01 Jun 12 | Africa, Index Index, minipost
A vote in the Malawi Parliament has led to the repeal of an amendment to the country’s penal code which banned any news “not in the public interest”. Though amendment to Article 46 of the penal code was introduced in 2010, and was passed last year, it was never implemented after challenges from press freedom groups. The sweeping amendment would have allowed the government to ban anything deemed not to be in the public interest for an unspecified amount of time. Only one member of parliament voted against the repeal.
01 Jun 12 | Americas, Index Index, minipost
Ten suspects have been arrested as part of the investigation into the murder of Alfredo Villatoro in Honduras, including one policeman. Villatoro was kidnapped earlier this month, and his body was found dumped, dressed in police uniform. He had been shot twice in the head. On Sunday five suspects were arrested, and a number of weapons were seized from their homes. Police also seized two cars believed to be linked to the kidnapping. Other arrests have been made, and two prison inmates are being questioned, after a call from a mobile phone traced back to the prison was made to Villatoro’s family.
01 Jun 12 | Index Index, minipost, United Kingdom
A woman who joked on Facebook that she planned to squirt the Olympic flame with a water pistol has been issued with a warning by police. Helen Perry posted the joke on a local newspaper page, and was contacted by the police several weeks later. In the post, Perry added that she would block the route through the UK town of Bridlington, East Yorkshire, until a local person was chosen to carry the flame. Perry was warned that if she carried out what she had joked about online then she would be committing a criminal offence and would be arrested.
01 Jun 12 | Index Index, minipost
Burma’s heavy censorship rules are set to be lifted later this month, it has been announced. Tint Swe, head of the Press Scrutinisation and Registration Department (PSRD) has said that the iron grip currently experienced by the Burmese press will be lifted in a significant reform. Until recently, everything from newspapers to fairy tales were subject to scrutiny from the country’s censors. Tint Swe has said “it is the right time” and added “When we have parliament and government working on democratic process, how can censorship work at the same time?”
