2007

  

In Tunisia, an Internet writer is freed after 28 months

New York, July 25, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release from prison on Tuesday of a Tunisian human rights lawyer who had been jailed nearly 28 months because of online articles he wrote criticizing the Tunisian government. Mohammed Abbou and more than 20 other political prisoners were freed by order of President Zine…

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Ethiopian government pardons four journalists, revives genocide charges against others

New York, July 24, 2007— Authorities in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa released on conditional pardon last week four journalists who accepted responsibility for deadly post-election unrest in 2005, according to local journalists and news reports. The four were among 38 activists who were pardoned last week. At the same time, the government is…

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Moroccan journalists charged for publishing secret government documents

New York, July 24, 2007—Two Moroccan journalists detained for more than a week were charged today with possessing classified documents after they recently published secret government papers regarding terrorist threats against Morocco. The Casablanca public prosecutor charged Abderrahim Ariri, publisher of the Moroccan weekly Al-Watan Al An and Mustafa Hormatallah, a journalist for the paper,…

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Chinese reporter accused of fabricating story held on unclear charges

New York, July 23, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls for greater transparency in the arrest of a Chinese reporter accused of fabricating news. Police arrested Beijing TV reporter Zi Beijia last week and are holding him in criminal custody following accusations that he faked a report on contaminated steamed buns, according to state news…

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Mexico needs legislation to ensure press freedom

Joel Simon and Carlos Lauria Published in San Antonio Express-News July 20, 2007 http://www.mysanantonio.com/opinion/stories/MYSA072107.02O.CPJcomment.23e2b59.html The recent decision by the San Antonio Express-News to temporarily remove its border correspondent from its Laredo bureau was a judicious move. The paper temporarily withdrew reporter Mariano Castillo after a U.S. law enforcement source warned that an unspecified American journalist…

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To mark Press Day, CPJ urges release of jailed Azerbaijani journalists

New York, July 20, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Azerbaijani authorities to mark the country’s National Press Day on Sunday by releasing the seven journalists jailed in the nation’s prisons. Azerbaijan is the region’s leading jailer of journalists and one of the world’s worst backsliders on press freedom, CPJ research shows.

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In Niger, RFI summarily suspended after correspondent threatened

New York, July 20, 2007–The Niger government suspended broadcasts of France-based Radio France Internationale (RFI) on Thursday, accusing the station of “broadcasting false news” related to a recent armed rebellion of nomadic Tuaregs in northern Niger, according to local journalists and news reports. The move came less than a week after the army chief threatened…

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Editor of independent weekly imprisoned in Mordoviya

New York, July 19, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists expressed concern today at the imprisonment of Anatoly Sardayev, founder and editor-in-chief of the independent weekly newspaper Mordoviya Segodnya (Mordoviya Today) in the city of Saransk, the capital of the central Russian republic of Mordoviya. The Lenin District Court in Saransk found Sardayev guilty on June…

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In DRC, journalist in hiding after sentenced to prison without notice

New York, July 19, 2007—Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s capital, Kinshasa, convicted a journalist in secret and ordered him to report to prison immediately. He had never been told that he was charged with a crime. On July 5, Pold Kalombo, an editor of the private weekly Le Soft International received a notice…

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Somaliland reporter released after five days of imprisonment

 UPDATE  July 19, 2007Original Alert: July 18, 2007 Abdirahman Mohammed Habane, Jamhuuriya

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