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Source: News 24
Berlin, Nov. 5 (Sapa-DPA) - The 38 worst enemies of press freedom include leaders of China, Iran and Russia as well as Israel's chief of staff, said the media watchdog group Reporters Without Borders in a statement on Monday.
"Violations of press freedom don't just happen. People are responsible including presidents, ministers, state prosecutors, generals or other military officials," said a statement by Robert Menard, the secretary-general of Reporters Without Borders.
Press freedom foes listed include leaders of
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numerous countries as well as guerrilla and terrorist movements. Several states have more than one person named.
The list, which is not a ranking but rather alphabetical, includes Spain's ETA terrorist group, the Palestinian security forces and the Israeli armed forces chief of staff Shaul Moffaz.
Russia's entry includes Russian President Vladimir Putin and what Reporters Without Borders terms "the Russian kidnapping mafia" in Chechnya.
Colombia's entry is limited to three guerrilla groups (AUC, ARC, and ELN).
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TEHRAN, Nov. 21 (AFP)-- The Guardians Council, the government's unelected conservative overseers, have again rejected a new electoral law passed by Parliament intended to bar the powerful body from blacklisting reformist political candidates, the state radio network announced tonight.
"The council believes that the text passed by the Parliament is contrary to the Sharia and the Constitution," the radio said, referring to the legal code of Islam based on the Koran.
The clerics on the council had first rejected the reformist Parliament's amendment to the electoral law on Tuesday. The amendment sought to circumscribe the conservative body's ability to exclude candidates.
"If the rejection of candidates for the legislative elections is justified by considerations other than those strictly foreseen in the electoral law, there is no need to abide by it,"
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the original amendment said.
But Parliament revised the amendment today to demand that the eligibility of each candidate be accepted or rejected by at least two- thirds of the 12-member oversight council.
Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, names 6 of the 12 Guardians, who can strike down laws and election candidates, with the remainder picked by Parliament from a list provided by the judiciary chief, who is also appointed by Ayatollah Khamenei.
After the text's latest rejection, the dispute goes to the Expediency Council, which is led by a former president, Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, which arbitrates in such conflicts.
Parliament also warned today that it had decided to postpone by-elections scheduled for Nov. 30 after the Guardians Council invalidated most reformist candidates.
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