New York, April 14, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has recently learned about an attack on Dzveli Kalaki, a popular independent radio station in Kutaisi, a city in eastern Georgia. On the evening of March 28, four ax-wielding men charged to the roof of the building where Dzveli Kalaki’s office is located and knocked…
New York, April 11, 2003—Recently appointed Minister of Information Abednego Ntshangase announced on Tuesday, April 8, a new censorship policy for state media in the southern African kingdom of Swaziland. Speaking at his first appearance under his new portfolio before the House of Assembly, Ntshangase told parliamentarians, “The national television and radio stations are not…
New York, April 11, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is concerned about the “Anti-Terrorist Convention,” which was signed on Tuesday, April 8, by directors of several leading national broadcast media outlets, who agreed to accept voluntary restrictions on their coverage of terrorism and anti-terrorist government operations. The media executives who signed the agreement (click…
Anti-Terrorist Convention Source: Interfax news agency For purposes of supplying society with authentic information, the mass media have the right and duty of contributing to the open discussion of the problem of terrorism, informing society on the progress of counter-terrorist operations, carrying out investigations, and providing people with information on real problems and conflicts.
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply concerned about your government’s failure to prosecute those responsible for last month’s attack on Tempo magazine. Moreover, we are disturbed that two of the journalists injured in the attack are now themselves in danger of arrest under Indonesia’s criminal libel laws. On March 7, Tempo…
New York, April 9, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) deplores the convictions of 28 independent Cuban journalists who have been detained since a crackdown began there on March 18. The journalists’ one-day trials were held on April 3 and 4 behind closed doors. On Monday, April 7, courts across the island announced prison sentences…
New York, April 8, 2003—Kenyan president Emilio Mwai Kibaki, who was elected in December 2002, has instructed his lawyers to file contempt-of-court charges against two private dailies. The charges stem from stories that appeared in the March 31 editions of the independent East African Standard and the Kenya Times about a court case filed against…
New York, April 8, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) sent a letter today to U.S. secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld expressing concern about U.S. military strikes against known media locations in Baghdad this morning that left three journalists dead and several wounded. CPJ called for an “immediate and thorough investigation into these incidents” and…
Dear Secretary Rumsfeld: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is gravely concerned by a series of U.S. military strikes against known media locations in Baghdad today that have left three journalists dead and several wounded. We believe these attacks violate the Geneva Conventions. This morning, Baghdad time, U.S. air strikes severely damaged the Baghdad office…