Myanmar sports journalist jailed in false case

Myanmar's Supreme Court sentenced sports journalist Zaw Thet Htwe to 3 years in prison on 12 May 2004 on a false accusation of "attempting to assassinate leaders of the military junta."
He was arrested on 17 July 2003 at the offices of the country's largest-selling sports magazine, First Eleven, of which he was editor-in-chief. His arrest was apparently linked to the publication in the magazine of an article speculating about the spending of a grant from the international community to promote football in Myanmar.
Shortly afterwards, the magazine carried an article about a fine imposed by organisers of an Asian football tournament on a Burmese football team for failing to take part in the competition.
The military junta's security services resented the journalist's independence and seemingly decided to implicate him in a fictitious plot against certain generals in the junta. On 28 November 2003, he was sentenced to death. On 12 May 2004, the Supreme Court commuted death sentence to 3 years in prison. Source: RSF


Russian Duma rejects media bill

The Russian State Duma in May rejected a controversial bill amending the law on mass media that would have banned the showing of terrorist acts on TV without the permission of law-enforcement agencies, Russian media reported.
The vote was one in favor with 70 against, according to RosBalt. The bill was proposed by Unified Russia faction member Mikhail Yurevich but neither the faction nor the government supported it. Duma Information Policy Committee Chairman Valerii Komissarov said that the bill violated Article 29 of the constitution, which declares every Russian citizen's right to receive information. Source: Interfax


Aljazeera cameraman killed in Iraq

The Arab news channel Aljazeera reported on May 21, 2004 that one of its employee, Rashid Hamid Wali, has been killed while filming clashes in the flashpoint Iraqi city of Karbala. The cameraman was shot dead in the early hours of Friday morning. Wali was filming fierce clashes between US occupation forces and followers of Shia leader Muqtada al-Sadr from the fourth floor of the hotel where the crew is staying, reported journalist Abd al-Adhim Muhammad. It is unclear who fired the deadly shot, said Muhammad before breaking down. But medics at the hospital where Wali was taken said he was killed by sniper fire. Wali, or Abu Nur as he was known, was the father of six children. As many as 27 other journalists have been killed in Iraq since the start of the war in March 2003, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).


Mirror journalists won't have to reveal sources

The three Daily Mirror journalists at the centre of the fake pictures row that cost editor Piers Morgan his job will be able to legally resist any attempt to force them to name their sources, leading media lawyers predicted. Lawyers believe Trinity Mirror was "highly unlikely" to force the trio to name their source against their wishes. It would be "unprecedented" for a media organisation not to respect the anonymity of sources, they said. And at least one legal source with knowledge of the newspaper industry said Trinity Mirror would have to cede to Morgan's demands for a payoff of up to £2m (?2.94m), saying they would need to prove he was "wilfully reckless" or "dishonest" in publishing the Iraq torture photographs. Lawyers also believe that the three journalists at the centre of the affair would have a good case for wrongful dismissal, even if chief executive Sly Bailey demanded they hand over the names or face the sack. Although their contracts require them to follow any reasonable request from their employers, the contracts also require them to follow the UK's Press Complaints Commission code of practice, which sets great store by the protection of sources.


Chinese Internet writer jailed

A Chinese journalist has been jailed in May for two years without trial, according to an American civil rights group. Liu Shui was detained in the southern town of Shenzhen, the Committee to Protect Journalists said. The group is concerned that Mr Liu could have been arrested in connection with his writings on sensitive political topics. He had recently posted essays on the internet commemorating pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square in 1989. Liu Shui is a former editor and reporter for the outspoken Southern Metropolis News and the Shenzhen Evening News. He was detained in Shenzhen on 2 May on charge of soliciting prostitutes, the rights group said. According to Chinese law, the authorities can sentence individuals to up to two years of "custody and education" without filing formal charges or holding a trial.


Kenyan war of the airwaves 'over'

An independent Kenyan radio station, Kiss FM, is back on the air, after the jamming of its programmes ended.
Earlier, the Communications Commission of Kenya raided the rival Citizen radio and confiscated a transmitter, which had alleged been blocking Kiss FM.
Citizen Radio has denied any involvement in the jamming.
Kiss has upset a number of government officials and the information minister said in March he was setting up a panel to investigate it and other stations.
Since Friday, the Kiss FM signal has been drowned out by the broadcasting of local music. The row began last week when four Citizen employees walked out and went to work for Kiss FM.
Citizen said this was deliberate sabotage because they had been due to work the following day and had not given any notice of their departure.


Digital cameras changing perceptions of war

The explosive photos of abuse in an Iraqi prison drive home a defining fact of 21st century life - that the pervasiveness of digital photography and the speed of the Internet make it easier to see into dark corners previously out of reach for the mass media.
Some of the most shocking or memorable photos from the Iraq war were almost certainly taken by soldiers or government contractors - and zipped around the world with an ease that never existed in the days of film.
"With the technology now, the amateur photographer is as capable as a professional journalist and is operating with the same tools: digital camera, laptop and an Internet connection," said Keith W. Jenkins, photo editor of The Washington Post Magazine.


Zimbabwe government closes another newspaper

Several weeks of threats against The Tribune by Zimbabwe's state-run Media and Information Commission (MIC) came to a head on June 10 2004 when Kindness Paradza, the head of the newspaper's publishing house, received an MIC letter canceling the newspaper's operating license for a year for allegedly failing to respect authorisation and accreditation procedures introduced by a news media law in March 2002.
Paradza said The Tribune would challenge the closure in the courts.
"This repressive law, giving the MIC the powers of a press tribunal, has once again been used by Robert Mugabe's government to silence dissident voices in Zimbabwe," Reporters Without Borders said. "It is a disgraceful and reprehensible act of censorship, but it comes as no surprise from a regime that violates press freedom more than any other in southern Africa."
The organisation added that the closure was all the more arbitrary as it was above all "motivated by political reasons absolutely unrelated to the newspaper's activities."
In a press release giving the official reasons for the closure, MIC chairman Tafataona Mahoso accused the newspaper of failing to report changes in its commercial name, format, and frequency of publication and of misrepresenting the facts in an attempt to mislead the commission.
The authorities' chief target in all of this is Paradza, who was recently expelled from the ruling Zanu-PF party for which he was elected as a parliamentary representative. Paradza criticised the news media law in parliament in March, arguing that it needed to be reexamined in a critical and sober fashion to see if it was obstructing local investment in radio and television.
Paradza was also accused by the state media of colluding with the government's enemies after he tried to raise funds from the owners of the opposition Daily News and British investors.
The Tribune's closure coincides with a prosecution of the Daily News for the same alleged offence, namely failure to follow the accreditation procedure. The Daily News, which won the 2003 Reporters Without Borders Prize, has been closed since February. Hearings in the prosecution, in which the publisher and three editors have pleaded not guilty, have been postponed until next month.


BBC approves hiring armed guards for journalists

The British Broadcasting Corp. has decided to hire armed guards from Western countries in "exceptional circumstances" to protect its journalists working in hostile areas, the broadcaster said Tuesday.
The shift in policy was announced after an attack by gunmen on a BBC television crew Sunday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. An Irish cameraman, Mr Simon Cumbers, 36, was killed in the shooting, and a British reporter, Mr Frank Gardner, 42, was critically injured.
A BBC spokeswoman denied, however, that the new policy had arisen as a result of the attack on Mr Cumbers and Mr Gardner and said it was the outcome of six months of discussions. The BBC would employ guards only "in certain exceptional circumstances," the spokeswoman said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "This would really be a last resort to enhance the safety and security of our staff." Until now, the BBC has employed guards only to protect its facilities. In some dangerous locations, BBC news teams have travelled under the protection of local armed militias but have never hired local gunmen as escorts, the spokeswoman said.
The change in the BBC's policy seemed likely to add to a debate about whether journalists themselves should carry weapons for self-protection in hostile situations. The BBC already employs unarmed Western security advisers for its news crews in places such as Iraq. Under its new policy, it would allow these advisers to carry concealed weapons or authorize the hiring of local armed guards.


Algerian press decries journalists jailing

Journalists in Algeria have set up a committee for the release of colleagues jailed recently in what many of them see as a government campaign to silence dissenting voices. The "Committee for the Liberation of Hafnaoui Ghoul and Mohamed Benchicou" was formed by representatives of several leading Algerian newspapers, in addition to the Union of Algerian Journalists and a national ethics council.Benchicou, editor of Le Matin newspaper, was imprisoned for two years and was fined 20m Algerian dinars (about ?240,000) on 14 June for financial irregularities. Ghoul, a correspondent and human rights activist, earlier received a two-month prison sentence for the defamation of a retired general. An editorial in the Arabic-language daily El Khabar writes that "journalists have been caught red-handed committing the crime of writing". Government officials, it says, insist that there is no retreat from the principle of the freedom of the press. "This is what they used to tell us about socialism," the paper comments. Source: BBC


Tajik print media exempted from VAT

The Majlisi Namoyandagon, or lower house of parliament, voted to exempt print media, children's literature, fiction, scientific and technical literature, and textbooks from the value-added tax. Usmon Sabzov, a member of the Budget, Finance, and Taxes Committee, told that the changes to the Tax Code were made in response to President Imomali Rakhmonov's address to Tajik intellectuals in March. Newspaper editors offered differing reactions. Rajab Mirzo, editor in chief of "Ruzi Nav," told that the changes will mainly benefit printers and importers of printing equipment and supplies. But Rahim Saydaliev, the editor in chief of "Chavononi Tojikiston," said that he welcomes any concession by the authorities to support journalists, adding that newspapers will be able to use what they save on taxes to raise salaries and improve overall coverage. Source: RFE/RL

Copyright © 2004 Third World Media Journal A Quarterly Publication of Third World Media Network (TWMN)