2005
Journalist sentenced to five years in prison camp released
New York, August 24, 2005—A court in the central Russian city of Smolensk has released independent journalist Nikolai Goshko who was sentenced in June to five years in a prison camp for criminal defamation. Goshko told CPJ today that he was surprised by the August 19 release order, which came after the prosecution agreed to…
ETHIOPIA
AUGUST 23, 2005 Posted September 8, 2005 Fikre Gudu HARASSED, IMPRISONED A prominent newspaper distributor in the capital Addis Ababa, Gudu was arrested and detained for four days by police. The detention was in connection with an interview he gave to the private Amharic-language weekly Asqual about his one-month imprisonment in June, according to local…
YEMEN
AUGUST 23, 2005 Posted: August 29, 2005 Jamal Amer, Al-Wasat ASSAULTED Four men seized Amer, editor of the weekly Al-Wasat, as he returned home from his office at 5:30 a.m. Amer told CPJ that the men bundled him into a waiting car, blindfolded and bound him, and, after changing cars, drove him to a desolate…
Sindh bans three newspapers, editor jailed
New York, August 23, 2005—The government of the southern province of Sindh banned three Karachi-based weekly newspapers last week accusing them of creating “sectarian extremism and hatred.” Officials withdrew the publication permits of the three weeklies on August 15 because they published “objectionable material” that caused “danger to public safety/order.” Police had already raided the…
ISRAEL and the Occupied Territories, including the Palestinian Authority Territories
AUGUST 22, 2005 Posted: August 26, 2005 Mohamed Ouathi, Daily News ABDUCTED Mohammed Ouathi, a soundman for France 3 television was released unharmed, eight days after unidentified gunmen seized him in the Gaza Strip.
Kidnapped French TV soundman freed
New York, August 22, 2005—A soundman for French television was released unharmed today, eight days after unidentified gunmen seized him in the Gaza Strip. Mohammed Ouathi of France 3 television told reporters he was well but made no further comment when he appeared at a Gaza City police station, international news agencies reported.
BOTSWANA
AUGUST 2, 2005 Posted: August 17, 2005 Rodrick Mukumbira, Ngami Times, Agence France-Presse, IRIN EXPELLED The government sent a July 27 letter to Mukumbira, a Zimbabwean national who had been working in Botswana since 2002, revoking his work and residence permits and ordering him to leave the country within seven days, according to the Media…
Independent newspaper targeted by army through the courts
New York, August 19, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists is troubled by the growing legal harassment of the independent weekly L’Oeil du Sahel by Cameroon’s security forces. Army officers have brought at least twelve court cases against the newspaper since the beginning of the year, threatening its financial survival, director Guibaï Gatama said. L’Oeil du…