2008

  

Federal police detain, assault photographer in Veracruz

MEXICO: New York, February 25, 2008—Members of the Mexican Federal Preventive Police (PFP) detained and assaulted photographer Gabriel Huge Córdoba after he sought to cover a fatal Sunday afternoon car accident involving police in the eastern port city of Veracruz, the journalist said today. The Committee to Protect Journalists called on Mexican federal authorities to…

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Head of Iraqi Journalists Syndicate wounded in assassination attempt

New York, February 25, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns an assassination attempt in Baghdad on Saturday against Shihab al-Tamimi, head of the Iraqi Journalists Syndicate. Unidentified gunmen in a white Opel intercepted and opened fire on a car carrying al-Tamimi, his son and driver, Rabie, and an unidentified colleague riding in the backseat. The…

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BELARUSEditor freed after being jailed for Prophet cartoons

BELARUS: New York, February 25, 2008—The Belarusian Supreme Court has ordered the early release of Aleksandr Sdvizhkov, former deputy editor of the now-shuttered independent newspaper Zgoda, who was sentenced in January to three years in a high-security prison for reprinting controversial Danish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in 2006.

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Newspaper publisher pardoned after serving 43 days of 6-month prison term

UPDATE FEBRUARY 23, 2008 Posted March 14, 2008 Original alert: January 29, 2008Faustin Bambou, Les Collines de l’OubanguiIMPRISONEDDirector Faustin Bambou of the private biweekly Les Collines de l’Oubangui was released from prison on a partial presidential pardon, according to news reports and local journalists. Bambou told CPJ he contracted the flu and malaria while sharing a cell…

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Journalist threatened with death after reporting on local drug kingpin

FEBRUARY 22, 2008 Posted April 22, 2008 Miguel Ramírez, El Comercio THREATENED Ramírez, a well-known investigative journalist for the Peruvian national daily El Comercio, was threatened with death after reporting on a local drug kingpin, the reporter said in an interview with CPJ. Ramírez, who has investigated the kingpin for over a decade, said he…

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CPJ urges resumption of Kyrgyz murder probe

Dear Mr. President, The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned about the lack of progress in the investigation into the October assassination of Alisher Saipov, editor of the independent Uzbek-language weekly Siyosat (Politics). Four months after this brazen crime, Kyrgyz officials in charge of the probe announced–amid conflicting press reports–that the investigation was suspended. The Saipov family was not informed of the suspension in time to seek reconsideration.

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In Cameroon, leading private TV station summarily closed

New York, February 22, 2008—Cameroon’s government summarily closed on Thursday a leading private television station on alleged regulatory violations, according to local journalists and news reports. The station in Douala was distinguished for its leading coverage of a national debate over a bid by President Paul Biya to scrap a constitutional clause that limits presidential terms.…

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Independent broadcaster B92 threatened, besieged

SERBIA: New York, February 22, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists denounces yesterday’s siege in Belgrade of the independent radio and television station B92. Threats have been waged against the broadcaster since violence flared as a result of Kosovo’s declaration of independence on Saturday. Also, CPJ is appalled by a graphic video that appeared on YouTube…

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Radio journalist released after 40 day detention

CASE UPDATE   February 21, 2008 Original alert on January 14, 2008 Abdirahman Mohamed Hudeyfi, Director Somaliweyn Radio

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Concern growing over Afghan journalist’s ongoing detention

New York, February 21, 2008—The U.S. Department of Defense has confirmed that the U.S. military is holding Canadian Television journalist (CTV) Jawed Ahmad, but refused to disclose any further information. The Committee to Protect Journalists is greatly concerned by Ahmad’s continuing detention at Bagram Air Base, north of Kabul, in Afghanistan. Ahmad has been held…

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