Turkish journalist faces five years in prison for ‘insulting’ Erdogan
A lawsuit has been opened against the editor-in-chief of Turkey’s leading secular Hürriyet newspaper, Sedat Ergin, with a demand that the journalist serve five years in prison for “insulting the president” due to a report in the daily. In September, pro-government mobs attacked Hürriyet offices, accusing the newspaper of sympathising with the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) insurgent group. Hürriyet has been singled out for criticism from Erdogan as the government struggles to control a surge in Kurdish militant violence in the southeast. In October, a prominent Hürriyet journalist, Ahmet Hakan, has been beaten up outside his home. NEW EUROPE

South Sudan security annoyed at article, detain journalist
Security personnel in Juba have detained editor Joseph Afandi who works for Arabic daily El Tabeer (“Expression”), allegedly for criticizing the ruling party SPLM, local sources told Radio Tamazuj. The journalist was detained at the National Security Service head office in the Jebel neighborhood of Juba. The National Security Service personnel arrested the editor in Hai Thuwra near Juba University on Tuesday evening at 9:00 p.m., according to multiple sources. The security branch also verbally instructed the paper to cease publication. RADIO TAMAZUJ

Syria and France said to be deadliest for journalists in 2015
At least 69 journalists were killed in the line of duty this year, and Islamic militant groups such as the Islamic State and Al Qaeda were responsible for 40 percent of the deaths, a press advocacy group reported Tuesday. The group, the Committee to Protect Journalists, said in its annual tally that it was still investigating the deaths of 26 other journalists this year to determine if they were related to their work. The documented total is slightly higher this year than last, when 61 journalists were killed worldwide, the group said. NEW YORK TIMES

China jails activist who supported Hong Kong’s Democracy Movement
A court in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong has handed down an 18-month jail term to an activist who showed online support for last year’s pro-democracy Occupy Central movement in neighboring Hong Kong. Ye Xiaozheng, known online by his nickname Humian Yizhou (“a boat on the lake”), stood for a retrial on Tuesday at the Huicheng District People’s Court in Guangdong’s Huizhou city for “picking quarrels and stirring up trouble,” his lawyer told RFA. RADIO FREE ASIA

 Columbian Peace, Migrants Rights Activist Killed 
Ofelia Mosquera, a member of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and an activist calling for rights of the victims of the armed conflict in Colombia, was killed by unknown assailants, Colombian prosecutors said Tuesday. Mosquera was found dead at dawn Saturday in the resort town of Acandi “with two bullet wounds in the head,” the prosecutors said. She was pushing for the implementation of the Victims Law that would push for reparations by the state for the victims of the armed conflict in the country.TELESUR ENGLISH  

Russian court jails blogger for five years for ‘extremist’ posts
Today, a Russian court sentenced a blogger to five years in jail for what it said was his extremist activity on the Internet after he urged people to attend a protest against high transport fares and criticized Russian intervention in Ukraine. Vadim Tyumenstev, 35, from the Siberian region of Tomsk, was also banned from using the Internet for three years in a case which Russian human rights activists said violated his rights to a proper defense. Tyumentsev irked local authorities in Tomsk with a series of blogs in which he accused them of corruption and incompetence. He had also sharply criticized pro-Kremlin separatists in eastern Ukraine, saying he did not see why ordinary Russians should go and fight with them. REUTERS

Twitter: “Fighting abuse to protect freedom of expression” 
Today, as part of Twitter’s “continued efforts to combat abuse,” Twitter is updating their rules to clarify what they consider to be abusive behavior and hateful conduct. The updated language emphasizes that Twitter will not tolerate behavior intended to harass, intimidate, or use fear to silence another user’s voice. Twitter states that it will continue to “embrace and encourage diverse opinions and beliefs, but will continue to take action on accounts that cross the line into abuse.” TWITTER SUPPORT

Ukranian journalist released from captivity 
Vasyl Budyk, the Advisor to the Defense Minister of Ukraine, made a statement about the release of Ukrainian citizen Anatoly Polyakov, who had been being held captive by the militants for nine months. The journalist had arrived in the occupied territory from Russia to collect information about the people, held captive by the militants, but was detained by the terrorists in Luhansk, he posted on Facebook. Help captive for nine months, Polyakov was released yesterday. The journalist has already returned home and is being provided the necessary assistance. UKRINFORM