2005
Gunmen kill key witness in Damalerio murder case
New York, February 2, 2005—A key witness in the 2002 murder of Philippine journalist Edgar Damalerio was killed by gunmen in the city of Pagadian this morning—the second witness to be slain while the suspect, a former police officer, awaits trial. Edgar Amoro—who identified former officer Guillermo Wapile as Damalerio’s killer— was gunned down outside…
CPJ deeply concerned about journalists’ safety, censorship
New York, February 2, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned about the safety of Nepalese journalists and the censorship of the press following King Gyanendra’s dismissal this week of Nepal’s multi-party government and his declaration of a state of emergency. “The suspension of civil liberties is a worrisome sign for all citizens, including…
Journalist jailed in defamation case; CPJ seeks release
New York, February 2, 2005—-A reporter with the Congolese private daily La Référence Plus was taken into custody on Monday and imprisoned in the western town of Matadi on defamation charges brought by two national oil executives. The Committee to Protect Journalists today called for his immediate release. In September, a Kinshasa court sentenced José…
AZERBAIJAN
FEBRUARY 2, 2005 Posted: February 4, 2005 Akrep Hasanov, Monitor HARASSED, THREATENED Hasanov, an Azerbaijani journalist with the independent weekly Monitor in the capital, Baku, was abducted by military officers and held in detention for five hours, Hasanov told CPJ. The journalist says he was detained in retaliation for writing an article about abuses and…
NEPAL
FEBRUARY 1, 2005 Posted: February 4, 2005 All journalists HARASSED, THREATENED, CENSORED, LEGAL ACTION Nepal’s king declared a state of emergency and effectively shut down the independent press with blanket news bans, military patrols at media outlets, and threatened reprisals against journalists.
CPJ calls on government to lift news ban
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply disturbed by an ongoing government ban on news programming on Radio Dzialandzé Mutsamudu (RDM), a popular, privately owned station based in Mutsamudu, capital of the semi-autonomous island of Anjouan.
Seeking journalists’ release, CPJ sends 400 signed appeals to government
New York, February 1, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists has sent 400 appeals to the government of Burma calling for the immediate and unconditional release of imprisoned journalists Aung Pwint and Thaung Tun, recipients of CPJ’s 2004 International Press Freedom Awards. The appeals—signed by leading journalists, media executives, and free press advocates—were delivered to the…
ZIMBABWE
FEBRUARY 2005 Posted: March 14, 2005 Cornelius Nduna, freelance THREATENED In early February, police began searching for Nduna, a freelance television producer and reporter who worked for several foreign media organizations, on suspicion of possessing “sensitive tapes” passed to him by an employee of the state-owned Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, according to his lawyer, Beatrice Mtetwa.