International Press Institute (IPI)

Mizzima Media Group editor-in-chief Soe Myint and freelance journalist Thin Lei Win discussed the state of media freedom in Myanmar during a press briefing.

“Though the liberalization of the media landscape and an increase in media pluralism has meant reporting on some sensitive topics such as forced labour or graft is now permitted, any form of investigative or critical journalism directed at the authorities is still met with [an] authoritarian response.”

The murder bears all the signs of a targeted assassination. Press groups have called on the authorities to establish whether the attack was linked to Karaivaz’s work.

With the conclusion of the 13th Party Congress, watchdog groups foresee continued or worsened suppression of press freedom in Vietnam.

EU leaders should send a strong, public message that improved relations, economic or otherwise, will be tied to substantial improvement in Turkey’s domestic human rights record.

The suspected murderer was a long-time listener to Hazım Özsu’s show; after being arrested, he reportedly said that he had killed the radio presenter because he disliked some of his remarks on the radio.

“We believe the repeated denigration of journalists, combined with the ruling party’s attempts to exert greater control over the country’s public service media, are creating an increasingly hostile climate for critical reporting which serves a fundamental role of holding the government to account.”

“The EU has sat on the sidelines for too long. Repeated inaction to stop the undermining of media freedom and pluralism first in Hungary, and then in Poland, has allowed this model of media capture to grow and spread to other Member States. The cost of further inaction is simply too high.”