Reporters Without Borders deplored the supreme court’s sentencing today of cyber dissidents Nguyen Van Dai and Le Thi Cong Nhan, who are also lawyers, to four and three years imprisonment each for “anti-government propaganda” and to four and three years house-arrest respectively on their release. They had been given heavier sentences (five and four years) by a lower court.

It is disgraceful that a call for multi-party rule is considered anti-government propaganda. As a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, Vietnam must respect the international agreements it has signed.

The two dissidents were arrested at their homes on 6 March for writing and distributing texts critical of the government, especially texts posted online, for responding to questions from foreign news media and for using their position as lawyers to get their message out. The trial judge said they seriously violated Vietnam’s constitution and laws by denigrating the Communist Party’s role ... misrepresented the situation of democracy and human rights in Vietnam.

With eight cyber-dissidents in prison, Vietnam is on the Reporters Without Borders list of 13 Internet enemies.

The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned an arson attack on a publishing house in Sri Lanka today that destroyed the printing press of three newspapers critical of the government.

At least 12 unidentified masked men stripped publishing staff of their cell phones at gunpoint before starting the blaze and fleeing the scene in the early hours of the morning as one of the three papers went to press. The press was located in a high security zone tightly controlled by Sri Lankan government security forces.

The English-language Morning Leader and Sunday Leader, and the Sinhala-language weekly Irudina are known for their critical stances towards Sri Lankan authorities. Lasantha Wickrematunga, editor of the Sunday Leader, told journalists he believed the government was behind the attack, according to news reports.

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa ordered an inquiry into the attack, but results of similar inquiries launched in the past two years have yet to be made public.

Pakistan's electronic media audience was in virtual darkness Sunday as private television channels broadcast through cable networks were suspended by President Pervez Musharraf's imposition of martial law.

Musharraf on Saturday afternoon partially suspended the country's constitution, curtailed civil rights and replaced top members of the judiciary that he saw as a threat to his rule.

Aaj TV's director of news and current affairs Talat Hussian said his channel had been singled out by Musharraf, who also alluded to Aaj TV in his overnight address.

In announcing his emergency decree, the president also declared a clampdown on the vibrant private media, which he said was promoting negativism and uncertainty.

The edict bars stations from explicitly covering militant and terrorist strikes, and telecasting content inciting violence or hatred or any action prejudicial to maintenance of law and order. It banned broadcasts that could be regarded as defaming the president, military personnel and other primary state organs.

As state-run Pakistan Television repeatedly aired Musharraf's address and other pro-government content, the private channels remained inaccessible to most of the population connected to the widespread cable network.

Though other channels can at least be viewed through satellite, Aaj TV has been blacked out by the authorities who hacked into the satellite uplink system, Hussain said.

State television showed a few public interviews in which people called the state of emergency necessary to help steer the country out of the crisis caused by Islamic militancy and troubled political affairs.

Government authorities on Saturday had also stopped the private media from using their mobile broadcast vans to prevent live coverage of the street scenes in which the police and paramilitary troops cordoned off important state buildings.

News-hungry Pakistanis relied on web services to keep themselves abreast of the fast-changing scenario, but later that too proved ineffective due to heavy Internet traffic.

Update: Dishing Out Censorship

14th November 2007

Satellite equipment has been banned from sale in 2 cities, Lahore & Peshawar. The authorities are trying to restrict people from receiving uncensored foreign news rather than the local propaganda.

The Sri Lanka Presidential Secretariat said that the gazette to cancel a previous gazette notice imposing a press censorship on country’s civil war reporting has been issued.

The previous order banned the dissemination of information in newspapers and other publications on reports which pertains to any proposed operations or military activity by the security forces who are engaged in maintaining national security, territorial integrity and sovereignty.

Reporting the proposed acquisition of arms, ammunition or other equipment, including aircraft or naval vessels by the armed forces or the police was also banned.

Under the gazette revoked, any person who printed, published, distributed or transmitted any material in contravention of the provisions should on conviction after trial before the high court without a jury or a magistrate was liable to fines and rigorous imprisonment for a term not less than three months and not exceeding five years.

The criminal libel convictions and one-month jail terms handed down Saturday against journalists for an Egyptian opposition daily are part of a government-organized campaign to silence the press and should be overturned, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Al-Wafd Editor-in-Chief Anwar al-Hawari told CPJ that a criminal court in the southern city of Assiut convicted him—along with Mahmoud Abaza, the daily’s chairman of the board, and reporter Younes Darwish—in absentia on charges of libeling two lawyers in a March 21 news item. The brief covered a local council meeting that discussed the lawyers’ acquisition of a piece of land belonging to the Ministry of Religious Endowments in a private auction, he said. All three are free pending appeal.

Another harsh ruling against opposition voices has left Egypt’s press freedoms in tatters, CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon said: We’re very disturbed by this sustained pattern of indirectly targeting the press though criminal lawsuits—a pattern that underscores the Egyptian government’s oppressive stance toward the press.

The Committee to Protect Journalists expressed grave concern about the state of press freedom in China 10 months before the scheduled start of the Beijing Olympic Games.

In a resolution adopted Wednesday, the CPJ board said China had failed to live up to its commitment to allow journalists to work freely, a promise its leaders made in their bid to host the Games. In particular, the CPJ board called on Beijing to release the 29 journalists now in prison for their work.

The CPJ board also made the following recommendations:

• We call for an end to censorship and the dismantling of the elaborate system of media controls. We call for an end to the climate of impunity surrounding retribution meted out by local officials and others angered by critical media coverage.
• We call on the International Olympic Committee, having awarded the Games to China, to demand that the government fully meet its promises of press freedom for the 2008 Olympic Games.
• We call on sponsors of the Games to use their considerable influence to press the government to fully meet its promises of press freedom for the 2008 Olympic Games.
• Finally, we call on media organizations covering the Games to urge China to honor its media pledges to the IOC and ensure that their Chinese colleagues enjoy the same freedoms visiting journalists enjoy.

Hundreds of journalists marched through the streets of the Niger capital, Niamey to protest the arrests of two prominent journalists in connection with a government crackdown on media coverage of a rebellion of nomadic Tuaregs in northern Niger.

About 400 marchers carrying signs and chanting Free Moussa Kaka and Ibrahima Manzo! walked to the Place de la Concertation in front of Niger’s National Assembly. It was the most important march of journalists since 1990, when the country entered an era of political and media liberalization, according to Abdoulaye Massalatchi, president of one of a dozen local media groups participating in the march.

The government crackdown, including a ban on live debates discussing the conflict, a monthlong suspension of RFI and a three-month suspension of Aïr Info, has forced journalists to censor coverage, director Kader Idi of private Radio Anfani told CPJ.

The arrest of Moussa Kaka and Ibrahima Manzo Diallo are part of a disturbing pattern of censorship that threatens to undermine the democratic gains made by Niger, CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon said. Journalists not only have a right but also a duty to cover the Tuareg rebellion and keep the public informed. We urge the authorities to release our colleagues immediately and lift the restrictions imposed on national and international broadcasters.

The Thai Election Commission (EC) has introduced tough regulations to control the presence of politicians in all kinds of media from today until the election date on Dec 23.

EC chairman Apichart Sukhakkhanont said the commission prohibited radio stations, television channels, community radio operators and cable television operators from inviting candidates, or party executives and leaders to appear in their programmes.

The media are also banned from organising any discussion or debate in which one representative of parties are invited to speak.

The EC will limit the presence of these politicians in such media to a 30-second spot per day and three 10-minute speeches by a party leader in the run-up to the Dec 23 election. The commission wants all parties to get equal exposure in the media.

Although the EC's announcements do not impose restrictions on printed media, Apichart said the owners of printed media were also prohibited from organising forums or inviting politicians to speak or debate.

He said the EC would set up forums which all parties could share. Any forums apart from the EC-sponsored forums are forbidden and the press are welcome to cover the stances of politicians at these official forums.

Meanwhile, politicians have the freedom to campaign through electronic media such as SNS and the internet but such SMS must not appear on TV. The EC also prohibits candidates who are stars, singers and commentators from using their careers to advance their political campaigns.

The publisher of a private newspaper in southern Nigeria, arrested by agents of the State Security Service, was charged with sedition over a story critical of a local state governor, according to news reports.

Jerome Imeime of southern Akwa Ibom state’s private weekly Events is the first Nigerian journalist since June 2006 to be charged with sedition in connection with coverage critical of political leadership. Nigeria’s sedition law was abrogated in 1983 but authorities have continued to invoke the charge to silence the press on sensitive subjects.

The journalist was taken to prison shortly after his arraignment on one count of sedition by a magistrate’s court in the state capital city of Uyo. The trial date was set for November 16.

The arrest was linked to a front-page story published last week alleging state treasury funds could be—hypothetically—used by Gov. Godswill Akpabio to pay off personal debt incurred during his electoral campaign. The story also alleged corruption in the awarding of contracts for road construction.

The Malaysian government has warned it could use tough anti-terrorism laws against bloggers who insult Islam or the country's king.

The move comes as one of Malaysia's leading online commentators has been questioned by police following a complaint by the main governing party.

The new rules would allow a suspect to be detained indefinitely, without being charged or put on trial.

Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak told The Straits Times that the move was aimed at getting some moderation in postings on the internet, especially on sensitive issues: Some people feel that they have crossed the line, in making racist remarks.

But the BBC's Jonathan Kent in Kuala Lumpur says the government also appears increasingly concerned about the growing online criticism of its record.

Raja Petra Kamarudin, the editor of one of Malaysia's most popular political websites, Malaysia Today, turned himself in to police to answer allegations that he had mocked Islam and threatened racial harmony.

Raja Petra is known for his frequent criticism of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and other government figures: I was alleged to have insulted the king, and also Islam and incite racial hatred, so I am going in there to reply to all these charges. I promise I'm going to give them a hell of a tough time.

He defended his website, saying: Many people, especially the non-Malays in this country, do not have a forum to air their views.We should not deny these people a chance to vent their feelings.

Malaysia Today is believed to attract around a quarter of a million visitors a day, giving it more readers than most Malaysian newspapers.

Eritrea has replaced North Korea in last place in an index measuring the level of press freedom in 169 countries throughout the world that is published today by Reporters Without Borders for the sixth year running.

Reporters Without Borders said. Eritrea deserves to be at the bottom. The privately-owned press has been banished by the authoritarian President Issaias Afeworki and the few journalists who dare to criticise the regime are thrown in prison. We know that four of them have died in detention and we have every reason to fear that others will suffer the same fate.

China (163rd) still the world’s biggest prison for bloggers and online journalists. With its position in the ranking unchanged since last year, China continues to pursue very repressive policies towards the Internet. Five major censorship bodies, including those operated directly by the government and the Communist Party’s publicity department (the former propaganda department), control the flow of news and information online. Fifty cyber-dissidents are currently detained in China because of their online activities. Reporters Without Borders said: With less than a year to go to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the reforms and the releases of imprisoned journalists so often promised by the authorities seem to be a vain hope.

Vietnam (162nd) continues to be one of the world’s must authoritarian and repressive countries as regards online freedom of expression and information. Six online activists were arrested in the space of a week in May. This is one if the reasons why Vietnam fell eight places in the ranking. The hopes raised by the release of most of the detained cyber-dissidents in November 2006 was just a smokescreen to ease Vietnam’s admission into the World Trade Organisation a month later. Eight cyber-dissidents are currently in Vietnamese prisons, serving sentences ranging three to 12 years for “hostile propaganda.”

Bloggers have to live with the same fears as traditional media journalists. Governments adopt measures to control the flow of news and information online and some asks bloggers to register with the information ministry. This is the case in Bahrain (118th), where 18 websites that defend human rights have been blocked for the past year. Malaysia (124th) often harasses bloggers and their families while Thailand (135th) adopted a computer crime law in July that requires ISPs to keep each person’s online usage records for 90 days and allows the authorities to examine them without any control by the courts.

A total of 26 bloggers and online journalists have been convicted and jailed since September 2006 for using their right to online free expression. Cases of Internet censorship are on the increase and more and more repressive governments are realising the threat that the Internet poses in the hands of pro-democracy activists. Bloggers are now being harassed as much as journalists working for the traditional media. Worldwide, 64 cyber-dissidents are currently in prison.

1 Iceland - Norway 3 Estonia - Slovakia 5 Belgium - Finland - Sweden 8 Denmark - Ireland - Portugal 11 Switzerland 12 Latvia - Netherlands 14 Czech Republic 15 New Zealand 16 Austria 17 Hungary 18 Canada 19 Trinidad and Tobago 20 Germany 21 Costa Rica - Slovenia 23 Lithuania 24 United Kingdom 25 Mauritius - Namibia 27 Jamaica 28 Australia 29 Ghana 30 Greece 31 France 32 Taiwan 33 Spain 34 Bosnia and Herzegovina 35 Italy 36 Macedonia 37 Japan - Uruguay 39 Chile - South Korea 41 Croatia 42 Romania

43 South Africa 44 Israel (Israeli territory) 45 Cape Verde - Cyprus 47 Nicaragua 48 United States of America 49 Togo 50 Mauritania 51 Bulgaria 52 Mali 53 Benin 54 Panama 55 Tanzania 56 Ecuador - Poland 58 Cyprus (North) - Montenegro 60 Kosovo 61 Hong-Kong - Madagascar 63 Kuwait 64 El Salvador 65 United Arab Emirates 66 Georgia 67 Serbia 68 Bolivia - Burkina Faso - Zambia 71 Central African Republic 72 Dominican Republic 73 Mozambique 74 Mongolia 75 Botswana - Haiti 77 Armenia 78 Kenya 79 Qatar 80 Congo 81 Moldova 82 Argentina 83 Senegal 84 Brazil

85 Cambodia - Liberia 87 Albania - Honduras - Niger 90 Paraguay 91 Angola 92 Malawi - Ukraine 94 Côte d’Ivoire - Timor-Leste 96 Comoros - Uganda 98 Lebanon 99 Lesotho 100 Indonesia 101 Turkey 102 Gabon 103 Israel (extra-territorial) 104 Guatemala - Seychelles 106 Morocco 107 Fiji - Guinea - Guinea-Bissau 110 Kyrgyzstan 111 Cameroon - USA (extra-territorial) 113 Chad 114 Venezuela 115 Tajikistan 116 Bhutan 117 Peru 118 Bahrein 119 Tonga 120 India 121 Sierra Leone 122 Jordan 123 Algeria 124 Malaysia 125 Kazakhstan 126 Colombia

127 Burundi 128 Philippines 129 Maldives 130 Gambia 131 Nigeria 132 Djibouti 133 Congo 134 Bangladesh 135 Thailand 136 Mexico 137 Nepal 138 Swaziland 139 Azerbaijan 140 Sudan 141 Singapore 142 Afghanistan 143 Yemen 144 Russia 145 Tunisia 146 Egypt 147 Rwanda 148 Saudi Arabia 149 Zimbabwe 150 Ethiopia 151 Belarus 152 Pakistan 153 Equatorial Guinea 154 Syria 155 Libya 156 Sri Lanka 157 Iraq 158 Palestinian Territories 159 Somalia 160 Uzbekistan 161 Laos 162 Vietnam 163 China 164 Burma 165 Cuba 166 Iran 167 Turkmenistan 168 North Korea 169 Eritrea

The son of murdered Turkish-Armenian writer Hrant Dink has been found guilty of insulting "Turkishness", along with another newspaper editor.

Arat Dink and Serkis Seropyan were convicted after printing Dink's claims that the killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks from 1915 was genocide.

The verdict came a day after a US congressional committee backed a bill labelling the killings as genocide. Turkish leaders reacted angrily, but the decision was welcomed by Armenians. The non-binding US vote, passed by 27 to 21 votes by members of the congressional House Foreign Affairs Committee, is the first step towards holding a vote in the House of Representatives.

Arat Dink and Mr Seropyan, who both work as editors at Agos, a leading bilingual Turkish and Armenian weekly newspaper, were given one-year suspended sentences for printing comments made by Hrant Dink during an interview.

Dink, the editor-in-chief of the newspaper, was one of Turkey's most prominent Armenian voices. He was shot dead outside his Istanbul office in January 2007. At the time he was appealing against a prior conviction for the same offence - insulting the Turkish identity under Article 301 of the country's penal code.

Turkey faces ongoing international pressure to scrap the offence, under which dozens of writers who have been charged, often for articles dealing with killings of Kurds or Ottoman Armenians.

Ahmad Oweidi al-Abbadi, the 62-year-old former parliamentarian and leader of the Jordanian National Movement, was sentenced to two years in prison for “undermining state dignity”, “sending false news through emails” and “illegally distributing leaflets.”

He was arrested on May 3, 2007, for accusing the government of corruption in an open letter emailed to US senator Harry Reid.

The jailing of Ahmad Oweidi shows that Jordan’s government hasn’t shaken off its old habits of going after critics by putting them in prison, said Sarah Leahhing po Osama Ben Laden. Mohammed Al-Zohairi, who is being depicted as “Al Qaeda Poet” was arrested in August 9, 2007 and charged with offense against the royal dignity.

The Egyptian Press Syndicate Thursday criticised a fatwa by Mohamed Sayed Tantawi of Grand Azhar Imam - the highest authority in Egypt - stipulating that journalists convicted of publishing crimes should receive 80 lashes.

It was as if Sheikh Tantawi is part of a campaign against the press, journalists and people who have an opinion, the syndicate statement said.

Tantawi gave other opinions including the revocation of any convicted journalist's testimony in court, which alienates them from the society and sentences them to a civil execution.

Tantawi had earlier given his fatwa following a series of cases against journalists. His fatwa stirred outrage among many journalists and independent and opposition newspapers.

Senior writer Fahmy Howaidi criticised Tantawi in statements published in independent al-Masry al-Youm newspaper, saying he wore many hats and at the time he gave this fatwa, he put on that of the authorities.

Eleven journalists and editors-in-chief of opposition and independent newspapers have been sentenced to prison or fines over the last month on charges of publishing "fake news," "insulting icons of the ruling party" and "spreading rumours." Their appeals are under way.

Twenty-three Egyptian independent and opposition newspapers did not publish last Sunday, in protest at verdicts passed against journalists.

Tantawi argued for the lashings by quoting a verse from the Quran saying that those who accused women of adultery without necessary proof were to receive "80 floggings."

He said his example involved women but added that libel is also applicable to men ... this punishment is set by God to protect the honor of men and women from bad talk that hurts dignity and honor.

Thankfully however, lashings are not punishments used in Egypt.

In recent weeks, Chinese authorities have intensified efforts to control the media, particularly online news and discussion forums.

In an unprecedented move, public security officers in various regions have ordered entire Internet Data Centers (IDCs) to close. IDCs physically house servers, often several at a time, which in turn host hundreds and sometimes thousands of Web sites each. According to widespread reports from the media and industry insiders, entire IDCs have been shut down if they host a single Web site that posts information that the government deems offensive.

Waigaoqiao, one of China’s largest IDCs based in Shanghai, was ordered to close on September 3, effectively shutting 30 servers at once, according to numerous reports from bloggers and industry insiders. Police turned off 1,000 computers housing servers run by Lanmang Internet Co, after they discovered blogs on the network that contained “illegal information.”

Authorities have carried out inspections and issued warnings to other IDCs throughout the country.