2007
CPJ urges Colombia to probe tapping of journalists’ phones
New York, May 15, 2007— The Committee to Protect Journalists called on Colombian authorities today to fully investigate the illegal tapping of journalists’ telephone lines. The government acknowledged on Monday that the national police have improperly listened in on the telephone conversations of public officials, opposition members, and journalists.
Ecuadoran President Correa should drop libel suit
New York, May 15, 2007—Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa Delgado should immediately drop a criminal defamation complaint filed against a top newspaper executive over a critical editorial, and he should help bring the country’s press laws into compliance with international standards on free expression, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Student editors jailed for allegedly publishing offensive articles
New York, May 15, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the recent arrests of four Iranian student editors of Amirkabir University of Technology in Tehran following the publication of newsletters carrying articles deemed insulting to Islam. The students say they had no involvement in the publications, calling them a fraud designed to disrupt student elections.…
In DRC, reporter suspended after airing dissident general’s interview
New York, May 15, 2007—The broadcast on public radio of an interview with dissident Congolese Gen. Laurent Nkunda led officials in the eastern border town of Goma to indefinitely suspend a reporter last week, according to the press freedom group Journaliste en Danger (JED) and local journalists. This month, CPJ named the DRC one of…
Mexican TV news crew missing since Thursday
New York, May 14, 2007— TV Azteca Noreste reporter Gamaliel López Candanosa and camera operator Gerardo Paredes Pérez went missing on Thursday in the northern Mexican city of Monterrey. The Committee to Protect Journalists is investigating possible links between their disappearance and their professional work.
Journalist, media worker killed in Gaza City
New York, May 14, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalist is outraged by the killings of a journalist and a media worker, who were shot on Sunday in Gaza City. Gunmen wearing presidential guard uniforms stopped a taxi carrying Suleiman Abdul-Rahim al-Ashi, 25, an economics editor for the Hamas-affiliated daily Palestine, and Mohammad Matar Abdo, 25,…
In Thailand, legislation allows censorship of online news
New York, May 14, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned that new legislation in Thailand will further weaken press freedom guarantees. On Thursday, the military-appointed National Legislative Assembly (NLA) passed legislation granting the government the power to censor critical online news reports. The bill, which will become law after it receives approval from King…
German media aid to Eritrea raises concerns
Dear Minister Wieczorek-Zeul: The Committee to Protect Journalists notes that the German government has decided to fund the training of journalists working for Eritrea’s state-controlled media while the nation’s independent press remains shut down and more than a dozen publishers and editors continue to be held incommunicado, many since September 2001.
Held without charges; 2 cases of journalists in U.S. military custody raise questions
By Clarence Page Chicago Tribune May 13, 2007 WASHINGTON – Has journalism become a crime in the Bush administration’s “war on terror”? We Americans are left to wonder. Our military is holding two journalists without charges or any public evidence that they broke any laws.
TV station attacked during civil unrest
MAY 12, 2006 Posted May 16, 2007 Aaj TV ATTACKED Amid violence between anti- and pro-government groups in Karachi, the independent station’s office came under fire from what media reports identified as pro-government supporters. At least 34 people were reported killed in the unrest.