World Association of News Publishers


30 Days - 30 Protest Letters

30 Days - 30 Protest Letters

Article ID:

17659

Visit the 30 Days for Freedom campaign site www.worldpressfreedomday.org

2 May - Dawit Isaac, Eritrea, jailed since September 2001

Dawit Isaak, one of at least 10 journalists and editors jailed as part of the Eritrean government’s September 2001 crackdown on the independent press, has not been seen alive for four years. He was awarded WAN-IFRA's Golden Pen of Freedom in 2011. Read more...


1 May - Liu Xianbin, China, jailed since June 2010

In March 2011, after a trial lasting only two hours, Liu Xianbin was sentenced to ten years in prison on charges that his writing slandered the Communist Party. The case was largely centred around articles published by overseas Chinese-language websites that advocated for democracy and human rights. Read more...


29 April -  Tayyip Temel, Turkey, jailed since October 2011

The editor-in-chief of the daily Kurdish-language newspaper Azadiya Welat was accused of supporting terrorism by covering the activities of the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Yet the only evidence presented against him included an article written by Temel and wiretapped phone recordings with co-workers and news sources, including members of Kurdish political parties. Read more...


28 April - Wajdi al-Ghazzawi, Saudi Arabia, jailed since February 2014

The owner of Al-Fajr Media Group, Wajdi al-Ghazzawi, was sentenced by a criminal court in Riyadh on 4 February 2013 to 12 years in prison. Mr. al-Ghazzawi had launched a TV talk show in 2011 called “Al-Fadfadah” (Relaxed Conversation), which was one of the few programmes critical of Saudi Arabia’s government. But after hosting seven instalments, the station was shut down because it was deemed “liable to impact on public security.” Read more...


26 April - Avaz Zeynally, Azerbaijan, jailed since October 2011

Chief editor of the independent Azerbaijani daily Khural, Avaz Zeynally was arrested and imprisoned in October 2011 after a parliament member accused him of demanding money in return for not publishing critical reports. Sixteen months later, he was sentenced to nine years in prison. Read more...


25 April - Juliet Michelena Díaz, Cuba, jailed since April 2014

Citizen journalist Juliet Michelena Díaz was detained earlier this month shortly after photographing a police operation in Havana. Díaz is a contributor to the Cuban Network of Community Journalists (La Red Cubana de Comunicadores Comunitarios or RCCC), a group known for its critical coverage of the government that has fallen victim to government harassment in recent months. Read more...


24 April - Gulmire Imin, China, jailed since July 2009

Chinese authorities sentenced Gulmire Imin to life in prison after claiming she was one of the organisers of a major demonstration sparked by the deaths of Uighur migrant workers in Guangdong province that took place on July 5, 2009. They also alleged that she used the website she moderated to disseminate information in the lead up to the event. Read more...


23 April - Muhammad Anwar Muna, Palestine, jailed since August 2013
In the early hours of August 7, 2013, Israeli officials raided the Nablus home of Mr. Muna, the West Bank correspondent for the UK-based Quds Press International News Agency. His computer, cell phone and papers were reportedly confiscated, and he was later sentenced to six months in jail under administrative detention. The courts renewed his sentence for an additional half-year. Read more...


22 April - Bheki Makhubu, Swaziland, jailed since March 2014
Mr. Makhubu, Editor-in-Chief of The Nation magazine, has been kept in a maximum-security prison after having been arrested along with prominent human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko on contempt of court charges. Briefly freed after a judge found their initial arrest unlawful, a new warrant was ordered by Justice Simelane on 9 April. Read more...


21 April - Reeyot Alemu, Ethiopia, jailed since June 2011
On 21 June 2011, police seized Ms. Alemu while she was teaching an English class, with no information given to her as to why she was being arrested. Her articles and recordings of a telephone conversation about a peaceful protest were used against her as proof of 'crime', and she was sentenced to 14 years in prison. Her term was later commuted to five years. Read more...


20 April - Sergei Reznik, Russia, jailed since November 2013

On November 26, 2013, investigative journalist and blogger Sergei Reznik was sentenced to 18 months in prison after being charged with using the online blog LiveJournal to “publically insult” the chairwoman and judge of the Rostov Oblast Arbitration Court in the Russian city of Rostoz-on-Don. Read more...


18 April - Tạ Phong Tần, Vietnam, jailed since September 2011

Widely recognised as one of Vietnam's first outspoken bloggers, Tần was arrested on September 5, 2011 on anti-state propaganda charges for her blog posts about government corruption. She was sentenced on October 4, 2012 to a decade in prison. Read more...


17 April - Eritrea's Independent Press, jailed since September 2001

During the course of September 2001, ahead of elections that would never happen, authorities rounded up and jailed at least ten journalists, allowing Eritrea's burgeoning press to vanish in just days. Read more...


16 April - Muhammad Bekjanov, Yusuf Ruzimuradov, Uzbekistan, jailed since March 1999

Jailed for over fifteen years, Uzbek editor Muhammad Bekjanov and reporter Yusuf Ruzimuradov are the world's longest-imprisoned journalists. Both were jailed on anti-state charges after extradition from Ukraine and were also tortured before their trial started. Read more...


15 April - Syrian Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression colleagues, jailed since February 2012
Mazen Darwish, founder of the SCM, and his two colleagues, Hussain Ghrer and Hani Al-Zitani, have been imprisoned for more than two years for promoting freedom of expression and reporting human rights violations committed in Syria. Read more...


14 April - Somyot Prueksakasemsuk, Thailand, jailed since April 2014
Somyot Prueksakasemsuk, an outspoken activist and magazine editor, was sentenced to 11 years in prison on charges of defaming Thailand’s monarchy under strict lèse-majesté laws. Read more...


13 April - "Chief" Ebrima Manneh, Gambia, jailed since July 2006
The whereabouts of Ebrima Manneh, a senior reporter with the Daily Observer newspaper, have been largely unknown for the duration of his incarceration, with conflicting reports from authorities and senior government officials refusing to discuss his case. Read more...


12 April - Zaw Pe, Myanmar, jailed since April 2014
Zaw Pe, a video reporter with the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), was sentenced to one year in jail on April 7, 2014 for trespassing and disturbing a civil servant on duty. Read more...


11 April - Hilal Mammadov, Azerbaijan, jailed since June 2012
Editor-in-chief of the Tolishi-Sado (Voice of Talysh) newspaper, Hilal Mammadov was arrested in June 2012 and accused of spying for Iran, treason, and inciting ethnic hatred. Read more...


10 April - Ahmad Zeidabadi, Iran, jailed since June 2009
Prominent Iranian journalist and political scientist Dr. Ahmad Zeidabadi is currently serving a six-year prison sentence and is banned for life from the profession of journalism. Read more...


9 April - Al Jazeera Journalists, Egypt, jailed since December 2013
Peter Greste, Cairo Bureau Chief Mohamed Fahmy, and producer Baher Mohamed, all from the Al Jazeera network, have been in jail for over 100 days. Read more...


8 April - Nguyen Van Hai, Vietnam, jailed since April 2008
Nguyen Van Hai - known by his pen name ‘Dieu Cay’ - is a Vietnamese blogger who is serving a twelve-year prison sentence for “conducting propaganda against the state. Read more...


7 April - Agnès Uwimana Nkusi, Rwanda, jailed since July 2010
Agnès Uwimana Nkusi is a Rwandan editor jailed since July 10, 2010 after articles critical of President Paul Kagame were published in her bi-monthly Kinyarwanda-language Umurabyo newspaper. Read more...


6 April 2014 - Bahraini journlaists, jailed for 'dissent'
Ahmed Humaidan, Hussein Hubail, Abdul-Jalil al-Singace, and Sayed Ahmed Al-Mousawi. Read more...


5 April 2014 - Dhondup Wangchen, China, jailed since March 2008
Mr. Wangchen was arrested and charged with inciting Tibetan separatism shortly after completing his short film 'Leaving Fear Behind', in which he gave voice to ordinary Tibetan people on a range of topics - from the Dalai Lama to the Chinese government, human rights abuses and the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Read more...


4 April 2014 - Fusun Erdogan, Turkey, jailed since September 2006
Ms. Erdoğan says no concrete links can be found anywhere in her 300 page indictment tying her to her alleged crimes. As a founder of the radio station Özgür Radyo (Radio Free), which is known to be critical of the government, we are deeply concerned her imprisonment is politically motivated. Read more...


 


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Author

Andrew Heslop's picture

Andrew Heslop

Date

2014-04-03 21:43

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In countless countries, journalists, editors and publishers are physically attacked, imprisoned, censored, suspended or harassed for their work. WAN-IFRA is committed to defending freedom of expression by promoting a free and independent press around the world. Read more ...