Bangkok, January 21, 2004—A court in northern Thailand today declared four soldiers not guilty in the April 2000 attempted slaying of newspaper publisher Amnat Khunyosying. Despite testimony from Amnat (who is referred to by his first name) and others naming the four soldiers, the Chiang Mai Court said there was insufficient evidence in the long-running…
New York, January 21, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the guilty verdict handed down to Koran Tempo in a defamation suit brought by businessman Tomy Winata. In a verdict delivered January 20, the South Jakarta District Court ordered Koran Tempo to pay US$1 million in damages to Tomy (who is referred to by…
New York, January 20, 2004–The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns this weekend’s attack on Tomas Nemecek, editor-in-chief of the independent weekly Respekt, which is based in the Czech Republic’s capital, Prague. On Saturday, January 17, two unidentified men in their early 20s assaulted Nemecek while he was leaving a grocery store near his home…
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply concerned about the prolonged detention of freelance journalist Khawar Mehdi Rizvi. We call on your government to confirm which agency is holding Rizvi, to make any charges against him public, or to release him immediately.
New York, January 15, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the brutal murder of Manik Saha, a veteran journalist and press freedom activist, who was targeted and killed today in a bomb attack in the southwestern city of Khulna. Saha, a correspondent with the daily New Age and a contributor to the BBC’s Bengali-language…
New York, January 14, 2004—Itai Dzamara, a reporter with the Harare-based independent weekly The Independent, and the paper’s general manager, Raphael Khumalo, were arrested today after presenting themselves to police at Harare Central Police Station. Both were summoned yesterday to appear at the station for questioning this morning. The arrests followed the publication of a…
New York, January 14, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is disturbed by this week’s attack against a radio transmission plant in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince. The attack, which forced eight radio stations and one television station off the air, came in the wake of violent street clashes between government supporters and opponents. According to local…
New York, January 12, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) welcomes the release of Marc Epstein and Jean-Paul Guilloteau, a reporter and photographer, respectively, from the French news magazine L’Express, from house arrest in Karachi today. CPJ, however, remains gravely concerned about Khawar Mehdi Rizvi, a local journalist working as the French journalists’ guide, who…
New York, January 7, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) welcomes the release today of jailed Moroccan journalists Ali Lmrabet, owner and editor of the weeklies Demain and Douman, and Mohammed al-Herd, editor of the Oujda-based weekly Al-Sharq. Both were pardoned today by Morocco’s King Mohammed VI after spending more than seven months behind bars.
New York, January 6, 2004—Mamane Abou, director of Niger’s private weekly newspaper Le Républicain was released from prison today after spending two months in jail for criminal defamation. An appeals court granted his provisional release pending a second criminal case that has been brought against him, for “theft of documents,” according to one of his…