Singapore forces popular site to register as political group
New York, January 26, 2011–In a concerning move against political commentary in advance of upcoming general elections, the government of Singapore has ordered a journalistic website to register as a political association, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The Online Citizen says it has complied with the order, and has announced a January 29 “celebration” of…
CJR: Singapore not so modern on press freedom
Singapore is a rich country with a surprisingly poor press freedom record—so says a story out this week in the Columbia Journalism Review. CPJ’s own findings point to a series of court fines and damages awarded over slights to the country’s government by major international papers like The New York Times and The Wall Street…
New York Times to pay damages to Singapore’s leaders
The New York Times Co. apologized on March 24, 2010, to Singapore’s prime minister and his two predecessors for a February 15 article that described the island nation’s leaders as a political dynasty, according to international news reports. The company and the article’s author, Philip Bowring, agreed to pay damages of 160,000 Singaporean dollars (US$114,000) in…
Attacks on the Press 2009: Asia Developments
ATTACKS ON THE PRESS: 2009 • Main Index ASIA Regional Analysis: • As fighting surges,so does danger to press Maguindanao: • Makings of a Massacre Country Summaries • Afghanistan • Burma • China • Nepal • North Korea • Pakistan • Philippines • Sri Lanka • Thailand • Vietnam • Other developments BANGLADESH India’s Border…
Singapore refuses to renew foreign journalist’s visa
New York, November 19, 2009—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the Singapore government’s refusal to renew British freelance journalist Benjamin Bland’s work visa and its rejection of his application to cover the recently concluded Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit meeting. Bland had planned to report on the summit for the U.K.’s Daily Telegraph newspaper.
Singapore fines Wall Street Journal editor
A high court judge in Singapore ruled on March 19, 2009, that Melanie Kirkpatrick, deputy editor of the Wall Street Journal’s editorial page, was in contempt of court for two articles and a letter to the editor published by the Dow Jones-owned Wall Street Journal Asia last year, according to international news reports. Kirkpatrick was…
Attacks on the Press in 2008: Asia Developments
BANGLADESH | FIJI | SINGAPORE | SOUTH KOREA BANGLADESH • Cartoonist Arifur Rahman was freed from Dhaka Central Jail on March 21. He was detained in September 2007, supposedly to prevent him from committing “a prejudicial act” against public order, after the daily Prothom Alo published his cartoon of a boy calling a cat “Muhammad.”…
Lee family wins defamation case
September 24, 2008 Hugo Restall, Review Publishing, Far Eastern Economic Review LEGAL ACTION A High Court judge in Singapore ruled that the Far Eastern Economic Review had defamed Singapore’s leaders, according to international news reports. Justice Woo Bih Li decided the case in a summary judgment without trial, dismissing arguments submitted by the magazine’s lawyers…