled out of the country on the next flight and understood that he would be taken directly to Nadi international airport. "I've just been told I have to go," he said. "My wife has just been able to pack a bag. I've not been able to do that myself and I've just been able to say goodbye to my son. And I doubt that I'll be able to see them for a while unless this stay order (appeal) goes through." Staff at the Fiji Times said last night they were shocked. Editor Netani Rika said the Government had given no warning. "There has been no indication - today, this week, last month - of any reason the Government might have to remove Evan," Rika said. Mr Hartigan called on the Australian Government to "intervene to ensure that basic accepted principles of democracy and justice are observed as Mr Hannah's situation unfolds". Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said last night he was "disturbed" at the reports. "It is extraordinary and very disappointing that the Fiji regime has acted in this way on the eve of Media Freedom Day," he said. "This is yet another reprehensible act in a disturbing pattern of behaviour since the coup of December 2006, which has resulted in the severe erosion of fundamental human rights and the rule of law in Fiji." He called on the Fiji Government to "respect the civil liberties of all citizens and residents" and hold elections by the first quarter of next year.
Ugandan journalists arrested
Source: BBC News and RSF April 29 Three Ugandan journalists were arrested and charged with possessing seditious materials after police raided the offices of the Independent, a privately-owned newspaper on April 26. The paper's publisher, Andrew Mwenda, was arrested shortly after leaving his home, Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF) said. Police handcuffed Mwenda, drove him back to his home and searched his house. Consulting editor Odobo Bichachi and reporter John Njoroge were arrested after authorities arrived at the paper's offices. An RSF report said police searched the office and confiscated computers, CDs, memory sticks, videos and other files. All three men were later released on bail. Mwenda told RSF the seditious material in question consisted of transcripts and recordings of interviews with people who had been tortured while held at government detention centres. A BBC News report quoted the Independent's lawyer, Robert Kasango, saying unidentified security agents held the journalists at gunpoint then formally arrested and questioned them about two recent articles deemed to be seditious and inflammatory. One was about the career of a former army chief jailed for corruption, the other on allegations of atrocities by the Ugandan army against the rebel Lord's Resistance Army in the 20-year conflict in the north of the country, said the BBC News report. Mwenda, a well-known journalist who's previously been at odds with the authorities, launched the Independent in December 2007. He still faces separate sedition charges in connection with a radio broadcast he made in 2005 about the death of former south Sudanese leader John Garang.
Reporting award for Hindu journalist
The Pakistan correspondent for the Hindu newspaper has been named winner of the Prem Bhatia award for political reporting in 2008. Judges said Nirupama Subramanian's "sensitive and astute coverage of major developments in Pakistan" helped her take the prize. Subramanian has had a full plate as the paper's Pakistan correspondent, covering Benazir Bhutto's assassination, the lawyers' campaign for restoration of the judiciary, parliamentary elections and the induction of Pakistan's new government. Keya Acharya, a Bangalore-based freelance journalist, won the award for best reporting on the environment. Acharya has been writing specifically on environment and development issues in Indian and international publications for the last 18 years. Both journalists will accept their awards at a ceremony in Delhi on May 8.
Journalists attacked at campus
Source: Daily Star April 21 Activists from the student wings of rival political parties in Bangladesh attacked two journalists on the Dhaka University campus within 12 hours of each other on April 20. Members of the Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, the student wing of the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party, beat Anu Anwar, the university correspondent for the Prothom Alo newspaper in the early hours of April 20. JCD activists assaulted Anu while he was sending a report to his office over the phone, said a Daily Star report. Anu told the paper his assailants beat him when after becoming angry at the report he was filing. Members ofthe Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), the student wing of the Bangladesh Awami League, assaulted Jahidur Arman, the university correspondent for theDainik Dinkal at around 1pm. Arman was beaten after he tried to intervene in a clash between BCL members, said the Daily Star report.
Malaysia to review publication laws
Source: The Australian and SEAPA April 21 The promise of greater press freedom in Malaysia has received a boost after the country's home minister pledged to review the country's repressive media laws. "I have told my officers that I want to have a re-look at the Printing Presses and Publications Act so that we can move with the times," Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar was quoted as saying in the Star Daily on April 20. Current legislation requires newspapers and other publications to apply for licenses that must be renewed annually. The minister also said a publishing permit had been approved for the opposition Keadilan party's newspaper. The party had been applying for a license since it formed in 1999. "We need press freedom in order for us to have a check and balance in government," he told the Star Daily."We are not trying to control you but we want everyone to contribute to the nation-building process". "Why should we let ourselves (government) become unpopular by having such regulations?" The minister's comments came a week after the home ministry didn't renew a Tamil-language newspaper's permit because it had violated guidelines on racial harmony - a move that effectively bans the paper. At the time, the minister did not explain or specify the violations. A report on the independent news website Malaysiakini said the permit for the Makkai Osai had expired on Oct. 15, 2007, but that the paper had received informal assurances from authorities that it could continue to publish pending approval of a new license. The paper received a letter from the Ministry of Home Affairs on April 16 informing it of the rejection but not stating why the application had been refused. The paper's management plans to file an appeal against the ruling.
Zambian police beat reporter
Source: MISA April 18 Police in Zambia beat a senior reporter from the state-owned Times of Zambia newspaper on April 17. Kaiko Namusa was assaulted and detained for more than an hour after he took pictures of police officers beating a cyclist who had apparently broken traffic rules, said a Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) report. Namusa told MISA the police officers seized his camera after beating him and demanded the photos be deleted, saying if published they would tarnish their image. Namusa was taken to the police station, along with the cyclist, where he was told it was "wrong to take photographs in their town". Namusa told MISA that when he demanded the return of his camera, the officers got annoyed and sought permission from their superiors to have him locked up. Namusa was released after one of the officers deleted the pictures from his camera. Police spokesperson Bonnie Kapeso condemned the beating of the reporter, saying police officers should respect the work of the media.
Government ads return to Guyana paper
Source: Stabroek News and April 16 Seventeen months after they last appeared in Guyana's Stabroek News, government advertisements returned to the newspaper on April 8. The first order was for an advertisement for the Community Services Enhancement Project, administered by the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development, said a report in the Stabroek News the day after the ban was lifted. The Government Information Agency (GINA) withdrew ads from 29 ministries and state agencies in November 2006, citing economic considerations. It placed ads with the country's two other dailies, the state-owned Guyana Chronicle and the privately owned Kaieteur News as well as the weekly Mirror, which is aligned with the ruling party. Other government and state-owned entities, which previously advertised independently of GINA, then also withdrew ads, including the Guyana Defence Force, the Guyana Police Force, the Guyana Revenue Authority, the Office of the Auditor General, the Guyana Sugar Corporation, the Guyana Power and Light and the regional administrations. Stabroek News objected to the withdrawal, saying it was because of the newspaper's editorial stance on issues of governance. "We were notified... by a very senior government official that ads would be placed from this week and our advertising manager was subsequently contacted by a government agency and the booking of advertisements has started," editor-in-chief David de Caires said in an email message to colleagues, peers and organisations that supported the paper while the ban was in effect. "No reason has been given for this change of policy but it is, of course, welcome and one must assume it will last."
Pakistani journalist shot dead
Source: CPJ April 14 The bureau chief of a national Urdu-language newspaper was shot dead on April 14 in the southwestern province of Baluchistan. As yet there appears to be no motive for the murder of Khadim Hussain Sheikh, who was killed by unidentified gunmen as he left his home in the town of Hub, just north of Karachi, on a motorcycle with his brother, Ishaq Sheikh. Khadim Hussain Sheikh was bureau chief for the Khabrein newspaper, as well as a stringer for Sindh TV. A report in Pakistan's Frontier Post newspaper said he also edited the local paper in Hub, the Hub News. Ishaq Sheikh suffered gunshot wounds in the attack. He told reporters and policethree men on motorcycles were involved in the shooting and that the men checked to make sure his brother was dead before fleeing the scene. Minister for Information and Broadcasting Sherry Rehman has called for a probe into the murder, according to the Associated Press of Pakistan.
Tribunal warns Gambian journalists to stop coverage
Source: MFWA April 8 The president of a district tribunal in The Gambia has warned journalists to stop covering proceedings or risk going to jail. Dembo Santang Bojang, president of the Kombo Central District Tribunal in the west of the country, on April 8 allegedly threatened to hold Modua Jonga, a reporter with the privately-owned Foroyaa newspaper, in contempt of the tribunal, said the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA). The MFWA said its sources had told it the decision to ban Jonga followed a civil suit Bojang brought against his own brother. The suit is being heard in the same court Bojang presides over. Under The Gambian constitution, district chiefs are appointed president of the district tribunal and preside over both civil and criminal matters. The MFWA said it was likely Bojang would act as both prosecutor and judge of the case. The management of Foroyaa has sent a protest letter to the country's Chief Justice about Bojang's actions, said the MFWA.
Nigerian police beat journalist
Source: The Vanguard, April 1, 2008 A correspondent for Nigeria's National Mirror newspaper is recovering after a group of policeman beat him in Port Harcourt on March 31. Dave Amusa was waiting for the official release of the March 29 local council election results at the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission office in the southeastern city, alongside other journalists, said a report in the Vanguard. Amusa told the Vanguard he had, like every other reporter, been there on the invitation of the commission. "I was cleared by one of the policemen when I showed him my identity card. But as I was going in, another policeman inside the gatehouse shouted that I should go back. "I told him that I was invited by the commission to a briefing. He was angry and started asking me whether that is the way I should talk to a police officer. He started beating me. "For challenging their colleague, other policemen rushed in and started kicking and hitting me with their guns until I fell down. I was rescued by some of my colleagues who just came into the premises." Harry Wilson - CPU
Source: Vanguard May 15 A Nigerian judge ordered several journalists from her court on May 14, claiming she would not allow them to cover a case because they did not have the capability to do so. Justice B.I. Molokwu, presiding over a court in Abeokuta in southwest Nigeria, had just finished reading a judgement when she told the court she understood there were some journalists in the courtroom, the Vanguard newspaper reported. She asked the journalists to identify themselves and the media they represented. After the reporters did so, Justice Molokwu said: "You will all have to go out. You do not have the capability to cover because you cannot understand this case. I will not allow you to cover it. What you will do is to come back and ask the Registrar to brief you on the proceedings." The journalists were in court to cover proceedings in a suit filed by Ogun State Governor Olugbenga Daniel asking for an injunction restraining the President of the Court of Appeal from setting up a new election petitions tribunal to hear the suit by Senator Ibikunle Amosun challenging Daniel's victory at the April 14 polls. Two senior advocates of Nigeria, Chief Adeniyi Akintola and Tayo Oyetibo, later pointed out to Justice Molokwu that asking journalists out of the courtroom was unconstitutional. The judge acquiesced and allowed the journalists to stay.
Journalists gather to end emergency rules in Bangladesh
Source: Daily Star May 14 Bangladeshi journalists from across the media spectrum have formed a committee to overcome the obstacles they say they continue to face since emergency rule was imposed in January 2007. Editors and senior journalists from both the print and electronic media said in a May 13 statement that the media has to work under limited rights, pressure and in fear of fundamental rights-denying emergency rules, a Daily Star report said. "No matter how we yearn for the freedom of the press, the media does not enjoy freedom under the emergency rules," said the statement. The statement was issued following a meeting of editors and senior journalists of the print and electronic media and representatives from the National Press Club, the Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalist, the Dhaka Union of Journalists and Dhaka Reporters' Unity. Journalists in Bangladesh have struggled to operate freely since the emergency rules were imposed. They often face harassment and intimidation by the authorities and representatives of both main political parties.
The Australian managing director of the Fiji Times newspaper is arrested and ordered to be deported.
The Australian newspaper reports (with additional reporting from Reuters): Evan Hannah was forcibly removed from his home in the capital of Suva by Fijian police and placed under "house arrest" pending his deportation. Although he was initially told he had breached his work permit, foreign minister Ratu Epeli Nailatikau later described Mr Hannah as a "threat to national security". "I'm standing in the doorway with my lawyer," Mr Hannah told The Australian, which, like the Fiji Times, is owned by News Limited, as he was arrested. "We've got immigration officials and the police standing in the security gate and I'm about to be taken down the stairs and put in their van." The arrest of Mr Hannah comes just two months after another Australian media executive, Russell Hunter, the publisher of the rival Fiji Sun newspaper, was arrested in a night-time raid on his home by police and deported. Earlier yesterday, self-appointed prime minister Frank Bainimarama warned the media that free speech had limits in his country. He also hinted that the media may face regulation, saying Fiji's mainstream media outlets fell well short of their responsibilities: "We are also puzzled as to why these low standards of reporting are allowed to continue unchecked". "Perhaps we are close to the point where the current system of self-regulation needs to be seen as a failure," he said. News Limited chairman and chief executive John Hartigan said last night the deportation threat against Hannah represented the latest attempt to intimidate the media. "This latest threat to a free, independent press in Fiji is unacceptable," he said. "The breach-of-permit argument is a weak excuse to intimidate our most senior representative in Fiji. This is the third time in a little over a year that the safety of our employees and the freedom of the press have been seriously threatened by Fijian authorities." In late 2006, armed members of the Fiji military stormed the Fiji Times building, halting publication and taking control of the newsroom. Earlier that year, Commodore Bainimarama seized power in a coup that ousted the democratically elected prime minister, Laisenia Qarase. Mr Hannah said his arrest was "a continuing attempt at intimidation of the media in Fiji". News Limited lawyers last night lodged an application in the Fiji High Court to stay the order on Mr Hannah. Despite the legal appeal, Mr Hannah said he expected to be bundled out of the country on the next flight and understood that he would be taken directly to Nadi international airport. "I've just been told I have to go," he said. "My wife has just been able to pack a bag. I've not been able to do that myself and I've just been able to say goodbye to my son. And I doubt that I'll be able to see them for a while unless this stay order (appeal) goes through." Staff at the Fiji Times said last night they were shocked. Editor Netani Rika said the Government had given no warning. "There has been no indication - today, this week, last month - of any reason the Government might have to remove Evan," Rika said. Mr Hartigan called on the Australian Government to "intervene to ensure that basic accepted principles of democracy and justice are observed as Mr Hannah's situation unfolds". Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said last night he was "disturbed" at the reports. "It is extraordinary and very disappointing that the Fiji regime has acted in this way on the eve of Media Freedom Day," he said. "This is yet another reprehensible act in a disturbing pattern of behaviour since the coup of December 2006, which has resulted in the severe erosion of fundamental human rights and the rule of law in Fiji." He called on the Fiji Government to "respect the civil liberties of all citizens and residents" and hold elections by the first quarter of next year.
Ugandan journalists arrested
Source: BBC News and RSF April 29 Three Ugandan journalists were arrested and charged with possessing seditious materials after police raided the offices of the Independent, a privately-owned newspaper on April 26. The paper's publisher, Andrew Mwenda, was arrested shortly after leaving his home, Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF) said. Police handcuffed Mwenda, drove him back to his home and searched his house. Consulting editor Odobo Bichachi and reporter John Njoroge were arrested after authorities arrived at the paper's offices. An RSF report said police searched the office and confiscated computers, CDs, memory sticks, videos and other files. All three men were later released on bail. Mwenda told RSF the seditious material in question consisted of transcripts and recordings of interviews with people who had been tortured while held at government detention centres. A BBC News report quoted the Independent's lawyer, Robert Kasango, saying unidentified security agents held the journalists at gunpoint then formally arrested and questioned them about two recent articles deemed to be seditious and inflammatory. One was about the career of a former army chief jailed for corruption, the other on allegations of atrocities by the Ugandan army against the rebel Lord's Resistance Army in the 20-year conflict in the north of the country, said the BBC News report. Mwenda, a well-known journalist who's previously been at odds with the authorities, launched the Independent in December 2007. He still faces separate sedition charges in connection with a radio broadcast he made in 2005 about the death of former south Sudanese leader John Garang.
Reporting award for Hindu journalist
The Pakistan correspondent for the Hindu newspaper has been named winner of the Prem Bhatia award for political reporting in 2008. Judges said Nirupama Subramanian's "sensitive and astute coverage of major developments in Pakistan" helped her take the prize. Subramanian has had a full plate as the paper's Pakistan correspondent, covering Benazir Bhutto's assassination, the lawyers' campaign for restoration of the judiciary, parliamentary elections and the induction of Pakistan's new government. Keya Acharya, a Bangalore-based freelance journalist, won the award for best reporting on the environment. Acharya has been writing specifically on environment and development issues in Indian and international publications for the last 18 years. Both journalists will accept their awards at a ceremony in Delhi on May 8.
Journalists attacked at campus
Source: Daily Star April 21 Activists from the student wings of rival political parties in Bangladesh attacked two journalists on the Dhaka University campus within 12 hours of each other on April 20. Members of the Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, the student wing of the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party, beat Anu Anwar, the university correspondent for the Prothom Alo newspaper in the early hours of April 20. JCD activists assaulted Anu while he was sending a report to his office over the phone, said a Daily Star report. Anu told the paper his assailants beat him when after becoming angry at the report he was filing. Members ofthe Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), the student wing of the Bangladesh Awami League, assaulted Jahidur Arman, the university correspondent for theDainik Dinkal at around 1pm. Arman was beaten after he tried to intervene in a clash between BCL members, said the Daily Star report.
Malaysia to review publication laws
Source: The Australian and SEAPA April 21 The promise of greater press freedom in Malaysia has received a boost after the country's home minister pledged to review the country's repressive media laws. "I have told my officers that I want to have a re-look at the Printing Presses and Publications Act so that we can move with the times," Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar was quoted as saying in the Star Daily on April 20. Current legislation requires newspapers and other publications to apply for licenses that must be renewed annually. The minister also said a publishing permit had been approved for the opposition Keadilan party's newspaper. The party had been applying for a license since it formed in 1999. "We need press freedom in order for us to have a check and balance in government," he told the Star Daily."We are not trying to control you but we want everyone to contribute to the nation-building process". "Why should we let ourselves (government) become unpopular by having such regulations?" The minister's comments came a week after the home ministry didn't renew a Tamil-language newspaper's permit because it had violated guidelines on racial harmony - a move that effectively bans the paper. At the time, the minister did not explain or specify the violations. A report on the independent news website Malaysiakini said the permit for the Makkai Osai had expired on Oct. 15, 2007, but that the paper had received informal assurances from authorities that it could continue to publish pending approval of a new license. The paper received a letter from the Ministry of Home Affairs on April 16 informing it of the rejection but not stating why the application had been refused. The paper's management plans to file an appeal against the ruling.
Zambian police beat reporter
Source: MISA April 18 Police in Zambia beat a senior reporter from the state-owned Times of Zambia newspaper on April 17. Kaiko Namusa was assaulted and detained for more than an hour after he took pictures of police officers beating a cyclist who had apparently broken traffic rules, said a Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) report. Namusa told MISA the police officers seized his camera after beating him and demanded the photos be deleted, saying if published they would tarnish their image. Namusa was taken to the police station, along with the cyclist, where he was told it was "wrong to take photographs in their town". Namusa told MISA that when he demanded the return of his camera, the officers got annoyed and sought permission from their superiors to have him locked up. Namusa was released after one of the officers deleted the pictures from his camera. Police spokesperson Bonnie Kapeso condemned the beating of the reporter, saying police officers should respect the work of the media.
Government ads return to Guyana paper
Source: Stabroek News and April 16 Seventeen months after they last appeared in Guyana's Stabroek News, government advertisements returned to the newspaper on April 8. The first order was for an advertisement for the Community Services Enhancement Project, administered by the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development, said a report in the Stabroek News the day after the ban was lifted. The Government Information Agency (GINA) withdrew ads from 29 ministries and state agencies in November 2006, citing economic considerations. It placed ads with the country's two other dailies, the state-owned Guyana Chronicle and the privately owned Kaieteur News as well as the weekly Mirror, which is aligned with the ruling party. Other government and state-owned entities, which previously advertised independently of GINA, then also withdrew ads, including the Guyana Defence Force, the Guyana Police Force, the Guyana Revenue Authority, the Office of the Auditor General, the Guyana Sugar Corporation, the Guyana Power and Light and the regional administrations. Stabroek News objected to the withdrawal, saying it was because of the newspaper's editorial stance on issues of governance. "We were notified... by a very senior government official that ads would be placed from this week and our advertising manager was subsequently contacted by a government agency and the booking of advertisements has started," editor-in-chief David de Caires said in an email message to colleagues, peers and organisations that supported the paper while the ban was in effect. "No reason has been given for this change of policy but it is, of course, welcome and one must assume it will last."
Pakistani journalist shot dead
Source: CPJ April 14 The bureau chief of a national Urdu-language newspaper was shot dead on April 14 in the southwestern province of Baluchistan. As yet there appears to be no motive for the murder of Khadim Hussain Sheikh, who was killed by unidentified gunmen as he left his home in the town of Hub, just north of Karachi, on a motorcycle with his brother, Ishaq Sheikh. Khadim Hussain Sheikh was bureau chief for the Khabrein newspaper, as well as a stringer for Sindh TV. A report in Pakistan's Frontier Post newspaper said he also edited the local paper in Hub, the Hub News. Ishaq Sheikh suffered gunshot wounds in the attack. He told reporters and policethree men on motorcycles were involved in the shooting and that the men checked to make sure his brother was dead before fleeing the scene. Minister for Information and Broadcasting Sherry Rehman has called for a probe into the murder, according to the Associated Press of Pakistan.
Tribunal warns Gambian journalists to stop coverage
Source: MFWA April 8 The president of a district tribunal in The Gambia has warned journalists to stop covering proceedings or risk going to jail. Dembo Santang Bojang, president of the Kombo Central District Tribunal in the west of the country, on April 8 allegedly threatened to hold Modua Jonga, a reporter with the privately-owned Foroyaa newspaper, in contempt of the tribunal, said the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA). The MFWA said its sources had told it the decision to ban Jonga followed a civil suit Bojang brought against his own brother. The suit is being heard in the same court Bojang presides over. Under The Gambian constitution, district chiefs are appointed president of the district tribunal and preside over both civil and criminal matters. The MFWA said it was likely Bojang would act as both prosecutor and judge of the case. The management of Foroyaa has sent a protest letter to the country's Chief Justice about Bojang's actions, said the MFWA.
Nigerian police beat journalist
Source: The Vanguard, April 1, 2008 A correspondent for Nigeria's National Mirror newspaper is recovering after a group of policeman beat him in Port Harcourt on March 31. Dave Amusa was waiting for the official release of the March 29 local council election results at the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission office in the southeastern city, alongside other journalists, said a report in the Vanguard. Amusa told the Vanguard he had, like every other reporter, been there on the invitation of the commission. "I was cleared by one of the policemen when I showed him my identity card. But as I was going in, another policeman inside the gatehouse shouted that I should go back. "I told him that I was invited by the commission to a briefing. He was angry and started asking me whether that is the way I should talk to a police officer. He started beating me. "For challenging their colleague, other policemen rushed in and started kicking and hitting me with their guns until I fell down. I was rescued by some of my colleagues who just came into the premises." Harry Wilson - CPU
