2007
NIGERIA: Newspaper copies seized in southern Akwa Ibom State
JUNE 27, 2007 EventsCENSORED Fifteen armed men stormed the printing plant of the private weekly Events in the capital city of Uyo and seized about 5,000 copies of the newspaper, according to local journalists and news reports. The attack occurred in the morning, just before the distribution and sale of the paper, publisher Jerome Imeime…
COLOMBIA: Police attack photographer covering protest
June 27, 2007 Manuel Santiago Pérez, El Universal ATTACKED Pérez, a photojournalist for the Sincelejo-based daily El Universal, was attacked by five police officers while covering a taxi drivers’ protest in northwestern Sucre province, the photojournalist told CPJ.
MEXICO: Supreme Court says governor may have violated journalist’s rights
JUNE 27, 2007 Lydia Cacho Ribeiro, freelance journalist LEGAL ACTION The Mexican Supreme Court of Justice declared on June 26 that there is enough evidence to prosecute high-ranking government officials on allegations of violating Cacho’s human rights when they plotted to arrest and assault the Mexican freelance journalist in December 2005. The high court said…
Director of critical news Web site resigns after threats
JUNE 27, 2007 Posted July 17, 2007 Roger Santodomingo, Noticiero Digital THREATENED Santodomingo, director of the Internet news site Noticiero Digital, resigned from his post after his 9-year old son was handed a threatening letter at school that accused the journalist of working for the U.S. government and against Venezuela, according to CPJ interviews and…
In DRC, a nationwide pattern of attacks raises alarm
Mr. President, We are writing to express our alarm at a disturbing nationwide pattern of attacks on the news media. Since the arrival of your government on February 24, eight broadcasters were raided by government security forces in connection with their news coverage, and one journalist was killed amid increasingly insecure conditions, according to CPJ research. These events undermine Information Minister Toussaint Tshilombo’s statement on World Press Freedom Day that press freedom is respected in the DRC.
COLOMBIA: Authorities detain and deport Ecuadorian TV crew
June 26, 2007 Freddy Barros, Ecuavisa Germán Picho, Ecuavisa Sergio Quiñaluisa, Ecuavisa Marcelo Orellana, Ecuavisa HARASSED, EXPELLED Reporters Barros and Orellana, cameraman Quiñaluisa, and assistant Picho of the Quito-based television station Ecuavisa were detained on the Colombian border with Ecuador and held for more than 10 hours before being deported, according to international press reports.…
CPJ condemns convictions in Malian school essay case
New York, June 26, 2007—Five Malian journalists who covered a high school essay assignment—and the teacher who commissioned the lesson—were convicted today of insulting President Amadou Toumani Toure, according to news reports and local journalists. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the verdicts, which stemmed from a classroom exercise about an imaginary presidential sex scandal,…
The world can’t sit idle as journalists are murdered
Terry Anderson USA Today June 25, 2007 A Mighty Heart is the story of the deliberate, horrifying execution of Daniel Pearl, a top Wall Street Journal reporter, by Islamic extremists in Pakistan in 2002. Starkly and dramatically filmed in the chaotic streets where Pearl worked and was kidnapped, the film — which opened nationwide over…
Journalists Abductedin the Gaza Strip 2004-07 Gaza: Kidnappers release new video of BBC reporter2007200620052004
New York, June 25, 2007—A BBC reporter held for more than 100 days by militants in the Gaza Strip appeared in a newly released videotape warning against attempts to free him by force. In the videotape made public today, Alan Johnston wore what he said was an explosive belt and warned that his captors would…
Letter critical of prime minister prompts treason charge
New York, June 25, 2007— Thabo Thakalekoala, a prominent reporter and presenter for Lesotho’s private radio station Harvest FM faces a charge of high treason for airing a controversial letter, according to news reports and a local press freedom group. Thakalekoala read on the air on Friday a letter allegedly written by members of the…