TURKMENISTAN The sudden death of President-for-Life Saparmurat Niyazov in December 2006 marked an end to an eccentric and authoritarian rule, raising modest hopes for social, economic, and political reform. Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, a deputy prime minister and Niyazov loyalist, was named interim leader and then became president in a government-orchestrated “election” in February.
UKRAINE Intense political rivalries among a trio of powerful leaders created a chaotic and highly politicized environment in which journalists were vulnerable to a variety of abuses. Parliamentary elections in September and negotiations to form a new government in the succeeding months intensified pressure on journalists to take sides. In November, Ukraine’s two pro-Western parties…
Editor Chauncey Bailey was gunned down three blocks from his Oakland, Calif., office in August, becoming the first U.S. journalist killed for his work in six years. Bailey, editor-in-chief of the Oakland Post and four other weeklies focusing on the San Francisco Bay Area’s African-American communities, was targeted after investigating the alleged criminal activities of…
UZBEKISTAN In power for nearly two decades, President Islam Karimov had little trouble securing another seven-year term in office. He faced three candidates but no genuine opposition in a December election that international observers said was neither free nor fair. Though constitutional term limits seemed to constrain the president from seeking re-election at all, the…
VENEZUELA The Venezuelan government’s unprecedented decision not to renew the broadcast concession of the country’s oldest private television station, RCTV, represented a major setback for free expression and democracy. The decision, aimed at silencing Venezuela’s most critical media outlet, was part of President Hugo Chávez Frías’ aggressive strategy to challenge the influence of the private…
YEMEN Journalists covering a rebel insurgency and government corruption were subjected to a frightening array of violent attacks and politically motivated court cases. Threats against independent journalists continued at an alarming rate, taking on an almost routine air. Perpetrators, for the most part, went unpunished. Since 2004, the government has been combating a regional insurgency…
It’s the vacuum that illustrates the problem–all of the reporters who have fled, the news outlets that have closed, the stories that have gone unreported. Seven years of government intimidation and deteriorating economic conditions have prompted a steady flow of Zimbabwean journalists to leave the country. CPJ has documented at least 48 journalists as having…
New York, February 4, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the recent release from prison of Tran Khai Thanh Thuy, an award-winning writer and journalist. Thuy, 47, had an unexpected trial before the Hanoi’s People’s Court on Thursday. She was sentenced to nine months and 10 days on charges of “causing public disorder” under Article…
FEBRUARY 3, 2008 Posted March 3, 2008 Rachid Niny, Al-Massae ATTACKED Rachid Niny, director of publication for the daily Al-Massae, told CPJ that around 8 p.m., three assailants attacked him very close to Al-Rabat al-Madina train station. He said the men, one of whom had a knife, came up behind him and started violently beating…
FEBRUARY 2008 Posted March 5, 2008 Wikileaks UNCENSORED A federal judge in San Francisco reversed a prior ruling to effectively shut down a California-based Web site that routinely posts documents alleging malfeasance by governments and other agencies. On February 29, Judge Jeffrey S. White vacated a permanent injunction that he had imposed only nine days…