2007
Casablanca court hands down prison sentences against two journalists
New York, August 15, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the prison sentences handed down today against two Moroccan journalists who published a secret government document about terrorist threats against Morocco. Abderrahim Ariri, publisher of the Moroccan weekly Al-Watan Al An, and Mustafa Hormatallah, a journalist for the paper, were convicted by a criminal court…
In DRC, police disrupt photojournalists’ march honoring slain colleague
New York, August 16, 2007—A peaceful march today led by photojournalists in DRC’s capital, Kinshasa, to demand justice for last week’s assassination of freelance photojournalist Patrick Kikuku Wilungula was interrupted and dispersed by police, according to press freedom group Journaliste en Danger and local journalists.
Arson attack follows anonymous threat against Cambodian journalist
NEW YORK, August 15, 2007— The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the Cambodian government to launch an independent investigation into the recent arson attack on the home of Phan Phat, a journalist with the local Khmer language newspaper Chbas Kar. According to local press freedom groups and news reports, Phat’s wooden house was set…
Writer forcibly hospitalized in Russia
Your Excellency, The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply disturbed by the illegal psychiatric confinement in the northern city of Apatity of opposition activist Larisa Arap. Arap’s forced hospitalization on July 5 came soon after the publication of a story she coauthored on the treatment of patients at the Murmansk regional psychiatric hospital in Apatity–the same hospital where she is being held today.
Mexican journalist recounts abuse during army detention
New York, August 14, 2007—Mexican crime reporter Sinhué Samaniego Osoria spoke to the Committee to Protect Journalists today and detailed the abuse that he and three other Mexican reporters suffered during their arrest by Mexican soldiers last week in the northern state of Coahuila. CPJ called on Mexican authorities to investigate the conduct of the…
Two Guinean newspaper directors handed suspended prison terms
New York, August 14, 2007—A court in the Guinean capital of Conakry handed down suspended prison sentences on Monday to two private newspaper directors in connection with articles alleging corruption by a former government minister, according to local journalists. Thiernodjo Diallo of La Vérité and Abdoul Azziz Camara of Libération were each sentenced to six-month…
In China, reporter jailed for allegedly fabricating news
New York, August 14, 2007 – The Committee to Protect Journalists is disappointed by the severe criminal penalties handed down by a Chinese court in the case of Zi Beijia, a Beijing TV reporter accused of fabricating a story about contaminated buns. On August 12, the Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People’s Court found Zi guilty…
Leading Indian newsweekly attacked by hardliners
New York, August 14, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the attack today on the Mumbai office of the Indian weekly Outlook by a group of men who identified themselves as members of the Shiv Sena, a Hindu nationalist party. The assailants were apparently angered by the political journal’s depiction of their founder, Bal Thackeray,…
COLOMBIA: Bogotá journalist receives threats after probe
AUGUST 13, 2007 Posted August 21, 2007 Juan Pablo Monsalve, RCN THREATENED Monsalve, a Bogotá-based reporter for the nightly news program “La Noche” on national television station RCN, received multiple threatening calls after he did initial reporting on alleged government corruption in a small town in the northern Bolívar province. Monsalve told CPJ the piece…
Committee will oversee Haitian investigations of journalist murders
New York, August 13, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the creation of an independent committee of Haitian journalists that will review the progress of official investigations into the unsolved murders of journalists in Haiti from 2000 to 2007. Haitian President René Préval announced Friday the creation of the committee, which will be composed of…