Reporters Without Borders (RSF)

Well known for criticising prominent local figures in his blog, Valov was convicted of extorting money from a Sochi representative in the Russian parliament, despite a lack of material evidence and repeated procedural violations.

Gomaa is in his second year in provisional detention, the maximum number of years under Egyptian law.

Liberian President George Weah is being asked to condemn one of his ministers for threatening to have the publisher of Front Page Africa, Rodney Sieh jailed.

A total of 80 journalists were killed this year, 348 are currently in prison, and 60 are being held hostage, according to the annual RSF worldwide round-up, which shows an unprecedented level of hostility towards media personnel.

RSF calls for the immediate release of Hassan Mohammed Qambar, a Bahraini freelance photographer who completed his sixth month in detention.

RSF calls on authorities in Somalia’s semi-autonomous northeastern region of Puntland to take action against a police officer who tried to shoot radio station director Ahmed Sheikh Mohamed, as well as the soldiers who threatened to kill him.

The persecution of Nicaragua’s political opposition and media critics has not let up since April. But now, instead of just obstructing journalists covering protests and social unrest, the police are undertaking direct, violent action against those regarded as overly critical of the government.

Often seen as the most liberal and free media environment in the Arab World, Lebanon’s media landscape appears tightly aligned with domestic and foreign powers vying for control.