Why Media Freedom Matters in Europe: Daily Brief
China's decade-long detention of Tibetan monks; delayed Zika ruling in Brazil; Hungary’s mistreatment of refugees; Russia forces veteran journalists out of work; UN calls for children of ISIS fighters to be protected; and Kenya due to rule on decriminalization of homosexuality.
Austria's vice-chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache has been caught on tape plotting to turn one of the country's leading newspaper sinto a party mouthpiece, showing admiration for similar strategies used in Hungary. Strache has resigned, but this is another sign that the European Union needs to work hard to defend media freedom.
Chinese authorities should immediately release Tibetan monks and other peaceful critics arbitrarily imprisoned since the March 2008 protests across the Tibetan plateau.
Brazil’s Supreme Court was due to rule on a case this week that could have given families raising children with Zika syndrome access to more public services. But the court delayed the case, dealing another blow to struggling families.
Europe’s leading human rights body, the Council of Europe, is reporting that refugees in Hungary have been caged, starved and denied access to legal counsel.
South Africa should use its role on the UN Security Council to show leadership in the ongoing crisis in Cameroon.
Russia has pressured two top business reporters to quit over a story they wrote, in a blatant attempt to repress press freedom. Much of Russia’s mainstream media have become almost exclusively the voice of the state.
The UN children's agency has called for tens of thousands of children of foreign ISIS fighters to be better protected. The children are stranded in Syria and Iraq after the defeat of ISIS.
And finally, a Kenyan court is due to rule on the decriminalization of colonial-era homosexuality laws.