Rwanda: Threats cause bimonthly to suspend publication

01 Sep 11 | Index Index, minipost

Fidèle Gakire, publisher of bimonthly newspaper Ishema decided to suspend the publication for one month on 28 August because of serious threats received after printing an opinion piece calling Rwandan president Paul Kagame a “sociopath”. While Gakire apologised to the High Media Council, the comment was deemed to be libellous, and he was handed a six-month suspension from the Forum of Private Newspapers. The editor of the paper, Didas Niyifasha, resigned after the incident.

Paraguay: Journalists on trial for libel and defamation

24 Aug 11 | Index Index, minipost

Three journalists from TV station Canal 9 in Paraguay, and the ex-director of the National Television System, Ismael Hadid, are on trial for defamation and libel. Reporter Silvio Cuevas, host Yolanda Park, and the channel’s press director, Andrés Caballero, were sued by a lawyer, Evelio Fabio Salinas, after Cuevas in May 2010 interviewed a woman who accused the lawyer of falsifying birth certificates in order to facilitate adoptions.