2001
CPJ welcomes release of Japanese journalist
New York, November 20, 2001—CPJ welcomes the release of Japanese free-lance journalist Daigen Yanagida, who was imprisoned for nearly a month by Taliban authorities in Jalalabad. Yanagida was detained on October 22 in Asadabad after entering Afghanistan without a visa. He was later brought to Jalalabad for questioning. On November 16, the Taliban released Yanagida…
Four journalists believed killed
November 19, 2001—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is outraged by the apparent murder of four journalists who were seized yesterday while traveling between Jalalabad and Kabul. The journalists have been identified by their news organizations as Azizullah Haidari, an Afghan-born photographer for the Reuters news agency; Harry Burton, an Australian television cameraman for Reuters;…
CPJ awardee presents case to Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
New York, November 15, 2001—Argentine journalist and press freedom advocate Horacio Verbitsky this morning petitioned the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) in Washington, D.C., to suspend an Argentine court decision upholding former president Carlos Saúl Menem’s right to privacy. The Supreme Court of Argentina ruled that the newsmagazine NOTICIAS violated Menem’s privacy by reporting…
CPJ Presents Press Freedom Award Winners in Washington
Washington, D.C., November 14, 2001–The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) today presented the winners of its 2001 International Press Freedom Awards at a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.Clockwise from Top Left: Verbitsky, Nyarota, Jiang, Dana.
CPJ releases exclusive interview with exiled journalist
Russian war correspondent Anna Politkovskaya fled Moscow in early October after receiving death threats in connection with her coverage of the war in Chechnya. She has settled in Vienna, Austria, where she spoke with CPJ Europe consultant Emma Gray. Until last month, Politkovskaya reported on the two-year-old war in Chechnya for the Moscow-based independent twice-weekly…
CPJ denounces closure of independent weekly newspaper
New York, November 13, 2001—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) denounced a Belarusian High Economic Court decision to shut down the Hrodno-based independent weekly Pahonya. Yesterday the court found Pahonya guilty of insulting President Aleksandr Lukashenko and publishing the statements of an unregistered civic organization, according to local and international press reports. The newspaper had…
U.S. AIRSTRIKE DESTROYS AL-JAZEERA OFFICE IN KABUL
New York, November 13, 2001—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply concerned about the destruction of the Kabul offices of Al-Jazeera, the Qatari-based, Arabic language satellite television station. The building that housed the station was destroyed by a missile fired by a U.S. warplane early Tuesday morning, according to international news reports. No injuries…
CPJ MOURNS THREE JOURNALISTS KILLED ON ASSIGNMENT
New York, November 12, 2001—CPJ is deeply saddened by the deaths of three colleagues killed while reporting in northern Afghanistan. Johanne Sutton, a reporter for Radio France Internationale; Pierre Billaud, a reporter for Radio Television Luxembourg; and Volker Handloik, a free-lance reporter on assignment for the German news magazine Stern, were killed on the evening…
Pasko espionage trial under way at last
The prosecution plans to call more than 50 witnesses. Perhaps five of them have any real connection to the case, Pasko says. New York, July 11, 2001—The second trial of Russian military journalist Grigory Pasko finally began today in Vladivostok, nearly four years after his arrest on charges of espionage and revealing state secrets.
Four journalists jailed for more than a month on blasphemy charges
New York, July 11, 2001 — CPJ is dismayed that local authorities in Abbottabad have not dropped blasphemy charges brought against journalists from the Urdu-language daily Mohasib, even though officials at both the provincial and federal levels have issued statements noting that these charges are groundless. On May 29, Mohasib published an article entitled “The…