Tag Archives: International

New Zealand Herald: Judge bans websites from naming men charged with murder

A New Zealand judge has banned a website from naming two men charged with murder – despite allowing the pair to be named by newspapers, radio stations and on television.

Judge David Harvey has raised concerns about the ‘viral effect of digital publication’ and the public searching for information online in the build up to the trial.

Malaysian court orders newspaper to reveal online commenters

A court in Kuala Lumpur has ordered the editor of Malaysian online newspaper Malaysia Today to reveal the identity of commenters, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has reported.

Editor Raja Petra Kamarudin has also been told to remove three articles after libel proceedings were brought against him by lawyer Datuk Muhammad Shafee Abdullah.

Abdullah is suing the editor over the articles and comments, which claimed he was responsible for ‘trumped up charges’ in a recent lawsuit against a politician in the country.

RSF has condemned the court order and has called for its withdrawal.

“The court order is invalid as it is only effective in Malaysia and Malaysia Today is hosted on a server in the United States. This should be taken up with a US court,” the organisation said.

Reuters ‘dissatisfied’ by investigation into death of Fadel Shana

Reuters has said it is ‘disappointed with and dissatisfied by’ an investigation by the Israeli military into the death of its cameraman Fadel Shana.

The Israeli tank crew who killed Shana in the Gaza Strip four months ago will not face legal action as a result of the investigation.

Troops could not determine whether Shana, who had covered events in Gaza for Reuters for three years, was carrying a camera or a weapon, but were ‘nonetheless justified’ in firing the shell, a letter from Israel’s senior military advocate-general to the news agency said.

“I’m extremely disappointed that this report condones a disproportionate use of deadly force in a situation the army itself admitted had not been analysed clearly. They would appear to take the view that any raising of a camera into position could garner a deadly response,” said David Schlesinger, Reuters editor-in-chief, in a press statement.

Reuters has responded to the findings with a letter to the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) asking why the tank crew did not attempt to find out if Shana was a cameraman as his blue flak jacket marked ‘PRESS’ suggested.

According to the army, the troops could not see this sign.

“These findings mean that a journalist with a camera is at risk of coming under fire and there’s not that much that can be done. That’s unacceptable. It’s difficult to believe (…) that the IDF took the necessary precautions to avoid causing harm to civilians – as it is obliged to do under international law,” said Joel Campagna from the Committee to Protect Journalists.

The video from Reuters below shows the last seconds of footage shot by Shana before his death: