India: Right to information activist murdered

18 Aug 11 | Index Index, minipost

Shehla Masood, a freedom of information activist and blogger, was murdered yesterday in the city of Bhopal. The 39-year-old was shot in the neck as she got into a car in front of her home. Over the past two years, Masood had been publicly pushing for the enforcement of the Right to Information (RTI) Act in India. The 2005 RTI Act provides access to certain public documents but those seeking them — namely material involving sensitive local matters — are often targeted by officials, with a dozen people allegedly being killed last year for doing so.

Dominican Republic: TV reporter kidnapped, murdered

03 Aug 11 | Index Index, minipost

TV reporter José Agustín Silvestre was kidnapped, shot and killed on 2nd August in La Romana, Dominican Republic. Local papers have claimed his murder is connected to accusations he had made regarding corruption and local delinquency on his programme, The Voice of Truth. Silvestre had also served a prison sentence in May for defamation and slander after accusing a city prosecutor of having drug trafficking connections. The Inter American Press Association called 2011 “the most tragic year in the last two decades for Latin American press” in a report published last month. Silvestre is the 20th reporter to have been killed in the region this year.

Mexico: Newspaper distributor murdered

03 Feb 11 | Index Index, minipost

Marbiel Hernandez, a distributor of El Diario and the evening paper PM was shot dead in Ciudad Juarez on 31 January. The suspected murderer, Ramses Robles Morales, is a member of drug trafficking group La Linea. He has been detained by police and admitted to receiving US$25o for carrying out the murder.

Due process, prejudice and the press

03 Jan 11 | United Kingdom

Brian Cathcart
England’s contempt of court laws have long been toothless, but the Internet and the smartphone have made it clear they are not fit for purpose, as demonstrated in the current “monstering” of murder suspect Chris Jefferies, says Brian Cathcart
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