23 Nov 2009 | Index Index, minipost, News and features
The Far Eastern Economic Review (FEER), which is due to close next month, was ordered to pay Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew a total of S$405,000 (US$290,000) in damages and costs for defamation. The journal’s publisher, Review and editor Hugo Restell agreed to pay the damages in a consent order entered into the in the High Court on 13 November. The case never went to trial, as the High Court handled the case through summary judgement, as was requested by the Lees.
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23 Nov 2009 | Index Index, minipost, News and features
Twenty-one politicians and journalists who were abducted in the southern Philippines have been found dead. A convoy of about 40 people was hijacked by 100 gunmen at a police checkpoint in Maguindanao province, on the island of Mindanao. The group was seized by armed men as they tried to file nomination papers for a candidate in local elections next year. The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines said at least 12 reporters were feared dead. Read more here
23 Nov 2009 | Index Index, minipost, News and features
Brazilian judge, Pedro Sakamoto has prohibited bloggers Enock Cavalcanti and Adriana Vandoni from reporting on injunctions issued against politician José Riva. Vandoni and Cavalcanti, both from the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, reported on an accusation by the Federal Public Ministry (Ministério Público Federal) against Riva in their blogs. They are not allowed to voice any opinion until the legal process of Riva’s case is complete. The judge also determined the deletion of posts already published from Cavalcanti blog “Página do E” (E Page) deemed “offensive”. The bloggers will have to pay a daily fine of 1,000 reais (US $570) if they disobey the order. Read more here
23 Nov 2009 | Index Index, minipost, News and features
A government directive published on 13 November lifted all remaining restrictions on the media’s use of minority languages. The use of Kurdish had been allowed in public printed media and one public TV station, TRT6. However, privately-owned radio and TV stations were limited to 5 hours maximum of Kurdish language broadcast per week. Moreover, all Kurdish TV broadcasting was required to provide Turkish subtitles, making live broadcasting impossible. Read more here
