Institute of Mass Information (IMI)

Twenty-seven IFEX members appeal for end to impunity in recent brutal attacks on journalists in Kazakhstan, including near-fatal attack on Luqpan Akhmedyarov in April.

Fifty IFEX members and other rights groups call on the Bahrain authorities to release from prison human rights defender Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, whose life is at risk since beginning a hunger strike on 8 February.

Twenty-nine IFEX members have signed a letter to the Prosecutor General about the detention of editor Igor Vinyavsky, whose detention is believed to be politically motivated, calling for him to be released and for the evidence leading to his arrest to be made public.

Although a criminal investigation into the case has been opened, a spokesperson for Vitaly Rozwadowskiy’s newspaper, “2000”, says the paper does connect Rozwadowskiy’s murder to his work.

Prior to the UN summit of world leaders in Rio in June 2012 (Rio+20) to discuss the environment and sustainable development goals, 77 civil society organisations recommend the adoption of national laws on access to information, public participation and access to justice in the environment, a new UN convention on access to environmental information, and a UN Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

Employees of Krug, the only opposition channel in Odessa, suspect that municipal authorities are using technical issues an an excuse to prevent them from broadcasting.

The editor -in-chief of the newspaper where Oleksandr Vlashenko works said the attack may be linked to the journalist’s reporting on corruption involving local authorities.

IMI is concerned that the vagueness of the bill’s wording could result in increased pressure on the independent media.