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Moscow ‘jails’ popular Ukrainian TV host and blogger in absentia

ussia has been convicting its opponents in absentia as part of a crackdown since the start of the Ukraine offensive. (FB/File)
ussia has been convicting its opponents in absentia as part of a crackdown since the start of the Ukraine offensive. (FB/File)
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Updated 01 July 2024
AFP
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Moscow ‘jails’ popular Ukrainian TV host and blogger in absentia

Moscow ‘jails’ popular Ukrainian TV host and blogger in absentia
  • Dmitry Gordon was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment
  • The YouTuber was found guilty of calls for terrorist activity, publicly distributing false information about the Russian military and inciting hatred
Updated 01 July 2024
AFP
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MOSCOW: A Russian military court on Monday convicted a popular Ukrainian YouTube blogger and journalist in absentia for making public calls to kill President Vladimir Putin.
A Moscow military court sentenced Dmitry Gordon to 14 years imprisonment, the TASS news agency reported.
Russia has been convicting its opponents in absentia as part of a crackdown since the start of the Ukraine offensive.
Gordon, 56, is a household name in Ukraine with millions of followers on social media.
A poll in August 2023 placed him seventh among Ukrainians’ most viewed “experts” commenting on YouTube.
Starting as a newspaper journalist, he founded a Russian-language weekly newspaper called “Gordon’s Boulevard” and hosted a television show called “Gordon’s Guests,” also in Russian.
He then launched an online news site called Gordon and two YouTube channels.
Gordon used to often appear as a commentator on Russian television talk shows, saying on Olga Skabeyeva’s 60 Minutes show in 2019 that “I would call Putin one word: a criminal.”
He was critical of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky up to Russia’s offensive.
In 2022, Russia declared him a “foreign agent,” while he countered that he is not a Russian citizen.
He commented on Instagram of Russia’s verdict against him: “this is how they grow savage near the end, which will be soon and inevitable.”
The court decision Monday cited YouTube videos posted by Gordon in 2022, TASS wrote.
It said one contained a “call to eliminate” Putin.
The court said Gordon felt “hatred toward the current Russian president” and viewed Russia’s offensive in Ukraine “extremely negatively.”
It added he called for civil war and to kill Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and urged US President Joe Biden to launch a nuclear strike on Russia.
The court found Gordon guilty of calls for terrorist activity, publicly distributing false information about the Russian military and inciting hatred.

Topics: Russia Ukraine Journalists

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CNN says its report on a freed Syrian prisoner is not what it initially believed

CNN says its report on a freed Syrian prisoner is not what it initially believed
Updated 19 December 2024
AP
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CNN says its report on a freed Syrian prisoner is not what it initially believed

CNN says its report on a freed Syrian prisoner is not what it initially believed
  • The network said that it has since found out that the man shown in correspondent Clarissa Ward’s report, which initially aired on Dec. 11, apparently gave a false identity
Updated 19 December 2024
AP

CNN is acknowledging that a gripping story it aired last week depicting a Syrian man being let free from a Damascus prison after the fall of dictator Bashar Assad’s regime was not what it seemed.
The network said that it has since found out that the man shown in correspondent Clarissa Ward’s report, which initially aired on Dec. 11, apparently gave a false identity.
“This moment captures the complexity of the situation in Syria,” CNN’s Jake Tapper said on Tuesday.
In the report, Ward was being escorted by a Syrian rebel through a prison that had been run by the Syrian Air Force intelligence services and emptied since the Assad government fell. That’s what they thought, at least — until they came upon a padlocked door.
The rebel guard shot the lock to open the door to a cell, where they found a man hiding under a blanket. Clearly bewildered and shaking, he gulped water when offered, said “oh, God, there is light!” when led outdoors and hugged the guard when told of the change in power.
He told Ward that his name was Adel Ghurbal from the Syrian city of Homs, and that he was a civilian who had been arrested three months ago and spent time in three different prisons.
But a few days later, a Syrian fact-checking site, Verify-Sy, said that the man was really Salama Mohammad Salama, and that he was a former intelligence officer for the Assad government. CNN obtained a photo of Salama and, through facial recognition software, found that it was a better than 99 percent chance that was the same man from their report, the network said.
Ward said Tuesday that CNN didn’t know why he had been arrested. Verify-Sy reported that Salama, who had a reputation for extortion, had been thrown in prison because of a dispute with a superior officer over sharing some of the profits, she said. CNN has been unable to confirm that or locate Salama, she said.
A CNN spokeswoman said that no one outside of the network knew ahead of time of the plans to visit the prison. CNN reported the scene as it unfolded, the network said.
It was arresting video, and the temptation to air Ward’s story was obvious. While CNN did due diligence and research in uncovering the problem after the fact, the question is whether the network could have, or should have, done more to verify the prisoner’s story before it was used.
“I think we need to be humble about the challenges,” Ward said on the air Tuesday. “It is a chaotic atmosphere, there is a huge amount of flux, and it is very difficult to verify information in real time on the ground ... Stories take unexpected turns. We have to continue to report them without fear or favor, but it is immensely challenging in this environment and I think we need to be transparent about that.”

Topics: Fall of Assad CNN

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Facebook restricts war-related content in Palestinian territories, BBC investigation claims

Facebook restricts war-related content in Palestinian territories, BBC investigation claims
Updated 18 December 2024
Arab News
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Facebook restricts war-related content in Palestinian territories, BBC investigation claims

Facebook restricts war-related content in Palestinian territories, BBC investigation claims
  • Local news outlets report 77% drop in audience engagement
  • ‘Any implication that we deliberately suppress a particular voice is unequivocally false,’ Meta says
Updated 18 December 2024
Arab News

LONDON: A BBC investigation has claimed that Facebook significantly restricted access to news in Palestinian territories, limiting local news outlets’ ability to reach audiences during the ongoing Israel-Gaza war.

Research conducted by the BBC Arabic team found that 20 newsrooms in Gaza and the West Bank reported a 77 percent decline in audience engagement — a measure of the visibility and impact of social media content — following the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7, 2023.

In contrast, Facebook pages belonging to 20 Israeli news outlets, including Yediot Ahronot, Israel Hayom and Channel 13, saw a 37 percent increase in engagement for similar war-related content during the same period.

“Interaction was completely restricted and our posts stopped reaching people,” said Tariq Ziad, a journalist at Palestine TV, which experienced a 60 percent drop in engagement despite having 5.8 million Facebook followers.

With international journalists restricted from accessing Gaza due to Israeli-imposed limitations, local media and social platforms have become critical sources of information around the world. But the disparity in engagement has underscored concerns about a growing “war of narratives” on social media.

Facebook’s parent company, Meta, has previously faced allegations of “shadow banning” Palestinian content. Critics, including human rights groups, claim the platform fails to moderate online activity fairly.

According to an independent report commissioned by Meta in 2021, the company said the loss of engagement was never deliberate, attributing it to a “lack of Arabic-speaking expertise among moderators,” which led to some Arabic phrases being inadvertently flagged as harmful or sensitive.

To test these claims, the BBC analyzed 30 prominent Facebook pages from Arabic news outlets and found an almost 100 percent increase in engagement.

Meta admitted to increasing moderation of Palestinian user comments in response to a “spike in hateful content” but rejected allegations of bias.

A spokesperson told the BBC: “Any implication that we deliberately suppress a particular voice is unequivocally false.”

However, internal communications reviewed by the BBC showed that Meta-owned Instagram’s algorithm had been adjusted shortly after the conflict began, with at least one engineer raising concerns about potential new bias against Palestinian users.

“Within a week of the Hamas attack, the code was changed essentially making it more aggressive toward Palestinian people,” the engineer told the BBC.

Although Meta said these policy changes were reversed, it did not specify when.

A similar investigation by Arab News revealed widespread reports of pro-Palestinian posts and accounts being suspended or banned during Israel’s bombardment of Gaza.

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, at least 144 media workers have been killed since the start of the conflict, 133 of whom were Palestinians, making it the deadliest conflict for journalists in recent history.

Topics: War on Gaza Meta

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Two men arrested in London over attack on British-Iranian journalist

Two men arrested in London over attack on British-Iranian journalist
Updated 18 December 2024
Reuters
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Two men arrested in London over attack on British-Iranian journalist

Two men arrested in London over attack on British-Iranian journalist
  • Iran International journalist Pouria Zeraati was stabbed outside his home in March in what investigators have identified as a Tehran-orchestrated plot
Updated 18 December 2024
Reuters

LONDON: British police said on Tuesday they arrested two Romanian men over the stabbing of a journalist working for a Persian language media organisation in London in March.

Pouria Zeraati, a British-Iranian journalist who works for Iran International, sustained leg injuries in the attack near his home in Wimbledon, southwest London.

Counter-terrorism police led the investigation over concerns he had been targeted because of his work at the television news network, which is critical of Iran’s government.

Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service said earlier this month that Nandito Badea, 19, and George Stana, 23, had been charged with wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, and wounding.

London’s Metropolitan (Met) Police said the two men were taken into custody at Heathrow Airport on Tuesday after they arrived on a flight from Romania. They are due to appear at Westminster Magistrates Court on Dec. 18, the police said.

They had previously been detained by Romanian authorities on Dec. 4 and were returned to the UK by a national extradition unit.

British police, security officials and politicians have issued warnings about what they say is Iran’s growing use of criminal proxies to carry out attacks abroad. Iran rejects those accusations.

“This has been a long-running investigation and I am pleased we have reached a point where two men have now been charged and will face prosecution here in the UK,” said Helen Flanagan from the Met's counter-terrorism command.

Flanagan added: “Now that criminal proceedings are fully active here in the UK, I continue to ask people not speculate about the case or motivation so that the criminal justice process can run its course.”

Topics: Iran International Iran journalist UK

Mother of missing US journalist urges Netanyahu to pause strikes on Syria to aid search for her son

Mother of missing US journalist urges Netanyahu to pause strikes on Syria to aid search for her son
Updated 17 December 2024
Arab News
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Mother of missing US journalist urges Netanyahu to pause strikes on Syria to aid search for her son

Mother of missing US journalist urges Netanyahu to pause strikes on Syria to aid search for her son
  • Austin Tice, a former Marine, was abducted in Syria in August 2012 while reporting on the country’s descent into civil war
  • His mother says ‘credible information’ suggests her son is in a prison close to areas pounded by Israeli strikes
Updated 17 December 2024
Arab News

LONDON: The mother of missing American journalist Austin Tice, who was abducted in Syria 12 years ago, urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to pause airstrikes on Syria so that rescuers can search safely for her son.

In a letter addressed to Netanyahu, Debra Tice said her family has “credible information” that her son might be in a prison close to the Syrian capital, Damascus, and appealed for a halt to nearby Israeli military operations.

“We are aware that your military has an active campaign in the area, preventing rescuers from approaching and accessing the prison facility,” she wrote.

“We have no way of knowing if the prisoners there have food and water. We urgently request you pause strikes on this area and deploy Israeli assets to search for Austin Tice and other prisoners. Time is of the essence.”

The prime minister’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment, The New York Times reported.

The Israeli military has been bombing weapons depots and air defenses in Syria in what it described as an attempt to prevent military equipment falling into the hands of extremists.

Austin Tice, who before becoming a journalist served as an officer in the US Marine Corps, was kidnapped on Aug. 13, 2012, while reporting from Syria as the country descended into civil war. He was 31 years old at the time. The only evidence of his capture and captivity remains a 47-second video released in September 2012 that showed him bound and blindfolded.

In the 12 years since then, the US government has maintained its belief that he was alive and in the custody of the Syrian government. No group or organization has publicly claimed responsibility for his detention.

The fall of the Assad regime this month to rebel forces led by militant group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham sparked renewed efforts to locate Tice. It comes as thousands of prisoners, including the regime’s political opponents, civilians and foreigners, have been freed from detention centers in Damascus.

Debra Tice believes her son is held in a prison located beneath a Syrian military museum in the Mount Qasioun area near Damascus. She described a system of tunnels thought to connect the facility to a government palace and nearby neighborhoods.

Citing anonymous sources, Reuters reported on Monday that Tice managed to escape from his captors after just five months of captivity but was recaptured by forces loyal to Assad. Credible information about his whereabouts grew increasingly scarce over the years, though US officials remain cautiously optimistic that he is alive.

The recent escalation of Israeli attacks on targets in Syria raised concerns that Tice might have been killed in the airstrikes or trapped underground. US officials also fear that power cuts in Damascus prisons, orchestrated by Assad’s forces before he was toppled, could have deprived underground cells of breathable air.

Hopes were briefly raised this week amid reports that an American man had been spotted in Damascus. However, he turned out to be Travis Timmerman from Missouri, who had been freed by rebel forces. He was arrested this year for entering the country illegally after traveling to Syria on a “spiritual mission.”

The State Department said on Monday no US government officials are in Syria to assist in the search for Tice but finding him remains a “top priority.”

Concerns continue to grow over the fate of remaining detainees in the country, particularly in areas still affected by military strikes and instability.

Topics: Israeli strikes in Syria Debra Tice Benjamin Netanyahu

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Media watchdog condemns Israel over killing of 4 Gaza journalists, demands accountability

Media watchdog condemns Israel over killing of 4 Gaza journalists, demands accountability
Updated 17 December 2024
Arab News
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Media watchdog condemns Israel over killing of 4 Gaza journalists, demands accountability

Media watchdog condemns Israel over killing of 4 Gaza journalists, demands accountability
  • Iman Al-Shanti, Mohammed Al-Qrinawi, Mohammed Balousha, and Ahmed Al-Louh were killed between Dec. 11 and 15
  • At least in two cases, the attacks were described as ‘deliberate,’ Committee to Protect Journalists reported
Updated 17 December 2024
Arab News

LONDON: The Committee to Protect Journalists has condemned Israel’s recent attacks in Gaza, which have killed four journalists in the past week alone, and renewed calls for the international community to hold Tel Aviv accountable for its actions against media workers.

“At least 95 journalists and media workers have been killed worldwide in 2024,” CPJ’s CEO Jodie Ginsberg said in New York. “Israel is responsible for two-thirds of those deaths and yet continues to act with total impunity when it comes to the killing of journalists and its attacks on the media.”

Between Dec. 11 and 15, Israeli forces carried out multiple deadly strikes targeting media workers in Gaza, killing Iman Al-Shanti, Mohammed Al-Qrinawi, Mohammed Balousha, and Ahmed Al-Louh. Sources claim that at least two of the journalists were clearly identifiable by their press vests and accused the Israeli army of deliberately targeting civilians in the area.

On Wednesday, Al-Shanti, a 36-year-old journalist who worked for Al Aqsa Radio and contributed to Al Jazeera’s AJ+ platform, was killed alongside her family in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza’s Sheikh Radwan neighborhood.

On Friday, Al-Qrinawi, editor at the local Snd news agency, was killed with his wife and three children in an Israeli strike on Al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza.

That same day, Balousha, a 38-year-old journalist reporting for Dubai-based Al Mashhad Media, died in a direct Israeli drone strike while returning from a medical checkup in northern Gaza City. Al Mashhad described the attack as deliberate.

On Saturday, Al-Louh, a 39-year-old freelance journalist who contributed to multiple outlets, including Al Jazeera, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Nuseirat camp in Gaza City. He became the seventh journalist from Al Jazeera to be killed during the war.

Following Al-Louh’s death, Israeli Defense Forces spokesperson for Arabic media Avichay Adraee accused him of being a member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. However, as in similar past claims, Adraee failed to provide evidence to support the allegation. Al Jazeera condemned the killing as a “war crime” and part of a “systematic targeting of journalists in Gaza aimed at intimidating and deterring them.”

According to CPJ, at least 133 journalists have been killed in Gaza since the outbreak of the conflict 15 months ago, making it the deadliest conflict for journalists since record-keeping began. The real toll is believed to be significantly higher.

Media watchdogs and international organizations have repeatedly called for Israel and its leaders to be held accountable for what some human rights groups describe as ethnic cleansing. However, these demands have so far failed to produce tangible results.

The CPJ reached out to the Israeli military’s North America Media Desk, asking whether the IDF was aware of civilian presence in the areas it bombed and if journalists had been targeted for their work. The IDF replied that it required more time to investigate but did not specify a timeline for its response.

Topics: War on Gaza Israel Journalists

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