2007
Gunmen storm Baghdad radio station, killing one
New York, May 3, 2007—Dozens of heavily armed gunmen stormed an independent radio station in Baghdad’s Al-Jamia district today, killing one employee, destroying equipment, and knocking the station off the air. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns today’s assault on Radio Dijla. Around 2:30 p.m. local time, dozens of masked gunmen attacked Radio Dijla with…
Charge against a journalist dropped, but jail threat looms for another
New York, May 3, 2007—The Maldivian information minister announced today that a criminal charge of “disobedience of an order” against Minivan Daily Deputy Editor Nazim Sattar would be dropped and that charges against Editor Aminath Najeeb would be reduced, Sattar told CPJ. The two were facing criminal charges related to an August 2005 article quoting…
Photographer killed, three other journalists injured in Pakistan attack
New York, May 3, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists mourns the death of freelance photographer Mehboob Khan, who was killed in an April 28 suicide bomb attack aimed at Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao. The minister escaped with minor injuries, but 28 people died in the attack at a political rally in the small town of…
In the Philippines, president’s husband withdraws 46 libel suits
New York, May 3, 2007—Jose Miguel Arroyo, husband of Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, has withdrawn 46 criminal libel suits he had filed against 11 journalists. The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomed today’s news but said the suits should never have been brought. Withdrawal of the cases—which came because Arroyo was “grateful for surviving a…
Government probes Michael Moore’s work in Cuba
MAY 2, 2007 Michael Moore, Goldflat Productions LEGAL ACTION The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) opened a civil investigation of journalist and documentary filmmaker Michael Moore following his March 2007 trip to Cuba, according to a May 2 letter sent to Moore by Dale Thompson, chief of general investigations and field…
Cairo court sentences Al-Jazeera producer to six months in jail
New York, May 2, 2007—On the same day the Committee to Protect Journalists cited Egypt for its deteriorating press conditions, a judge in Cairo convicted an Al-Jazeera producer on charges of “harming Egypt’s national interest” and “falsely depicting events” for her work on a documentary exposing police abuse. The court sentenced Howayda Taha Matwali, who…
NIGERIA: Cameraman beaten unconscious by police
MAY 1, 2007 Posted May 7, 2007 Dare Folorunso, Ondo State Radiovision Corporation ATTACKED Folorunso, a camera operator for the Ondo State Radiovision Corporation (OSRC), was assaulted by a dozen police officers after a police inspector accused him of filming an offensive shot of her during a May Day celebration in a sports stadium in…
L.A. police attack journalists covering immigration rights rally
MAY 1, 2007 Patricia Nazario, KPCC Carlos Botifoll, Telemundo Christina Gonzalez, KTTV Patti Ballaz, KTTV Carl Stein, KCAL HARASSED, ATTACKED During a rally for immigrant rights, Los Angeles police attacked journalists with batons, according to news reports. Police Chief William J. Bratton said he would investigate the conduct of police, who were captured on news…
Uzbek journalist sentenced to seven years in prison
New York, May 1, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists denounces the seven-year prison sentence handed down today to independent Uzbek journalist Umida Niyazova by a judge in Tashkent after a summary trial that was closed to the press and most of the public. Niyazova was convicted on charges related to her reporting on human rights…