New York, November 30, 2006—Sri Lankan authorities should either charge or release a freelance Tamil journalist detained for nearly a week, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Parameswaree Maunasámi, who wrote for the Sinhala-language weekly Mawbima, was arrested at her home south of Colombo on November 24 along with another Tamil woman, according to…
NOVEMBER 30, 2006 Posted December 19, 2006 José Ponce Obispo, Radio Galeón THREATENED Ponce, news director and host of the daily news program “Mi Radioperiódico” on local Radio Galeón, received two death threats after reporting on a feud between two paramilitary groups near the city of Santa Marta, 596 miles (960 kilometers) north of Bogotá.
New York, November 29, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists demands that three radio journalists jailed in Burundi in the past week, including Matthias Manirakiza detained today, be released immediately. “This looks more and more like a campaign to silence respected independent broadcasters who have spearheaded investigative reporting on human rights abuses and corruption,” said CPJ…
UPDATE November 29, 2006Original Alert: November 28, 2006Honoré Kabongo, Radiotélévision Kintuadi (RTK)IMPRISONED Kabongo, the host of a news talk show with the religious TV station, was released without charge after four days in detention, according to local press freedom group Journaliste en Danger (JED) and RTK administrative director Adelin Mboma. He had been arrested in his…
November 29, 2006 Original Alert: November 28, 2006 Clément Nku, Canal Congo Télévision IMPRISONED Nku, a cameraman of the private station owned by former presidential contender Jean-Pierre Bemba, was released by police after eight days in detention without charge, according to local press freedom group Journaliste en Danger (JED) and CCTV director Blondel Bokoko.
New York, November 28, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by death threats against two colleagues of murdered Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya. The independent Moscow newspaper Novaya Gazeta said in a statement yesterday that two of its leading journalists received anonymous death threats on November 24. Deputy Editor Sergei Sokolov told the independent radio…
New York, November 28, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by reports that the DRC’s newly elected authorities have been holding two journalists for the past week, while arresting a third on Saturday. All three are being held incommunicado by police in the capital, Kinshasa, after reporting on the aftermath of presidential elections. Clément…
New York, November 28, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the one-year jail sentence handed down to a Yemeni editor for reprinting Danish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. A court in the capital Sana’a sentenced Kamal al-Aalafi, editor-in-chief of the Arabic-language weeklyAl-Rai Al-Aam on November 25. It also banned him from practicing journalism for six…
New York, November 28, 2006—Yemen’s leading state-run newspaper Al-Thawra attacked independent editor Jamal Amer upon his return from the United States where he received the Committee to Protect Journalists 2006 International Press Freedom Award. The daily ran a front-page article on November 26 suggesting that he was a U.S. agent and warning of possible legal…
NOVEMBER 28, 2006 Posted December 19, 2006 Robinson Ruz Ruz, Radio Piragua THREATANED After reporting on links between the local government and right-wing paramilitary leaders, Ruz, director and host of the news program “Noticiero del Medio Día” on local Radio Piragua, received condolence cards for his own death in the city of Sincelejo, 613 miles…