Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA)

Thirty IFEX members protested the sentencing of bloggers, citizen journalists and rights activists, jailed for up to 13 years in the biggest ever trial of pro-democracy activists in Vietnam.

The Laos director of a Swiss non-profit organisation was ordered to leave the country within 48 hours after she wrote a letter in which she commented on the government’s “strategy of imposing silence” because of constraints on media freedom, and the rule of law.

IFEX members have condemned a “fundamentally flawed” rights declaration unveiled at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit, at the same time expressing concern about ongoing free expression concerns in Cambodia and in the region.

At least 100 cases related to impunity against the exercise of freedom of expression have been recorded in Southeast Asia for 2012, according to the Southeast Asian Press Alliance.

The human rights declaration unveiled at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit falls below international rights standards on freedom of opinion and expression, says SEAPA, a regional press freedom watchdog.

Recommendations coming out of two town hall meetings in Burma touch on issues related to media law, self-regulation of the media and professional capacities of journalists.

The Southeast Asian Press Alliance expresses concern about hate speech coming from some members of the Burmese media and government officials following renewed violence in Rakhine state, and stresses the importance of a healthy media environment in addressing the conflict.

A reporter was beaten by police while trying to take pictures of police use of excessive violence against demonstrators in front of the State University of Papua, in Indonesia.