Video - Egyptian Astrologist Predicts the End of the World, Muslim Cleric Assaults Him with a Shoe.

Pakistan - 700-strong 'Islamic' lawyers' alliance remains pro Trial & execution of 'blasphemers'.

Pakistan - 700-strong 'Islamic' lawyers' alliance remains pro Trial & execution of 'blasphemers'. (ET)

A little-known alliance of hundreds of lawyers in Pakistan is behind the rise in prosecutions for blasphemy, a crime punishable by death that goes to the heart of an ideological clash between reformers and religious conservatives.

The group, whose name translates as The Movement for the Finality of the Prophethood, offers free legal advice to complainants and has packed courtrooms with representatives, a tactic critics say is designed to help it gain convictions.

The stated mission of the Khatm-e-Nubuwwat Lawyers’ Forum and its leader Ghulam Mustafa Chaudhry is uncompromising: to use its expertise and influence to ensure that anyone insulting Islam or  Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is charged, tried and executed.

“Whoever does this (blasphemy), the punishment is only death. There is no alternative,” Chaudhry told supporters crammed into his small office behind the towering red-brick High Court building in the eastern city of Lahore.

The campaign could complicate the government’s tentative efforts to reform blasphemy legislation, a tough task in a country where support for the law is widespread.


Chaudhry was the defence lawyer for Mumtaz Qadri, executed on Monday for gunning down the popular governor of Punjab province in 2011 over his criticism of the blasphemy law.

In death, Qadri was a hero for many. Tens of thousands of people gathered in a park in the city of Rawalpindi for his funeral on Tuesday, showering his casket with flowers. “He lives! Qadri lives!” supporters around the coffin cried. ”From your blood, the revolution will come!” Read the full story here.

Dutch Cops Visit Critics of Dutch Migration Policy.

Dutch Cops Visit Critics of Dutch Migration Policy. (SP).

Critiquing the Dutch government's policy on migrants via social networking websites and elsewhere is now considered a criminal offense in Holland.

Dutch police have raided critics' homes, media outlets reported, citing a recent mass protest in the town of Kaatsheuvel and how some citizens of the town of Sliedrecht had been targeted by the authorities for voicing their criticism of mass migration online.

A police spokesperson admitted that visits to the protesters and requests to delete anti-government posts on social networking websites are "unusual" practices, but maintained that police will continue to monitor the protesters' accounts in order to uncover the further intentions of their authors.Read the full story here.

"I cannot approve of monarchs who want to rule over the conscience of the people, and take away their freedom of choice and religion." Willem De Zwijger.

Reporters Without Borders Urges on Charlie anniversary Resist 'religious correctness,'

Reporters Without Borders Urges on Charlie anniversary Resist 'religious correctness,' (DS).

Press campaign group Reporters Without Borders marked Thursday's first anniversary of the attack on French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo by warning against what it called "religious correctness."

The organisation cautioned against what it called "the insidious imposition of a 'religious correctness' that poses a major threat to the journalistic freedom to inform others (and make them laugh)," in a statement.

It noted the controversy sparked by the cover of Charlie Hebdo's Wednesday edition, which depicts a gun-toting God figure on the run.

The Vatican criticized the cover for failing to "acknowledge or to respect believers' faith in God, regardless of the religion." It added: "Using God to justify hatred is a genuine blasphemy."

"Some may feel offended or hurt by criticism of their beliefs, especially in the form of satire. But freedom of information and expression ... must not be constrained or limited by anyone's convictions or sensibilities, or else a form of totalitarianism will take hold before we know it," the Paris-based group, known by its French initials RSF, warned.

"RSF deplores the self-censorship and overcautiousness that has taken hold in the media in democratic countries," it said.

Concepts such as blasphemy – which is penalized in 94 countries, RSF said – are used to create an exception to freedom of expression "for which there is absolutely no provision under international law," it said. Hmmmm......Actually Charlie Hebdo managed to unify all three major religions to agree upon something. ----->

Video - Council of Europe Conference on Freedom of Expression FoE2015 session4 live - ECHR

Meeting of EU Ministers of Justice: 'hotlines against hate on the Internet'.

Meeting of EU Ministers of Justice: 'hotlines against hate on the Internet'. (Tagesshau). From Christiansfeld, ARD-Studio Brussels[Google translated].

This hatred content can be erased quickly in social networks, Justice Minister Maas wants to set up hotlines. Users should indicate the Internet corporations to criminal comments. However, a simple undertaking is not that.

The end of September in New York: At a dinner the Chancellor sits with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg at the table. Angela Merkel speaks to him in the handling of the network with hate comments. He replies: "I think we need to work." On their demand, if he wanted to improve the situation, the answer is "Yes".

Also Federal Minister of Justice Heiko Maas has met with representatives of major Internet companies. Today, he will tell his EU ministerial colleagues about it. When he pulls up in Luxembourg in the morning, he recalls the responsibility of the platforms. It could not be that revealing photos would be deleted within 24 hours, but not calls to murder.

As a first result of discussions with companies such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. "We have therefore agreed to a task force with the operators, that we want to set up hotlines, indicating the platform operator it so that things can be deleted from the network even faster," said Maas.

However, a simple undertaking is not that. The company repeatedly refer to the importance of freedom of expression. Also EU Justizkommisarin věra jourová says that images are clear to see with naked children. But: "The definition of what constitutes hate content that need to be deleted, is much more difficult."

The freedom of expression is very important in Europe, says Maas, but have limits: "If someone calls to assassinate refugees or to burn Jews, then that's not what is covered by the freedom of expression, but then that is punishable Then the perpetrator will be persecuted, and then you should delete the social platforms also from the net. "

New the problem is not. In January has been discussed in the European Parliament, for example on terrorism propaganda of "Islamic state" in the social networks. A guest was, inter alia, the English Google manager Verity Harding. For American Internet giant also includes the video platform YouTube. According to information provided 300 hours of new material there are uploaded every minute. Hmmm....Does calling for a new INTIFADA qualify as hate speech? Read and see & Hear the fulll story here. (German).

Saudi Arabia publicly flogged blogger and activist Badawi accused of 'insulting Islam.

Saudi Arabia publicly flogged blogger and activist accused of 'insulting Islam, Badawi is due to receive 50 lashes every Friday for 20 weeks.(Independent).

Saudi Arabia has been condemned for publicly flogging liberal blogger and activist Raif Badawi, who was accused of insulting Islam.

Amnesty International confirmed to The Independent that Badawi, who was sentenced to 1,000 lashes, received the first round of 50 in a public flogging after Friday prayers, which it says continue every Friday for 20 weeks.

A witness told the human rights organisation that Badawi was removed from a bus in shackles and taken to a public square in front of the al-Jafali mosque in Jeddah. He was then flogged in front of a crowd and security guards for 15 minutes, before being put back on the bus and driven away.

Amnesty says Badawi, who started the "Free Saudi Liberals" website, was arrested in June 2012 for creating an online forum for public debate and over accusations that he insulted Islam. His website has also been shut down.

Badawi was originally sentenced to seven years in prison and 600 lashes in July last year, but an appeals court overturned the sentence and ordered a retrial - which then earned him a more severe sentence of 1,000 lashes and ten years in prison. Read the full story here.

Human Rights Chief Calls Iran Role-Model of Democracy in Middle-East. ...NOT the Onion.

Human Rights Chief Calls Iran Role-Model of Democracy in Middle-East....NOT the Onion. (Fars).

Secretary of Iran’s Human Rights Council Mohammad Javad Larijani said Iran attaches vital importance to respect for and practice of human rights and its has now become a role model of democracy in the Middle-East region.

"All the democratic structures in Iran have been defined within the framework of Islamic rationale to find their real meaning, and this way a new big democracy has emerged in the Middle-East which can be a role model," Larijani said in a meeting with UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Zeid al-Hussein in Tehran on Wednesday.

He further explained that human rights is an indispensable aspect of Iran's civil development, and added, "Naturally, human rights is neither an American nor a western concept to us, rather it has a logic grown in the same atmosphere of Islamic rationale."

Larijani stressed the vital importance of respect for and exercise of human rights values to Iran, saying that human rights is no marginal issue for the Islamic Republic.

In similar remarks in January, Larijani underlined that the country attaches much importance to respect for human rights, but doesn’t accept the human rights norms and standards imposed by the western states.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran’s affinity for human rights is rooted in its Islamic and cultural principles and we don’t accept the West-imposed human rights (principles) which want to change our way of life (lifestyle),” Larijani said in a meeting with a visiting Irish delegation in Tehran.

He underlined Tehran’s deep respect for human rights, and said, “We have extensive plans in area of human rights and establishment of Iran’s Human Rights Council with such a structure and extent shows its importance for the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

In relevant remarks in December, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham underlined that Iran expected the western states to develop a completely different and new approach to human rights issues.

“As regards the human rights issues we demand a new and different approach by the West,” Afkham said, addressing a weekly press conference in Tehran.

She stressed that if the western countries adopted a constructive approach and far from politicization, there would be the possibility of cooperation in different areas, including human rights.

The foreign ministry spokeswoman underlined that Iran had clear stances on human rights issues, and said, “We have laid emphasis on avoiding politicization of human rights debates and rejected the (West's) double-standard approach in our talks with different European officials in the past and the present."

Former Iranian intelligence minister accuses UK of acid attacks on women.

Former Iranian intelligence minister accuses UK of acid attacks on women. (Taz).

Former Iranian minister of intelligence, Heydar Moslehi has claimed that foreign intelligence services are behind the recent acid attacks on women in Iran’s central Isfahan city, Iran’s Fars news agency reported Oct. 30.

He said that it is not the coincidence that the acid attacks and the proposal of the “enjoining good and forbidding wrong” bill in the country's parliament happened about at the same time.

"Enjoining good and forbidding wrong", or promotion of virtue and prevention of vice is an Islamic doctrine mentioned in the Quran.

The bill which was submitted by hardliners in Iran’s parliament would legalize vigilantes who patrol the streets and warn others about their behavior.

The former intelligence minister called the acid attacks as a part of conspiracy to confront the “enjoining good and forbidding wrong” doctrine.

“The intelligence services of the UK are behind the conspiracy,” he said.

It should be noted that in the last weeks at least seven women became victims of acid attacks by unknown motorcyclists. The latest incident happened on the night of Oct. 15. Unknown persons on motorcycles threw acid at her while she was in her car. The attacks have left some of the victims badly burned, disfigured, and blind.

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani, following the incidents, urged the relevant government structures to handle the acid attack cases.

Some people claimed on social networks said that the reason for these acid attacks were the fault of the women, who violated the Islamic dress code in the city. The attacks have sparked outrage and fear among many Iranians who last week took to the streets of Isfahan and Tehran to protest and call for government action.

In recent days, some Iranian officials have warned the media over their coverage of the crimes, accusing them of promoting the “views of the enemy.” 


According to the report, the victims of the new wave of acid attacks which have been carried out in past few days reaches over two dozen in the city of Esfahan that once was a main tourist attraction in Iran.

According to the information received from Iran, the families of victims of acid attack have been warned against publishing the photos of the victims or giving interviews with news agencies.

 One of the victims said: “The attackers belonged to Ansar-e Hezbollah group.”

It has been described as an "offshoot" ^[6] or "vigilante associate" of the Iranian Hezbollah,^[7] a loose-knit movement of groups formed at the time of the Iranian Revolution to assist the Ayatollah Khomeini and his forces in consolidating power.

Topless FEMEN activists protest in front of........Iranian embassy.

Topless FEMEN activists protest in front of........Iranian embassy.(Khaama).

A group of topless FEMEN activists protested against the execution of a woman in front of the Iranian embassy in Berlin. 

The young women condemned the Iranian government for executing Reyhaneh Jabbari and expressed their frustration with the Sharia Law. The 26-year-old Reyhaneh Jabbari was hanged on Saturday after she was convicted in 2009 of murdering a former Iranian intelligence official she accused of raping her.

She was hanged to death despite repeated calls from Amnesty International and United Nations to halt the execution.

The Amnesty International described the execution as “deeply disappointing in the extreme”. Jabbari had failed to secure a reprieve from the dead man’s relatives within the 10-day deadline set by sharia law in force since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Hmmm....For once they did choose a good cause.

Reporters Without Borders: "Turkey continues to be one of the world’s biggest prisons for journalists"

Reporters Without Borders: "Turkey continues to be one of the world’s biggest prisons for journalists". HT: Reporterswithoutborders.

The western hemisphere’s giants – United States (46th, -13) and Brazil (111th, -2) – have not set an example either. Since 9/11, the former has been torn by the conflict between national security imperatives and respect for the principles of the First Amendment. Thanks to organized crime’s impact, the latter is one of the continent’s deadliest countries for the media, while its media pluralism is handicapped by the phenomenon of powerful politicians who are also big businessmen and media owners, with the result that Brazil has been dubbed “the country of 30 Berlusconis.”

Russia (148th) might have been lower in the index had it not been for the stubbornness and resistance shown by its civil society. But the authorities keep on intensifying the crackdown begun when Vladimir Putin returned to the Kremlin in 2012 and are exporting their model throughout the former Soviet Union. From Ukraine (127th, unchanged) and Azerbaijan (160th, -3) to Central Asia, Russia’s repressive legislation and communications surveillance methods are happily copied. Moscow also uses UN bodies and regional alliances such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in its efforts to undermine international standards on freedom of information.

Despite its regional aspirations, Turkey (154th) registered no improvement and continues to be one of the world’s biggest prisons for journalists. The Gezi Park revolt highlighted the repressive methods used by the security forces, the increase in self-censorship and the dangers of the prime minister’s populist discourse. In view of the upcoming elections and the unpredictability of the peace process with the Kurdish separatists, 2014 is likely to be a decisive year for the future of civil liberties in Turkey.

China (175th, -1) failed to improve its ranking because, despite having an astonishing vital and increasingly militant blogosphere, it continues to censor and jail dissident bloggers and journalists. This new power is also using its economic might to extend its influence over the media in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, compromising their independence.

India (140th, +1) experienced an unprecedented wave of violence against journalists, with eight killed in 2013. They are targeted by both state and non-state actors. Almost no region is spared but Kashmir and Chhattisgarh continue to be the only two where violence and censorship are endemic. Those responsible for threats and physical violence against journalists, who are often abandoned by the judicial system and forced to censor themselves, include police and security forces as well as criminal groups, demonstrators and political party supporters. Read the full report here.

Ranks 154 out of 180 countries

RT @conradhackett: Most journalists jailed (Dec 1 2013) 1 Turkey 2 Iran 3 China 4 Eritrea 6 Syria 7 Azerbjn 9 Egypt pic.twitter.com/4m8LaBIcwo
— Research_Turkey (@Research_Turkey) October 26, 2014

Senior Iranian Cleric Condemns Upholding of Saudi Cleric’s Death Ruling, still OK To hang women.

Senior Iranian Cleric Condemns Upholding of Saudi Cleric’s Death Ruling, still OK To hang women.(Fars).

Tehran's Provisional Friday Prayers leader Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Movahedi Kermani condemned Saudi Arabia for upholding the death sentence given to prominent Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, and warned Riyadh to change its decision.

Addressing a large and fervent congregation of the people on Tehran University campus on Friday, Ayatollah Movahedi Kermani said, "We warn Saudi Arabia to be careful that in a country with over 30 percent of Shiite population it will have to pay a heavy price for executing a Shiite cleric."

Ayatollah Movahedi Kermani also blasted the so-called advocates of Human Rights for remaining silent about upholding the death sentence of Sheikh al-Nimr.

A court in Saudi Arabia upheld a death sentence given to Sheikh al-Nimr.

A Saudi court had recently sentenced Sheikh Nimr to death. However, the enforcement of the ruling has been postponed.

The senior Shiite cleric is accused of delivering anti-government speeches and defending political prisoners. Hmmmm....Can't have clerics being hanged what is this world coming to?

Iran: Reyaneh Jabbari hanged

Iran: Reyaneh Jabbari hanged

Iran: Reyaneh Jabbari hanged. HT: NCRI.

The Iranian regime’s henchman hanged Reyhaneh Jabbari after being sentenced to death for stabbing an agent of the regime’s intelligence that tried to sexually abuse her.

Ms. Rayhaneh Jabbari, a decorator, was in prison since seven and a half years ago.

In a deceptive scheme, Morteza Abdulali Sarbandi, an agent of the Iranian regime's notorious Ministry of Inteligence and Security (MOIS) intended to abuse her. Rayhaneh was forced into defending herself by stabbing the agent.

The henchmen of the clerical regime placed Rayhaneh under savage tortures to extract forced confession.

Reyahneh's mother, Ms. Sholeh Pakravan was informed late on Friday that her dauther might be executed. She met with her dauther for one hour. Authorities at the prison refused to give any information to Reyhaneh's family about where she would be transferred for execution.

Finally, early morning on Saturday Reyhaneh was hanged as a nearly one hundred people including her mother and family friends were gathered outside Gohardasht prison in the city of Karaj. 

Hmmm....'Moderate' pres Rouhani hanged more people in the first two months of his presidency then Ahmadinejad did in six months in 2012 !

Related:  Iran: Text of Hanged Reyhaneh Jabbari's will in a voice message to her mother

Unfortunately we couldn't #SaveReyhanehJabbari she was executed early in the morning. http://t.co/fW0Fi3ysoy pic.twitter.com/tf53sooqKj

— Peymaneh Shafi (@peymaneh123) October 25, 2014

Iran: Text of Hanged Reyhaneh Jabbari's will in a voice message to her mother

Iran: Text of Hanged Reyhaneh Jabbari's will in a voice message to her mother. (NCRI).

Reyhaneh Jabbari, the Iranian woman who was hanged today by the Iranian regime’s henchman after 7 years imprisonment had released her will in a voice message.

In a heart-rending message to her family in April - beginning with her mother Sholeh - 26-year-old Rayhaneh Jabbari tells how she trusted the law, but has faced death for the crime of defending herself against an agent of Iranian regime’s intelligence who tried to abuse her.

English translation of Reyhaneh Jabbari's will.

Dear Sholeh, today I learned that it is now my turn to face Qisas (the Iranian regime's law of retribution). I am hurt as to why you did not let me know yourself that I have reached the last page of the book of my life. Don’t you think that I should know? You know how ashamed I am that you are sad. Why did you not take the chance for me to kiss your hand and that of dad?

The world allowed me to live for 19 years. That ominous night it was I that should have been killed. My body would have been thrown in some corner of the city, and after a few days, the police would have taken you to the coroner’s office to identify my body and there you would also learn that I had been raped as well. The murderer would have never been found since we don’t have their wealth and their power. Then you would have continued your life suffering and ashamed, and a few years later you would have died of this suffering and that would have been that.

However, with that cursed blow the story changed. My body was not thrown aside, but into the grave of Evin Prison and its solitary wards, and now the grave-like prison of Shahr-e Ray. But give in to the fate and don’t complain. You know better that death is not the end of life.

You taught me that one comes to this world to gain an experience and learn a lesson and with each birth a responsibility is put on one’s shoulder. I learned that sometimes one has to fight. I do remember when you told me that the carriage man protested the man who was flogging me, but the flogger hit the lash on his head and face that ultimately led to his death. You told me that for creating a value one should persevere even if one dies.

You taught us that as we go to school one should be a lady in face of the quarrels and complaints. Do you remember how much you underlined the way we behave? Your experience was incorrect. When this incident happened, my teachings did not help me. Being presented in court made me appear as a cold-blooded murderer and a ruthless criminal. I shed no tears. I did not beg. I did not cry my head off since I trusted the law.

But I was charged with being indifferent in face of a crime. You see, I didn’t even kill the mosquitoes and I threw away the cockroaches by taking them by their antennas. Now I have become a premeditated murderer. My treatment of the animals was interpreted as being inclined to be a boy and the judge didn’t even trouble himself to look at the fact that at the time of the incident I had long and polished nails.

How optimistic was he who expected justice from the judges! He never questioned the fact that my hands are not coarse like those of a sportswoman, especially a boxer. And this country that you planted its love in me never wanted me and no one supported me when under the blows of the interrogator I was crying out and I was hearing the most vulgar terms. When I shed the last sign of beauty from myself by shaving my hair I was rewarded: 11 days in solitary.

Dear Sholeh, don’t cry for what you are hearing. On the first day that in the police office an old unmarried agent hurt me for my nails I understood that beauty is not looked for in this era. The beauty of looks, beauty of thoughts and wishes, a beautiful handwriting, beauty of the eyes and vision, and even beauty of a nice voice.

My dear mother, my ideology has changed and you are not responsible for it. My words are unending and I gave it all to someone so that when I am executed without your presence and knowledge, it would be given to you. I left you much handwritten material as my heritage.

However, before my death I want something from you, that you have to provide for me with all your might and in any way that you can. In fact this is the only thing I want from this world, this country and you. I know you need time for this. Therefore, I am telling you part of my will sooner. Please don’t cry and listen. I want you to go to the court and tell them my request. I cannot write such a letter from inside the prison that would be approved by the head of prison; so once again you have to suffer because of me. It is the only thing that if even you beg for it I would not become upset although I have told you many times not to beg to save me from being executed.

My kind mother, dear Sholeh, the one more dear to me than my life, I don’t want to rot under the soil. I don’t want my eye or my young heart to turn into dust. Beg so that it is arranged that as soon as I am hanged my heart, kidney, eye, bones and anything that can be transplanted be taken away from my body and given to someone who needs them as a gift. I don’t want the recipient know my name, buy me a bouquet, or even pray for me. I am telling you from the bottom of my heart that I don’t want to have a grave for you to come and mourn there and suffer. I don’t want you to wear black clothing for me. Do your best to forget my difficult days. Give me to the wind to take away.

The world did not love us. It did not want my fate. And now I am giving in to it and embrace the death. Because in the court of God I will charge the inspectors, I will charge inspector Shamlou, I will charge judge, and the judges of country’s Supreme Court that beat me up when I was awake and did not refrain from harassing me. In the court of the creator I will charge Dr. Farvandi, I will charge Qassem Shabani and all those that out of ignorance or with their lies wronged me and trampled on my rights and didn’t pay heed to the fact that sometimes what appears as reality is different from it.
Dear soft-hearted Sholeh, in the other world it is you and me who are the accusers and others who are the accused. Let’s see what God wants. I wanted to embrace you until I die. I love you.

Rayhaneh,
April 1, 2014.

Video - Outrage as Pakistan upholds death sentence for Christian.

"Islamist Turkey" - Turkish cartoonist jailed on insult charge.

"Islamist Turkey" - Turkish cartoonist jailed on insult charge.(RWB).

The cartoonist Mehmet Düzenli began serving a three-month prison sentence yesterday in the southern city of Alanya on a charge of insulting Adnan Oktar, a controversial Muslim preacher who is well known for his creationist, anti-masonic, anti-Zionist and holocaust-denial views.

The sentence was passed by a court in the nearby town of Sirik on 10 April as a result of lawsuit brought by Oktar over a cartoon about him. Düzenli refused to appeal on the grounds that a decision to suspend the sentence would still prevent him from expressing himself freely in his cartoons.

“If Mr. Oktar has the right to claim that he is the Mahdi [the redeemer who is supposed to appear at the ‘end times’], I have the right to say that he is lying,” Düzenli said.

“Jailing Düzenli over a cartoon is totally unacceptable,” said Johann Bihr, the head of the Reporters Without Borders Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk. 

“Such a disproportionate sentence is a reminder that Turkey’s penal code often violates the country’s own constitution as well as international conventions on freedom of information. The Turkish authorities must urgently carry out the necessary reforms, including decriminalizing defamation and insult.”

Turkey is ranked 154th out of 180 countries in the 2014 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index.

Turkey's first private Arabic station starts, will broadcast lectures from Fethullah Gülen.

Turkey's first private Arabic station starts, will broadcast lectures from Fethullah Gülen.HT: TodaysZaman.

Turkey's first private Arabic TV channel, Hira TV began to broadcast over the Internet this week and plans to broadcast via satellite in the coming months.

The TV station aims at building better ties between Turkey and the Arab world. Hmmm.....I Guess Erdogan's 'Witch Hunt' will come with the broomstick soon.Read the full story here.

Turkey's FM Davutoglu: "There are only 5 imprisoned journalists in Turkey".

Imprisoning 49 in December, Turkey is the world's worst jailer of journalists.

Turkey's FM Davutoglu: "There are only 5 imprisoned journalists in Turkey". (Taz).

Turkish foreign minister said the facts regarding the number of journalists imprisoned in Turkey were incorrectly reported in a recent U.S. non governmental report Anadolu Agency reported.

The report by U.S.-based advocacy organization Freedom House, claiming Turkey suffered a "significant decline" in press freedom, is not an objective report, said Ahmet Davutoglu on Friday.

Speaking during a press conference after the 29th meeting of the Reform Watch Group that observes the process of Turkey's accession to the EU, Davutoglu said there were "serious differences" between the figures of Freedoom House and Turkey's Justice Ministry.

"There are only 5 imprisoned journalists with press cards and they are in prison on different charges, not because they are journalists," he said.

However, according to the report, there are 44 imprisoned journalists.

He slammed the report for ranking Turkey alongside North Korea in terms of press freedoms.

"If Turkey takes place in the same category as North Korea, no one can call it objective...This is an insult not just to the government but also to the standards Turkey has achieved," he added.

Meanwhile, Turkey's Minister for EU Affairs, Mevlut Cavusoglu reiterated his call for the opening of Chapters 23 and 24 on "judiciary and fundamental rights" and "justice, freedom and security" respectively.
The chapters form the basis of accession negotiations for each country to the EU. They focus on areas which require reforms in order to meet accession conditions.

He also urged the EU to lift the political blockage on Turkey's EU talks.

"To be honest, If we say that we want to join the EU within a year, this is not a realistic approach, but we can take very important steps together in a year."

Established in 2003, the Reform Watch Group includes ministers and officials from the Foreign Ministry, the EU Affairs Ministry, the Justice and the Interior Ministry.Hmmm....I wonder if he ever considered a career move to Stand up Comedy?