01 May 12 | Europe and Central Asia, Index Index, minipost
A Montenegro court has jailed a journalist for four months for libel. Journalist Petar Komnenic was convicted in February 2011 over a 2007 report in Montenegrin weekly news magazine Monitor, which alleged that the state had illegally placed several senior judges under surveillance. He was ordered to pay a fine of 3,000 Euros (2,450 GBP) or serve four months in jail. Komnenic refused to pay and appealed to a higher court, which ruled he should do community service instead. But on 18 April a magistrate in the capital Podgorica reinstated the prison sentence.
01 May 12 | Africa, Index Index, minipost
Two journalists filming an anti-government march in the Togolese capital Lomé were attacked by police last week. Freelance journalist Noël Kokou Tadegnon, who works for Reuters TV and pan-African satellite broadcaster Vox Africa was attacked by 10 police officers as he filmed security forces firing tear gas at protesters. The journalist was hit in the back of the head and his camera was seized while he was unconscious. Didier Alli, a reporter for the local TV station TV7, attempted to intervene in the attack on Tadegnon, but security forces attacked him, also seizing his camera.
01 May 12 | Americas, Europe and Central Asia, Index Index, minipost
Update 02 May 2012: Colombia’s Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) confirmed in a statement today that they are holding French journalist Roméo Langlois prisoner.
A French television journalist injured during a clash between Colombian Army troops and members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) has gone missing and may have been kidnapped by the rebels according to Colombian and French officials. Roméo Langlois, a correspondent for France 24 and a contributor to Paris daily Le Figaro, disappeared on Saturday. Langlois had joined the army unit to cover an anti-drug raid in the southern region of Caqueta.
30 Apr 12 | Asia and Pacific, Digital Freedom, Index Index, minipost
A verdict in the trial of a webmaster accused of failing to quickly remove online comments deemed insulting to Thailand’s royalty has been postponed. Judge Nittaya Yaemsri said more time was needed to process documents in the case of Chiranuch Premchaiporn, editor of news website Prachatai, with a new court date set for 30 May. Premchaiporn faces up to 20 years in jail for comments posted on the site by users. She is being tried under Thailand’s computer-crime laws, which address hacking and other online offences, but also prohibit the circulation of material deemed detrimental to national security, including defaming the monarchy.
