New York, January 17, 2002—After a week of intense international pressure, Zimbabwe’s government delayed its vote yesterday on a harsh media bill that would stifle dissent during the run-up to the presidential elections, scheduled for early March, until certain changes can be made to the legislation, according to Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa.
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is writing to protest the ongoing prosecution of Marcelo Mosse, formerly chief reporter for the now defunct daily Metical, on criminal defamation charges. Your son, Nympine Chissano, filed charges against Mosse and Metical over a February 21 Metical article reporting that Nympine was briefly detained in South Africa, around February 15, on unspecified charges.
Your Majesty: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is writing to protest the recent arrest of Fahd al-Rimawi, editor of the weekly newspaper Al-Majd. On January 13, according to press reports and CPJ sources, a State Security Court prosecutor in Amman summoned al-Rimawi and accused him of publishing “false information,” an offense under Jordan’s Penal Code. He was subsequently ordered detained for 15 days for questioning.
New York, January 11, 2002—CPJ is gravely concerned over today’s ruling by the Presidium of the Highest Arbitration Court upholding the liquidation of the Moscow Independent Broadcasting Company (MNVK), parent company of Russia’s only independent, nationwide television channel, TV-6. The suit was originally lodged in September by the pension fund of LUKoil-Garant, a minority shareholder…
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply disturbed by the banning of the January 10 issue of the Hong Kong-based Far Eastern Economic Review. This act of censorship by your government is out of character with Thailand’s commitment to press freedom.
New York, January 7, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists strongly condemns legislation before Zimbabwe’s Parliament that would create a rigid system to register and regulate media companies and the journalists who work for them. Parliament is expected to vote on the legislation this week. The bill, called the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy…
New York, January 4, 2002—After a record-breaking detention of more than five months, free-lance writer Vanessa Leggett this morning walked out of the Texas jail where she was held for refusing to turn over research materials about a high-profile murder case to federal prosecutors. Leggett, 33, is currently writing a book about the 1997 murder…
New York, January 3, 2002–A total of 37 journalists were killed worldwide as a direct result of their work in 2001, a sharp increase from 2000 when 24 were killed, according to CPJ research. At least 25 were murdered, almost all with impunity. The dramatic rise is mainly due to the war in Afghanistan, where…