2007
Harsh bail set for Standard Times editor
New York, July 3, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the criminal prosecution and unreasonable bail conditions facing Sierra Leonean journalist Philip Neville, the editor of The Standard Times who is being held at the Central Prison in Freetown on libel charges. Defense lawyer J.B. Jenkins Johnston told CPJ that a Freetown court set bail…
CPJ concerned about health of jailed editor
New York, July 3, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists expressed concern today about the health and well-being of Boris Stomakhin, editor of the small Moscow monthly Radikalnaya Politika (Radical Politics), who has been imprisoned for the past 15 months. On June 25, Stomakhin was transferred from a Moscow prison to a prison in the city…
Puntland newspaper damaged in arson attack
New York, June 29, 2007—Three rooms in the headquartersof Shacab, an independent newspaper in northeast Somalia’s semi-autonomous region of Puntland, were damaged Wednesday night after assailants threw gasoline-fueled bombs, according to local news reports and the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSJ). One man was arrested after being identified by a security guard and other…
Russian officers assault journalist in Georgia
New York, June 29, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalist is concerned about an attack reported by Nukri Kacharava, a camera operator for the independent Georgian television station Mze, who said Russian military officers assaulted him and confiscated his equipment as he was filming their move out of a Russian military base in Batumi, capital of…
LESOTHO: Journalist released on bail; treason charge lifted
UPDATE JUNE 28, 2007 Thabo Thakalenkoala, Harvest FM IMPRISONED Chief Magistrate Molefi Makara reduced an initial charge of high treason against Thabo Thakalenkoala and allowed the radio journalist to be released on US$140 bail. The treason charge carried a possible death penalty. The new charge is subject to a prison sentence of up to 20…
RWANDA: Police interrogate two journalists, press them to reveal sources
JUNE 28, 2007 Posted July 17, 2007 Charles Kabonero, Umuseso Gasana Didas, Umuseso HARASSED Director Kabonero and editor Didas, of the leading independent newspaper Umuseso, were interrogated for three hours in a police station in the capital, Kigali, local journalists told CPJ. They were pressed to reveal their sources in connection with three articles reporting…
SOMALIA:In Somaliland, TV journalist assaulted by mayor, held three days
JUNE 28, 2006 Posted August 10, 2007 Abdirahman Muse Omar, Somaliland Television IMPRISONED Omar, a news editor for private broadcaster Somaliland Television in the northern breakaway republic of Somaliland, was assaulted on June 28 by Mayor Hussein Muhammud Jiir after seeking official comments about the police’s expulsion of a family and the destruction of their…
Reporters, CPJ brief Congressional caucus on dangers facing Russian journalists
Washington, June 28, 2007—Two exiled Russian journalists and a CPJ representative told the Congressional Human Rights Caucus today about widespread impunity in journalist murders in Russia and the perils facing independent journalists who cover the volatile North Caucasus.