2007
Niger will take French journalists to court
New York, December 21, 2007—Two French journalists detained since Monday in the capital, Niamey, will now be tried in court, an official announced today. Journalist Thomas Dandois and cameraman Pierre Creisson of Franco-German TV network Arte Television were arrested south of Niamey after police allegedly discovered footage and photos of rebel Tuareg leaders, government spokesman…
DRC minister reopens 22 stations
New York, December 21, 2007— CPJ welcomed the DRC’s decision yesterday to lift an October ban on 22 of 38 radio and television stations. The new minister of communication and media, Emile Bongeli, signed a decree authorizing the 22 radio and television stations to return to the air, including Canal Kin Television, Molière TV, and…
Two men convicted in Costa Rica murder
New York, December 20, 2007—Two men were sentenced yesterday to 35 years in prison for the murder of Costa Rican journalist Parmenio Medina, a popular radio host who was shot dead outside his home in July 2001. The Committee to Protect Journalists hails the conviction as a step forward in the fight against impunity. A…
CPJ concerned about Bangladeshi reporter’s trial
Dear Mr. President: The Committee to Protect Journalists is greatly concerned about the upcoming trial of Jahangir Alam Akash, a reporter for the Bengali-language daily Dainik Sangbad, based in Rajshahi.He is charged with extortion, but we believe Akash has been unfairly targeted because of his investigative reporting, and we are greatly concerned about his health.
President’s security officers beat journalist at official event
December 19, 2007 Posted January 10, 2008 Jorge Loáisiga, La Prensa ATTACKED Loáisiga, a reporter for the Managua-based daily La Prensa, was beaten and handcuffed by members of President Daniel Ortega’s security personnel while covering an official event in the Nicaraguan capital, according to local press reports.
FSB bars journalist from re-entering Russia
New York, December 18, 2007—Authorities at the Moscow Domodedovo airport barred Natalya Morar, a Moldovan citizen and an investigative reporter for the Moscow-based independent newsweekly The New Times, from re-entering Russia when she returned from her business trip to Israel on Sunday. Referring to a secret Federal Security Service (FSB) order, passport control officers said…
French journalist kidnapped in Puntland
New York, December 18, 2007—CPJ is concerned for the safety of award-winning French journalist Gwen LeGouil, who was kidnapped just outside the port town of Bossasso on Sunday by five unknown gunmen in Somalia’s semi-autonomous northeastern region of Puntland. LeGouil is being held hostage in a mountainous area with no access to medicine or clean…
Iraq: Journalist gunned down at home
New York, December 18, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the murder over the weekend of an Iraqi journalist who reported for an online news site. In the early morning of December 15, Ali Shafeya al-Moussawi, a correspondent for the video-based news Web site Alive in Baghdad, was found shot to death in…
Government suspends newspaper over story critical of president
DECEMBER 18, 2007 Posted January 14, 2008 Talassa CENSORED The state-run High Council on Freedom of Communication (known by its French acronym as CSLC) suspended private bimonthly Talassa for two months over a November 23 editorial critical of President Denis Sassou Nguesso, according to local journalists and news reports.The council accused the paper of “deliberate and repeated…
Killings of Journalists Hit High in 2007
Glenn Kessler The Washington Post December 18, 2007 Reprinted with permission from Washingtonpost.com, Newsweek Interactive Company and The Washington Post The number of journalists killed worldwide spiked to the highest number in more than a decade, with nearly half killed in Iraq, according to an analysis by the Committee to Protect Journalists, a New York-based…