Case

OCTOBER 3, 2005 Posted: December 8, 2005 Anderson Ojwang’, The East African Standard ATTACKED Baraka Karama, Kenya Television Network (KTN) HARASSED, THREATENED Ojwang’, a correspondent for the independent daily The East African Standard, was beaten by youths bearing whips and sticks while trying to cover a government-organized meeting in the western town of Kakamega. The…

OCTOBER 1, 2005 Posted October 17, 2005 Ali Mohaqiq Nasab, Haqooq-i-Zan IMPRISONED Kabul’s primary court convicted Nasab on blasphemy charges on October 22, and sentenced him to a two-year jail term.

SEPTEMBER 30, 2005 Posted October 13, 2005 Radio Télévision Sénégalaise Disso Hizbut Tarqiyah CENSORED In a recorded statement broadcast by local radio stations, chief caliph Serigne Saliou Mbacké ordered all three FM radio stations based in the Muslim holy city of Touba to vacate within three days. Touba is the center of the Senegalese Muslim…

SEPTEMBER 30, 2005 Posted October 17, 2005 Yannan CENSORED The Beijing-based Yannan bulletin board system, a popular Web forum, was closed after providing coverage and debate on a turbulent recall campaign in a village in Guangdong province.

SEPTEMBER 30, 2005 Posted October 11, 2005 Sondhi Limthongkul, Sarocha Porn-udomsak, Channel 9 LEGAL ACTION Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra filed two lawsuits over a September 9 commentary by political talk show hosts Sondhi Limthongkul and Sarocha Porn-udomsak on state-owned Channel 9. The commentary cited an article that implied that Thaksin was disloyal to King…

SEPTEMBER 27, 2005 Posted October 11, 2005 Abdoulaye Harouna, Echos Express LEGAL ACTION A court in the northern town of Agadez convicted Abdoulaye Harouna, publication director of the monthly Echos Express, of defaming the local governor, Yahaya Yendaka. The court sentenced him to four months in jail and fined him 520,000 CFA francs (US$950). Harouna…

SEPTEMBER 26, 2005 Posted October 17, 2005 Awale Jama Salad, STN IMPRISONED Authorities in the Puntland city of Bossasso arrested an STN radio editor in connection with his reporting on prison conditions, according to the Somali journalists union NUSOJ and a local source. Awale Jama Salad was detained for the second time in recent months.

SEPTEMBER 26, 2005 Posted October 17, 2005 Epokha Svoboda Slova Zhuma-taims Apta.kz Azat Soz. CENSORED Six newspapers that have covered an opposition candidate’s presidential campaign were prevented from publishing their current editions, according to local and international press reports. Managers at the private printing company Vremya-Print in the financial capital of Almaty refused to explain…

SEPTEMBER 25, 2005 Posted October 13, 2005 Tchanguis Vatankah, Radio Brakos IMPRISONED Chadian authorities arrested community radio station director Tchanguis Vatankah in southern Chad and announced they would expel him from the country, according to local sources. A native of Iran who had been living in Chad for several decades, Vatankah is the founder and…

SEPTEMBER 25 2005 October 17, 2005 All journalists CENSORED China’s State Council and the Ministry of Information Industry issued severe restrictions for online news. Under the new regulations, any individual or organization that posts news or commentary must first be approved by the State Council Information Office. Bulletin board systems (BBS), a widely used medium…