New York, February 28, 2002—Four radio stations were attacked and destroyed on February 23 as violence erupted over disputed presidential election results. Supporters of President Didier Ratsiraka allegedly attacked the offices of the Madagascar Broadcasting Service’s (MBS) radio station in Fianarantsoa, some 90 miles south of the capital, Antananarivo. The station’s facilities were set ablaze,…
New York, February 28, 2002—Police and state security agents yesterday attacked Reuters journalists Alfredo Tedeschi and Andrew Cawthorne with batons while they covered an incident in front of the Mexican embassy in Havana. A group of Cuban citizens used a bus to crash into the gates of the embassy in hopes of seeking asylum, according…
Your Excellency: Given the fact that Zimbabwean authorities had threatened to bar foreign correspondents from covering the March 9 and 10 presidential elections, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is pleased that a number of foreign news reporters have been granted accreditation. However, we remain concerned that the accreditation process was applied selectively and that some foreign correspondents have been denied entry into Zimbabwe because of their professional affiliation or critical reporting on the country’s deepening political crisis.
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed that independent Algerian journalists are facing criminal prosecution for defaming the military under restrictive new laws passed in June 2001. During a February 25 court hearing, the Ministry of National Defense charged Selima Tlemcani, a journalist for the French-language daily Al-Watan, under the new law with defaming the army. In a December 11 article, Tlemcani had accused the military police of financial misconduct.
Bangkok, February 25, 2002— Thai immigration authorities have ordered the expulsion of two foreign correspondents for the Hong Kongbased Far Eastern Economic Review (FEER) magazine on the grounds that they are a threat to national security. Shawn Crispin, the magazine’s bureau chief, and correspondent Rodney Tasker, who is also president of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club…
Dear Little Pearl: By the time you read these words, God willing, you will not be a “Little Pearl” anymore. As I write these words, you are not yet born. It is March and you are due in May. Last weekend President Bush mentioned you at the annual dinner of the Gridiron Club. The 117-year-old…
New York February 21, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the destruction of a Palestinian broadcasting facility in the Gaza Strip by Israeli forces today. Early this morning in the Gaza city of Al-Shijaieh, Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) troops entered a two-story building that houses offices and studios used by the Palestinian National Authority’s…