2000
Colombia: Journalist remains in captivity
New York, Feb. 15, 2000—CPJ is deeply concerned about the safety of Guillermo Cortés, editorial director of “Hora Cero,” a nightly television news program broadcast on Canal A in Bogotá, who was kidnapped on January 22 and remains missing. While no one has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping, new evidence points to the Revolutionary Armed…
CPJ Releases Special Report on Journalism in Pakistan Historically Vigorous Press Survived Increasingly Tyrannical Ruler, Now Faces Challenges Under Military Dictatorship
Click here for the complete text of the report. New York, Feb. 14, 2000—When the democratically elected leader of Pakistan, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, was deposed last October by a military coup, few independent journalists regretted his sudden departure. Now, in a special report released today, the Committee to Protect Journalists details the brutal tactics…
Kenya: Proposed licensing laws threaten independent media
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is gravely concerned about proposed amendments to the Books and Newspapers Act that would dramatically increase the mandatory publication-licensing bond. Under the amended Act, new publications would be required to post a bond of 1 million shillings (US$13,459) as security for any monetary penalty that might arise from criminal proceedings against them. This represents a hundred-fold increase over the current bond of ten thousand shillings (US$134.59).
Indonesia: Police harass TV crew in West Timor
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply concerned about the recent harassment of three Portuguese television journalists, who were detained for three days by police in the Indonesian province of West Timor before being forced to leave the country.
Israel: Prominent journalists protest treatment of Palestinian reporter
New York, Feb. 7, 2000–Twenty-seven prominent U.S., European, and Israeli journalists called on Prime Minister Ehud Barak today to end Israeli government restrictions on the free movement of Palestinian journalist Taher Shriteh, a veteran Gaza-based reporter for The New York Times, the British Broadcasting Corporation, and the Japanese daily Yomiuri Shimbun. The appeal is being…
Yugoslavia: Government official threatens the press
New York, Feb. 11, 2000 — Serbian deputy prime minister Vojislav Seselj, the leader of the ultranationalist Serbian Radical Party, accused journalists of being pro-Western “traitors,” and blamed them for the murder of defense minister Pavel Bulatovic, according to Agence France-Presse. Addressing independent reporters at a press conference in Belgrade on February 10, Seselj told…
Russia: Despite video, Babitsky’s whereabouts still unknown
New York, Feb. 9, 2000— Speculation surrounding the disappearance of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) correspondent Andrei Babitsky continued Wednesday, despite a new videotape suggesting that the journalist is alive and anxious to return home. RFE/RL purchased the videotape on Tuesday night from an unidentified man in Moscow, and aired it on Russian television today.…
CPJ appeals for release of jailed journalist
New York, February 8, 2000 – The Committee to Protect Journalists continued its campaign to win freedom for jailed Cuban journalist Jesús Joel Díaz Hernández by delivering 312 signed advocacy cards calling for his release to the Cuba Interests Section in Washington this weekend. The cards were sent by courier on February 4, and signed…
Detained journalist becomes pawn in prisoner exchange
New York, February 3, 2000 — Radio Free Europe /Radio Liberty (REF/RL) reported today that Andrei Babitsky, the Russian journalist detained by Russian military authorities in Chechnya since January 15, has been exchanged for three Russian prisoners of war held by Chechen rebels. The announcement was made by Russian presidential spokesman Sergei Yastrzhembsky. This action…