Any prison sentence for an offence of opinion is unacceptable, even in cases of insult or defamation.

Yu's physical and psychological state demonstrates the full atrocity of the Chinese prison system, which destroys lives to gag dissident voices.

We are very concerned at where this crackdown could lead, because it is gaining pace in the run-up to the Spring festivities.

This murder once again shows that journalists pay a very high price to report in Iraq. It is absolutely appalling that insurgents use this kind of barbaric violence against people whose job is just to observe and report, and who just carry a notebook and pen.

We fear this 'obstruction of justice' procedure is a judicial device for the government to yet again settle some scores with the privately-owned media and at the same time subject them to state censorship.

This imprisonment is shameful for a country like Poland, which has just joined the European Union and which is the sole member state to impose prison sentences on journalists for offences of opinion.