Results matching “prosecution if top s”

Cholpon Orozobekova, editor of Bishkek-based De Facto newspaper announced last Tuesday that publication will stop until at least 20 August, due to harassment from the authorities. Over two weeks ago, the paper was accused of printing false information about the Kyrgyz Taxes and Duties Committee, CNW Group reported.

The 12 June issue featured a reader's letter complaining about corruption in the capital's tax department. Taalaibek Dalbaev, the head of the Kyrgyz Taxes and Duties Committee, promptly filed for libel and the persecutor's office took legal action against the paper.

The persecutor's office concluded that the letter was fake and a warrant was obtained to search the newspaper's office. The paper was searched twice, its financial assets and bank account frozen.

Last Tuesday, Nurlanbek Chakiev, a presidential spokesperson sais that the authorities do not plan to shut De Facto down. However, he mentioned that the paper defied professional ethics.

"The decision to bring a criminal prosecution against the newspaper instead of a civil suit, the freezing of its accounts, the threats received by its editor and the speed with which the judicial authorities acted are all disproportionate and suggest that real aim is to force De Facto to close," said Reporters Without Borders.

Various organizations have questioned the viability of press freedom in Kyrgystan and whether  the government permits independent media to function correctly, reported Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty.

Source: CNW Group through World News

Two reporters for the United Daily News and one colleague from the China Times were subpoenaed to testify at the Ministry of National Defense tribunal, which was investigating Taiwan Goal, but they chose not to appear in court since they would have been asked to identify their sources for their stories. Thus, Kuomintang lawmakers proposed an amendment to the Code of Criminal Procedure that would allow press workers to refuse to release sources of information.

The Taiwan Goal, founded last year, is the now-disbanded government-owned company responsible for purchasing weapons and equipment from abroad. It had signed contracts to "upgrade Lafayette frigates and purchase sophisticated arms from France before the scandal came to light in the run-up to the presidential election on March 22," according to AsiaMedia.

The three reporters believed that freedom of the press is guaranteed by the Constitution, but such protection does not cover immunity to prosecution if reporters withhold their sources of information.

The proposed amendment, which would give that immunity to press workers and other professionals including medical doctors, midwives, priests, and attorneys, will be acted on next week.

Wu Chih-yang, a Kuomintang lawmaker, said "reporters should be protected against intimidation."

 "A few reporters have been held in contempt of court and fined for refusing to reveal their news sources. That goes against freedom of the press upheld in the Constitution," Wu said.

Source: AsiaMedia

The Evening Leader, North Whales Media title, is giving readers the chance to take the roles of a judge and jury in an online court through its website.

The online court website was launched in association with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and aims to raise awareness of legal procedures.

Real lawyers present their case to readers in a fictional court case through video. The viewers are given legal advice and then are asked to give their sentence. Finally, a real magistrate appears and explains what their decision would be.

In a press release, Christian Dunn, digital editor for the Evening Leader said, “this kind of working partnership shows great common sense by the CPS – they can use our website’s traffic to get their message
across and we can use their content to add more value to our site.”

A good example of a newspaper service that can benefit the public by taking advantage of the Web’s possibilities.

Source: journalism.co.uk

A second court ruling within days may mark a switch in policy over a commonplace Internet practice: anonymous – and scurrilous – posting. A website may be forced to reveal the identities of fans of the Sheffield Wednesday football club, who could face libel charges after posting comments about the club’s management.

According to the official Chinese news agency Xinhua, the government is taking steps to curb abuse in the media by listing the names and addresses of local staff members on the Internet.

German media that publish photographs of celebrities not at public events without their permission now face prosecution, based on a new ruling by the European Union.

Criticism from delegates and local people’s congresses has led China’s National People’s Congress to revise a proposed law that would restrict media coverage of national emergencies.  First introduced in June of 2006, the law proposed placing $13,000 fines on media outlets using unauthorized or fabricated information to report on public emergencies.

The World Association of Newspapers (WAN) has published a manifesto for World Press Freedom Day, May 3. WAN has also launched a website dedicated to this day and press freedom, which includes the most recent and interactive infographics about journalists in the world, as well as cartoons, texts, photos and video. Many newspapers around the world have participated in the press freedom awareness operation by publishing some of the website’s content in their print edition.

On April 11, a panel of famed international press cartoonists gathered at the French Ministry of Culture, to inaugurate the ‘Cartooning for Peace’ exhibit and debate the potential dangers of political press cartoons. Cartoons have a universal reach and pacifying effects, but they may also lead to just the opposite – violence and bloodshed. How then can press cartoons evolve to pursue their peace-making goals, especially in light of new subversive forms of censorship emerging in the West, and should freedom of expression be absolute?

The Sudanese press body condemned the recent shutting down of leading Arabic langage newspaper Al-Sudani, a decision rendered by the ‘press prosecution’, and illegal in the eyes of the press body.

The United Nations’ Security Council has publicly condemned any attacks on journalists operating in war zones, and has called on all parties to put an end to violence aimed at the press.

Information commissioner Richard Thomas released a league table of newspapers and magazines which hired privated detectives to obtain illegal information about their subjects – mostly celebrities.

The World Association of Newspapers' (WAN) "Media in Danger - Press Under Siege" two-day conference opened in Beirut on Sunday Dec 10th. More than 3,000 people attended the opening of the conference, which sought ways to support the development of independent, professional media in the Middle East and the Arab world. Presented here are some of the main points and quotes recorded during the conference.

Seventy-five journalists have been killed so far this year, making 2006 the deadliest year for journalists on record, the World Association of Newspapers said Thursday.Twenty-six of the deaths occurred in Iraq, where journalists continue to be targetted and murdered.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger recently signed a bill, which punishes by up to 10 days in prison and a fine of up to $500 those who are caught taking more than 25 copies of a free newspaper. The rule aims at providing a protection to papers that might be stolen with the purpose of preventing their readership from reading specific viewpoints.

Three cartoonists, Dilem (Ali Dilem) of Algeria’s daily newspaper Liberty, Cabu (Jean Cabu) of France’s Charlie Hebdo and Le Canard Enchainé (both political satire weeklies) and Iran’s Nikahang Kowsar have answered questions about their own perspectives on the Mohammed cartoons and freedom of expression.

Each cartoonist has a different perspective. Dilem asserts that people should be "allowed to make cartoons of everything", while simultaneously stating that he understands how a cartoon depicting Mohammed wearing a turban shaped like a bomb has shocked some people. Kowsar criticizes the publication of the cartoons, stating: "I am critical of what they did: when you do something that you know will create hatred and annoy people who are a minority in Europe, this can be very insensitive." Finally, Cabu defends the publication of the cartoons, asserting that Nikahansuch actions are protected by freedom of expression and freedom of the press.

 The Editors' Weblog has compiled a provisional list of the newspapers that have printed some or all of the cartoons since 30 September 2005, date of publication of 12 cartoons of the prophet Mohammed in Danish newspaper Jyllands Posten. Even provisional, this list is the most exhaustive on the internet, thanks to members of the World Editors Forum and to bloggers close to the EW.

The main conclusions are:

- to our knowledge, more than 130 national or local newspapers (excluding the student newspapers and online publications) published some or all of the 12 cartoons (sometimes just a pohtography) in approximately 50 countries . It also means that around 1,7% of the dailies around the world - 8,300 paid-for dailies according to World Press Trends 2005 - made the difficult decision to publish the cartoons.

- Europe was the continent where the most newspapers published the cartoons: at least 70 papers. It is not surprising that the Netherlands was the country most involved in the controversy (after Denmark)... a few months after the assassination of the film maker Theo Van Gogh by an Islamist activist. Same thing in France after the veil debate and the November 2005 riots.

- Within Europe, the first publications to reprint the cartoons in January-February 2006 were in general right-wing publications, for example ABC in Spain, Die Welt in Germany and Corriere della Sera in Italy. Then more leftist publications followed suit, for example Libération and Le Monde in France.

- Surprisingly, Arab and Muslim newspapers were also involved in the controversy from the very beginning, with the first reprint on 17 October 2005 (see below)! More than 12 Arab and/or Muslim newspapers published the cartoons. The decision to publish provoked terrible consequences for the editors-in-chief of these publications. Same consequences for some directors of television in Sudan and Algeria. 

- How to define the position adopted by American, British, Canadian and Australian newspapers? Media responsability, political correctness or self-censorship? The most surprising is not the position defined in many editorials (from The New York Times to The Guardian), but this strange impression of unanimity and consensus: only three regional newspapers on more than 1,400 newspapers in the States and zero newspaper, but a student daily in the UK for taking the risk...

- And what in the rest of the world? Nothing. Almost the desert for the publication of the cartoons in the Americas (apart Brazil), Africa (apart South Africa) and above all Asia (apart New Zealand). As if this controversy was only between Europe and the Arab world and if blasphemy was still relevant in regions as Asia and the Americas: not only about Mohammed, but about all religious issues.

My conclusion: the geography of the publication of the Danish cartoons tells us a lot about our democracies: what is allowed, what is forbidden... and what is taboo. In fact, it's more geopolitics than geography!

Jordanian editors Jihad Momani, of Al Shihan newspaper, and Hisham Khalidi, of Al Mihwar, are both in the custody of the state having been charged with blasphemy of the prophet after their respective newspapers reprinted some of the infamous Mohammed cartoons that have caused uproar amongst Muslims worldwide (see previous postings here and here). In case of conviction, the charge can carry a penalty of between one and three years imprisonment.