New York, July 31, 2002—Three weeks after it was refused a radio license, the independent Tajik news agency Asia Plus was informed that it will receive permission to broadcast—and become the first private broadcaster to serve the capital, Dushanbe. On July 29, Tajik president Imomali Rakhmonov met with Umed Babakhanov, director of Asia Plus, and…
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is gravely concerned about the imprisonment of Raymond Kabala and Delly Bonsange, publication director and publisher, respectively, of the independent Kinshasa daily, Alerte Plus. Both journalists have now been in prison for more than a week.
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply concerned about your government’s continued harassment of independent journalists. On July 23, Robert Sebufirira, Elly MacDowell Kalisa, and Emmanuel Munyaneza, all journalists with the independent weekly Umuseso, were sentenced to 30 days of “preventative detention” by a court in Rwanda’s capital, Kigali. They are currently in the city’s central prison.
New York, July 26, 2002—The Court Martial Board, Liberia’s military court, yesterday gave the government an August 7 deadline to produce Hassan Bility, a prominent newspaper editor who has been detained incommunicado since June 24. Bility, editor of the weekly Analyst newspaper, was arrested with two other individuals—Ansumana Kamara and Mohammed Kamara—and charged with collaborating…
New York, July 25, 2002—Zimbabwe’s Daily News editor-in-chief Geoff Nyarota and reporter Lloyd Mudiwa, who are charged with “abusing journalistic privilege” and “publishing false information,” have successfully petitioned a magistrate’s court in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, to have their case referred to the country’s Supreme Court. . Magistrate Sandra Nhau granted a motion from defense lawyers…
New York, July 25, 2002—To mark the one-year anniversary of the murder of Georgy Sanaya, a popular anchor for the Tbilisi-based independent television station Rustavi-2, Committee to Protect Journalists executive director Ann Cooper issued the following statement: “We are disheartened that one year after Georgy Sanaya’s July 26, 2001, murder, justice has not been done.…
Addis Ababa, July 25, 2002—After a five-day fact-finding mission to Ethiopia, a delegation from the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has found that the Ethiopian government is planning alarming changes to the country’s 10-year-old press laws that would severely restrict the rights of Ethiopia’s already beleaguered private press corps. Although Information Minister Simon Bereket told…
New York, July 25, 2002–The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is alarmed by news reports that Czech investigative reporter Sabina Slonkova was the target of a murder plot allegedly planned by Karel Srba, the former general secretary of the Czech Foreign Ministry. Srba was arrested on July 19–in addition to three others who were arrested…
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is alarmed by the death of Palestinian free-lance photographer Imad Abu Zahra, who was killed by Israel Defense Forces (IDF) gunfire, and the subsequent failure to investigate the incident and safeguard journalists who cover the West Bank and Gaza.