Canadian judge rejects total media ban in dismemberment case

By Leila Lemghalef

MONTREAL (Reuters) - A Canadian judge rejected on Tuesday a request to ban the press and public from the pre-trial hearing of a Montreal man accused of murdering and dismembering a Chinese student, eating parts of the corpse and posting an online video of the grisly crime.

But Quebec court Judge Lori Renee Weitzman left intact the customary ban on publication of evidence brought forward in such preliminary hearings.

In the hearing, prosecutors will seek to persuade the court in Montreal that they have enough evidence against small-time porn actor Luka Rocco Magnotta for the case to go to trial.

In an unusual request, Magnotta's lawyer had asked the judge to exclude reporters and the public from the proceedings entirely, arguing that this would prevent leaks of the evidence and guarantee Magnotta's right to a fair trial.

Weitzman said her ruling took into account the competing rights of freedom of expression and the right to a fair trial and she believed journalists would abide by the publication restrictions.

She said she would revisit the defense's request if necessary.

The killing of Chinese student Jun Lin in the early summer of 2012 shocked Canadians and grabbed headlines around the world, sparking an international manhunt that led to Magnotta's arrest in Germany last June.

A self-styled porn actor, model and gay escort with an extensive online presence, Magnotta, 30, is accused of killing Lin, a student in Montreal, posting a video on the Internet of the stabbing death and defiling the body and eating parts of it.

Lin's hands and feet were mailed to the offices of political parties in Ottawa and schools in Vancouver. His torso was found stuffed into a suitcase in a pile of garbage behind Magnotta's Montreal apartment, and his head was later discovered in a nearby park.

Lin's family flew to Montreal from China for the hearing and his father, Diran Lin, sat silently in the back row of the courtroom on Tuesday for part of the session.

"(He's here) to honor his son, to witness how our judicial system works," the family's lawyer, Daniel Urbas, told reporters.

"He believes that he trusted our society with his son once and he wants to see whether and how he can trust our society with the judicial process that's going to lead to some resolution of the criminal charges related to his son's death."

Magnotta has pleaded not guilty to several charges, including first-degree murder, indignities to a body and publishing obscene materials.

Magnotta sat in a glass box on Tuesday, the second day of the hearings. He wore a white T-shirt and purple pants and faced the front of the room, closing his eyes occasionally.

(Writing by Louise Egan; Editing by Janet Guttsman, Peter Galloway and Eric Walsh)

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Cuban media carry rare interview with US diplomat

HAVANA (AP) — Communist Party newspaper Granma published a lengthy interview with a U.S. diplomat Monday, making for highly unusual reading in a country where the official media routinely depict Washington envoys as hostile agents in cahoots with enemies of the Cuban government.

In the full-page article, Granma journalists quizzed Consul General Timothy Roche about the requirements and procedures for obtaining a U.S. visa, and more generally about U.S. migratory policy for islanders. The U.S. Interests Section, which Washington maintains in Havana instead of an embassy since the countries do not have formal diplomatic relations, has fielded increased inquires about the subject since a new Cuban travel law took effect Jan. 14.

Roche was quoted as saying that the U.S. government "looks positively" on the reform, which eased bureaucratic hurdles to overseas travel and ended a long-detested exit visa requirement, and that U.S. migratory regulations "have not changed in any aspect."

It was the first time in many years that a U.S. diplomat conducted such an interview with local media, underscoring the importance that both of the Cold War rivals place on the migration issue despite more than five decades of bad blood.

"It highlights the fact that even though the political relationship is very tough, there's a lot of travel back and forth, and the U.S. consulate is large and is processing applications for visas every day," said Philip Peters, a Cuba analyst at the Virginia-based Lexington Institute think tank.

"I think it (the article) serves both countries' interests," Peters added. "But yeah, it's certainly unusual."

Roche declined to answer Granma's questions about the Cuban Adjustment Act, which lets islanders who reach the United States stay and fast-tracks them for residency, or a program designed to entice Cuban medical professionals to defect.

Havana often complains about those rules, saying they encourage islanders to attempt dangerous sea crossings and cause "theft of talent," Cuban government-speak for brain-drain.

Granma listed the State Department webpage where people can file applications and a phone number where family members in the United States can call to schedule appointments. Some content from the interview was aired on the afternoon news broadcast.

The Interests Section approached Granma earlier this year and offered the interview, which took place in late February. Most Cubans do not have Internet access and thus are unable to view the Section's website.

"We had all this inquiry, and information that we wanted to get out to Cubans about the visa process, and we don't have a way to do that," a U.S. official in Havana told The Associated Press. The official had not been authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

"This time we just said, well, let's just treat this like we would ... in any other country," the official said. "Write a letter to the newspaper and say, 'Here's what we would like to offer because we think it's important to your audience.'"

The affirmative reply was surprising, the official added: "Maybe they also think it's important that people have the information. They see the lines every day" that form outside the Interests Section of people waiting for visa appointments.

The U.S. charges $160 per visa application and the wait can be up to 18 months. Cubans seeking immigrant visas to reunite with family in the United States must show an invitation from a relative who is a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, while would-be tourists must demonstrate strong ties to the island.

"Consular officials assume that all applicants for temporary visas are possible immigrants," Roche said.

It's exceedingly rare for U.S. envoys to appear in such a way in Cuba's government-controlled media. In 1994, then-Interests Section chief Joseph Sullivan spoke for about 15 minutes on state TV to explain U.S. migration policies. And during a migratory crisis in 2003, local media published a statement from then-chief James Cason discouraging Cubans from hijacking planes or boats.

But usually Cuban newspapers and state TV are in the business of demonizing U.S. diplomats, accusing them of paying for and orchestrating the "subversive" activities of anti-government dissidents.

The official described the interview as a respectful give-and-take and said the Granma article accurately reflected the conversation.

"It was all quite normal," the official said.

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Associated Press Writer Andrea Rodriguez in Havana contributed to this report.

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Kenya media self-censoring to reduce vote tension

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — It's the biggest news of the year in Kenya: A presidential election with huge potential for violence. Why then are the headlines so boring, the TV broadcasts so dull? The answer: Kenyan media are self-censoring the story to avoid fanning the flames of conflict.

Kenya's Media Owners Association told The Associated Press that media leaders made a "gentleman's agreement" to balance the national interest and the public's right to know, including not reporting anything that could incite ethnic tensions and not airing political statements live.

It's a noble goal. After Kenya's 2007 president vote vicious tribe-on-tribe violence killed more than 1,000 people. Small bouts of violence have been reported in Kenya in the days after Monday's presidential election, though the country has remained largely peaceful.

But media self-censorship raises concerns about the public's right to know.

"The editors are not allowing inflammatory statements to get into the newspapers," said Kenfrey Kiberenge, a reporter for the Daily Nation, Kenya's most widely read paper. Kiberenge said there was a deliberate effort to avoid what he called "inflaming passions."

Media messages that incite violence have been a deadly problem in Africa. Rwanda's 1994 genocide was preceded by ethnic hate speech and accusations on radio and in newspapers. After the 2007-08 election violence in Kenya, the International Criminal Court indicted radio broadcaster Joshua Sang, whom the court accused of coordinating a campaign of killing.

"We actually made a mistake in 2007 as Kenyan media," said Dennis Okari, a TV reporter for KISSTV, who noted that many media outlets are owned or overseen by political leaders.

"At that time many media houses had actually taken sides. Some were supporting (Prime Minister) Raila Odinga, some were backing (President) Mwai Kibaki," he said. "We were partly blamed for the postelection violence. This time things have been done a bit different."

Okari said the Media Owners Association decided that media outlets would broadcast a message of peace this election, and that all stories must be checked to ensure they aren't inciting violence. TV stations, he said, have agreed not to put statements by politicians live on air, in case they contain a dangerous message.

Kiprono Kittony, the chairman of the Media Owners Association, said he thinks the media has done a "fantastic job" keeping the public informed without compromising peace and security.

"Article 34 of the constitution has given media freedom and we contend that freedom comes with responsibility, which is what we are doing, being responsible," he said.

Tom Rhodes, East Africa's representative for the Committee To Protect Journalists, said he fears such censorship will lead to the Kenyan public not being adequately informed. In some cases, he said, keeping the peace has trumped the truth.

"While it is commendable that the Kenyan media is taking precautions this time around to ensure not to incite any violence through sensational reporting, many local journalists that I have spoken to express their frustrations over their editors who cull their stories in the name of maintaining peace," Rhodes said.

Okari acknowledged that such self-censorship is a thin line for journalists to walk. On the one hand you are trying to ensure coverage doesn't kick off violence, on the other hand journalists have a duty to inform the public, he said.

The role of local and international journalists in Kenya's election has been actively discussed on Twitter, where many Kenyans blame international media for sensationalizing the story. Okari took to Twitter on Thursday and said: "As a Journalist i refuse to be used to INDIRECTLY send a mixed message to an intended audience in the name of Public Knowledge/Information."

The 2008 government report reviewing the last election found that violence was fanned by live radio talk shows in which DJs were unable to control guests using hate speech. Words and phrases such as "let's claim our land," ''mongoose has come and stolen our chicken," and "get rid of weeds" were aired, the report said.

Haron Mwangi, the chief executive of the Media Council of Kenya, said journalists underwent more training on media ethics and social responsibility ahead of Monday's vote. Kenyan reporters and editors are being more balanced and analytical, he said. He said he had heard of the Media Owners Association decision.

"Given the context of the Kenya situation, I think it's fair," he said. "For Kenya the best thing now is we want peace, we want things to normalize, we want to continue with our lives, and that's the quest Kenyans have now. And if the media is responding to that public interest I think that is good."

Violence by a separatist group on Kenya's coast on Monday killed 19 people. But those deaths weren't even mentioned on the front page of the Daily Nation. David Matsanga, who runs a media consultancy called Africa World Media, said newspapers are doing a better job of focusing on what he called the big picture.

"They have done a good job to some extent, for example by pointing out the weaknesses of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission," he said, before noting he believed presidential candidate Raila Odinga has gotten more coverage than his opponent, Uhuru Kenyatta.

Final results in the election are expected to be announced on Friday.

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Associated Press reporter Rodney Muhumuza contributed to this report.

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Media group: Zimbabwe radio receiver ban illegal

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Media freedom campaigners say police in Zimbabwe are breaking the law by seizing and banning small radio receivers that can tune in to stations not linked to the state broadcasting monopoly controlled by President Robert Mugabe's party.

The Media Institute of Southern Africa said Friday no regulations outlaw the hand-cranked, solar powered radios that democracy and election support groups plan to use ahead of a referendum on a new constitution next month and crucial elections later in the year.

Police insist the radios and cheap Chinese 3G smartphones are being supplied by "subversive organizations" and pose a security threat surrounding the polling.

MISA said any broadcast receiver only requires a routine listeners' license. The police action was a grave threat to active and informed participation in upcoming voting, it said.

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