2006
China: Ailing journalist sentenced to jail after reporting on corruption
New York, June 15, 2006—A county court in central China today sentenced reporter Yang Xiaoqing to one year in prison on charges of extortion after he wrote about corruption involving local officials. Yang, a reporter for China Industrial Economy News, was arrested in January and charged with extortion and blackmail. His wife, Gong Jie, said…
Security services arrest television presenter
New York, June 15, 2006—State security agents arrested a presenter for Nigeria’s leading private television channel after he hosted a panel discussion about next year’s presidential election, a station manager said today. State Security Service (SSS) detained Mike Gbenga Aruleba of African Independent Television (AIT) in the capital, Abuja, on Wednesday. Mac Amarere, general manager…
Chávez threatens critical private broadcasters
New York, June 15, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is dismayed by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez’s threat to block the renewal of broadcast licenses for privately owned television and radio stations that oppose his government. Chávez said Wednesday that he had ordered a review of licenses for media outlets that supported the 2002 coup attempt…
CPJ protests spate of press attacks
Your Excellency, The Committee to Protect Journalists is increasingly alarmed by repeated attacks against the media in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Such attacks are all the more troubling in the current context of campaigning for presidential and parliamentary elections due July 30. While one journalist was released on bail Wednesday, another has been jailed for more than six months in connection with his work. At least two radio stations remain off the air after attacks by security forces, while CPJ sources report at least one violent attack on a journalist in recent weeks. The government has also blocked the accreditation of a veteran correspondent for Radio France Internationale (RFI).
Two journalists freed on bail
June 15, 2006 Original Alert: February 16, 2006 Elham Afroutan and Mohsen Dorostkar, Tammadon-e Hormozgan IMPRISONED On January 29, Mohsen Dorostkar, editor-in-chief of Tammadon-e Hormozgan, and Elham Afroutan, a journalist for the weekly, were among seven journalists jailed after publishing a satirical article written by an Iranian Web blogger in Germany, and likening Iran’s 1979…
French radio correspondent expelled
New York, June 14, 2006—Radio France Internationale’s correspondent in Rwanda was forced to leave the country on Saturday after the authorities refused to renew her visa, according to an RFI statement released yesterday. The government gave no explanation for the expulsion of Sonia Rolley, according to RFI Africa Director Henri Perilhou. RFI condemned the decision…
Journalist freed on bail, another remains in prison
New York, June 14, 2006—A court in the Democratic Republic of Congo today freed radio journalist Pierre-Sosthène Kambidi on bail pending appeal of a defamation conviction, according to his lawyer and the Kinshasa-based press freedom group Journaliste en Danger (JED). Kambidi was arrested June 8 in the town of Tshikapa, and sentenced to three months…
Publisher released after two years in prison
New York, June 14, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release today of Mohamed Benchicou, publisher of a newspaper critical of the Algerian government, who was jailed two years ago for allegedly violating currency regulations. “We are relieved that our colleague Mohamed Benchicou is once again a free man, but his release doesn’t alter…
CPJ alarmed by threats against journalists and press freedom group
New York, June 14 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by a spate of threats of violence this month against Colombian journalists and nongovernmental organizations, including the press freedom group Fundación para la Libertad de Prensa (FLIP). An unknown group calling itself Frente Democrático Colombia Libre (Free Colombia Democratic Front) sent e-mails on June…
For journalists, Iraq is a continuing danger
Liz Halloran U.S. News & World Report June 12, 2006 http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/060612/12mediatakes.htm It’s been more than 16 months since CNN’s former chief news executive Eason Jordan made what even he now regards as inarticulate comments about the U.S. military’s role in the deaths of journalists working in Iraq.