New York, July 14, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the arrest of Eritrean journalist Aklilu Solomon, Asmara-based stringer for the U.S. governmentfunded Voice of America (VOA) news service. Eritrean security officers arrested Solomon at his home on Tuesday, July 8, and took him to an undisclosed location. Ten days earlier, authorities had stripped…
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply alarmed by the death of Canadian-Iranian free-lance photographer Zahra Kazemi. Although you have ordered several government ministries to officially investigate her death, we demand that an immediate, independent inquiry be conducted—including an autopsy—and that the results be made public. According to the official Iranian news…
New York, July 11, 2003—A Georgian court sentenced former police officer Grigol Khurtsilava on Wednesday, July 9, to a 13-year prison term for the July 2001 murder of popular television journalist Georgy Sanaya. Sanaya anchored “Night Courier,” a nightly political talk show on the independent television station Rustavi 2 in Tbilisi, Georgia’s capital. The journalist…
New York, July 10, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is dismayed that Moscow’s southeastern district visa and registration authorities (OVIR) have denied a foreign passport to journalist Grigory Pasko, who was released from prison in January after serving more than two years in prison. Pasko told CPJ in a telephone interview that officials denied…
New York, July 10, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) welcomes the release today of Belgian journalist Thierry Falise, French cameraman Vincent Reynaud, and their American translator and guide, Rev. Naw Karl Mua. Their release comes one week after the three were each sentenced to 15 years in prison for their alleged involvement in the…
New York, July 10, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is gravely concerned about Canadian-Iranian free-lance photographer Zahra Kazemi who is currently in serious condition in a hospital in Iran’s capital, Tehran. Kazemi, who has contributed to Recto Verso, a Montreal-based magazine, and the London-based photo agency Camera Press, is in a coma in a…
New York, July 10, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the recent closure by the Belarusian authorities of Russian television network NTV’s Belarus bureau, as well as the decision to cancel accreditation for the International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX) and Internews, both U.S. government-funded organizations that provide support to independent media. On July…
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is dismayed that Munawar Mohsin, a former subeditor of the national daily Frontier Post, has been sentenced to life in prison by a court in North West Frontier Province on charges of blasphemy.
Dear Minister Zhang: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is writing once again to draw your attention to the unjust imprisonment of South Korean photographer Jae Hyun Seok, whose appeal may be heard later this month. Seok, a well-known free-lance photojournalist who worked regularly for The New York Times and Geo magazine, among other publications, was arrested in January in Shandong Province while documenting the plight of North Korean refugees. On May 22, he was sentenced to two years in prison on charges of human smuggling.
New York, July 9, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) welcomes the release today of Belgian journalist Thierry Falise, French cameraman Vincent Reynaud, and their American translator and guide, Rev. Naw Karl Mua. Their release comes one week after the three were each sentenced to 15 years in prison for their alleged involvement in the…