Committee to Protect Journalists tag:cpj.org,2008-07-12://1 2009-11-06T16:56:22Z Movable Type 4.23-en Hikers in Iran detained nearly 100 days tag:cpj.org,2009://1.13793 2009-11-06T16:55:04Z 2009-11-06T16:56:22Z Committee to Protect Journalists New York, November 6, 2009—No charges have been brought against three American hikers nearly 100 days since they were detained after accidentally crossing the border from Iraqi Kurdistan into Iran while on a hiking trip on July 31. 

]]> Blog: Tirana attack prompts comments from editor, businessman tag:cpj.org,2009:/blog//8.13790 2009-11-05T19:42:20Z 2009-11-06T16:53:27Z Our news alert on Wednesday detailing a vicious attack on Albanian editor Mero Baze elicited e-mail comments from both victim and a businessman accused in the attack. Baze said he is recovering but is experiencing head pain. He also echoed reported witness statements that identified Rezart Taci, a principal in... Muzaffar Suleymanov/Europe and Central Asia Program Research Associate Our news alert on Wednesday detailing a vicious attack on Albanian editor Mero Baze elicited e-mail comments from both victim and a businessman accused in the attack. Baze said he is recovering but is experiencing head pain. He also echoed reported witness statements that identified Rezart Taci, a principal in local oil companies, as being involved in the attack. Taci, who responded to us through one of his companies, denied involvement in the assault.

]]> Blog: Arrests welcomed in Moscow double murder tag:cpj.org,2009:/blog//8.13789 2009-11-05T18:34:27Z 2009-11-05T18:39:27Z We issued this statement following today’s announcement by Russia’s Investigative Committee at the Prosecutor General’s Office that two individuals have been arrested and charged with the January 19 murder in Moscow of human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov and journalist Anastasiya Baburova. The two suspects are 29-year-old Nikita Tikhonov and 24-year-old... Committee to Protect Journalists

]]> CPJ urges PM Brown to investigate Farrell rescue tag:cpj.org,2009://1.13787 2009-11-05T13:05:41Z 2009-11-06T20:23:37Z Dear Prime Minister Brown: The Committee to Protect Journalists wishes to offer our condolences on the loss of British Parachute Regiment Cpl. John Harrison, who died in a September 9 military operation to rescue two journalists kidnapped by Taliban forces in Afghanistan. We are grateful that New York Times reporter Stephen Farrell, a British-Irish national, was safely rescued, but we’re saddened by the loss of his colleague, fellow New York Times reporter Sultan Munadi. Committee to Protect Journalists Albanian editor attacked following critical reports tag:cpj.org,2009://1.13786 2009-11-04T20:56:43Z 2009-11-04T20:58:55Z New York, November 4, 2009—Assailants badly beat Mero Baze, chief editor of the independent Albanian daily Tema and host of the prime-time television show “Faktor Plus,” at a bar in the capital, Tirana, on Monday, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the attack and calls on... Committee to Protect Journalists New York, November 4, 2009—Assailants badly beat Mero Baze, chief editor of the independent Albanian daily Tema and host of the prime-time television show “Faktor Plus,” at a bar in the capital, Tirana, on Monday, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the attack and calls on authorities to bring the assailants to justice. 

]]> In Tunisia, government harassment of journalists on the rise tag:cpj.org,2009://1.13785 2009-11-04T19:57:11Z 2009-11-04T21:05:34Z New York, November 4, 2009—The Committee to Protect Journalists is outraged that Tunisian police stripped and mistreated journalist Taoufik ben Brik, a well-known contributor to French newspapers and one of the top critics of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, during his arrest on October 29. CPJ urges Ben Ali... Committee to Protect Journalists New York, November 4, 2009—The Committee to Protect Journalists is outraged that Tunisian police stripped and mistreated journalist Taoufik ben Brik, a well-known contributor to French newspapers and one of the top critics of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, during his arrest on October 29. CPJ urges Ben Ali to order Ben Brik’s immediate release and to end the intensifying campaign of intimidation and assaults against critical reporters, and censorship.

]]> Mexican crime reporter abducted, slain in Durango tag:cpj.org,2009://1.13783 2009-11-03T20:26:30Z 2009-11-04T19:03:59Z New York, November 3, 2009—Crime reporter Bladimir Antuna García was found murdered Monday night, according local news reports, after reportedly being abducted from a street in the Mexican city of Durango that morning. The Committee to Protect Journalists called on Mexican authorities to show their commitment to press freedom and... Committee to Protect Journalists New York, November 3, 2009—Crime reporter Bladimir Antuna García was found murdered Monday night, according local news reports, after reportedly being abducted from a street in the Mexican city of Durango that morning. The Committee to Protect Journalists called on Mexican authorities to show their commitment to press freedom and the protection of Mexican journalists by immediately bringing all those responsible to justice.

]]> Kyrgyz reporter beaten in Osh tag:cpj.org,2009://1.13782 2009-11-03T20:13:10Z 2009-11-03T19:55:48Z New York, November 3, 2009—Police in Kyrgyzstan should investigate work-related motives in a weekend assault that left Kubanychbek Zholdoshev, a reporter with the government weekly Osh Shamy, with a concussion and broken ribs, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.... Committee to Protect Journalists New York, November 3, 2009—Police in Kyrgyzstan should investigate work-related motives in a weekend assault that left Kubanychbek Zholdoshev, a reporter with the government weekly Osh Shamy, with a concussion and broken ribs, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

]]> New Yemeni press court sentences, bans journalists tag:cpj.org,2009://1.13781 2009-11-02T21:44:43Z 2009-11-02T21:58:56Z New York, November 2, 2009—The Committee to Protect Journalists urges Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh to end the intensifying judicial and media campaign to silence critical journalists and eradicate press freedom.... Committee to Protect Journalists
]]> Blog: Toronto’s Citizen Lab uses forensics to fight online censors tag:cpj.org,2009:/blog//8.13780 2009-11-02T20:29:44Z 2009-11-04T19:08:36Z A basement in the gray, Gothic heart of the University of Toronto is home to the CSI of cyberspace. “We are doing free expression forensics,” says Ronald Deibert, director of the Citizen Lab, based at the Munk Centre for International Studies. Deibert and his team of academics and students investigate... Robert Mahoney/Deputy Director A basement in the gray, Gothic heart of the University of Toronto is home to the CSI of cyberspace. “We are doing free expression forensics,” says Ronald Deibert, director of the Citizen Lab, based at the Munk Centre for International Studies. Deibert and his team of academics and students investigate in real time governments and companies that restrict what we see and hear on the Internet. They are also trying to help online journalists and bloggers slip the shackles of censorship and surveillance. Deibert is a co-founder of the OpenNet Initiative (ONI), a project of the Citizen Lab in collaboration with the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School. ONI tracks the blocking and filtering of the Internet around the globe.

]]> CNN’S Lou Dobbs threatened; shot fired at home tag:cpj.org,2009://1.13779 2009-11-02T18:00:36Z 2009-11-02T18:12:21Z On October 26, CNN anchor Lou Dobbs announced on the air that a shot had been fired at his home while his wife and her driver were standing outside in the driveway. Dobbs made the announcement on CNN and his syndicated radio program, saying the gunshot struck his home about... Committee to Protect Journalists
]]> Blog: Media rules could bring back the bad old days in Pakistan tag:cpj.org,2009:/blog//8.13777 2009-10-30T20:24:00Z 2009-11-01T16:30:23Z Bob Dietz/Asia Program Coordinator On a day when Western media focused on the ramifications of the official visit of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Islamabad, I got a heads-up email message from Mazhar Abbas in Islamabad this morning. 

]]> Chinese authorities detain Uighur Web site managers tag:cpj.org,2009://1.13776 2009-10-30T19:47:56Z 2009-10-30T20:07:08Z Committee to Protect Journalists New York, October 30, 2009—Chinese police have reportedly arrested two Uighur journalists who published online about Uighur issues in Xinjiang, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Chinese authorities blamed local and international Uighur Web sites for fueling July's ethnic violence, according to international news reports. 

]]> CPJ to Clinton: Morocco censors, jails journalists tag:cpj.org,2009://1.13774 2009-10-30T15:20:03Z 2009-10-30T15:05:17Z Dear Secretary Clinton: As you prepare for the Forum for the Future in Marrakesh next week, we’d like to bring to your attention a sharp spike in government repression in the host country, Morocco. The Committee to Protect Journalists, an independent, nonprofit organization that defends press freedom worldwide, has documented an aggressive crackdown on independent news outlets and journalists that has occurred over the last five months and has included judicial harassment, politicized prosecutions, obstruction, and censorship. Committee to Protect Journalists
Hillary R. Clinton
Secretary of State
U.S. State Department
2201 C St. NW
Washington, DC 20520-0099

Via facsimile: +1 (202) 647-2283

 

Dear Secretary Clinton,

As you prepare for the Forum for the Future in Marrakesh next week, we’d like to bring to your attention a sharp spike in government repression in the host country, Morocco. The Committee to Protect Journalists, an independent, nonprofit organization that defends press freedom worldwide, has documented an aggressive crackdown on independent news outlets and journalists that has occurred over the last five months and has included judicial harassment, politicized prosecutions, obstruction, and censorship.

This month, a court in Rabat sentenced Driss Chahtan, managing editor of the independent weekly Al-Michaal, to a year in prison and reporters Mostafa Hiran and Rashid Mahameed to three months in prison ‎ for publishing “false information” about King Mohamed VI’s health during a period when the monarch had not been seen in public. Defense attorneys told CPJ that the trial did not meet basic fairness standards, notably in the court’s refusal to allow the defense to summon witnesses. We are concerned about his treatment in prison; colleagues have reported that Chahtan has been harassed by prison guards. This week, Chahtan was convicted again, this time for defamation in connection with stories claiming the relatives of the monarch had received favorable treatment from police. Chahtan and codefendant Mostafa Adarim, an attorney interviewed in one of the pieces, were ordered to pay 500,000 Moroccan dirhams (US$62,000) in damages.

Also this week, a Rabat court convicted editor Ali Anouzla and reporter Bochra Daou of the daily Al-Jarida al-Oula on charges of publishing “false information” about the king's health. The two, who were sentenced to suspended terms, had also addressed questions about the king’s health during his absence from public view. CPJ has documented earlier, politically motivated charges against Anouzla and his paper. A Casablanca court sentenced Anouzla and Publishing Director Jamal Boudouma in March to suspended jail terms and fines of 200,000 dirhams (US$24,190) each for “defamation” and “insulting the judiciary.” A different court had fined Anouzla in connection with the same article three months earlier.

In June, a court in Casablanca imposed fines and damages on three independent dailies for “publicly harming” Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi and “injuring his dignity.” The court ordered each of the three newspapers—Al-Massae, the country's leading daily, Al-Jarida Al-Oula and Al-Ahdath Al-Magrebia—to pay a fine of 100,000 dirhams (US$12,484) and damages of one million dirhams (US$125,213) to Qaddafi. The papers had published opinion pieces that were critical of the Libyan leader.

Moroccan authorities delayed distribution of the July 15 issue of the French daily Le Monde and banned distribution of the July 9-15 edition of French weekly Le Courrier International, according to French and Moroccan news reports. Le Monde carried a critical opinion piece by award-winning journalist Aboubakr Jamai, former editor of the Moroccan weekly Le Journal Hebdomadaire, in which he said the king had been hostile toward independent journalism. In 2006, Jamai had been forced into exile following a politically motivated and record-breaking defamation ruling. The banned issue of Le Courrier International had republished an article previously run by Le Journal Hebdomadaire. The article, which detailed the wealth of King Mohamed VI, was accompanied by an editorial cartoon.

Three issues of Le Monde were barred from distribution in the country last week apparently because they republished from Moroccan newspapers editorial cartoons concerning the king. One issue of El Pais was also banned last week for the same reason.

On August 1, authorities seized 100,000 copies of the country's two leading newsweeklies—TelQuel and its Arabic-language sister publication, Nichane—after they published the results of a poll in which Moroccans were asked to assess their king. More than 90 percent of respondents expressed favorable opinions about the king. In a statement, Communications Minister Khalid Naciri called the survey an “attack” and said it was “not authorized.” The statement went on to say that the monarchy is not a permissible subject for polls and critical journalism. The Interior Ministry said the newspapers acted in violation of Article 38 of Morocco's press code, which forbids offending the king.

In September, the Interior Ministry shut down the independent daily Akhbar al-Youm for alleged “blatant disrespect to a member of the royal family.” In its September 26-27 weekend edition, the paper had published an editorial cartoon about the wedding of a cousin of the king. The popular newspaper remains shuttered.

The Moroccan government has been hailed for reforms that were first undertaken a decade ago. But in the last five years, CPJ has documented a steady and alarming decline in freedom of expression.

The Forum for the Future, as you know, provides a platform for political, business, and social leaders from the Middle East and industrialized nations to discuss the promotion of freedom and democracy in the region. Yet we note with deep concern the deterioration of freedom of expression in Morocco itself. Morocco and the United States were co-hosts of the first Forum for the Future, which took place in Rabat in 2004. We hope that you will take advantage of that ongoing partnership to impress upon the Moroccan authorities that a free press is a crucial component of any free society.

Thank you for your attention to these important matters. We look forward to your reply.

Sincerely,

Joel Simon
Executive Director

]]> Burmese authorities detain freelance journalist tag:cpj.org,2009://1.13773 2009-10-29T19:33:34Z 2009-10-29T19:59:06Z Committee to Protect Journalists New York, October 29, 2009—The Committee to Protect Journalists strongly condemns and calls for the immediate release of freelance journalist and blogger Pai Soe Oo, who was detained by government authorities on Wednesday for questioning. 

]]>