2007
Radio journalist gunned down in southeastern Paraguay
New York, August 23, 2007—Radio reporter Tito Alberto Palma was shot to death Wednesday night at a friend’s house in Paraguay’s southeastern city of Mayor Otaño. The Committee to Protect Journalists called today on Paraguayan authorities to conduct a thorough investigation and bring all those responsible to justice. Palma, a reporter for the local radio…
In Kenya, president dismisses bill compelling disclosure of sources
New York, August 23, 2007— The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes President Mwai Kibaki’s rejection Wednesday of a bill that would have forced editors to name their sources if their stories led to court cases. Kibaki declined to sign Kenya’s Media Bill after calling an amendment within it “a great inhibition of press freedom” that…
Canadian journalist wounded by roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan
New York, August 23, 2007—A Canadian journalist traveling with a military convoy in southern Afghanistan was injured Wednesday when the armored vehicle in which he was riding hit a roadside bomb in Kandahar province, a Taliban stronghold. Two Canadian soldiers and an Afghan interpreter were killed by the explosion. Radio-Canada cameraman Charles Dubois sustained a…
CPJ concerned by restrictions on media coverage of Bangladesh crisis
New York, August 23, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists is dismayed by reports of the assault, detention, and harassment of local journalists by security forces attempting to enforce the indefinite curfew imposed yesterday on the capital, Dhaka, and five other cities in response to growing unrest across the country. CPJ is also deeply concerned about…
Kuwaiti editors arrested after alleged insult is posted on Web forum
New York, August 22, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned by the arrest of two Kuwaiti journalists by the state security services in Kuwait City on Saturday. State security officers arrested Bashar al-Sayegh, an editor for the daily newspaper Al-Jarida, by order of the general prosecutor’s office, said Hussein al-Abdallah, the journalist’s attorney.…
Cuban journalist released after 15 months in prison
New York, August 21, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes Monday’s release of independent Cuban journalist Armando Betancourt Reina, who had been imprisoned at the Cerámica Roja Prison in the central city of Camagüey since May 2006. Betancourt Reina, a reporter for the independent news agency Nueva Prensa Cubana, left prison Monday morning, reported the…
In Ethiopia, four journalists released from prison
New York, August 20, 2007—Four imprisoned Ethiopian journalists of now-defunct Amharic-language weeklies were released on conditional pardon on Saturday along with 27 opposition activists, according to news reports and local journalists. The four journalists had been given heavy prison sentences earlier this month in connection with their coverage of deadly post-election unrest in 2005.
Opposition activist released from forced psychiatric hospitalization
New York, August 20, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes today’s release of opposition activist Larisa Arap, who was forcibly held in a Russian psychiatric hospital. Arap’s detention on July 5 came soon after the publication of her interview on the treatment of patients at the Murmansk regional psychiatric hospital in northern city of Apatity—the…