New York, July 19, 2004—Farouk Chothia and Ange Ngu Thomas, two BBC journalists who were detained last week by Cameroonian soldiers in the disputed Bakassi peninsula and accused of spying, were released without charge on Friday, July 16, according to the BBC and international news reports. They are expected to arrive in the capital, Yaoundé,…
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) calls on you to address the climate of lawlessness that has led to the slayings of more than a dozen independent journalists in Russia in four years, most recently the July 9 murder of Paul Klebnikov, the 41-year-old editor of the Russian edition of Forbes Magazine.
New York, July 14, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns today’s conviction of writer and military historian Pham Que Duong. The Hanoi People’s Court sentenced Duong to 19 months in prison on charges of “taking advantage of democratic rights to infringe upon the interests of the state.” The sentence accounts for time already served,…
New York, July 14, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) calls for the immediate release of two BBC journalists arrested on Sunday, July 11, while reporting in the Bakassi peninsular, a disputed territory between Cameroon and Nigeria. The BBC confirmed today that producer Farouk Chothia and reporter Ange Ngu Thomas are being held under house…
New York, July 14, 2004—Radio owner and host Jorge Lourenço dos Santos was killed on Sunday, July 11, in Alagoas State in northeastern Brazil. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is investigating whether the slaying was related to his work as a journalist. Dos Santos was killed at about 7:30 p.m. outside his home in…
New York, July 13, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is alarmed by the rapidly growing number of death threats against journalists and writers throughout Bangladesh. Since July 10, at least 24 journalists and writers have received death threats, all apparently from Islamic groups who accuse them of being “enemies of Islam” or “acting against…
New York, July 12, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply disturbed that Madiambal Diagne, publication director of the Senegalese independent daily Le Quotidien, has been imprisoned and calls for his immediate release. Diagne has been in prison since Friday, July 9, in connection with articles about alleged fraud in the customs service and…
New York, NY, July 12, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the imprisonment of Maka Gbossokotto, publication director of the private French-language daily Le Citoyen in the Central African Republic (CAR). Charged with defamation and slander, Gbossokotto was transferred today to the N’Garagba Central Prison in the capital, Bangui, after appearing before a Bangui…
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is gravely concerned that Thailand’s criminal defamation laws are being used to suppress critical voices. In June, a court ruled that telecommunications giant Shin Corporation could sue media reformer Supinya Klangnarong for criminal libel. On July 5, London Times’ Bangkok correspondent Andrew Drummond was convicted of criminal libel in a separate suit.