2006
Nepal pursues media crackdown one year after royal coup
New York, January 31, 2006— The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the ongoing harassment of journalists and assault on freedom of expression in Nepal one year after King Gyanendra seized absolute power. “In the past 12 months the authorities in Nepal have detained more than 275 journalists and stripped the independent press of many of…
Rebels force radio station off the air
New York, January 31, 2006—Rebel soldiers have forced a radio station in the volatile east of the Democratic Republic of Congo off the air by looting equipment and terrorizing journalists, local press freedom organizations and United Nations radio said. Radiotélévision La Colombe (RTC), the only radio station in the town of Rutshuru, closed on Sunday.…
Police request reporter’s records
JANUARY 19, 2006 Posted January 31, 2006 Bill Dunphy, The Hamilton Spectator LEGAL ACTION Police asked a judge to order Dunphy, a senior reporter for the Hamilton, Ontario, daily, to turn over all records of his interviews with a convicted criminal. Police are investigating a 1998 murder of a local lawyer and her husband. They…
Belarusian police seize ‘antistate’ video from Ukrainian TV crew
New York, January 30, 2006—Belarusian police stopped a Ukrainian television crew at a border checkpoint on Friday and seized video footage they described as “antistate,” according to local and international press reports. A crew with the independent Inter network was returning to Kyiv from assignment in the Gomel region of Belarus when a border patrol…
China: Dissident Internet writer formally arrested
New York. January 30, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists deplores the January 20 arrest of Internet writer Yang Tongyan (known by his pen name Yang Tianshui) on suspicion of “subversion of state authority.” Relatives received formal notice of the arrest from the Zhenjiang city public security bureau last week, according to CPJ sources. Authorities have…
Internet reporter held without charge in Ethiopia
New York, January 30, 2006—Ethiopian security forces have detained a correspondent for the U.S.-based Web site Ethiopian Review, its publisher Elias Kifle said today. Journalist Frezer Negash has been held without charge in Addis Ababa since Friday, Kifle told the Committee to Protect Journalists. “We are disturbed that Frezer Negash has joined at least 16…
Journalists wounded in Iraq blast flown to Germany
New York, January 30, 2006—A U.S. news anchor and a cameraman wounded by a roadside bomb in Iraq were flown to Germany today where doctors described their injuries as very serious. ABC World News Tonight co-anchor Bob Woodruff, 44, and ABC cameraman Doug Vogt, 46, were evacuated to a U.S. military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany…