Citizen Journos Among Those Pardoned by Kuwaiti Emir

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Right result, wrong reason, is the reaction of human rights activists and free speech proponents to Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah's pardoning of numerous prisoners, including citizen journalists Badr al-Rashidi and Ourance Rashidi, according to watchdog group Reporters Without Borders ("RWB").

The mass release of inmates last week, including al-Rashidi and Rashidi, who had been incarcerated since June 14, 2012 and October 27, 2011, respectively, was occasioned by the end of Ramadan, during which gestures of mercy are commonplace.  The online journalists were among those jailed for criticizing the Emir, according to RWB.

Insulting the Emir, under Kuwait's criminal code, remains punishable by a maximum five years' imprisonment.

UPDATE: Press Freedom in Burundi Staggered by Enactment of Repressive Media Law

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Proclaiming that the news media will be professionalized and that his war-torn nation will benefit from journalists being prohibited from inciting violence, Burundi President Pierre Nkurunziza this week put into effect a repressive media law passed by the National Assembly last April (see "TUOL" post 4/5/13), according to reports by BBC News and BloombergBusinessWeek.com.

The new measure supplants a 2003 law and among its provisions, mandates journalists, irrespective of their professional experience, possess a university degree, compels reporters to disclose their confidential sources, bars reporting on issues, including public safety, national security, morality and the national economy, and subjects offenders to fines ranging from $2,000 to $6,000 and criminal penalties of up to a maximum life imprisonment.

Free press advocates, including New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists("CPJ") and Human Rights Watch ("HRW"), and France-based Reporters Without Borders ("RWB") all condemned the new law as a major setback to press freedom. Burundi is recovering from the aftermath of a decade-long civil war sparked by the assassination of its first democratically elected president that claimed more than 300,000 lives.

Nkurunziza, an insurgent leader during the civil war, was elected in 2005 and re-elected in 2010, though opposition leaders boycotted the most recent election. According to the BBC News report, the African nation's National Communication Council ("NCC") on May 31 imposed a one-month ban on an online forum of the Iwacu newspaper because the NCC claimed readers critical comments ran afoul of the law by endangering national unity.

"This is a black day for freedom on information in Burundi," proclaimed the RWB Web site.

Journalists Not Swayed by Freedom Promised by Turkmenistan Media Law

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Turkenistan President and Prime Minister Gurbaguly Berdymuhammedov last month signed into law a measure purporting to expand press freedom, but journalists in the repressive Central Asian nation aren't buying it, al-Jazeera reported.

Paris-based news media advocate Reporters Without Borders ("RWB") rates Turkmenistan ahead only of North Korea and Eritrea at the bottom of its press freedom index, while U.S.-based press advocate Freedom House ranks Turkmenistan 196 out of 197 on its press freedom index. Until January 25, 2013, the President controlled Turkenistan's five radio outlets, 39 publications, seven nationwide tv stations and lone press agency, according to the al-Jazeera article.

The media law at issue proclaims "the State shall guarantee the freedom of the media to express an opinion." RWB issued a statement condemning the law as "disconnected from reality." The measure, however, is expected to expose the nation's five million citizens to greater access to foreign news media.

Somaliland Sweep Nets 25 Journalists' Arrests

Image via WikipediaTwenty-one journalists protesting the Jan. 14 government shutdown of  HornCable TV in Somaliland have been arrested, The Guardian reported today, fueling concerns by Reporters Without Borders that began last week with the separate arrests of four journalists.

President Ahmed Mohamed Siilaanyon moved against HornCable TV, branding it a "nation destructor" that aired anti-government propaganda. The 21 journalists, who demonstrated outside the president's palace, triggering the arrests, were released within 24 hours, The Guardian article stated.

Sudan Charges 3 Journos With Defamation

Image via WikipediaReporters Without Borders ("RWB") is voicing concerns about curbs on free expression in Sudan after authorities charged three journalists with defamation for urging a probe into allegations of the purported gang rape of a political activist by plain-clothes security officers.

Saffia Ishaq, a member of Grifna, an anti-government group, claims she was beaten and gang-raped three weeks after she participated in anti-government protests on Jan. 30 that resulted in numerous arrests of demonstrators and journalists covering the event by anti-riot police backed by National Intelligence and Security Services agents, according to a story in the Sudan Tribune. Accused of defamation and publishing false information were Faysal Muhammed Salih, a columnist for the daily, Al-Akhbar; Amal Habani of  the Al-Jareeda newspaper; and Fayiz al-Silaik of the SPLM-affiliated Ajrass Al-Hurriyah.

The Sudan Tribune reported that copies of two dailies covering the Jan. 30 demonstrations were confiscated by the government. Habani told Reuters that her newspaper had fired her because it was afraid of government retribution.

RWB Secretary-General Jean Francois Julliard condemned the reporters' arrest, calling it "another example of determination to gag the press and curb free expression." Broadcast media in Sudan is tightly regulated by the government, while print media engage in self-censorship because of financial dependence on government advertisements.

Ivory Coast Media Suppression Forces Newspapers' Shutdown

Image via WikipediaLe Nouveau Reveil, Le Patriote and Nord-Sud are among nine Ivory Coast newspapers that have suspended publication in the face of violence, intimidation and onerous fines from supporters of President Laurent Gbagbo, according to an article in today's online edition of The Guardian.

Citing growing concern about press freedom by international media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (see "TUOL" post 2/11/11), the Guardian article reports on the heightened violence between supporters of Gbagbo and backers of Alassane Ouattara, who defeated Gbagbo in last November's presidential election, though the incumbent has refused to step down. Examples include the recent lynching of a pro-Gbagbo journalist in Abidjan and vandalism at the transmission center of RTI, the state-run broadcast network. Meanwhile, the nation's media regulatory agency has been levying oppressive fines against newspapers critical of Gbagbo.

Press Groups Protest Jailing of Rwanda Journalists

Image via WikipediaThe imprisonment of Agnes Nksui, editor of the Rwandan daily, Umurabyo, and Umurabyo reporter Saidath Mukakibibi by the repressive regime of Rwanda President Paul Kagame has drawn fire from media organizations, Agence France Presse reports.

Reporters Without Borders and the Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the incarceration of the two female journalists for defamation and inciting a breach of the peace. Nksui received a 17-year jail term and Mukakibibi was sentenced to seven years following their arrest in July 2010. Publication of Umurabyo was halted for six months, according to the AFP story.

The two journalists took President Kagame's government to task over its interpretation of Rwanda's 1994 genocide and also were critical of government officials.  The government pursued criminal prosecution of Nksui and Mukakibibi, rather than institute a disciplinary proceeding before the nation's Media High Council.  Kagame's Rwandan Patriotic Front party has held tight rein over the nation since 1994.

Journos Worried About Ivory Coast Media Crackdown

Image via WikipediaReporters Without Borders warns that press freedom is at risk after Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo last week fired the president and board of governors of  the National Press Council, Bloomberg News reports.

Other disturbing news includes the National Broadcasting Council lifting the permit of ONUCI-FM, the United Nations-controlled radio station, on Feb. 9.  President Gbagbo has targeted U.N. peacekeepers whom he believes support his rival, Alassane Ouattara, the victor in a Nov. 28 election that Gbagbo, who has not ceded power, claims was marred by voter fraud. 

Fighting for Democracy?

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Reporters Without Borders reports that the Afghanistan Cabinet July 27 shut down the television station Emroz and banned two other programs, Del & Nadel and Bazi Bakhat, for purportedly espousing "anti-Islamist," views, a popular, if vague, rationale for government censorship of the news media in Afghanistan.

Emroz, which has been on-air since 2006, frequently adopts anti-Shiite and anti-Iranian positions. Del & Nadel, which is broadcast by the privately owned Yak TV station, and Bazi Bakhat, a product of the privately owned Tolo TV, were also deemed anti-Islamist by the Cabinet, a move condemned by the Union of Afghan Journalists as a dangerous affront to freedom of expression.

The Afghan government has not adopted the American tenet of an unfettered press, but they seem to have taken to waste and corruption without much trouble, so there may still be hope.

Russia Eyes Media Law Reform

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According to a Radio Free Europe story reported in The Epoch Times, media law reform is on the Russian Parliament's radar.

Vying for parliamentary support are two bills. The first measure, backed by Ludmila Narusova, head of the Information Policy Parliamentary Commission, would clarify the legal status of content on the Internet, soliciting input from Web communities and providers. The other bill under consideration has the blessings of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's Unite Russia Party ("URP"), and, Narusova claims, would amend 60 percent of current media law, imposing harsh restrictions.

The URP bill, which the Russian Parliament passed in its first reading last week, empowers Federal Security Agency (FSB) officers to question journalists and censor "extremist" information. The state controls most mass media in Russia. Reporters Without Borders has ranked Russia 153rd in the world regarding press freedom, slightly higher than China and Pakistan.

Guess it's too soon to retire the old joke about Russian journalists breaking into the Kremlin to report on the results of next year's election.

Germany to Strengthen Protections for Journalists

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Germany's Cabinet intends to enact a law according greater protection to journalists who rely on confidential state informants, according to Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusseur-Schnarrenberger.

Presently, section 353b of the German Penal Code subjects individuals who betray state secrets to a maximum five years' imprisonment. Prosecutors have employed the statute, which the Cabinet plans to revise, to search and confiscate material from journalists, irrespective of whether the scribes are accused of wrongdoing.

According to Reporters Without Borders, Germany ranked 18th worldwide in press freedom in 2009, two slots higher than the U.S. (take that, 1st Amendment lovers).