A Tunisian journalist was physically attacked after being ejected from a political meeting last week. Al Jazeera journalist Lotfi Hajji was officially invited to a meeting on 24 March which brought together several political parties, but was...
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China: Detained human rights lawyer ‘alive and well’
A Chinese human rights lawyer has been visited in prison by his family for the first time since he disappeared over two years ago. Gao Zhisheng, China's best known human rights lawyer, was sentenced to three years in jail in 2006 for "inciting...
Brazil: Two journalists murdered
Two Brazilian journalists were murdered near the Paraguayan border over the weekend. Onei de Moura, owner of weekly newspaper Costa Oeste was shot and killed in Santa Helena by a man he had allegedly argued with earlier in the day. The suspected...
Swaziland: Social media lese majeste law planned
Swaziland's justice minister has told the country's senate that the government is finalising a law that would make it illegal to criticise the King Mswati III on social media networks. "We will be tough on those who write bad things about the king...
UK: Ex-cricketer wins Twitter libel case
Former New Zealand cricket captain Chris Cairns has won his High Court libel case and been awarded £90,000 in damages after allegations on Twitter that he was involved in match-fixing. Lalit Modi, former chairman of the Indian Premier League, had...
Bangladesh: Facebook pages shut for blasphemy
A Bangladesh court last week ordered government authorities to shut down five Facebook pages and a website for blasphemous content. Judges at the high court in Dhaka ordered the telecommunications regulator, home ministry officials and police to...
Uzbekistan: Novaya Gazeta columnist deported
Former Novaya Gazeta columnist Victoria Ivleva was deported from Uzbekistan in an incident she believes is linked to her work. Ivleva flew to Tashkent for a photo workshop last Friday, but was not allowed to leave the airport. She was then refused...
Sri Lanka: Government calls journalists “traitors”
Sri Lankan journalists have been dubbed "traitors" by state television, following the adoption of a UN Human Rights Council resolution calling for an investigation into the country's alleged abuses of international humanitarian law during its war...
Venezuela: Chavez accuses press of “media terrorism”
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez accused the press of "media terrorism" during a Ministers Council meeting this week, following reports on contamination of drinking water in the central region of the country. Chavez attributed the stories to an...
Azerbaijan: Musicians tortured
Two Azerbaijani musicians who insulted the country's president during a concert in Baku are said to have been tortured by police while in detention. Jamal Ali of the band Bulustan criticised President Ilham Aliyev and his late mother during a...