Committee to Protect Journalists
Ukraine
New York, September 29, 2009—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the violent attack on the crew of an opposition Russian-language news channel in Odessa, and urges Ukrainian authorities to thoroughly investigate the incident.
On the eve of the ninth anniversary of the murder of Ukrainian journalist Georgy Gongadze, we issued the following statement...
UKRAINE:
New York, March 17, 2008—An appeals court in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, convicted on Saturday three suspects in the 2000 abduction and murder of Internet journalist Georgy Gongadze. The court sentenced a former police officer, Nikolai Protasov, to 13 years in prison; his fellow officers, Valery Kostenko and Aleksandr Popovych, were given 12-year terms. A fourth suspect—head of the Interior Ministry’s criminal investigation department under former President Leonid Kuchma, Gen. Aleksei Pukach—is still being sought on an international arrest warrant. The masterminds of the crime are still at large, according to international press reports and CPJ sources.
Reports
| Algeria, Benin, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, France, Germany, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Lebanon, Mexico, Missing, Nepal, Russia, Rwanda, Serbia, Uganda, Ukraine
CPJ research indicates that the following journalists have disappeared while doing their work. Although some of them are feared dead, no bodies have been found, and they are therefore not classified as "Killed." If a journalist disappeared after being held in government custody, CPJ classifies him or her as "Imprisoned" as a way to hold the government accountable for the journalist's fate.
Amid
South Asian Conflict, Remarkable Resilience
By Bob Dietz
Traffic is sparse during a late-night run to the Bandaranaike International Airport north of the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo. Because of insecurity caused by war between the Sinhalese-dominated government and Tamil separatists in the country's north and east, the streets are given over to police and army checkpoints. On this September night, the air still foggy from the day's monsoon, reporter Iqbal Athas rides in a rental car, on his way to catch a Thai Airways flight that would take him to Bangkok. An award-winning defense columnist for the English-language Sunday Times, Athas is leaving the country for his own safety: His recent reports on arms sales irregularities have drawn threats, harassment, and, on one occasion, an unruly mob of protestors outside his home. "The harassment and threats have come and gone in the past," Athas says, "and I have to assume they will again." He would return to Colombo in less than two weeks.
Attacks on the Press
| Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, France, Germany, Hungary, Iraq, Ireland, Kosovo, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine
Attacks and developments throughout the region
UKRAINE
Intense political rivalries among a trio of powerful leaders created a chaotic and highly politicized environment in which journalists were vulnerable to a variety of abuses. Parliamentary elections in September and negotiations to form a new government in the succeeding months intensified pressure on journalists to take sides. In November, Ukraine’s two pro-Western parties formed a fragile coalition that returned Orange Revolution leader Yulia Tymoshenko to the prime minister’s post she once held. Viktor Yanukovych, the pro-Russian politician who was prime minister for more than a year, found himself the odd man out, but it was uncertain how long Tymoshenko’s alliance with President Viktor Yushchenko could last.
Some press gains are reported in Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan but the Color Revolutions have yet to deliver lasting reforms.
New York, March 19, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by a death threat made by a local businessman against independent bi-weekly Rivne Vechirne reporter Vlad Isayev for his critical articles.
Isayev was threatened as he covered a dispute between local businessman Anatoly Pekhotin and the owners of a private parking lot in the western Ukrainian city of Rivne on February 23. The businessman, who claimed he owned the parking lot, shot at the lot’s staff, while more than 20 men broke car windows with clubs, according to CPJ sources and local press reports.
Isayev was threatened as he covered a dispute between local businessman Anatoly Pekhotin and the owners of a private parking lot in the western Ukrainian city of Rivne on February 23. The businessman, who claimed he owned the parking lot, shot at the lot’s staff, while more than 20 men broke car windows with clubs, according to CPJ sources and local press reports.
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