Alerts

New York, March 30, 2010—Kazakh authorities must thoroughly investigate a brutal attack in the city of Aktobe that left Igor Larra, a correspondent for the Almaty-based independent weekly Svoboda Slova (Freedom of Speech), with a concussion and other head injuries, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

New York, March 30, 2010—The Committee to Protect Journalists denounces the conviction of Venezuelan journalist Gustavo Azócar on trumped-up financial crime charges. Azócar, an outspoken critic of the Venezuelan administration, had been jailed since July 2009 and barred from speaking publicly about the case.

New York, March 29, 2010—An Ecuadoran appellate court should overturn the libel conviction of editor Enrique Palacio, and the country’s legislators should reform archaic defamation laws that do not meet international standards for freedom of expression, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Palacio was sentenced Friday to three years in prison in connection with a commentary about a senior government finance official.

New York, March 29, 2010—The Committee to Protect Journalists urges Honduran authorities to fully investigate last week’s murders of two journalists, part of a month-long wave of lethal violence that has resulted in the slayings of five reporters over all and led to widespread self-censorship in the local media.

New York, March 29, 2010—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns and calls for a thorough investigation into grenade attacks launched against two state-owned television news stations in Thailand. The attacks—one against army-run Channel 5, the other against the National Broadcasting Services of Thailand (NBT)—took place Saturday night in the capital, Bangkok. 

New York, March 25, 2010—Tunisian authorities banned journalists from attending two press conferences for the launch of local and international human rights reports this week, and is stepping up harassment of journalists overall, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

New York, March 25, 2010—Iraqi authorities must urgently investigate an assassination attempt Sunday against Muaid al-Lami, head of the Iraqi Journalists’ Syndicate, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. 

New York, March 23, 2010—The Belarusian Supreme Court has upheld a government order that will obstruct the work of the Belarusian Association of Journalists, the country’s most prominent press freedom and media support organization. The Committee to Protect Journalists denounced the ruling, which was handed down Monday.

New York, March 23, 2010—The Philippine government must vigorously pursue its investigation into a series of death threats received by Marites Dañguilan Vitug, editor-in-chief of the online news outlet Newsbreak, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

New York, March 22, 2010—The Committee to Protect Journalists urges Colombian authorities to fully investigate the death of journalist Clodomiro Castilla Ospino, left, who was shot on Friday by an unidentified gunman in the northern city of Montería, according to local press reports.