A travel ban on a prominent Azerbaijani journalist imposed just before he planned to travel to receive a prestigious human rights prize must be lifted immediately, the Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety said on 17 June 2013.

On 19 June 2013, human rights defender and president of the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR) Mohamed Al-Maskati appeared before the Lower Criminal Court on charges of “participation in illegal protests”.

Human rights defenders in Cambodia are less safe than they were a year ago according to a report by ARTICLE 19 and the Cambodian Center for Human Rights.

Fifty-five journalists fled their homes in the past year with help from the Committee to Protect Journalists. The most common reason to go into exile was the threat of violence, such as in Somalia and Syria, two of the most deadly countries in the world for the profession.

The head judge at a Caracas court has issued a precautionary measure prohibiting María Lourdes Afiuni (a judge who was jailed pending a criminal suit) from speaking to the national and international media and expressing herself on social media.

Reporters Without Borders has submitted recommendations on Chile to the UN Human Rights Council, calling on Chile to enact new laws to create a balance between the various types of broadcasting organizations.

Two Iraqi journalists who have been held for two weeks without formal charge or access to a lawyer in connection with the alleged theft of a senior official's notebook.

“Authorities have an obligation to re-establish order when violence erupts during public protests,” says Human Rights Watch. “But that doesn't give security forces license to violate protesters' or bystanders' rights, or make them immune from punishment when they go too far.”

The presidential and municipal elections held in Iran on 14 Jun saw Hassan Rohani, a moderate conservative candidate who had promised change and was backed by reformers, ascend to power.

Vision Group journalist Pere Thomas was killed by unknown assailants on 16 June 2013. His laptop and cell phone were also stolen.

Journalists' unions and associations in Southeast Asia, affiliated with the International Federation of Journalists, have formed a new network aimed at tackling issues affecting journalists' safety, rights and freedoms in the region.

The Chinese government, under the rationale of a campaign to improve rural living standards, has sent more than 20,000 officials and communist party cadres to Tibetan villages to undertake intrusive surveillance of people, carry out widespread political re-education, and establish partisan security units.

Suspected supporters of the ruling Patriotic Front (PF) have attacked TV journalist Njenje Chivu, and also seized his camera. The journalist says that he was then threatened with unspecified action if he went on to broadcast photos he had taken.

IFEX is the largest global network of free expression organisations. Following the voting on 17 June at the 2013 IFEX General Meeting in Phnom Penh, 12 new organisations joined this dynamic network.

On the occasion of our General Meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, IFEX calls for the appointment of a Southeast Asia regional Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Opinion and Expression, among other reforms necessary to strenghten freedom of expression in the ASEAN nations.

The G8 leaders meeting in Northern Ireland cannot hope to achieve their declared goals on transparency, corruption and human rights without a clear commitment to respecting freedom of expression at home.

A village chief in Cebu province, Philippines sued a radio blocktimer for libel two months after the latter accused her of using the village hall as her home.

A Saudi court convicted two Saudi women's rights activists on June 15, 2013, for trying to help a woman flee the country and sentenced them each to 10 months in prison and a two-year travel ban.

Once labelled the “enemy of the internet” — Tunisia has made tremendous strides in the past two years towards opening up the internet. Still, the country continues to face challenges in its road to expanding freedom online.

Freelance journalist, Paul Pindani, is reportedly battling for life after he was abducted from his home and severely assaulted in Mashonaland West’s provincial capital of Chinhoyi on Friday, 14 June 2013.