2006
Charges sought against two officials in Philippine killing
New York, March 23, 2006—One year after Philippine columnist Marlene Garcia-Esperat was gunned down in her home in Tacurong, lawyers for her family are expected to ask a judge to reinstate murder charges against two regional agriculture officials suspected of ordering the killing. The Committee to Protect Journalists urges the court to give utmost consideration…
Bouteflika should repeal decree limiting free expression
Your Excellency: I am writing to strongly protest Your Excellency’s recent promulgation of a draconian decree further restricting freedom of expression, including sharp new limits on discussion of the conflict that ravaged Algeria in the 1990s.
Iraq: Kurdish journalist detained, faces prosecution
New York, March 22, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned the detention and prosecution of a Kurdish journalist, who was seized by Kurdish security forces in northern Iraq. On March 17, security forces affiliated with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) arrested Hawez Hawezi, a 31-year-old high school teacher who also writes for the…
Trial of CBS cameraman postponed
New York, March 22, 2006—The trial of an Iraqi cameraman working for CBS News has been put off until next month, The Associated Press reported. Abdul Ameer Younis Hussein was scheduled to appear in court today, but an Iraqi judge postponed the trial until April 5, CBS News bureau chief in Baghdad, Larry Doyle, told…
Court drops charges against five Voice of America journalists
New York, March 22, 2006—An Ethiopian court today granted a state prosecutor’s request to drop charges of treason against five Voice of America journalists and another radio journalist being tried in absentia. “We welcome the dropping of these ridiculous charges against VOA staff,” said Ann Cooper, Executive Director of the Committee to Protect Journalists. “But…
China: CPJ demands release of filmmaker and blogger Wu Hao
New York, March 22, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists called today for the release of documentary filmmaker and blogger Wu Hao whose detention has only now been made public. Wu was detained on February 22 in Beijing, apparently without charge, according to his friends in China and the United States. “Wu Hao must be released…
Sports editor assaulted
MARCH 10, 2006 Posted March 21, 2006 Peter Nimely Toby, The Analyst ATTACKED, THREATENED Armed and masked men assaulted and threatened Toby, sports editor for the independent newspaper The Analyst in the capital, Monrovia, the newspaper reported. The men jumped out of a black jeep, beat Toby with guns, and threatened him with death.
Two journalists arrested, charged for “false news”
MARCH 11, 2006 Posted March 21, 2006 Matongo Maumbi, Radio Chikuni Jyde Hamoonga, Radio Chikuni HARASSED, LEGAL ACTION Maumbi and Hamoonga, two journalists working for Radio Chikuni, a community station in the southern district of Monze, were arrested and charged with publishing “false news with intent to cause fear and alarm to the public.” The…
Colombian radio host dies of injuries from shooting
New York, March 21, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalist mourns the death of Colombian radio commentator Gustavo Rojas Gabalo, who died Monday of injuries he suffered in a February 4 shooting outside a local supermarket in the northwestern city of Montería, Córdoba province. Rojas, known as “El Gaba,” died in the Salucoop Clinic in Medellín,…
In Iraq, CBS cameraman faces trial Wednesday
New York, March 21, 2006—An Iraqi cameraman held by U.S. forces for nearly a year without charge will stand trial in Baghdad on Wednesday, CBS News and a U.S. military spokesman said late today. Abdul Ameer Younis Hussein, a freelance cameraman working for CBS News, will be prosecuted at the Central Criminal Court of Iraq…