Europe & Central Asia

New York, December 30, 2010--Azerbaijan's Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected imprisoned editor Eynulla Fatullayev's motion to be freed pending his appeal of a drug conviction, the Turan news agency reported. The Committee to Protect Journalists has concluded the drug charge was falsified as a means of keeping Fatullayev in jail despite European Court of Human Rights' rulings that he be released immediately.

New York, December 27, 2010--Belarusian authorities must immediately halt their assault on independent and pro-opposition news media, a crackdown that has led to unjust detentions, raids, and seizures, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. 

On December 29, 2009, Stéphane Taponier and Hervé Ghesquière, two seasoned reporters with the French public service TV channel France 3, and their three Afghan assistants, were taken hostage in Afghanistan. One year later, a sense of cautious optimism seems to prevail in Paris. On December 20, French authorities announced that they had received a video showing the hostages "in good health" although "they appear weakened by the detention." According to Paul Nahon, director of France 3, the video--which was not publicly broadcast--was shot "around November 20."

New York, December 21, 2010--The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the prison sentences handed down to journalists who reported on post-election protests in Belarus, and the anti-media rhetoric by President Aleksandr Lukashenko.

It's my second link to a report by Hal Roberts (and others at the Berkman Center) in as many days, but I worry that this this detailed document on denial-of-service (DOS) and hacking attacks on independent media and human rights groups might get missed in the holiday season.

The news headlines in the last few weeks have been full of stories of how DOS attacks can bring down even high-profile websites, often with relatively little technical expertise on behalf of the attackers. Such attacks are nothing new to online journalists across the world, however. Just this year, CPJ has dealt with cases of independent news sites being taken offline by remote Internet attacks in China, Burma, Vietnam, Russia, Kazakhstan, and now Belarus.

The Berkman Center's report details over three hundred other cases from 1998 onwards, from Sweden to North Korea. More important, the researchers interviewed the victims of these attacks, and categorized what defenses were practical and effective -- and what did not work.

If you're an online journalist with powerful opponents, I'd strongly encourage you to read this document and pass it along to your tech-savvy associates. Even a small amount of preparation can help keep vital news and opinion available online when you -- and your readers -- most need it.

New York, December 20, 2010--The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the violent government crackdown against journalists covering demonstrations in Minsk against Sunday's flawed presidential vote won by President Aleksandr Lukashenko. Security police have arrested at least 20 journalists and beaten at least 20 more between the outbreak of rallies Sunday evening and their forcible dispersal in the early morning, according to local news reports.