Four journalists with Sudanese Television arrested
In late April 1996, Sudanese security forces arrested four journalists with the state-owned Sudanese Television. News director Ismael Muhammad al-Hussein, news editors Hussein Saleh and Abbas Suleiman, and cameraman Osama Ghandi were arrested at the station’s offices and taken into custody. There has been no news of the journalists since their arrest, and colleagues fear […]
Journalist Eltchine Husseinbeili detained
On 10 May 1996, Eltchine Husseinbeili, correspondent for the Azeri-language service of Radio Liberty, was arrested and briefly detained in the capital of Baku. On that day, a number of protesters had gathered in front of the offices of the United Nations (UN) and the Iranian Embassy calling for an end to human rights violations […]
Journalist Mahdi Rabea receives six-month sentence for distributing “false information”; poet Ahmad al-Shamlan acquitted
**Updates IFEX alerts dated 19, 17 April, 26 and 15 February 1996** At the end of April 1996, freelance journalist Mahdi Rabea was sentenced to six months in prison for writing “false information” that he distributed to organisations abroad. His sentence will end on 20 June 1996, as it commenced retroactively from the date of […]
Photographer Fayez Nourredin brutally assaulted
On 13 May 1996, Fayez Nourredin, a photographer for the French news agency Agence France Presse, was detained for ten hours by the Palestinian special intelligence service in Gaza, during which he was kicked, whipped with a belt and subjected to harassment. Palestinian security officers were upset over the publication on 9 May of a […]
Journalist Viktor Mikhailov killed
According to the Russian news agency, ITAR-TASS, Viktor Mikhailov, a crime reporter for the Siberian daily “Zabaikalsky Rabochy”, was killed by unknown assailants in broad daylight in downtown Chita on 12 May 1996. His mutilated body was identified the following day. Mikhailov had reportedly been covering crime reports and the work of law enforcement agencies […]
Trial begins against soldier who killed journalist Natalya Alyakina
**Updates IFEX alerts dated 30 November, 5 October, 29 August, 23 and 20 June 1995** On 15 May 1996, the trial of the soldier who killed journalist Natalya Alyakina (also reported as Natalia Aliakina) opened before a military court in Lermontov, in southern Russia. He is being tried for “infringement of the regulations on handling […]
BBC reporter Liviu Man receives threatening telephone calls
On 7 May 1996, Liviu Man, the Romanian-language correspondent in Cluj for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), received several threatening telephone calls at both his office and his home from anonymous individuals. The callers told Man to stop reporting on “incidents that incriminated President Iliescu” and “to calm down.” Man later lodged a complaint at […]
Journalist Nina Yefimova killed
On 9 May 1996, Nina Yefimova, a 25-year-old Russian correspondent who resided in Chechnya, was found dead from a pistol shot to the back of the head. According to ITAR-TASS, both Yefimova and her mother were abducted from their apartment on the outskirts of Grozny on the night of 8 May. Yefimova’s body was found […]
Dead body of journalist Igor Grouchetsky found
On 10 May 1996, the dead body of freelance journalist Igor Grouchetsky was found on a street near his home in the city of Tcherkassy, southwest of Kiev. He had a severe wound to his head. According to Ukrainian television and the Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Grouchetsky was well-known for his reporting of crime and corruption […]
Journalist Vladimir Sobolevskiy dismissed for alleged misbehaviour during interview
In April 1995, Vladimir Sobolevskiy, a reporter for Kharkov regional television, was dismissed from his position for “a serious lack of judgment displayed during an interview.” The interview in question was with a renowned economist, A. Gougel, who was critical of a draft Constitution currently being debated in Parliament. Sobolevskiy reportedly reproached the economist for […]
Managing director of weekly “Generation” convicted of slander; “Generation” ordered shut down for six months
On 3 May 1996, the Penal Tribunal of Douala sentenced Vianney Ombe Ndzana, managing director of the weekly “Generation”, to five months in prison and CFA 9 million (90,000 French francs) in damages for “insulting and slanderous comments” (“injures et diffamation”). As well, the Tribunal ordered the suspension for six months of “Generation”. The conviction […]
Opposition editor Magdi Hussein arrested for refusing to pay fine
**Updates IFEX alerts dated 31, 30 January 1996 and 25 October 1995** On 7 May 1996, a Cairo court ordered Magdi Hussein, editor-in- chief of “Al-Shaab”, a bi-weekly organ of the pro-Islamist Labor Party, to pay a fine for a libel conviction, or else face imprisonment. The following day, police arrested Hussein because of his […]
Palestinian journalists prevented from covering forthcoming Israeli elections
Journalists belonging to the Association of Palestinian Broadcasting Journalists have been banned from entering Israel in order to cover the legislative elections on 29 May 1996, even though all those affected by this ruling are already accredited by the Israeli Government Press Office. Moreover, since the closing off of the territories by the Israeli army […]
National Council scraps two draft clauses of the Privileges and Immunities Bill
**Updates IFEX alerts dated 26 and 23 April 1996** The National Council in the Namibian Parliament has scrapped two controversial clauses in the Privileges and Immunities Bill, saying that they are “unconstitutional” and run contrary to Article 21 of the Constitution which guarantees freedom of the press as well as freedom of expression.
Managing director of independent weekly “Tribune du peuple” arrested; copies of “Tribune du peuple” seized
On 5 May 1996, Ibrahim Hamidou, managing director of the independent weekly “Tribune du peuple”, was arrested by police and taken to headquarters, where he has reportedly been in detention ever since. Apparently, Hamidou’s arrest followed the publication in the 3 May edition of the “Tribune du peuple” of incriminating documents relating to Colonel Ibrahim […]
Four journalists from “Alinteri” arrested
On 3 May 1996, four journalists–Sabiha Budak, Incigul Basel, Mehtap Kurucay and Filiz Ozturk, all female–from the leftist weekly “Alinteri” were arrested and later detained by Istanbul police. The police arrested the journalists at the home of Budak, assaulting them in the process. Basel was later transferred to the intensive care unit of a nearby […]