07 Mar 12 | Asia and Pacific, Index Index, minipost
Around 100 journalists were attacked by a large crowd in India yesterday, whilst covering local elections in northern state Uttar Pradesh. The journalists were forced to lock themselves in a school, which was being used as an election centre, after clashes broke out between supporters of the parties involved in the election. The crowd of approximately 4,000 turned on the journalists on the evening of the election, after the results had been announced. They were assaulted, and their equipment and vehicles were damaged by the crowd. The journalists were able to leave the school early on Wednesday morning.
07 Mar 12 | Americas, Index Index, minipost
A team of Globovisión journalists were attacked by supporters of President Hugo Chávez in Venezuela on Sunday. The journalists were covering an opposition political rally when assailants wearing red shirts associated with Chávez supporters threatened them with guns and stole their equipment. The march by opposition presidential candidate Henrique Capriles Radonski had previously been interuppted by armed men who fired weapons in an apparent effort to break up the rally. The footage recorded by the staff from Globovisión, Venezuela’s last critical TV news station, was stolen by the attackers, along with a camera, microphone, and radios.
07 Mar 12 | Europe and Central Asia, Index Index, minipost
A writer for the Russian edition of GQ magazine has said he was assaulted by another journalist and a blogger. Political columnist Andrew Ryvkin claims he was attacked by journalist Sergei Minayev and blogger Eduard Bagirov in Central Moscow on Tuesday. Ryvkin tweeted that Minayev and Bagirov grabbed him and hit him in the face. The writer added that his attackers said they would “beat him to death” next time.
Minayev admitted his involvement in the assault on Twitter, saying it was in response to the writer having described him in a vulgar way in a recent article.
07 Mar 12 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost
The suspension of a privately owned newspaper in Kuwait has been extended for the second time. Daily paper Al-Dar was suspended in an emergency session on 2 February after authorities accused the paper of violating the Press and Publications Law by “undermining national unity” and “creating sectarian strife”. The accusations followed the publication in January of three articles defending the country’s Shiite minority. Kuwait’s Press Court extended the ban on Monday until at least 12 March when the court will meet again. Abdul Hussein al-Sultan, Al-Dar’s editor-in-chief believes the paper was suspended to prevent coverage of the February 2 parliamentary elections.
