Articles by Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
Director of the weekly “L’Evenement du Jeudi” given one month suspended prison sentence for defamation
(RSF/IFEX) – On 18 September 1997, the penal court of Nice handed down a one month suspended sentence against Thierry Verret, president and director of publication of the weekly “L’Evenement du Jeudi”, for defaming the mayor of Nice, Jacques Peyrat. The conviction follows the publication in 1 August 1996 of an article in which an […]
Government bans “Forum” newspaper
(RSF/IFEX) – On 19 September 1997, Minister of Mass Media and Information Sirus Tebrizli decided to ban the newspaper “Forum”. The first issues of the paper had come out on 12 September but were withdrawn from sale two days later on the order of Tebrizli. During a meeting between “Forum” founder and editor-in-chief Safar Alisharli […]
Legislation currently being debated in Congress threatens press freedom
(RSF/IFEX) – An amendment to the Penal Code which is currently being debated in Congress provides for penalties ranging from six months to two years in prison for any individual who obtains, reproduces or circulates images (photographs or videos), recordings or texts which contain information that could damage the intimacy and personal lives of people, […]
Participants at roundtable on journalists held hostage draft recommendations for action
(RSF/IFEX) – A roundtable organized in Moscow on 19 September 1997 by Reporters sans frontieres (RSF), the Glasnost Defence Foundation and the Russian Journalists’ Union brought together dozens of journalists, media executives and representatives of groups and government departments concerned about the problem of journalists who are taken hostage. **For background, see IFEX press release […]
Palestinian photographer arrested by Israeli army
(RSF/IFEX) – Hossam Abou Alan, a Palestinian photographer who freelances for the news agency Agence France Presse (AFP), was arrested on 18 September 1997 at an Israeli army control post between Hebron and Jerusalem. Alan, who lives in Hebron, in the West Bank, managed to contact the AFP office at the moment of his arrest […]
Two armed attacks against foreign journalists
(RSF/IFEX) – On 14 September 1997, Stefan Borg, a journalist with the privately-owned Swedish television station TV-4, was injured by a group of armed men. The men attempted to stop the vehicle carrying Borg and his colleagues from Sarajevo to Pale, and then opened fire. Borg was struck in the arm and the back. The […]
Three journalists abducted and threatened
(RSF/IFEX) – On 13 September 1997, Rene Solorio, Gerardo Segura and Ernesto Madrid, journalists with the program “Hechos”, which is broadcast on TV Azteca, were abducted for several hours, assaulted and threatened with death by men who were, according to the journalists, police officers. Solorio was picked up and taken by four men who forced […]
Renewed harassment of journalists
RSF/IFEX) – On 8 September 1997, Omar Rodriguez Saludes of the New Press news agency (ANP) was arrested by a State Security officer who, after threatening Rodriguez, confiscated his camera and several documents. Rodriguez had been covering a religious festival. The same day, Odalys Curbelo Sanchez, correspondent for the news agency Cuba Press in Pinar […]