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Pakistan: TV station employee, two policemen injured in ISIS grenade attack

Pakistan Press Foundation A receptionist of a television news channel and two police constables were injured on December 1, 2015 in a hand grenade attack on the office of Din News in Lahore, the capital city of Punjab province in Pakistan. The attacker on a motorcycle hurled a hand grenade at the channel's offices, along with pamphlets claiming responsibility for the attack by ISIS – Khorasan Group (Daulat-i-Islamia Khorasan). The pamphlets also warned that such attacks would continue if the media houses did not stop helping the government of Pakistan and the army which were…Read more

Third journalist shot while covering political events in Uganda

  HRNJ-Uganda    On 16 November 2015, Delta TV journalist  Kugonza, was shot in the head by police and rushed to Mulago National Referral hospital in critical condition. Blood was oozing from his head and mouth. Another unidentified woman was also reportedly shot in the scuffle, as police arrested the Capital City's Lord Mayor, Erias Lukwago. Delta TV news editor, Prossy Margaret Kisitu told Human Rights Network for Journalists-Uganda that Isaac' skull had been cracked, “A scan shows that his skull has cracked. He is in severe pain. He can't open his mouth,…Read more

Safety and security of media workers on the decline in Pakistan, says PPF report

Pakistan Press Foundation Over the last decade media in Pakistan have experienced a remarkable growth and transformation in its role. Though there have been serious reversals in recent years, Pakistan continues to enjoy a vibrant, independent and fairly free media. The advent of private TV channels since 2002 revolutionized Pakistan's media environment. Almost one hundred private television channels are currently broadcasting, reaching a wide section of the society. Private television channels have opened a new discourse in the society which for many years was monopolistic and one sided. Open and candid discussions on…Read more

155 Ghanaian journalists call for sanctions against top presidential aide

Media Foundation for West Africa Some 155 journalists from over 40 media organisations across Ghana have joined the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) to petition President John Dramani Mahama to demand sanctions against his staffer, Mr. Stan Dodge. The petition follows Mr. Dogbe's assault of Mr. Yahayah Kwamoah, a journalist with state-owned Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) nearly two months ago. In an incident that many have described as shameful and embarrassing, the presidential staffer seized and destroyed the journalist's recording equipment at the 37 Military Hospital. The GBC journalist had gone to…Read more

In threatening e-mail, Bangladeshi media ordered to fire women

Reporters without Borders Reporters Without Borders condemns the threats against news media and bloggers contained in a email that was sent to a score of Bangladeshi print and broadcast media outlets on 19 October 2015, and calls on the authorities to take concrete measures to protect all those targeted. Sent by Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), a militant Islamist group that has claimed the murders of four bloggers this year, and signed by a person identifying himself as ABT spokesman Abdullah bin Salim, the Bengali-language email constituted a clear threat to all media that…Read more

The British Society of Editors puts freedom of information at top of agenda

Society of Editors The new President of the Society of Editors has put freedom of information at the top of his agenda for the year ahead. Nick Turner, who is poised to take over at the Society’s helm, said the fight to protect the Freedom of Information Act from government reform would be “one of the biggest issues of the year”. It followed the launch of the Society’s ‘Hands Off FOI’ campaign in conjunction with Press Gazette and HoldtheFrontPage yesterday. Mr Turner, digital strategy manager at the CN Group and founder of the…Read more

Commonwealth Correspondent wins CNN African Journalist Award

Femi Asu, a young Commonwealth Correspondent and reporter from Nigeria, has been announced as the winner of a prestigious CNN African Journalist Award. Femi, who writes for The Punch national daily newspaper in Lagos, was presented the Ecobank Economics and Business category award by Richard Uku, former Communications Director at the Commonwealth Secretariat at a gala ceremony in Nairobi, Kenya. Femi was one of 31 finalists from 15 African countries to be shortlisted. He started his journalism career as a student reporter at the University of Ado-Ekiti and became a Commonwealth Correspondent in 2012,…Read more

Charges against journalist accused of defaming Ugandan president dropped after 5 years

Human Rights Network for Journalists–Uganda (HRNJ-Uganda) is delighted that an independent journalist, Timothy Kalyegira Nyakahuuma, has finally regained his freedom after five years of battling with a criminal defamation trial, throughout which he was accused of defaming the president of Uganda. On 30 September 2015, the Grade One Magistrate at City Hall Court, Kampala Moses Nabende, dismissed criminal defamation charges brought against Mr. Kalyegira for failure by the state to adduce evidence in court for the last five years. The magistrate noted that there was “no strong and convincing reason” to continue with…Read more

Malaysia: Sedition Act upheld in further blow to free expression

Article 19 ARTICLE 19 is disappointed by Malaysia's 6 October 2015 Federal Court decision that the colonial era Sedition Act is indeed constitutional. The Sedition Act violates international human rights law on freedom of expression and contradicts democratic values. ARTICLE 19 urges its repeal. "The 1948 Sedition Act has been increasingly used to suppress legitimate offline and online dissent in Malaysia, whether by academics, cartoonists or opposition politicians. Many of those brave individuals who have spoken out against the government already have sedition charges against them, and were awaiting the outcome of this…Read more

Cartoonist Zunar targeted again under Malaysia’s Sedition Act

International Federation of Journalists The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) strongly criticizes the Malaysian government's continued attack against freedom of expression, following the investigation into political cartoonist, Zunar's latest book. The IFJ calls on the Malaysian government to repeal the archaic Sedition Act and guarantee freedom of expression in the country. On Tuesday, September 29, political cartoonist, Zulkifi 'Zunar' Anwar Uljaqur announced Malaysian police had begun an investigation into his latest book, Sapuman – Man of Steal. An online sales assistant on Zunar's website was called in for questioning next week under the Sedition…Read more